Page 117 of Gracefully Yours

“Everything good?” Daniel asked.

“Yeah. I just ran into an old friend.” I offered him a small smile.

“That’s fun.”

I took a sip of the coffee. “Oh, this isgood.Not as good as yours, but,” I took another sip, sighing happily. “Thank you.”

And just like he always did, he said, “Anything for you,” and I couldn’t hide the blush on my cheeks even if I wanted to.

“How do you always do that?” I murmured.

“What?”

“Make me feel so…” I was at a loss for words.

He quirked a dark eyebrow. “So…?”

I shook my head. It wasn’t one little thing. It was how he made me feel every day. Special, loved, worshipped. Everything from his gentle touches to the way he made love to me—because that was what it felt like even if we hadn’t called it that.

I just kissed his cheek instead. “You’re pretty great, Mr. Bradford.”

“Pretty perfect yourself, Mrs. Bradford.”

Smiling as I took another sip of my coffee, I let that settle into my bones. And it felt like nothing ever had before. Right.

Home.

* * *

“You’re goingto do amazing, Lily,” I promised, smoothing over my teenage student’s red hair that was styled into a tight bun. “Just remember that you’ve got this. You know this routine by heart, backwards and forwards.”

We’d already done the group performance earlier, and the littler kids were mostly tomorrow, leaving all our teens to go on during the evening.

She hugged me tightly. “Thank you, Miss Charlotte.”

“I didn’t do anything,” I said with a smile. “It’s all you. My little superstar. So go show them all how you shine.”

Lily gave a quick nod as she broke the hug, wiping her tears away. “You always know just what to say to make me feel better.”

I laughed. “Don’t forget, I was in your shoes once. Now, no crying. You’ll smudge your makeup.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, blotting at her face with a laugh.

“Go get ‘em, tiger.”

After a deep breath and she pasted a smile back on her face, Lily left the room looking way more confident than she had before. Knowing her, she got pre and post-performance anxiety, so I was sure I’d be offering her more words of encouragement later, but I didn’t mind.

“You’re good with her,” Daniel murmured, stepping into the room with two drinks in hand.

“Yeah, well, she’s a good kid. I’m lucky.”

He kissed my cheek as I took the cup from his hand. “I’m proud of you.”

“Me?” I looked up at him. “I’m not even doing anything. They’re the ones performing.”

Shaking his head, he took my hand as we headed towards the auditorium where the girls were doing their routines. “You’re the one who inspires them. And they look up to you, you can tell. You’re not just their dance instructor, you’re their mentor. It’s pretty cool.”

“Oh.” I blushed. “I love it, you know? Mom always wanted me to go be a ballerina, or join a dance company, but…”

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