Page 35 of Always Been You

She shook her head, and it looked as if she were shaking away whatever emotions she'd been feeling. "Nope. Do you want a hint?"

This interaction, right here, was the reason he'd had to figure out a game plan to get a chance with Jess. As bold and unfiltered as her persona was, she was not as straightforward as people assumed she was. She loved games. This guessing game. And the constant game of keep-away with his heart.

Ethan decided to play along. Crossing his arms, he responded. "Sure."

"Do you remember what I was watching when you came by and made your disappointingly decent proposal?"

"Disappointingly decent?" Ethan had plenty of indecent proposals he could make, if that’s what she wanted.

"Focus." She snapped her fingers sassily.

"Your favorite movie. Dirty Dancing." Ethan was still proud of himself for remembering that one last night.

"Yes, but do you remember what scene?"

"They were dancing." As soon as he said it, he realized how stupid it was to describe a scene from a movie called Dirty Dancing by explaining that they were "dancing."

At least the look on Jess's face told him she didn’t think it was stupid. She was grinning from ear to ear and nodding her head up and down.

"We're dancing?"

"Yes. And it's for a good cause."

"A good cause?"

"The Battle of the Badges."

"The Battle of the..." Ethan fell silent when he remembered what the event was this year. A talent show.

She wanted him to dance in a talent show.

"No," he stated firmly as he began to turn and head back down the stairs.

"Hey!" Jess didn't miss a beat as she reached out and grabbed his arm and pointed a finger directly in his face. "A deal's a deal."

Damn.

"I can't dance," he admitted.

"Yeah. I know. That's why we have an instructor. Miss Penelope."

She said the name as if it should mean something to him, It didn't. But Jess did, and if this is what it took to finally get her to see just how right they were for each other, then he guessed he was going to be dancing in a talent show, even if it killed him. Which…it might.

Ethan looked like he wanted to puke but that didn't stop her from dragging him into the rehearsal space. She pulled the steel barn door and tugged the Steele human being at the same time. The door was easier to budge.

They walked into the space and a sense of joy and rightness infused Jess's entire adrenal system. She'd dreamed of dancing all of her life, but her condition had always made it impossible.

But now it was possible.

This was her dream coming true, torturing Ethan was an added bonus.

A woman swept into the room, making a grand entrance. "Darlings, you're here. I am Miss Penelope. It is so lovely to meet you. Doris has told me so much about you."

The first thing that Jess noticed about Miss Penelope was her hair. It was a stunning shade of natural grey with highlights of silver woven through. If every woman aged so gracefully, Jess would be out of a job. The woman was exactly what Jess had always pictured a dance instructor would look like in her all-black leotard, tights, jazz shoes, and sheer wrap around her waist.

After she'd gotten the brilliant idea to make Ethan dance with her in the Battle of the Badges, Jess had gone to the one person she knew that had experience in dance. Doris Weathersby. She'd been one of the original Rockettes, and at eighty-eight she still competed in ballroom dance competitions.

Mrs. Weathersby had wanted to be the one to train Jess and Ethan, but when Jess explained that she wanted to keep it a secret, she was so happy to be in on it that she recommended Jess call Miss Penelope who taught dance two towns over from Whisper Lake in Rosewood Grove.

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