“Kirby,” I say his name, “I want to apologize for what you overheard.” His eyes stare into mine as my heart hammers in my chest and I try to calm it down.
“It’s fine, Lexi,” he says. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone thought that of me. Won’t be the last.”
“They would be wrong,” I quickly add in. “We should never judge a book by its cover. We never know what the other person is going through.”
“I guess we don’t,” he says and all I can do is nod at him, not sure what to say, when the back door opens and the dance instructor comes into the room. “The beauty has arrived,” he tells me, coming to me, putting his glasses on top of his head, and kissing me on both cheeks. “How are you, darling?”
“I’m good, David.” I smile at him. “How are you doing? How is Ivan doing?” I mention his husband.
“He’s probably at home in his garden.” He rolls his eyes. “Who do we have here?” he asks, looking over at Kirby. “A man with muscle.” He folds one arm across his front and puts the other hand to his face, his finger on his chin. “So big and buff.” I can’t help but throw my head back and laugh when Kirby just smirks at him. “I’m going to have fun watching you wiggle those hips.”
“I look forward to showing you that these hips don’t wiggle,” Kirby retorts as David turns his head to the side and shrugs one shoulder. “They have never wiggled in their life.”
“Well, prepare to be fascinated,” David tells him and then stops talking when the back door opens and five of his female dancers come into the room, while the front door opens and the guys all come trickling in.
“Don’t you dare leave my side,” I hear Kirby say in my ear.
“Aww, what’s the matter, Kirby?” I surprise myself by teasing him with the biggest smile on my face. “Afraid of what your hips can do? I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
His eyes are light and he just smiles at me. “Are you going to dance?” he asks me and I shake my head.
“Dancing and I don’t go hand in hand, sadly,” I admit to him, “and it’s not for the lack of trying. I’ve watched almost every season of Dancing with the Stars and each time I think I can do it, I can’t.” I shrug.
“I find that very hard to believe,” he counters, putting his phone in his back pocket. “You seem to excel in everything you do.”
“Well, I’m here to say it’s just an illusion.” I fold my arms over my chest.
“I don’t know about that.” He looks around, his eyes dancing, knowing that his next words are going to make me do something I don’t want to do. “I dare you to prove me wrong.”
six
Kirby
I watch her eyes and see the guard she always has up slip away. In its place is a lightness I don’t think she knows is even there anymore. A lightness that was probably there a while ago but has been dimmed because of the piece of shit she’s married to. The type of man who needs to dim her light in order to shine.
“I don’t know about that.” I look around us to make sure no one else is listening and it could get back to her husband, hoping my next words aren’t going to push her back into the timid person she is around other people, but instead let her have fun. “I dare you to prove me wrong.”
She rolls her eyes. “Oh please, I dare you.” She shakes her head. “You sound like my brother or better yet one of my cousins.”
“Lexi,” David says her name. “I want you to come here and be my muse,” he adds, and she immediately shakes her head.
“Absolutely not,” she retorts, “you have professional dancers right there.” She points to the group of women off to the side who are standing around waiting for his instruction.
“Come, come, come.” He motions with his hand to her.
“Let’s see what you got, Petrov.” I use her maiden name and wait for her to correct me, but she just puts her shoulders back and takes a step toward David.
“David,” she says his name, looking around, and the guard is back in her eyes, “this is…” She looks at the guys, then looks back at David. “I have two left feet.”
“You do not,” he scoffs at her words. “Who told you that?”
I can answer right away who told her that, but instead, I stand here watching her be scared of doing something that should be fun. “Now,” David says, flicking his wrist and holding it up straight, “we waltz.”
“Waltz?” Darryl questions. “That sounds complicated.”
The guys laugh. “It’s simple,” David assures us as we watch him with Lexi. “Basic steps,” he lists, looking at the guys, “box step, closed step, and a natural turn.” He acts as if we understand. “We start with box step.” He grabs Lexi. “Man starts with the right foot forward.” He does the move and Lexi moves her right foot back. “Left foot slide to the side, right foot follows.”
“Okay, that doesn’t look too bad,” one of the guys states.
