Page 32 of Twilight Echoes
“See what?” he asked, tracing the bottom of her foot, enjoying how her toes curled.
“Dance stuff that either she kept or I did.”
“So, you’ve got my posters in there from when I was with the New York City Ballet as the lead male? The ones your father said you had plastered on your walls.”
She groaned.
“I’m flattered.”
She jabbed him with her foot. “You should be.”
“Let’s go check it out.” He went to stand, but before he knew it, she was on her knees, holding him down on the sofa.
“I’d rather we didn’t.”
“Well, now I have to know what is in those boxes.” He skirted out from under her and raced to the other side with her following. Laughter filled the room, and for a moment, he felt something akin to hope.
“Why does everyone insist on embarrassing me?”
“I can only speak for myself, but your cheeks turn this flushed red color and your nose crinkles and it… well, it turns me on.”
“And that’s supposed to make me want to let you rummage through my pile of childhood memories?” She sat cross-legged on the floor, tucking her hair behind her ears.
He nodded, leaning forward, their mouths so close he could taste her vanilla lip gloss. “I want to know everything about you, Avery. I’ve watched you from a distance since you became an understudy. I flew home so I could attend your first performance. I sat in the?—”
“You did what?” She stared at him with wide eyes. Her lashes fluttered in rapid succession. Pink, purple, and red fairy dust floated across the room and landed in his lap like little snowflakes.
“I’d heard you were having your first shot as principal, and I had to see it. I watched from the balcony. You danced flawlessly, and when the crowd rose to their feet, it brought me to my knees.” He palmed her cheek. “I almost didn’t go back to LA and when I did, I was miserable.” He pulled out his phone, fanning through all the pictures with a shaky finger. “I did the unthinkable.” He held his phone out, showing her the images from the very end of the performance and in the back hall when she greeted family and friends.
“Oh my God.” She glanced between him and the phone. “Why didn’t you come talk to me? What do you think would have happened?”
“This.” He pressed his lips against hers, teasing softly. A low growl formed deep in his throat. “But I wanted you to chase your dream, and if I pursued you then, you might not have done that because we would have mated. Who knows, maybe the Legend of the Fated Moons would have started with us. I couldn’t have been the man who stood between you and the last seven years of your life. I got to live my dreams, and I’ve seen how dancing made you feel on that stage. All I’ve ever wanted was to make you happy and being a principal did that.”
She let out a long sigh, pulling back. “It’s hard to reconcile that you didn’t ask me out before your pack got sick.”
“I haven’t asked you out at all.”
She cocked her head and pursed her lips, obviously not amused by his offbeat humor this time.
“I took the job as lead choreographer before my father died. Before we knew about the spell and with your career winding down?—”
“Excuse me,” she said, folding her arms. “I think your chances of getting lucky were just cut in half.”
He’d be lying to himself if he didn’t want to ravish her body right now in this very room, but if all he had were a few stolen kisses, he’d die a happy man.
Maybe.
“How old was the principal dancer you replaced?” he asked.
Avery scowled. “Not the point.”
“It’s exactly the point, and you know it. Even though the pain you’ve been feeling has to do with the spell cast on me, your body is changing. You are getting older, and Olivia is good. Really good. If someone spent time with her, mentored her, she could spend a couple of years as a principal dancer.”
“She’s a pain in the ass,” Avery muttered. “And she’s not ready.”
“But she will be. And she could be next year. Help her make the transition and make your retirement about style and grace, not about being pushed out like what happened to the dancer you replaced. As I recall, after that first performance, she did everything she could to keep you down.”
“Gwen was a bitch.” Avery glanced away, rubbing a finger under her eye.
