Page 17 of Dirty Dancer

She never had to thank me, but I nodded. Liam told me once that people needed to express their gratitude and it was important to let them. Ms. Stephanie always stressed manners and they were important to Jasper.

It wasn’t something I needed to think about with Starling. Sometimes, she understood without the words at all. Other times, the words brought her comfort. “You’re welcome. I wanted to make you smile.”

“Mission accomplished.” The sigh in her voice could have carried a lot of different meanings. I just trusted her earlier smiles and the words themselves. Starling didn’t lie to me. She might tell me she didn’t want to talk about something, but she didn’t lie.

“Good.”

“I want to learn how to do this though,” she said, then glanced down at my feet in their boots. “I can’t believe you got lessons.”

“You said you liked it.” She’d watched the video so many times. “It would be different.”

“It is different, it’s flying on water and I love it. Can you imagine if we were both on the boards?”

I turned the idea over in my head. “Yes,” I said eventually. “But I couldn’t hold you like this.”

“That is definitely a con,” she agreed. “But I’m also imagining the way we could chase and play…like when you and Liam were tossing me back and forth that day and I was trying to fly again.”

She’d trusted us even when she hadn’t trusted herself. So the idea had merit.

“Maybe we do both,” I told her. “You learn to jet board too. Then we can do both types.”

“Oh!” Her expression brightened. “Yes. Might take us time.”

“We have time,” I promised. “We will make the time too.”

“Can we waltz on the water?”

“Yes.” We could do anything she wanted. I turned us back toward the tech supervising. “Second playlist.”

He gave me a thumbs up as I took her left hand in my right and settled my left on her hip. She smiled up at me and then the music changed. It was another instrumental she’d been considering for her show, and based off a song she adored from Torched.

I followed the beats of the music, swishing back and forth over the water in a twist. When I did a spin, she kicked up her legs and floated before landing perfectly back in place.

More than once, I spun her out like I would let her go to spin away. It took muscle control from both of us, but she never faltered. We spent another hour on the water and we tested so many dances. Most were just fun, but others had her looking thoughtful.

“Maybe,” she said after we’d returned to the ground and I was removing my boots. The air around her was positively electric. “Maybe we look at putting together some elementalnumbers for a future show? Even if we never perform them for anyone other than us?”

Once I was out of the boots, I studied her. “Do you want to perform them or just play?”

“Playisimportant.”

I nodded. It was. She paused when the tech came over to take the fly board. He also handed me a card. “For future lessons. Or set up.” Another nod, then I shook his hand before pulling away, to hold out my hand to Starling.

She clasped mine easily and there was a skip to her step as we headed back inside. They would be opening the lagoon soon to the other guests.

“Not everything needs to be about performing,” she admitted as we made our way through the hotel and across the lobby. We had another couple of hours before Vaughn and Freddie would be back.

It was pizzas, beer, and movies night to cap her day off. They would have finished set up and inspection. The final dress rehearsals would be over the next couple of days and then opening.

“I know that,” she continued as we stepped out into the sunshine again. Her hat had slid down while we danced on the water. I paused to set it back on her head again. “I mean, I know that in here.” She tapped the side of her head. “But my heart still feels like everything should be about the performance.”

Not seeing the problem yet, I guided her toward the boardwalk. When she focused on one of the carts, I followed her glance and then guided her toward the ice cream vendor. She was allowed to have treats.

Her happy little bounce when we got there told me it was the right choice. I let her inspect the offerings. “Can I get a double scoop on a cone of chocolate and strawberry?” When she glanced at me, I nodded and just held up two fingers to the vendor.

He scooped out hers first, then mine. I paid for it and passed her the cone. When she tipped hers to me, I frowned.

“An ice cream toast,” she informed me. “Just tap our scoops together.”

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