Page 3 of The Price of Fame

He hung up before she could respond, but feeling better, she shrugged off his odd behavior, getting ready for the day ahead.

She also told herself that she would walk the dog in the afternoons from now on.

Back at his house, Markus’ mind was still grappling over his interaction with the tiny, shapely brunette. Her hair was a light tree-bark brown, and her eyes were the same color as her hair. She might not have looked like anything special to most people, but to him she was gorgeous. He couldn’t get over how her eyes showed every emotion. Her lips had been thin, not full and pouty, but the way she bit her lip, and then soothed it with her tongue, and her perfect Coke-bottle-shaped body had turned him instantly hard. He’d bet his fortune she was 100 percent real. No plastic surgeon had touched her shapely body.

There had to be a reason his thoughts kept going back to her. His mind kept replaying their conversation, and when he thought about the entire package, Markus couldn’t seem to take his mind off her. To him, she was stunning. Not his usual type by a long shot, but when he’d touched her, his body tingled. He knew he should have picked up on the vibe then … that she was the one.

Markus’ papa had always said that was how it had been when he meet Markus’ mama He’d seen her at a party and felt an instant attraction. As soon as he touched her, he knew she was the one. They had been married for forty-two years now and were still madly in love.

Pacing his kitchen, Markus pondered what he should do since she’d run off scared, possibly from the chemistry they’d had. Now he had to go find her. “Kylie Breal.” He whispered her name. Markus hoped she would be easy to find.

Picking up his mail, he quickly sorted through it, throwing out the junk mail, and then pausing as a pamphlet fell to floor. Picking it up, he noted it was advertising dancing classes for tonight. His night was free, so he decided to give it a try. Markus liked Latin dancing and knew basic ballroom, so it might be fun, and it would help keep his mind off Kylie until he could find her. He could perhaps also find some friends here in Australia who didn’t know his real identity.

Full of inspiration, he headed to his makeshift music room to see what he could create.

Markus arrived at the club just as the beginners class ended. The woman at the door, probably in her late forties, collected his money with a smile.

“Welcome! It’s nice to see another new face. I can tell you’re going to be popular.”

He nodded at her, and then he wandered into the room, placing his keys, sweat towel, and bottle of water on a table in the corner. Turning, he froze as he saw the woman he hadn’t been able to get off his mind dancing with a blond man as the class watched.

“And this is how you’ll be dancing in a few weeks,” the man said to the attentive class.

He stared as Mr. Blondie spun Kylie before leading into some basic cha-cha moves and ending with him leading her out into a fan.

Enraptured watching the couple, he didn’t notice an older woman sit beside him until she spoke. “They look fantastic together, don’t they?”

He turned, the spell of watching them now broken.

The woman continued. “James has been doing this since he could walk, but Kylie? She started later, about twelve. They’re lovely people. She helps him with his weekend classes. They’re the busiest, you know.”

He stared at the woman, at least in her late sixties, with snow-white hair and ice-blue eyes. “Are they a couple?”

The woman cackled and patted his arm. “James wishes.” She chuckled. “I think he’s been waiting for her to get over her parents’ deaths. They died just over two years ago on the night of her eighteenth birthday. They were her only family. Well, besides a sister, who isn’t very nice.”

Marcus let out his breath with a whoosh. He refocused his attention to the dance floor and watched the couple with new eyes, noting everything about his competition while the woman continued to gossip.

“They’re best friends even though there’s quite an age gap. Ten years I think.”

He tuned out the woman while he studied Kylie. At twenty, she was younger than he’d thought. He’d just celebrated his thirty-third birthday.

The class broke up with people chatting and thanking Kylie and James. The older lady tapped his arm.

“You’re in for a treat, you know. You’re twenty minutes early. They always go over the hour at every lesson, so he starts the lessons with a half hour leeway. But a lot hang around watching them practice.” The lady smiled as she looked at Kylie and the blond. “Tonight I think they’re practicing for a fundraiser show they’re doing. It should be great.”

He nodded while his eyes followed the object of his affections. Once everyone was off the dance floor, Kylie changed into higher shoes, and samba music filled the air. He watched, enthralled as James and Kylie turned into the sexiest couple he’d ever seen. At one point, she made a wrong move in what he knew was called a hug. He watched as her face transformed, and she almost sparkled, laughing at her mistake.

“Stunning.” He stared transfixed at the beauty before him. He knew watching her that he wasn’t going to give up until she gave him a chance.

The woman chuckled. “Yes indeed. When she laughs, she transforms.”

He watched the rest of the session in silence, unsure for the first time in his life of just how to proceed.

Kylie loved her best friend. He always made a bad day a hundred times better. Today, though, there had been something odd about him. By the way he looked at her and kept touching more than usual, something was up.

They’d begun preparing to begin the intermediate class when she looked around the room to see they had some new people in the intermediate class too. She scanned the room and froze at the sight of the man she saw in the corner talking to Mrs. Dickstein. Kylie’s stomach churned at the thought of what was being said, as Mrs. Dickstein was the biggest gossip in the world. And she was talking to Kylie’s dream man. Kylie grabbed James’ hand and whispered, “He’s here.”

James came over and stood blocking her view. “Who’s here?”

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