Page 10 of Desire

“Elise, talk to me.”

I watch as she takes in a deep breath and then looks up at me smiling. It’s not a natural expression—it’s false, and I don’t like it one bit.

“How’s yourmamá?” she asks, abruptly changing the subject of the conversation.

“She’s fine. Living in Spain”

“You’re father?”

“He’s fine. Living in San Francisco. Elise, what’s going on?”

“My mama’s still in New Orleans. It’s why I chose to move back here. She needs a bit of help these days. As you know, she didn’t cope too well after my daddy died. I tried to get her to move to Los Angeles, but she didn’t want to come.”

My heart sinks at the mention of her father. I was there with her when she was told of his death in a car accident. I’ll never forget her screams of grief and denial.

“Time,” Leah calls out, and I turn my head to look at the producer as she gives her orders. “If everyone can get back to the studio, please, we’ll do some initial dance steps and see how it goes. After that, we’ll look at how we’ll partner you for the live shows. You’ll have two weeks to rehearse before the first one.”

When I turn back to Elise, she isn’t there anymore. I look around the room and see Alexis escorting her back into the dance studio. My nostrils flair with anger. There’s no way she’s going to be partnered with him. Something isn’t right. She’s not the happy-go-lucky woman I knew. There’s something dark inside her, eating away at her. She says she needs to get her confidence back. What was the decision she made? Was it to leave Hollywood to look after her mama? Did something happen to her there? No, all is not right with Elise Landry. I allowed her to walk out of my life once before. I won’t make that mistake again—not when I can tell she’s hurting.

Chapter 5

Elise

Idon’t think I’ve worked so hard in a long time. Every muscle in my body aches, but it feels damn good to have learned so many basic steps in an afternoon. It’s not been as easy for all the celebrities as I’ve found it. Some like me are stretching out and wanting to continue practicing, but most of them are now lying flat on the floor moaning about what a terrible mistake they’ve made.

Several of the professional dancers are rehearsing a routine for the first show, and I can’t help watching Leo as he moves around the room gracefully. His partner, Angelique, is adorable. She’s funny and stern simultaneously. Whoever is partnered with her will have a blast on the show. A part of me really hopes I’m partnered with Leo. We’ve been working together for a bit this afternoon, and I’d forgotten how charismatic he is. Not to mention patient when I couldn’t get a basic step correctly mastered straight away.

I can’t believe he’s here. It’s been so long since I last saw him. The inevitable drifting away from each other happened when he traveled to Europe, and I moved to Hollywood. Our lives took different paths, and although there were several times I wondered what he was doing, I didn’t think about him much. I feel guilty for that now, standing watching him.

The tall, slender teenage boy has gone. He’s really grown into his body and filled out, muscles upon muscles. A tattoo sleeve runs down his left arm, and I long to explore what’s on it. But it’s his hips that have captured my attention the most. The way he moves them is like he’s making love right then and there on the dance floor. I can’t help wondering what he’d be like in bed now, and that’s so unlike me. Since I left Simon, I’ve not wanted to even think about another man. They’re all the same in my eyes, tarnished. But something about Leo is drawing me to him, and I can’t take my eyes off him.

My phone rings from within my bag. Reaching down, I pull it out and check the caller ID. I don’t recognize the number. Answering it, I step out into the hallway, hoping there’s nothing wrong with Izzy. Natalie said she could stay with her after school today much to Izzy’s delight as she wanted to play football with Lucas and Sam.

“Elise Landry.”

“You never had any intention of using my name, did you?” I almost drop the phone when Simon’s voice comes from the other end. “Have you changedmydaughter’s surname yet?”

“S-Simon,” I stumble over his name as I walk farther away from the dance studio. Thankfully, the corridor is quiet. “What do you want? I thought we weren’t supposed to contact each other?” I’d changed my number when I moved here, so he wouldn’t be able to call me.

“I think I can do whatever I want, Elise. You owe me that after what you put me through.”

I swallow deeply. After I left Simon, I had counseling for several months. My confidence was, and still is, at rock bottom. I needed to accept I wasn’t responsible for his abuse. One thing the counselor advised me was to never rise to any taunting from him if we were in contact again. That was where Simon’s power over me came from before I left him—the fact that he could provoke a reaction from me. I needed to stay calm and placid in the face of whatever he was about to throw at me.

“Of course, Simon. How can I help you? If it relates to Izzy, we should go through all the proper legal channels.” I inwardly high five myself for my response.

“Why would I want anything to do with her? You’ve had a year to poison her against me. She’ll be as useless to me as you are now. Besides, my new girlfriend is pregnant with a boy. At least she can get that right. She’s so much better at everything than you. She doesn’t try to show me up in front of all our friends or answer back when I pull her up when she does something wrong. She just gets on with it. And she’s a far better fuck than you ever were. She lets me take her in the ass and everything. Doesn’t just lay there like it’s her duty to have my dick inside her—she actually enjoys it. Makes it so much easier to come when the other person is willing.”

Simon’s words cut deep. I always knew he wanted Izzy to be a boy, but fate decreed otherwise, and he blamed me for it. I love the fact she’s a girl with her own mind and personality, and I wouldn’t have her any other way. But that independence and individuality is what Simon truly hates. As for his comments on his new girlfriend, I wonder what she’d think if she knew her lover talked to his ex-wife about her in that way.

“I’m glad you’ve found someone more compatible.” The words stick in my throat like a lump of coal, “Congratulations. Izzy will be thrilled to have a half-brother. I’ll let her know.”

“Why? She’ll never meet him. Don’t even bother telling her. I want nothing to do with my bastard child now.”

I fall silent. I can’t answer that comment.

He’s trying to get a rise out of you.

Don’t give in to it.

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