“I mean, he’s my…cowboy.”Double shit.
Now Brayden smirks.
I take a deep breath, forcing myself to sound calm when I say, “Brayden works here. And my fiancé is…not coming, like I told you.”
Elroy grips tightly onto Brayden’s muscled bicep. “So dance with him instead. He’ll do just fine!”
Chapter Seven
“I’m actually working. I just came up to grab a box,” Brayden says immediately.
“Nonsense.” Elroy frowns. “Poor Leleila has been stood up. Be her man for the night.”
If only there were a way for me to magically disappear in a cloud of smoke…instead, I stand silently while Brayden freezes. I mean hefreezes.
So Elroy takes charge. “Okay, so that’s settled. Let’s get stretching, shall we?”
I tell Elroy no three times. All three times, he overrides my excuses.
“I’ll go talk to June and make sure she knows,” he says in response to my first concern. “I’ve known her for years. It will be fine.”
“But Phillip won’t know the steps…”
“You can teach your fiancé the steps later,” Elroy insists. “This way, you won’t fall behind the class. This nice young man here—” He winks at Brayden, “I’m sure he’d be happy to dance with such a beautiful lady. Wouldn’t you, sir?”
Brayden stuffs his hands into his jeans pockets, his gaze anywhere but on me. For someone who normally doesn’t take his eyes off me, his awkwardness is palpable.
“You really don’t have to do this,” I tell Brayden hurriedly. “I’ll just head home and come back next week with Phillip.”
But Elroy has paged June, who comes up the stairs, takes one look at the scene in front of her and, with a smile on her face, immediately tells Brayden he’s off the clock.
“What?” I say to her. “That’s ridiculous. He doesn’t want to dance!”
“I do,” Brayden says instantly.
I jerk my head to meet his deep blue gaze.
He steps closer to me. “I’ll dance with you as long as it’s okay with you and your fiancé that I fill in.”
I stare at him, but he meets my shaking gaze steadily and without hesitation.
“Um…” I take a few steps toward the stairs. “I’ll just call Phillip to let him know.”
* * *
When Phillip answers my call, he says in a short tone, “Hi Lei, I’m really sorry about tonight, but is this urgent? I’m in the middle of my meeting.”
“Not urgent,” I say. “I just…one of the guys who works at June’s store has offered to fill in for you as my dance partner tonight. I wanted to see if you’re okay with that.”
“Why wouldn’t I be?” His voice is thin and impatient. “This isn’t a big deal, honey. Learn the dance with him, and then you can catch me up later. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Was that all?”
I clench the phone in my hand. “Yep. That’s all.”
“See you at home later. Bye, hon.”
