Page 53 of Dance with Me
“Buenos días,”she whispered against his skin.
“Dobroye utro,”he replied. He leaned away so he could look at her face. “You slept okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I . . . thank you.”
Instead of the joke she expected in response, he wrapped his arms around her. “Anything you need.”
They fell into an easy rhythm after that. For the next few days, he was attentive to her needs without smothering, and she made an effort to be more pleasant. She did physical therapy exercises for her ankle, and when he was out at the restaurant, Lori and Kevin visited to keep her company and fill her in on gossip.
She didn’t call her mother or Gina.
Miracle of miracles, her injury had escaped the notice of paparazzi, and Kevin claimed no one atThe Dance Offknew she was living with Dimitri.
“Staying,” she corrected him. “I’m staying here. Temporarily.”
Her bank account told a different story. As July ticked into August, all her bills were due, including rent on the apartment she couldn’t currently live in. But since her stuff was still there, she had to pay. She had just enough to cover everything, but after missing so much work, she was back in jeopardy. On top of that, she couldn’t find anyone to cover her children’s ballet class.
Over dinner the night before the class—provided by Dimitri’s restaurant—she mentioned it in passing.
“Will you be around in the morning? I’m not sure I can drive yet, and I need to get to Santa Monica to teach a dance class.”
His expression turned stormy and he dropped his fork onto his steak. “No. You haven’t healed enough.”
“Relax,Macho.” She sipped from her wine glass. The man really did have an excellent selection of wine. “It’s a ballet class for little kids. I won’t have to do much.”
He cut his meat with angry movements. “It’s a bad idea.”
“Doesn’t matter. I can’t cancel, and I can’t find anyone to cover for me. I have to go in.”
He chewed quickly. “I’ll go with you.”
Her eyebrows shot up and she held back a laugh, because he looked perfectly serious. “You’ll what?”
“I’ll go with you. You sit on the side with your foot elevated, instructing the class, and I’ll demonstrate.”
She shouldn’t say yes. It was ridiculous. He was big and bearded and gruff. Her students were tiny and high-spirited and giggly. It would be a disaster.
Or, it would beadorable.
“Okay,” she said.
He nodded and forked string beans into his mouth. It was settled.
24
Dimitri was cleaning up their dinner plates when the restaurant called.
“Yeah, what?” He tucked the phone into the crook of his neck as he loaded the dishwasher.
“Your mother is here.”
Dimitri cursed and closed his eyes. “Put her on.”
“Privet, moy syn.”
He bit back a sigh and switched over to Russian. “Zdravstvui,Mama. What are you doing in Los Angeles?”
“The weather is beautiful. Does one need a reason to visit here?”
