He raced back down the stairs, grabbed the last glass of red wine left in the bottle and settled himself on the sofa. Tonight had been so perfect; Ellie had curled up in her bed, warts and all (she had point-blank refused to take them off) and with such a satisfied smile on her face, that he had to declare their first ever Cornish Halloween a complete success. Although he had a horrid feeling she might never eat another apple unless it was presented to her in a bowl of water first.
He looked across at the blanket Sylvie had left on her end of the sofa. It wasn’t very manly, but it was practically November. He grabbed it, and the remote, turned on the TV and foundDraculajust in time.
As he covered himself in the blanket, he could smell the very scent of her. He scrunched it up, lifted to his face and breathed deep. This was ridiculous. What had happened to Alex McKenzie, man’s man? A couple of months in Cornwall and he was watching ballet and sniffing blankets.
The music started and before he knew it he was hypnotized. He had always imagined ballet to be pink and white tutus and gentle romance. This was not that. This was black and red and smoke and suspense. The dancers were incredible the way they flung themselves across the stage. How they managed todo what they were doing with their toes, let alone their entire bodies, was beyond him. Surely no one with normal joints could possibly do that?
The story was dark, compelling, and he was pulled right in when there, and with no warning, his Sylvie was dancing across the screen, red hair loose, eyes fixed and convoluting her body with such a sensuality he didn’t know what to do with himself. He couldn’t pull his eyes away, entranced by her movement, her fluidity. She was like nothing he had ever seen. How could someone flow like that? Contort her body into such extreme positions, practically fly through the air as if she were on wires? Not to mention that every movement was so goddamn sensual. And then be doing the walk to school as if she was just like everyone else?
The power behind her body was phenomenal and as Dracula came up on the stage, all ebony and scarlet, power and threat, Alex wanted to be able to jump in, rescue her from what was inevitable. His glass remained in his hand, untouched as he just stared at the screen, forcing himself to remember this was a well-known story and that she was playing a part.
As Dracula seized her and the two danced a battle of wills, he found himself both enchanted and wildly jealous. He wasn’t used to jealousy, hadn’t really experienced it since school. But right now, he could imagine her twined around him like that, twisting her curves across his body. Not in opposition but in tandem, meshed together, moving in rhythm…
He realized how tightly he was gripping the stem of the glass and knocked back the remaining liquid whilst reminding himself that her performance was exactly that, and jealousy or lust were not emotions he could afford to feel right now. Yet still he couldn’t take his eyes off the screen.
Chapter Twenty-five
Summer had fought a good fight but the sea had turned from blue to grey, and the leaves were now rich orangey browns and were providing the most delicious scrunch underfoot as Sylvie walked Sam into school, his little ears and neck encased in wool and wrapped up warm.
She was loving this new stage of their lives. Her job was so much fun, it wasn’t like work at all; the kids were adorable and although each teacher had their quirks she had a sneaking fondness for them all. She woke every morning feeling so damned lucky to have been welcomed into the bosom of this school so quickly, and as she returned through the great granite doorway after half-term she was itching to get back to it.
A couple of weeks ago the governors had approved her use of the hall on Saturdays so half-term had been largely spent with Alex and Ells, and on the very first weekend littering so many flyers for her new classes around the village that her mobile had been on fire all week. In a slightly less tangible fashion, having a best friend again was pretty special. Even though that best friend was the most gorgeous and most off-limits man she had ever met.
For the sake of her sanity and all the support he provided in her, and Sam’s, life she needed to firmly keep him in the friendzone. Indulging only in daydreams and never in real life, increasingly hard the more time they spent together and not helped by the fact he was now the first thing she thought about in the morning and the last thing at night. The way he laughedwhen they were together and the way she occasionally caught him looking at her and…
‘Hello, miss! Are we getting the bars out today?’
‘Oh, hello, Alfie, Harry. Not today, I’m not with your class until tomorrow morning, but I will get them out then. You can see if you can get all the way to the top using those circles – you were so close last week, weren’t you?’
‘Oh, it’s going to be easy, miss. I know I can do it this week. See you later then. Sam, are you coming?’
‘Yeah, bye, Mum. See you later!’ and Sam sped off with his classmates, all three of them clattering as they went, bags, so big for their little frames, wobbling on their backs as they ran.
She headed up to the staffroom to make herself a coffee before she started work. On Mondays she had Amanda’s class after morning assembly, and Sarah’s after breaktime. Both were going to have a first go at hockey today and she couldn’t help but smile at the irony of her teaching it, her least favourite sport when she was at school. She would definitely be keeping a very firm hand on anyone who got a bit too happy with their sticks; she could remember the battered ankles as if it were yesterday.
‘Oh, hello.’ Marion burst into the staffroom, and seeing that it was empty apart from Sylvie, she knew there was no chance she was addressing anyone else. Marion had been even more stand-offish since the evening at Alex’s, brushing past her haughtily as she made her way through school, her minions trailing behind and never feeling the need to say hello up until this point. She had notablynottaken up Sylvie’s offer of help with the PTA.
‘Hello,’ Sylvie answered, wondering what was in store.
‘How are things going?’
‘Well, thank you. Um, would you like a coffee?’
‘Oh no, don’t worry about that. Sarah will be in in a minute – she can be a little tardy, but she’ll sort all that out.’
‘It’s no problem, I’m happy to.’
‘Honestly, don’t worry. Now tell me all about you. I understand you’re running ballet lessons here. I knew you were a dancer in London but I…’ she tinkled a very scary sounding laugh, ‘…I think I must have misunderstood, I thought you were more on the exotic side of things. But actually you were aballetdancer for quite a reputable company?’
‘Yes, I was. I loved it. We got to travel the world.’ Sylvie didn’t know why she felt she needed to add that bit, but she had.
‘Quite, very glamorous. So, tell me, dear, why did you leave, and come back home? I understand your mother, dear woman, recently passed away, but you seem to have settled here. Put down roots?’
‘Um… yes. Did you know my mum?’
Scary tinkle. ‘No. But I knewofher, of course. Everyone said she was a lovely lady, lovely.’
‘She was.’
