Page 32 of Kissing the Debutant
“Cousin Charles?” More like a second cousin she barely knew.
“Yes, I’m sure he’d be delighted.”
“Mom, I haven’t seen him since we were kids.”
“Yes, but he’s family.” Family whose mother moved them from Lexington to get away from these society functions. “But I will look elsewhere first.”
She wanted to tell her mom she could get her own escort, that she didn’t need some unsuspecting boy roped into it by their mothers.
But the truth was, Lillian’s mother was more likely to find someone who’d say yes than Lillian.
How sad was that?
11
Jack
“Hey, you’re late.” Jack pushed off the front counter, smiling like an idiot when Lillian stormed into the studio, texting furiously on her phone. His smile faded when he caught sight of her dressed in a cloud of lilac fabric and rosebuds, her long silky blond hair fanning out behind her.
Pretty sure I just forgot my own name. Jack tried to focus on what they were here for.
“You’re lucky I’m here.” She shoved her phone in her bag and looked up to catch him staring. “What are you looking at?”
“Nice dress.” Jack managed to stop gaping long enough to get the words out. She was gorgeous, but she was also clearly not in a good mood, and that was going to make this even harder.
“I’ll be sure to tell my mother you like her sense of fashion.” She shoved past him to the back room to change.
“Meet me in the small studio when you’re done,” Jack called after her, second-guessing his last minute decision to send Mia home. He’d thought things would go better with just the two of them, but now he was wondering if they needed a buffer.
Jack paced across the small studio room, waiting for Lillian to join him. He had one more chance to get this right. He just hoped she’d meet him halfway.
“Let’s get this day over with.” Lillian sailed into the room, her hair back in its neat bun. She tossed her bag into the empty chair by the door. Without waiting for his instruction, she sank to the floor to begin her warm up.
Jack took a seat on the floor, wincing as he watched her bend her ankle at an awkward angle, rotating the joint and flexing her right foot before she moved to the left.
After several minutes of working on her feet and stretching her body, Lillian walked to thebarre. She ignored him as she held lightly to thebarre, moving into a perfectrelevé, slowly rising up and down on the balls of her feet until she wasen pointe, bearing the full weight of her body on the tips of her toes. From there she moved into a series ofgrand pliés.
She was so graceful and precise, Jack got lost in her movement.
“You’re staring again.” Lillian moved back down to the floor into a middle split stretch.
“I’m fascinated with your movement.” Jack didn’t bother to hide his admiration. A dancer like Lillian had to be used to the constant praise of others.
“What are we doing today?” She glided back to her feet and stood in first position with her feet turned out.
“Well.” Jack lumbered to his feet. “First of all, please relax. Just stand like you normally would.”
“This is how I stand.” Lillian stared at him blankly.
“Okay.” Jack clapped his hands once and moved to stand in front of her. “Just do what I do, but first, take your hair down.”
“Why?”
“I need to get you out of your comfort zone. You’re not a ballerina today. Today you’re just a girl who likes to dance.”
“Fine.” Lillian took her hair down and removed the pins holding the wispy flyaway strands that fell around her face.
She looked uncomfortable.
