Page 67 of Brazen Mistakes

Soft classical music pipes into the room before he sets his phone on the coffee table, moving both chairs out of the way. Once there’s space, he stares at me, hands limp at his sides.

And I wait.

Chapter 25

Trips

Her dark eyes glitter from across the room. Her hair is piled on her head, a few chunks spiraling against her neck, and when I make no other move, she pulls out her knot and drags them all back up until everything about her is contained.

Feet in neat black heels. Legs wrapped in tight spandex. An oversized sweater that isn’t hers breaks the fucking illusion of control she’s trying to project, but even that looks planned, not accidental.

The smudged darkness around her eyes tells a different story, the tightness around her mouth, the way she’s drumming her fingers against her thigh as I stand here like a broken toy.

But we’ll need her illusion of control. I’ll need it if I’m expected to bring her into my world. Because nothing is ever controlled in the Westerhouse family unless it’s in my father’sanal retentive fist, but it sure as shit had better look like we’re exactly what is expected.

Rich. Powerful. Ruthless.

And I have to teach her to project those same values.

Fuck.

I bob my chin, and Clara takes a long stride before correcting, moving with a sinuous grace that is still way too eye-catching, but I can’t seem to say that it’s not quite right.

I like watching her move too much.

“Okay,” I say, hands suddenly sweaty. “What do you know about the waltz?”

“It’s a vaguely scandalous dance that couples did hundreds of years ago?”

It was very scandalous. Only one partner, and you touch both hands and body? It was the height of foreplay way back when, according to my old etiquette teacher. But Clara doesn’t need a history lesson. We don’t have time for it. “Listen to the music. Tell me what feels different about it.”

Her eyes flutter closed, and the sound of Jansen crunching on popcorn makes me want to kick them out of the living room. She sways with the music, and I force myself to watch her without touching her, without fucking wanting her any more than I already do.

Softly, I count the beat, and her head bobs along. “One, two, three. One, two, three.”

“It feels uneven,” she says, eyes still closed.

“Most songs are in four-four time. Waltzes are in three-four. Don’t worry about the theory of it, though. It just means the dance is kind of uneven. Every measure, you startwith a different foot. The downbeat will switch from side to side. Now step on the beat. One, two, three. One, two, three.”

Her gaze catches mine after her feet move, and damn it, it’s hard to breathe. “Why do you say ‘one’ so loudly?”

“It’s the downbeat and the moving step. The other two are less important. For now, take a big step to the side on the ones.”

Because she’s a dancer at heart, even if she never got any fancy-ass training like the other girls I’ve known, she catches on almost immediately, and I don’t know if I’m happy that waltzing lessons will be quick and easy, or disappointed that I won’t have to hold her in my arms for hours while I teach her. “Okay, that’s good. Do you think you could catch the downbeat again if you stopped?”

She pauses, then picks back up again right on the beat. “Yeah. I feel it.”

“Good.” The waltz playlist I found switches to something more modern, a touch faster, and her steps match the tempo change without a single stumble.

And I have no more delay options. I’m going to have to hold her. “Now, I need you to put your left hand on my shoulder, and I’m going to put my right above your waist. I’m leading, so I’ll put pressure there to move you where you need to be.”

“What happens if I don’t let you lead?” she asks, a teasing grin making it even harder to pretend this is casual, meaningless.

“We stumble and make fools of ourselves.”

“I take it there’s no way for me to lead?”

“Nope. I’ll have a hold of your center of gravity. You’ll just have a hand on my shoulder, which, as you know, doesn’t doshit for moving me around how you’d like to. You’ve tried before.”

---