Page 5 of Hearts on Ice
He considered her a long moment, and she really thought he’d respond by telling her to fuck off, to be honest.
“These are my kids,” he said finally. “If you can come up with something amazing before I find another choreographer, then fine. But everything will be spelled out in a contract. I’ll get my brother to write it up.”
“Are you serious? A contract.”
He angled his head and narrowed his eyes, and honest to God, why did he have to still be so damned handsome, his features more chiseled, his muscles more pronounced, even his too-long hair?
“Do you really think I can trust you? No. We’re getting everything spelled out.”
“But you’re going to look for another choreographer.”
“Oh, as soon as you leave, I absolutely am. But I trust Mrs. Fletcher and Mrs. Santos did their due diligence. They’ve been working with me for years and I don’t think they would purposely try to hurt me. So they might be right that you were the only one taking clients, but I’m not going to just take their word for it. And if I can’t find someone, I’m going to have Evan write the most ironclad contract he can come up with.”
Of course he would. Evan hated her. She looked at Declan, the boy she’d grown up with now a bitter man. Well, he probably wasn’t always bitter, just around her. She thought about that one picture in the lobby, the one of him right after they’d won the gold, right before he proposed to her. The joy in his face, the joy that had dissolved the longer they had been together.
The joy she’d stolen from him.
No wonder he wanted a contract.
She nodded, once, and picked up her jacket. “You’ll call me and let me know?”
“One of the ladies may call you, or you can come back on your own. They practice every morning, no later than six. Most afternoons starting at four thirty, except when they have dance class. Your best bet is to come early.”
She nodded again. “And you’re here every day?”
He didn’t answer that, just turned up the speed on the treadmill. Satisfied that was her answer, she turned and walked out.
CHAPTER3
Declan couldn’t clear his head all day. He still held some anger toward Mrs. Santos and Mrs. Fletcher, to be honest, for blindsiding him like that. They could have come to him and asked him if he was willing to work with Colby, instead of just springing her on him like that. He could have eased into the idea instead of having it thrown in his face.
True to his word, when he was done with his workout—which he extended by an hour, trying to work out frustrations—he called every choreographer he could think of in the vicinity and beyond, and as Mrs. Fletcher and Mrs. Santos had said, none were available to take new clients for another year.
He didn’t want Josh and Lexi to wait another year.
So he called his brother.
“Why are you asking me this now?” Evan asked when Declan finished explaining what he wanted, without mentioning names. “You’ve never wanted this done before.”
“Once burned, twice shy, isn’t that what Mom says?”
“Sure, she does, and I agree it’s a good idea, but you’re pretty specific on some of these points. Is this choreographer also going to have a lawyer look it over and maybe add some points on her own?”
Colby was excellent at looking out for her own interests. “Very likely.” And at that point, Evan would see just why Declan needed the contract, but he really didn’t want to go into it right now. He knew he’d have to, but everything was still too fresh.
“Deck, you don’t sound like yourself.”
“Nah, I’m all right.”
“Why don’t you come over for dinner? The kids would love to spend some time with their favorite uncle.”
Since Evan’s wife was an only child, Declan was their only uncle, but he wasn’t in the mood to play around. “Thanks but I have a lesson tonight.”
“You have a lesson every night.”
“I’ve got a team that has a real chance here, which is why they need a choreographer. And why they need lessons every day.”
“And you wonder why I don’t want my kids to take skating lessons,” Evan said, his tone more somber now. “It starts to consume your life. I thought once you stopped competing, you’d stop giving your life to it.”
