Page 30 of Dance With Me
They said they’d let him know if there was any news but weren’t hopeful. Whoever this was, so far they’d been clever enough not to leave any clues. The note was tucked away in an evidence bag and would be checked for fingerprints, but because it had been handled by so many people, the police were doubtful they’d get anything useful from it.
They suggested Seb go away somewhere, and he’d not so politely told them ‘he was not prepared to put his life on hold for some fucking arsehole who couldn’t handle the fact that he wasn’t in his life’. The police had assured him that they were doing all they could, and if anything surfaced from this latest incident, they’d let him know.
Dom saw them out and came to sit on the sofa with Seb. Rocco lay with him, and Seb clung to the dog for comfort. Dom sat and put Seb’s head in his lap. He gently ran his fingers through his hair. There was nothing more to say, and Seb was exhausted.
“Do you think I should go away, Dom?” Seb asked, turning his head to look up at him.
“The decision is yours, honeybee, but honestly? I think wherever you go, this person, maybe it’s Daniel, will find you or will still be here when you get back. We just need to be extra vigilant. I can move in here if you want and we can go to the studio together—at least until this creep is caught. I agree that you can’t put your life on hold, that’s fucking mental, but maybe we do need to be a little more cautious.” Dom stroked his face, and Seb leaned into his touch.
“You’re right. I know, but I don’t want you putting yourself out for me. I’m perfectly safe here at the apartment now we’ve changed the locks. I don’t think whoever this is would put the students in danger. It’s me they want.” Seb closed his eyes and tried not to think about what all this meant for him.
“I’m going to buy you a taser and some pepper spray. I don’t care if it’s illegal. I’ve got to protect my little shepherd.”
Seb laughed gently at the comment.
“Is that the best you can do tonight? Little shepherd?” Seb shook his head.
“OK then, rest easy, my little lamb. I’m staying right here again tonight, and I’ll be your shepherd.”
Seb took comfort in Dom’s words, and before long, he was asleep, dreaming weirdly of Mary and her little lamb and maybe just a little bit of Joe.
Chapter Seventeen
Joe
Sunday came and went. He visited his parents for their usual family lunch and had a great time playing with Grace and Matt. It went some way to taking his mind off the problems he had.
Today was Monday, though, and he was back at work. He and Clare had shared a handful of texts over the weekend, but nothing more than a banal ‘How are you’ and ‘see you soon’. Work was slow with a lot of the accounts they worked on being up to date.
Joe leaned back in his chair, his hands on his chest. He’d had more time to think since coming home from his parents’ house, but he wasn’t any closer to figuring out what he needed to do. He closed his eyes; sleep had been hard to come by last night, and he was feeling tired today.
“Is this what they pay senior partners to do these days?” Hazel laughed as she walked into his office.
Joe shot forward, nearly falling off his chair. “Jesus, when will you stop scaring the life out of me? Someone should fit you with a bell.” He put his hand to his chest to try to still his racing heart.
“What would be the point? You wouldn’t hear me coming if I did, and I wouldn’t have material to blackmail you with. I’ll just save this photo to my gallery. Should come in handy.” Hazel put her phone down on his desk, a satisfied look on her face.
She sat in the chair opposite him. “How was your weekend? Any more thoughts on what you want to do?”
“Not really. Clare texted a couple of times, just some quick hellos but nothing more from her.” Joe sat for a while. Should he say something or not? Joe wasn’t sure what to do at this point but felt that he should come clean with the whole truth.
“There’s something else. Something I didn’t want to tell you, but the more I think about it, the more I think you should have all the facts.” He paused for a while as he tried to think how to put it. “I have feelings for someone else.” Blunt, but to the point.
He held his hand up to her before she could comment. “This started after I was feeling unsure about the wedding, so I can’t blame this all on the guy.”
Hazel looked at him, eyebrows raised. “A guy, you say? It’s been a while since you’ve looked at another man. Do I know him?” Hazel had known Joe pre-Clare, so she knew of his occasional hook-ups with men. It had never bothered her, though, thank God.
Joe shook his head. “No, but you’ve heard me talk about him.” Joe debated telling Hazel exactly who it was, but in for a penny, in for a pound. “It’s Seb, the dance tutor. I’m not sure what I’m feeling at the moment, and I don’t know if he feels the same way, but I think he might. I just don’t know what to do about it. We’re just friends at the moment, but if I feel this way, is it fair to Clare to go ahead with the wedding?” He looked at Hazel, afraid he’d see disgust in her face, but he saw nothing but compassion.
“Probably not, but only you know how or when you want to do something about this. I’d say the sooner the better, but it’s important you’re sure.” Hazel gazed at him thoughtfully.
“The problem is, if I call the wedding off, I’ll have no reason to see him again. But if I don’t tell Clare and we carry on with the lessons, I can see him every week. Shit, I know that’s totally the wrong thing to do but…”
He sat forward and put his hands on the desk. “I don’t know what I’m doing here, Hazel. I feel like I want to see where this could go with Seb, but I think if I make a move too soon, I’ll scare him away. I want to stay friends with him at least.”
“Do you want to know what I think?” Hazel asked, her eyes drilling into him.
“Do I have a choice?” Joe raised his eyebrow, questioning Hazel.
