Take My Breath Away

Wesley's attack sent Liam flying into the bookshelf, knocking it over.

Moving to protect Blair, Wesley snaked an arm around her waist and guided her away from the falling books.

Two of Wesley's men jumped on Liam, pinning him to the floor.

Soon, the police came, and Liam was cuffed and stuffed.

Wesley helped Blair walk to a seat to rest. Supporting her head with one arm, she closed her eyes to steady herself, still dizzy from the impact of the bump.

After Blair was seated by the table, Wesley gave his statement to the police. As soon as he left, his men trotted over to Blair and asked with concern, "You all right? We can take you to the infirmary if you want."

Blair opened her eyes to find that she was surrounded by a crowd of young men wearing silly grins. Startled, she sat up immediately and replied, "I'm fine. I'll go later."

Talbot Yun, Wesley's right-hand man, squeezed to the front of the throng and sat on his haunches. He said, "You were so calm back there. You gotta be the bravest girl I've ever seen."

Wesley turned around occasionally to make sure his men were behaving. That was when he saw that they were crowding around Blair, talking and laughing.

There was a blood streak on her neck, a bruise on her forehead. Besieged with concerned questions from the young officers, she looked nervous.

Wesley strode over and demanded, "What's going on? She's hurt and doesn't need you guys bugging her. Talbot, Bowman, send Bl...er... her to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir!" the brothers, Talbot Yun and Bowman Yun answered, standing to attention and saluting when they got Wesley's orders.

The rest of the crowd lined up and marched towards the playground.

Back on the playground the young soldiers were talking amongst themselves. Concentrating on the training? Forget it. "I think Chief knows her. I heard him almost call her by name. I don't think he wants us to know," a man said.

"I heard it too. And? Knowing her name doesn't mean anything. Anyway, we got to train these guys,"

a second man retorted, turning to walk away. Yet another man grabbed him and said seriously

sked.

"I'm hungry," she answered, blinking. It was after 8 p.m. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch.

Wesley glanced at her and decided to pretend he didn't realize what she was getting at. "So are you hurt?"

"Yes."

"What is it? Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"No, my belly's hurting. I need a restaurant," she said innocently.

Wesley felt defeated. Just as he was about to refuse, Blair cut in, "My treat. It's the least I can do. You saved me."

"I'm a soldier. It was my duty." Wesley wanted to leave.

Blair added, "My uncle asked you to check on me. I'm starving. Are you really going to just walk away?"

"Is that a threat?" Wesley hated being threatened.

Blair shook her head like a rattle. "No, no. It's okay if you don't want to have dinner with me. Tell you what—go home, shower, change. I have enough here in the house. I'll cook dinner. Come over, make sure I'm fine, and then you can take off again. What do you say?"

Wesley gave her a long look and turned around without a word to go back to his apartment.

"Hey, yes or no? You haven't given me an answer yet." If he agreed, she would go to the kitchen and start cooking now.

Wesley opened his door and turned around impatiently. "We'll see."

'He is as cold as an iceberg, ' Blair thought.

The next time someone opened her apartment door, Blair was in the kitchen, ready to saute some vegetables and meat.