Tracey laughed. “I am. But he’s gruff, not grumpy. I think an even better word is guarded, but not so much with me anymore. He’s a really great guy, Eliani. I feel safe with him, and you know what? I think he feels safe with me, too.”

“I’m happy to hear that.” Eliani glanced over Tracey’s shoulder as Lior walked into the room. “And there’s my great guy.”

Lior slid his arm around Eliani’s waist and kissed her cheek. Then he dipped his head and kissed her belly. “Are you ready to get started, Tracey?”

“Yeah, sure. I’m so glad I got to see you, Eliani. Will you be around when we’re done?”

“She’s sticking around to help with your training.” Diesel’s voice boomed through the room.

Tracey spun around, her pulse quickening. “Hi. You’re early. What are you doing here?”

“Teaching you to fight.” He dropped a kiss on her head and held a hand out to Lior. “It’s nice to see you both again. Thanks for letting me come in today.”

“Wait. You know Lior and Eliani?” Tracey asked.

Diesel nodded. “After I told you I’d teach you to defend yourself, I reached out to them because you trust them, and I want to go over two-on-one scenarios so you’re never caught off guard again. They can help me show you how to use the skills I teach you in conjunction with what you’ve already learned.”

“When Diesel suggested we bring in Eliani to get a woman’s perspective, the three of us got together to make sure we’d work well with each other and to figure out the best way to handle it. I asked Diesel to come in early because you’re skilled enough to teach martial arts, Tracey. It’s a much better use of your time to train with Diesel, which is why I suggested we use your class time plus the hour after.”

Tracey looked at Diesel, a little hurt that he’d done all that behind her back. “Thank you for going to so much trouble, but why didn’t you tell me?”

“I’m sorry, babe. Sometimes having too much time to think about this kind of training is a detriment. It allows you to set up expectations and come up with ideas that would end up being barriers and holding you back. I didn’t want you to go there. I had planned on mentioning it at breakfast this morning, but then Izzy showed up, and she seemed to need your attention. But if you’re not comfortable with this, that’s okay. We can work one-on-one, just the two of us.”