Page 12 of Guarded Hearts
“Okay.” Alyssa took her water bottle from my outstretched hand and dropped it into a side pocket.
I held the door for Mia, and I looked in Alyssa’s direction one last time before I left. She was staring at me, and when our gazes locked, the embers caught and flared. I shouldn’t have slept with her.
God, did I ever want to sleep with her again.
“That whole time,” Mia said, as though we’d been in the middle of a conversation instead of starting one, “I kept wondering how I could incorporate some of those moves into my show.”
“You liked it?” The swirling patterns were eye-catching. Had Tyler also been thinking about costumes while he’d watched? Everyone had their thing. All I’d been able to think about was Alyssa.
“I loved it. She’s so talented, don’t you think? So fast, so smooth. Gorgeous.” Her enthusiasm spilled out. This reaction was why I said yes to the dance. I liked seeing Mia so happy. “I was talking to Jace about maybe doing something for the show at some point. A bit of swing. Mix it up.”
My gut twisted. “Don’t hire him.”
Mia frowned and gave me a sideways glance. “Why not? Alyssa must like him well enough.”
I shook my head, not sure I wanted to say more than I had. In silence, I walked beside her. Should I interfere?
“He got Alyssa drunk last night. Tried to make her look bad today.”
Her frown deepened. “Are you sure?”
“It’s what Alyssa said.” We turned the corner toward the car waiting in the distance. She had an interview in an hour. “No reason to lie.”
“Hmm…” Mia kept pace with me, and she braided the ends of her hair trailing down her arm. “I won’t pursue that, then.” She looked up at me. “Tyler recorded the dance, and he’s sending it to you later.”
“Good.” I opened the car door for her to climb in. Tonight, I’d watch the video and try not to focus on the way Alyssa’s hips moved, or how Jace’s hands trailed over her body, the memory of her skin undermyhands. Or the way she glowed from happiness, as though she’d been born to dance.
Their feet. I needed to watch their feet.
“I know the dance seems like a lot,” Mia admitted, peeking out from inside the car. “But this is going to be fun, I swear.”
Chapter Six
Alyssa
Ikept my sigh of frustration inside. Mia was picking up the footwork like she was born to dance, but Pasha had two left feet. I’d checked a few times to see whether that was a literal thing. He wassostiff and uncomfortable.
Why had he agreed to this dance? Or any dance, for that matter? Annoyance and sympathy kept fighting for dominance whenever I made another verbal correction and demonstrated the step again.
“It’s just the first rehearsal,” Mia said when Pasha let out a frustrated grunt.
“Yeah. You’ll pick it up,” I agreed, though I was not sure I actually agreed. “We’ve got almost three months.”
He huffed out a breath and took his position next to Mia just before the music started. They were working on basic steps and hadn’t even started on the choreographed piece. Mia thought Pasha would do better if he understood the counting pattern and the rock step before they got into spinning, twirling, and swinging around the room. A good strategy, but learning swing was falling a bit flat.
I counted them through the steps, and for the first time, Pasha’s rhythm was passable. I jumped up and clapped my hands. “Yes! You did it. See? Youcando it.” Relief ran through me like a fast current.The complicated routine had become a massive concern when he was struggling so hard to get the fundamentals.
He shook his head, color flooding his cheeks, and gave me a bashful grin. My heart stuttered at his embarrassment, and then, inexplicably, it began to race with desire. How could his embarrassment make me want to rip off his T-shirt, run my hands along his abs, feather kisses along his strong jawline? I avoided touching him for this very reason. All of my senses flicked on around him. A dark room lit up.
Mia’s watch beeped. “I gotta go.” She assessed Pasha. “You’re free for the rest of the morning, right?” she said to him.
He nodded and ran a hand through the back of his hair. “I’ll stay here. Practice. I’ll be fine.”
Worry sat between Mia’s brows. “Look, if the dance is too much, we can make changes. Or just not do it.”
“We can modify the routine for sure.” I didn’t want to lose this opportunity because I’d been too ambitious.
My racing heart and out-of-control libido didn’t help my thought process. Just looking at Pasha, so big and awkward, caused warmth to spread across my belly and down to my core. I wanted to protect him from the awkwardness, minimize his discomfort, shield him from the difficulty of picking up the steps.
