I don’t answer him. I can’t. I’m way too on edge to deal with him right now. I glance at Sloane, hoping to find some idea of what I’m walking into. “What’s going on?” I ask nervously.
“Don’t look so worried, Daisy, come and take a seat.” She smiles at me, looking relaxed and not like she’s about to fire me.
I sit tentatively. Cruz crashes down beside me, plonking his feet up on the coffee table again. He’s so close his jeans press into the side of my leg, and I know that’s what he wants, to make sure I know he’s here.
Asher comes to my other side, the two of them trapping me between them. What we must look like to Sloane. I try to block the thought from my head, even though I see the way she assesses us, that smirk like she knows way too much.
“I had a chat with Jagger this morning, and he tells me you’re only able to stay in the country for three months on your tourist visa, is that right?” she asks.
“Yes,” I respond, wondering where she’s going with this and why Jagger was talking to her about what I told him in private.
She nods. “Do you want to stay longer?”
“I would love to if it were possible, but it’s not.”
Asher’s hand settles on my thigh, and he brushes his fingers lightly over my bare skin. “There is always a workaround, little princess. Sometimes you just have to know the right people to make it happen,” he says, sounding way too excited for my liking.
I keep my focus on Sloane. “What are you talking about?”
“We did a little research this morning, and I think you’re going to like what Cruz came up with.”
I glance at him, and he smiles like a Cheshire cat. “You want to dance, right?” he asks, already knowing the answer.
I sigh heavily. “Not this again Cruz, I’m not quitting my job here.”
“You won’t have to, Daisy,” Sloane cuts in, a look of determination in her eyes I don’t quite understand.
It’s then I panic because I think I know where they’re going with this by Cruz’s crazy happy expression. “I’m not marrying one of these assholes.” I don’t know where it comes from, maybe the way the boys are both grinning at me or just the tension in the air. Or the fact that my family has only ever seen me as useful as someone’s wife, nothing more.
Sloane bursts out laughing, slapping her thigh as she loses it. “I wouldn’t either,” she agrees.
Asher looks wounded for the second time today, and I really hope that wasn’t their grand idea. “Harsh, princess.”
Cruz rests his arm on my shoulder, kissing my cheek as if totally unaffected by my insult toward him or his sister sitting right across from us. “You know you want to take my last name, baby.”
Sloane collects a cushion and tosses it in his direction. “Stop playing around, you’re scaring her. No girl wants your last name,” she teases. “Cruz found something better. There is a college just one town over that has a performing arts academy. They take mature-age students, and we might just be able to get you an F-1 student visa so you can stay in the country. You can keep working for me if you want, but it will just have to be on the down-low, as the visa doesn’t let you work here.”
My mouth pops open, and I gape back at her. I think I’m in shock. I thought I was too old to ever study dance. I had given up on this dream the day I was forced to marry Valentine. Could this really be a possibility?
“You don’t need to work at all, little darlin’. We will cover all your living expenses,” Cruz adds, making me glare at him. “What? We will.”
“I don’t need you covering anything for me,” I say, a little bitchier than I should since he was the genius who came up with this plan. But I need to make it crystal clear right now, I don’t want to owe any of them anything.
Asher’s hand brushes over my thigh, bringing my attention to him. “What do you think, little princess? Is this what you want?” His eyes are filled with hope in a way that makes me not want to disappoint him.
“I want to dance.”
“Then I’m a genius.” Cruz laughs.
I nibble my bottom lip, a small slither of excitement seeping under my skin. “Isn’t there a full enrolment process? I will need references from past dance schools and proof of prior education. I don’t have any of that.”
“Normally yes, but we know someone who will vouch for you and, luckily for you, she’s a good friend of one of the founding members of the school. They’re taking enrolments now for next semester. You will have to perform an audition to prove you can dance, but we all know you will ace that.” Sloane grins, her pretty face lighting up with excitement for me.
My heart kicks up a beat at the possibilities this could open up for me. I know I told Cruz to stay out of it, and part of me is annoyed he didn’t listen to me. The other part wants to throw my arms around him and kiss his stupid face because this could change my life.
“I’ll take that smile as a yes.” Sloane grins back at me.
“What do I have to do?” I almost squeal with excitement as the reality of what they are all telling me sinks in.
