Page 32 of A Dark Duet

“Sweetheart, I have never seen someone so talented. I’m not even into dancing and I would pay to see you.”

“Are you trying to get me to have sex with you?” I say, laughing, lightening the mood.

He bursts out laughing and I can see his perfect white straight teeth with that smile that can melt any woman’s panties clean off. He is that breathtaking, carved to perfection, molded in all the right places.

He stops laughing and leans close to my ear. “Come home with me, please. I need you with me. I need to train for my next fight, and I want you with me,” he whispers.

I look up at him. “What about work and Brie?”

“She can come on her days off and you can come for two days to work, but if you don’t want to work, I’ll pay for anything you need. I would like for you to help me with the kids at the gym. Some of them have little sisters and there is a dance studio on the corner.”

My eyes light up when he mentions the dance studio. I would like to learn how to operate one. It’s what I’m saving for and even Brie can help me run it. I don’t think about it further, deciding it’s a great opportunity, but I don’t want to make the same mistake as last time. I think it’s best we are friends, and if his intentions are really as they seem, then he shouldn’t mind.

“Okay. But…”

“Name it. Anything.”

“We go as friends, and no promises.”

He gets serious about my statement. He stays silent for a bit, contemplating.

“Alright, get ready. My plane leaves in an hour.”

I clean up and pack everything I might need. I call the club and make arrangements to work only two days and one day a week at the diner. Brie will come on her days off and I will come with her the day Nate is training all day and will not see him. Brie calls me and lets me know that Jaden and Nate had already planned this and asks if I am okay with it. I tell her I have nothing to lose.

Giselle

We land and I’m taken back to Nate’s house. When we arrive at his home, I head toward the guest bedroom.

“Where are you going?”

I point in the direction of the guest bedroom. “Friends, remember?”

He shakes his head. “Nah, you’re staying with me, beautiful. When I meant you were staying with me, you were staying with me in my house, my room, with me. Come on, I need to get to the gym in the morning. The kids have Saturday practice, and you can meet Lenora at the dance studio. I kind of let her know she was meeting you.” He winks.

He’s so sure of himself.

“What if I did not agree to come?”

“Then I guess I would have looked stupid,” he says.

I don’t want a repeat of him and his changing moods, so I stand my ground. “I’m still going to stay in the guest room.”

“If that’s where you feel comfortable, then fine.”

I can tell he is a little bothered by my decision, but If I plan on staying and not falling victim to his change of mood, then it’s for the best.

He’s a mystery living in this big white house alone, fighting and training. He won’t open up to me and let me in, and I can’t risk my feelings. I sense it’s because he doesn’t trust me enough.

“I will knock in the morning if I don’t see you. We need to be at my gym at eight thirty in the morning.”

“Okay. Good night.”

“Good night, Giselle.”

He slowly walks toward his room. I would give anything to be in his bed and fall asleep in his arms, but the risk of feeling the sting of his rejection is still fresh, like a wound that is trying to heal. My heart is fragile right now, and as much as I want any part of him, I can’t risk feeling that pain.

Remembering his rejection and treatment the last time I was here, I need my guard up because as much as I want him, he has this power over me, a power that takes a part of me I can never get back, even if that part of me is lost.

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