“Packing.” She said it like it should have been obvious, then turned back to her work.
Panic. She was leaving. Once again, he was losing everything. The floor no longer felt quite so steady under his feet, and he balled his hands into fists, leaning on the doorjamb. His breathing had sped up, but he sucked in a breath, and when he let it out, the words flowed in something close to a roar. “You’releaving?”
She didn’t even flinch. “Donna will fire me if I don’t.”
Since she hadn’t turned to look at him when she spoke, he strode into the room and stood in front of her so he could see her face.
She glanced up at him, then stilled when she saw the bouquet of flowers crushed in his hand. Her eyebrows dipped, and her mouth fell open. Before she could say a word, he tossed them aside, into a corner of the room, and crouched down.
“Kroshka.”He placed his hands over hers, keeping them still. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I yelled, and I’m sorry I ruined the flowers. I was trying to surprise you.”
“You’re fine. I know you yell. I don’t care. I’m Puerto Rican. We yell all the time. And you know who surprised me? Donna. Donna surprised the fuck out of me when she showed up here and threatened tofire me.But the flowers are nice. I like flowers.”
She was babbling, speaking a mile a minute. He leaned in and kissed her, and when he drew back, she had tears in her eyes.
“Dimitri, I can’t.” Her voice was hoarse, and she refused to look at him. Her hands fluttered under his, and she gave a helpless shrug that broke his heart.
“We’ll figure this out,” he told her, striving to sound more confident than desperate. Because if he gave voice to the panickedoh shit she’s leaving she’s leaving she’s leavingrunning through his head, she’d never believe he was the kind of guy who wasn’t afraid of haunted dolls, or whatever the hell Nik had been talking about. He held her hands in his, and ducked his head until she looked him in the eye.
“We will figure this out,” he said, more forcefully this time. “Calm down. Please.”
Her eyes were still round, but she nodded.
“I have to run to meet Alex atKras,but when I get back, we’ll make a plan. Together. Trust me, okay?”
Her gaze fell to the clothing spilling out of her suitcase. “Dimitri, I—”
“Please. Trust me.” He kissed her forehead. Please god, let her be here when he got back. “I’ll get you new flowers.”
Heart in his throat, he ran to his office for the Idea Book. While opening and closing drawers, looking for the binder, he caught sight of the plain folder that housed his contract for next season ofThe Dance Off.
The solution was staring him in the face. If he quit, Natasha could keep her job, and they could stay together.
But if he quit, how would he get his show off the ground? It was the whole reason why he’d joinedThe Dance Offin the first place. He needed the fame to make his next show happen. If he quit, he’d be right back at square one, unable to secure funding for his own work.
He slammed the drawer shut. They would find another way.
After unearthing the Idea Book, he ran out to the car and drove to meet Alex.
40
The second Dimitri’s Porsche drove off, Natasha resumed packing. After finding her phone under a pair of sweat socks, she called Kevin.
He picked up on the second ring. “Tash! What’s up, girl?”
“I need a favor.” She shoved more rolled-up socks into the corners of her suitcase.
“Sure, whatchu need?”
“A ride to the bank.”
A beat of silence. “Yeah, of course. Everything okay?” The joking, pleasant tone had faded from his voice.
“Just please come get me, okay?” Her voice broke, and Kevin’s tone turned instantly alarmed.
“Anything you need. I’ll be right there.”
When Kevin showed up, he didn’t ring the bell. He banged on the door and hollered her name until she made her way over on the crutches to let him in.
