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“Come on, Ophelia, what do you see?”

“You,” she says, and damn, that’s not the answer I expected or wanted to hear. Although I have to admit that it’s nice.

“And who else?” I ask, my voice suddenly hoarse.

She bites her lower lip, something she does quite often and which will definitely be my undoing at some point, because that tiny change in her expression sends heat rushing through me and makes me hard every time.

“Me,” she says, sounding a little annoyed. “You and me.”

“Right.” My lips brush her jawline, and the corners of her mouth lift into a smile. My cock twitches.

“What exactly is that supposed to tell me?”

I grin at her. “Nothing. I lost my train of thought. Maybe I just like looking at you and hope you do too.”

“I hate you,” she murmurs, still smiling, not serious. She jabs me in the ribs with her elbow. I groan and double over, even though it didn’t hurt at all. She’s playing a game now, so I play along.

It would be a little easier if she hated me, but we said goodbye to “easy” and “uncomplicated” this morning at the latest, when she asked me what was going on between us and I answered a little too honestly. I should have told her it was just about sex. I wouldn’t risk my job for just sex though, and I think that’s more than clear to both of us.

You shouldn’t risk your job at all. Not for a girl. Not for anyone.

I ignore the warning voice in my head. “Dance with me.”

Lia’s eyes widen, and for a moment she actually looks surprised. “What?”

I reach for her hands. “Dance with me, Ophelia. Be the Swan Princess and let me be your prince.” What the hell am I saying? I have no clue, but it’s too late to take the words back.

“You’re not a prince,” she objects, sounding way too convinced. She’s right. She knows about Isabel. She knows what happened. But still, she has no idea.

“No, I’m not,” I confirm, my voice dropping an octave. “But let’s pretend I am today anyway. Let’s try to get out what’s inside you. I know there’s a lot there, and I know you can do it. I know you can dance the lead. Don’t be afraid of your feelings, Ophelia. Trust me. What you feel is what makes you who you are.”

Her gaze meets mine, and a wild storm of emotion rages in her green eyes. She doesn’t hide them from me. It’s everything I want, and at the same time, it scares the hell out of me, which is pretty ironic when I’ve asked her not to be afraid of the same thing.

That’s different.

“You can’t say that,” she whispers, and the uncertainty in her voice makes my chest tighten.

“Yes, I can. Because it’s true.” She closes her eyes briefly as I run my thumb over the back of her hand. “Now dance with me.”

She deserves to end the day without thinking about how things didn’t work with Tyler. I don’t want her to feel like she failed again.

Lia hesitates for a moment and then nods.

I let go of her, and we get into position. I look for the right song, and when we take the first step together, I immediately notice that something has changed. She’s different than she was with Tyler earlier.

Still the same girl, still just as beautiful, but she’s not hiding her feelings anymore. Now she’s feeling all of Odette’s emotions and letting them show. She embodies the character completely, beautiful and graceful.

We dance with racing hearts and flowing steps. Her eyes are fixed on mine. Everything is out of control but completely right. The world blurs around us, and there’s only the two of us now.

Nothing else matters.

Not today, not tomorrow. Not the whole next week, when she sleeps at my place almost every night. Not on the afternoons we spend rehearsing, sometimes with Tyler but mostly without him. The days without him work better. Not completely smoothly, but better.

We’re in our own world up in the little studio under the roof, and absolutely nothing else matters.

And then, on the second Friday after we started rehearsals, I look at my phone and see that Clark called.

I call him back, and the conversation lasts less than three minutes, but it changes everything.