Page 131 of Lovers' Dance

Matt hung up the phone, grinning to himself. Within twenty minutes there was a knock on his door before it opened and a blonde head popped around it.

“Thought you were coming in late today?” Nathan drawled as he sauntered in and closed the door.

Matt eyed his friend’s grey suit, contemplating the strange thought that they spent too much time together. His own business suit today was a similar grey. Bloody hell, they were thinking the same thing far too often.

“Did you ask her?” Matt asked without preamble. “Officially, I mean.”

Nathan tried to glower at him, but a wide grin won out. “Bella has had a new addition to her piles of jewellery, yes. Of course, this one will be worn every day.”

Matt returned his grin. “Congratulations, mate. I’m truly pleased for you both.”

Nathan walked over and sat in one of the chairs across from Matt’s desk, his features slipping into a neutral mask, all previous happiness leaking away.

“Matt, about last night, the things you said—”

“Calm down, Nathan,” Matt advised with a dry laugh. “I’m not planning on asking Madi to marry me tomorrow.”

“But you are planning on asking her?”

Matt nodded once. “Yes, in about a year, maybe.”

Nathan relaxed in the chair, relief pouring from his eyes. Matt’s mouth tightened in displeasure. He knew exactly why Nathan suddenly looked relieved. It was obvious his friend was under the mistaken impression that Matt would change his mind over this issue. A year was a long time for Matt to stay with one woman, but that was prior to knowing and loving Madi. It never ceased to amaze Matt the way he’d subconsciously divided his life: pre-Madi and post-Madi.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” Matt warned resolutely. “So wipe that smug look off your face.”

Nathan shrugged and ran his index finger delicately over an eyebrow. “We’ll see.”

Matt narrowed his icy grey eyes dangerously and Nathan avoided his gaze. There were a few seconds of silence before Matt responded. “Nathan, you need to get your head around this. Soon. Madi is going to be my wife and nothing is going to stand in my way of making it happen. Now, I need to run through these figures with you. Something doesn’t add up with the planned takeover, and Dad and I are beginning to suspect the CEO at Hydroworld is up to no good.”

Matt’s abrupt change to business signalled the end of the discussion concerning his personal life. Nathan knew it and didn’t press the issue. To do so would only incur his friend’s anger. Matt was completely smitten with the girl, and it was becoming more and more apparent there was nothing Nathan could do about it. It wasn’t that Nathan didn’t like her. Hell, he found her charmingly sweet, yet outrageous. But Nathan didn’t want his dearest friend to get hurt, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Matt’s ongoing relationship with Madison DuMont would end in heartache for all parties involved. Bella, too, seemed under some sort of spell where it concerned the young woman. They’d met for the first time last night, and she was already planning girly outings to ask Madi on. Even though Bella shared his concern that Matt was rushing into things, she was downright ecstatic Louisa Gilliford no longer held Matt’s attention. Yes, there was definitely something about Madison DuMont that bewitched people. Nathan would have to keep himself immune to it. His voice might be the only one of reason when it all went tits up.

He flashed Matt a rueful smile. “Before we start that, I’ve been instructed by Bella to invite you and Madi over to ours for dinner.”

Matt was flicking through files on his desk and he plucked one out, handing it over to Nathan. “I’ll check our schedules, then get back to you. Madi’s insanely busy like I am. Have a look through that for me, will you? Tell me what you think of their bottom line figures.”

The two men bent their heads. Their work day had started. It promised to be a long, stressful one, but that was no different to any other day in the office. Unknown to each other, both men harboured the same private thoughts: the sooner the day ended, the sooner they could see their women.

FIFTEEN

I HAD JUST gotten off the phone with Matt. He sounded swamped at work and advised me he’d probably be leaving his office late. That was fine with me. I need some distance between us to think things over. Whenever I was near him, logic went out the window. We had our final lineup of dancers and the training for our upcoming production would begin in earnest tomorrow. My Monday had been productive, like I’d predicted. The lunch with Geoffrey went great. It was nice seeing him. His dark brown hair had a few more strands of grey since the last time we saw each other, and his usual tan seemed non-existent. I tucked the document he’d needed my signature for into my bag. I had already made a copy and placed it in the filing cabinet in my office. The originals I always kept at home. Half the time Geoffrey would donate funds to my dance company, the other half we had an agreement where he would loan us a sum of money to ease the financial costs that came with any major production and we would repay it from our ticket sales. Those times, my company rarely broke even. I needed to step up my sponsorship drive. I smiled to myself, feeling positive over my day. Even things with the potential new artistic director seemed promising. Although, right before he’d left the building, I had the strangest notion the reason he seemed eager to come on board was due to the recent press interest in me. Ah, well, his CV was impressive. I didn’t care about his reasons behind considering the job, as long as he took it.

The door to my office opened and Lisa entered. “Madi, one of our instructors has called in sick. We don’t have cover for the four thirty intermediate dance class. Can you sort it?”

My smile dimmed a bit, but I nodded. “No prob, Lis. I’ll take the class. Remind me later where they’re up to. Who normally has that class? Is it Paula?”

Lisa nodded with a raised eyebrow. I sighed as my smile disappeared completely.

“That’s like what? The fourth time in two weeks she’s left us in the lurch?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ll leave it in your capable hands. Dante wants you to call the costume designers, like now. We need to put the order in if everything is to be sorted for opening night.”

I immediately went to sit behind my desk, reaching for the phone. Lisa stood in the doorway and I paused, a questioning look on my face.

“Was there something else, Lis?”

She folded her arms and sent me a toothy grin. “Saw pictures of you and your fit bloke.”

“What? Where? When?”

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