Page 13 of Skating the Blue Line
And all I can do is laugh and take in the beauty of the woman that is sitting across from me.
She really is a sight and I don’t know if only seeing it tonight will be enough.
The laughing quiets down and I give the gorgeous dancer in front of me a smile.
“I can one hundred percent guarantee you that you are the first and only woman that I have said that to.”
I watch as her eyes go slightly wide and the blush coating her cheeks spread. Chloe tries to hide the smile that my words bring to her lips but I’m able to catch a glimpse of it as she bows her head and tries to hide herself in her food.
My attraction for this woman is increasing with every single minute.
“I guess I should feel special then, huh?” She says, her voice barely a whisper as she looks at me through her long, dark eyelashes.
That look alone has me shifting a bit in my seat to rearrange a few things.
“You really should,” I throw in her direction. “Before you went on stage, I was planning on sleeping through the whole thing. The second you came out of the shadows, you were all that my eyes could see.”
Okay, Liam. You are lying it on way too thick. Bring it down a notch.
It’s the truth though, and I’m not one to spew out lies.
“Deciding not to nap is huge.” She says, still slightly embarrassed.
“It really is. Especially when you had a crazy work out this morning. Naps are definitely a necessity. You are lucky that you captured my attention.”
The sweet laugh she releases has me shifting once more.
“What was so breathtaking about it?” She asks, a piece of hair falling from its place on top of her head and framing her face.
I want to reach over and tuck it behind her ear so that it doesn’t block me from looking into her hazel eyes.
“Everything,” I say to her, completely forgetting about the pizza in front of me and shifting my mind back to her performance. “I don’t know what it was but from the first second, my eyes were following you. In a not creepy way, of course.”
“Of course,” she says with a smirk.
I lean back in my chair and continue. “I may sound like a total dweeb here, but from the second you stepped onto that stage, it was as if you were in your element. Even from the last row, it was as if each one of your movements was effortless and you could do that whole routine in your sleep. You literally had me at the edge of my seat waiting to see what you would do next. You made me follow the damn story. I know how hard ballet is and you made it seem like it was the simplest thing in the world. Every single thing you did, had a grip on me and when the light came on, I wanted more, because damn. What you did tonight was fucking amazing.”
I didn’t realize I was rambling until I finished talking and see the expression on Chloe’s face. She’s looking at me with the widest eyes and her mouth slightly open, as if she can’t believe a single word that I just said.
This time, I’m with her. I can’t believe it either. Sure I’m the type of person that tells the truth, but even I surprised myself by everything I just told her.
It was as if I had verbal diarrhea.
That’s something one of my teammates would do. Not me.
“Sorry,” I say, picking up my beer and taking a drink before giving her an easy smile. “I guess the performance affected me a hell of a lot more than I thought.”
It takes Chloe a second to get out of the stupor that I apparently put her in. Eventually she shakes her head and reaches across the table to place a hand against my forearm.
My tuxedo jacket and bowtie were discarded the second we got here and I couldn’t wait to roll up my sleeves.
Stupid ass penguin suits.
Her hand lands on direct skin and it sits warm against me in the best way.
I can’t help but look down and like the way her hand looks against my tattooed skin.
“It’s okay. I’m glad it looked as good as it felt,” she says, her small smile growing into a full grin. “You just took me by surprise, is all. Usually the only thing people tell me is that I did great. They never really go into detail as to what was so great about it. My family are the only people that say more,” she pauses for a second, looking down at her food before looking back up again. “You really think that it was a great performance, huh?”
