Page 35 of A Dark Duet

I smile at her. The men’s gazes are looking at me curiously. Jaden has his mouth open, his eyebrows raised.

Lenora continues like I’m not here. I stay silent, not uttering a word. “That she’s a real classical ballet dancer. And very talented, at that. There is only one place she could have learned one of the most difficult pirouettes and grand je·té .” Lenora looks at me and I meet her gaze knowingly, as she reveals what I have kept from him. “She graduated from Juilliard.”

Nate’s sparring partner’s eyes light up as he walks closer and says, “That’s like the most prestigious school. It’s like the Harvard of dance schools.”

“Yes, Nick, it is,” Lenora says.

Nate looks at me, but I won’t meet his eyes. I continue to look around, and then Jaden catches my gaze as he stares at me. He looks at Nate and rubs his hands over his face.

“Nate, I need you to contact the girls’ guardians so I can get their permission slips on file. I have left them with Charles,” Lenora tells him before she turns to me.

“Giselle, I look forward to teaching the girls with you. It is truly an honor.”

“Yes, madam,” I say.

“I will get them signed, thank you,” Nate says.

“Thank you,” Lenora says as she leaves.

The three young girls come up and hug me, and I embrace them. The brunette, whose name is Sarah, says, “Can you teach me how to raise your leg like you’re doing a split?”

“There are some techniques you must learn first so you won’t get hurt, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Nick moves toward me, and Nate catches him by the neck. “Where do you think you’re going?”

He is shorter than Nate, but just as muscular, with sleeve tattoos on both arms. He has dark eyes and black hair and looks no older than his late twenties.

“To talk to the beautiful ballerina,” he claps back.

I blush as I look at Nate, and he glares at Nick in anger.

Nick puts his hands up. “Okay. Okay. I’m sorry, Nate. I didn’t know,” Nick says apologetically.

Nate calms down and looks over at me. “Giselle, this is Nick, and the guy sitting at the desk is Charles, you know Jaden, and these two knuckleheads behind me are Mike and Sean. This is my team. Everyone, this is my friend Giselle, she will help me with the girls while their brothers are enrolled in our program.”

They all wave and smile at me. I smile and wave back, meeting Nate’s gaze as I try not to get sidetracked by his shirtless body.

Jesus, I need to get a grip on myself. I basically just agreed to pay and teach three young girls ballet and dance while trying to keep my two jobs.

He introduced me as his friend, and I cannot lie to myself and say it didn’t bother me. One thing I need to tell myself is that sex with him is off the table. I have to remind myself what happened last time and the hurt he caused stung. It was like it wasn’t really him saying those things, but what would I know? I don’t even know him on a deep level. We just have this attraction toward each other I can’t explain.

Wondering what I should do next, not wanting to interrupt his training more than I have already, I decide I’ll just wait for him to finish.

“Nate, I’ll just wait over there until you’re done.”

“Jaden will take you back home,” he says. I’m surprised he still doesn’t want me here and I wonder what I did that has him in this mood.

I look at Jaden and he nods his head toward the door. “Let’s go.”

I say my goodbyes to the girls and tell them I will see them next week.

I get in Jaden’s sleek, white Porsche, and he heads toward Nate’s house. “I’m sorry about Nate back there. He can come across as confusing and moody,” he says.

“It’s not your fault, you don’t need to apologize for him. I can see there is something inside that he battles every day, but he won’t let me in.”

He sighs. “We all battle something inside, Giselle. We just need to trust the people we are around in order to open up sometimes. I can see that person could be you, what you did back there for those girls just shows you’re a great person inside. I think he was just shocked you did it but knowing now where you’re from changes things.”

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