Page 16 of Dirty Dancer

The man flashed us a grin, then he motioned to the water. “We’re set up to trial here if you’re ready.”

Trial what?

“Once you’re comfortable, we can head over to the bay.”

“Thank you.” Rome squeezed my hand once, then he moved toward the board that was sitting next to the water. He stepped into boots and clipped them on. He glanced at me. “Watch?”

“Always,” I promised.

“Just take a couple of steps back, miss.” The man in the white shorts circled around Rome to a piece of equipment and he got it started. I retreated a couple of feet and water began to jet out of the?—

Oh.

It was a flyboard. I’d seen a video of this and Rome went from being right there on the ground to rising. The steady stream of water gave him lift and there was a hose attached to the flyboard but he moved out over the water. Then twisted and turned and…

He was dancing on the water and I pressed my hands together against my mouth as I watched him do a couple of flips. Had he been practicing this while I’d been training? There was a flush to his cheeks and a hint of a smirk on his lips as he lowered slowly toward the edge. Even expecting it, my heart did a little fist bump to my ribs when he held out his hand to me.

Without an ounce of hesitation, I moved over to step onto the plate that was between his feet and then I tilted my head up to look at him. I could see my own wild grin reflected in his sunglasses. He wrapped an arm around my waist, took my right hand in his as I put my left hand on his shoulder.

Belatedly, I realized the music changed and then we were rising and weaving in the air. A whole new kind of dancing as we flew.

CHAPTER 7

ROME

Starling’s laugh filled the air with a music all of her own. The songs I’d asked them to cue up were based on one of her favorite playlists. We’d had to replace a number of the CDs after the attack on the clubhouse. I didn’t mind so much, it let me involve her in the musical selection and now I knew all of her favorites.

Since then, we’d added to the collection. The current piece was one she’d discovered a few months earlier. After, she’d downloaded and listened to every single song by the group. I didn’t mind it so much, but her attention to it, and subsequent licensing for the current show had earned the Wolfe Pack top spots and more fans.

The jet board twirled as I spun us up and then down again. The current setting wouldn’t take us above twenty feet over the pool. The water was deep enough to cushion any possible fall. While I could go faster once we were on open water, speed wasn’t the goal.

Flying was Starling’s joy. It had been her escape, then it had become her prison—a gilded cage where her wings had been clipped and jesses tied to shackle her in place. Those were all gone now and this tour was about recapturing her joy.

Remaking it.

Rebuilding.

Whatever it took. If she needed a year or ten, she would get it and find every piece she needed. I spun us around as she laughed and then lifted her. It took concentration to balance the shifting center of gravity. I’d practiced every single day this week. Two hours a day while she’d been hard at work in her rehearsals.

The distraction helped. She wanted different. What pleased me more than anything was the way she relaxed into my grip as I raised her up. When her gaze latched onto mine, I said, “Fly.”

Bracing her strength with my own, I was ready when she elongated her legs until she was holding herself almost horizontal. Then I did another spin and laughter spilled out of her.

Her hug was everything. Then she tilted her head back and trusted me to balance her as she went loose like one of her own silks.

The shift in her muscles told me when she was ready and I braced her with a grip on her waist as she planted a hand on my shoulder. She released me with the other arm and we soared over the water with her body curved like one of the doves Vaughn named her after.

For the next hour, we played. She twisted and writhed around me like I was her silk and I kept us airborne. A deep satisfaction filled me at the laughter erupting from her as we wound our way over the water.

Our audience was a handful of techs who were just keeping an eye on the equipment and a pair of security guards hired tokeep people out of the pool area. This surprise had been created for her and her alone.

Another laugh escaped her as I held her arms and let her spin out floating on the air and then she was wrapping her arms around me again to close the distance.

“I love this,” she promised, a golden light in her deep brown eyes that made them look lit from behind. Even better, her smile reflected in her voice and her words. There was a effervescence that had been missing over the past few weeks.

“Yes?” I confirmed, slowing the pattern from spinning to more like skating over the air. The swish from side to side reminded me of Liam on a skateboard.

“Absolutely.” She punctuated the promise with a kiss. “Thank you.”

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