Oh no oh no oh no oh no oh no.
Her lungs and stomach twisted. She couldn’t breathe, she was going to throw up, she could not see anything beyond—
Patrick’s warm hand on her back. His wonderful, trusting, confident face. She met his gaze, and her insides slowly unknit themselves.
“Okay.” Thank God she had managed even that.
“Good. Pick something sassy. You know how Nikita loved the rumba.” And with that, Maria hung up the phone.
Anita stared at it, afraid it might burst into flame. She hoped it would, though none of that would erase the promise she had just made.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Patrick asked quietly, no sarcasm or pretense. His hand was still on her back. She should move, get out of his way. But it was the only thing holding her together.
Breathe. Just breathe. “She asked us to dance the showcase for Nikita’s memorial on Friday night.”
Patrick blanched. “Fuck no! Is she batshit crazy? She knows we only started dancing together a few weeks ago. We’re barely managing our Latin choreo.”
“I couldn’t say no.” She put her head in her hands. “I just couldn’t. She controls the whole thing. She could make my students’ lives hell. She could make my life hell. Why can’t anything be easy right now?” In the past, before competitions, she had limited stress, maximized her sleep and healthy food intake, cut down on outside problems. Now all she had were distractions.
He knelt beside her again. It was a bad idea, to look at him. To see him there, all comforting and warm and smelling of home. It made her want.
“We will be okay.” His fingertips grazed her chin, traced the line of her jawbone. “We can do that one we did in college, for the Ohio Star Ball.”
Her body tensed and heated in an entirely opposite reaction to Maria’s request. Not Hozier. They were not even supposed to dance together that night, but his partner had come down with mono, and—
She couldn’t. She couldn’t think of it. She was hyperventilating as it was.
“Anita? Are you okay?”
Perfect. Just perfect. Not about to burst into flames at just the thought of that dance.
Pull it together. Keep it together.
“Yes.” Okay, at least her voice worked. “Of course. Good idea. At least we don’t have to come up with something new.”
“Great.” He stood and extended his hands to help her. “I think I even still have that costume.”
His touch paralyzed her. There had been this moment all those years ago, the two of them, cocooned in this sensual bubble created by the dance. Anita had not thought about that moment in years, but now, here it was. Wrapping her in heat and promise and lust.
This was not going to go well.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Not wanting to be distracted by the studio construction, they moved their practice to the Lewis High School gym. It coincided with Patrick’s class, and he had a feeling watching Anita dance would be excellent motivation for his kids before the competition.
Though after two and a half hours of trying to perfect a show dance in record time, Patrick wondered if it would be better just to cancel his class. If only for the sake of his glutes, which were one step away from rioting for an ice pack.
This had been either the best or worst idea of his life.
He had thought originally he could contain it. Keep his complete schoolboy undying love separate from the dance.
He was a complete and utter idiot. At this point, he just needed to tell her how he felt and run like hell if she did not feel the same. He only had a few more days before his self-imposed deadline.
The showcase was working. He was surprised so much of it came back to him. It was impossible not to get swept into the drama, the romance of the music itself. Still, it was incredibly physically challenging, almost all tricks and lifts and complicated footwork. Particularly for Anita.
She dropped into a split and let out an “oof!”
“Are you okay?” Patrick panted. He reached out a hand to help her.
