Page 57 of The Dance Deception
‘Five,’ I say sharply.
His face blanches. ‘I beg your pardon?’
‘Five thousand.’ I poke him in the chest to emphasise each word. ‘You’re not trying to make it right, you’re trying to make yourself feel better and keep some cash for yourself. You really are disgusting.’
His demeanour changes from earnest to affronted. ‘I’m trying to say sorry.’
‘You’re trying to make yourself look like less of a shit,’ I snap.
‘You’re hardly perfect yourself,’ Liam fires back, losing his temper. ‘What kind of person sleeps with a married man just to win a dance show?’
‘Fuck you!’ I yell, aware that everyone is looking at us now.
Then Aleksis pushes himself between us. ‘I think you should walk away now,’ he warns Liam.
‘Or what?’ Liam gives him a shove as I jump out of the way.
Gabriel and Elijah rush over as they square up to each other, and Merle takes my arm and pulls me further away.
‘Kate,’ he says, concern in his voice. ‘What’s going on? Are you okay?’
‘It’s nothing,’ I reply, not wanting to talk to him, of all people, about the leaked photos. But my body is shaking with fury – as well as shock at how quickly things have escalated – and I want nothing more than to get away from the sound of Gabriel begging Liam and Aleksis to calm down on the other side of the room.
So when Merle suggests we step outside for a moment, to take a breather until whatever it is blows over, I don’t evenquestion it. I follow him just to get away from the tension in the studio, from the shock of screaming profanities in someone’s face for the first time in my life.
I let him lead me to his dressing room, as if in a daze, and when he’s closed the door behind us and turned to face me, I simply stand there as he tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. He doesn’t say anything, he just looks me straight in the eye and I stare back at him, almost willing him to make this nightmare go away.
And then suddenly we’re kissing and I can finally forget about the drama down the corridor, about the photos, about Liam throwing me to the wolves, about Aleksis, about having to keep up appearances, about pushing myself to my limits, about absolutely everything. It’s not until Merle starts rolling my top up that I snap myself back out of it.
‘Stop!’ I gasp. ‘Stop! We shouldn’t be doing this. God, what was I thinking? I shouldn’t have come in here. We need to stop.’
‘Even if we both want it?’ he says, his voice thick with desire. ‘I want you, Kate. I’ve always wanted you.’
I feel like I’m on fire – my body’s crying out to be seduced – but I manage to stay in control.
‘No, Merle.’ I shake my head and push him away. ‘I’m moving in with Aleksis tonight. This can’t happen again.’
Then I dash from the room, praying nobody sees me and jumps to the wrong – or even the right – conclusion.
The concerned look on Aleksis’s face when I walk back into the studio makes me feel terrible. Liam is on the opposite side of the room, getting a talking-to from Beth and Tammy.
‘I’m sorry,’ I apologise to Aleksis. ‘That shouldn’t have happened.’
I know he’ll assume I mean the confrontation with Liam, even if it’s not what I’m referring to.
He puts his hand on my arm. ‘It’s understandable. Are you okay to continue?’
Our eyes meet and I can see from the worry etched on his face that he genuinely cares. The realisation makes me feel even worse about kissing Merle. Even though we’re not a real couple I feel like I’ve cheated on him – and worse still, at a time when he was trying to defend me.
I silently kick myself for allowing Merle to exploit the situation – I have no doubt he knew exactly what he was doing when he took me to his dressing room. I’m not saying I played no part in it, but I just wasn’t thinking straight.
And now I can’t stop wondering what it means for me and Aleksis. If he found out, I don’t doubt it would spell the end for our arrangement. And given how desperately I don’t want that to happen, I think what that probably means is that I’m no longer going to have to try so hard to convince people I have feelings for him. But now’s hardly the time to start thinking I might like him for real.
‘I’m fine,’ I tell him, doing my best to keep my voice even. ‘I just needed to let it all out, I think. But what about you? I really am sorry you got dragged into it.’
‘All good here,’ he assures me. ‘Liam has apologised to me. He doesn’t want to cause any more trouble.’
‘Shame he didn’t feel that way two weeks ago,’ I mutter bitterly.
