Page 29 of Watch Me

As my brothers would say,oh, hell no. “Talking won’t win us any trophies. From the top.”

Using the remote control, I start the music again and get into position. Sighing, Kristoff assumes his pose and we dance for another grueling half hour.

Until the door to the studio swings open unexpectedly.

Alejandro strolls in looking dark and yummy and like a man with an agenda—one that starts with getting me out of my clothes.

I suck in a breath. “What are you doing here?”

“I assume your phone is broken, since you haven't returned my calls and messages.” He arches a brow. “So I decided to find you.”

“We’re practicing.”

The protest is automatic. His presence here, so unexpected, raises my defenses. Thank god. I need those barriers against him. If I spend another hour with the man, feeling as weak as I do now, I’ll collapse against him and…I shiver. I’ll be vulnerable to him. I might even admit that I care.

That’s not acceptable. My personal life can wait another handful of days, until after the California Dance Star is over.

“You’ll win because we will uncover who’s been blackmailing you,” Alejandro vows.

“The security tapes turned up nothing, you said.”

“That's true. And I assume the blackmailer hasn't contacted you, or you would have let me know.”

“Of course.” And I would, no matter how much talking to him tempts me to do more—the way I want to right now. “But I haven’t received anything so far. So we have nothing else to say.”

Alejandro’s expression tells me he can see right through my bluster and isn’t put off in the least. Damn him! Why can’t he be polite, like most people?

“How did you find out when and where we’re practicing?” I demand.

With a sweep of his hand, Alejandro outs Kristoff as the culprit.

I whirl on my partner angrily. “This is practice time, not social hour. What the hell were you thinking?”

“That if I refused to tell him how to find you, he would end my privileges at Sneak Peek."

I grit my teeth. Fabulous. Yet another example of a man thinking with his penis. Apparently, it never occurred to him—or he doesn’t care—that I didn’t want Alejandro to find me. I’m just not ready, and I don’t know how to deal with these feelings.

“I have been thinking,” Kristoff says. “Since your first effort to draw out the blackmailer did not succeed, perhaps you should try again.”

“Are you serious?” My jaw drops.

Kristoff nods. “Stage another public scene. The word about you two is out now. People in the community are buzzing. If you give advance warning, I suspect the person responsible will come.”

I consider Kristoff’s words with dread—and excitement. More of Alejandro’s touches, his wild sort of lovemaking… So very tempting. I didn’t merely like what we did together, I basked in it. And I’ve been aching for more since.

Not a good idea. More Alejandro will only addict me further to the man. And while I don’t know him well, I doubt he’ll settle for a woman whose schedule is as demanding as mine, especiallysince I spend nearly every day dancing in very suggestive ways with another man. Besides, I’ll bet Alejandro would expect a great deal emotionally from the woman he calls his—certainly more than I’m comfortable giving. He has to see my limitations.

So why is he still pursuing me?

As much as I want to give into my fears and dismiss Alejandro, what Kristoff says makes sense. Maybe the blackmailer didn’t act last time because he didn't know about the scene. Or he couldn’t be there that night. Alejandro and I didn’t have much time to spread the word beforehand. The audience who witnessed me coming apart in Alejandro’s arms was there by chance.

“I agree,” Alejandro says. “I want to catch this bastard. But the choice is Shanna’s.”

I bite my lip. With the competition nearly here, my options are running thin. Throwing away almost twenty years of training, sweating, and suffering to avoid having sex with him seems beyond stupid, even if fear screams that I should run like hell.

Reluctantly, I nod. “I’ll be there tonight.”

Alejandro shakes his head. “Tomorrow night. Give me time to suggest that there may be a repeat performance, just in case the scum doesn't have his ear to the ground, so to speak.”

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