Hope Unbroken (Unveiled Series Book 3) (16 page)

“The keeping it a secret part?” Which he was definitely gonna hear about.

“That too, now that you mention it.” His dimples sank beneath his cheekbones. “Just think. Now you can ask Biggie Rey for some dancing tips.”

He had to remind me of the dance, didn’t he? One of the crew members shuffled by, carrying a drum. A. J. was lucky I didn’t shove his head straight into it.

“It’s not funny. You’ve seen me try to dance.”

“It’s choreographed. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

Choreographed or not, I still had to dance in front of hundreds of people. “If an absolute nightmare waiting to happen qualifies as fine, then yeah, you’re right.”

There were those stinking dimples again. “Relax, Rosy. You’ve got a killer dance partner.”

That was what worried me the most.

A. J. caught the corner of a speaker about to fall off a dolly and jumped right in, helping to bring the rest of the equipment to the back.

Rubbing my arms, I stared at the bus—half-flustered that Riley hadn’t told me about it, half-overwhelmed by the ways he loved me, but mostly moved that we weren’t fighting this battle alone. The center was going to be okay.

My favorite sideways smile appeared around the bus’s front bumper.

“You.” I scrunched my lips and squinted.

“Sorry, can’t help myself. That adorable look is worth it every time.” He hopped over the curb and met me on the sidewalk.

I shoved him in the arm.

He stumbled backward, still laughing. “You’re not really mad, are you?”

Madly in love with him. I hooked a finger through his belt loop and drew him close. “I can’t believe you thought to do this. Thank you. I . . .” Tears welled up and swallowed my voice.

“I’m not the only one whose dreams matter.” He lifted my chin. “We’re in this together, right?”

Dolly wheels squeaked behind us. A guy from Biggie Rey’s crew headed back to the bus for more equipment. The sight of A. J. tailing him reignited my earlier apprehension about Jaycee’s wedding party plans.

I kept my eyes on Riley. He was right. We were in this together. All of it.
Please let him remember that when I have to dance with A. J.

chapter twenty-one

Dance Off

“Sorry,” I said after stepping on A. J.’s foot for the umpteenth time.

Jaycee knew heels and I rarely made a good combination. Add dance moves into the mix, and it was a recipe for disaster. Especially when my mind was still reeling from the benefit concert. The awareness it’d stirred for the center would’ve been enough all by itself, but to have raised five thousand dollars in only a couple of hours?

A pair of shimmery Palazzo pants flittered by us as our dance instructor followed Jaycee’s signal to pause the MP3 player. “’Kay, guys. Let’s start from the top.
Again.
”

“Jae, I told you this was a bad idea.” I pulled my hair tie loose, flipped my head over, and doubled the band around another attempt at a ponytail. “If we can just practice without heels, I might be able to—”

“You’re going to be dancing in heels.” She marched straight up to us. “You might as well practice in them.”

“Now, now, ladies.” A. J. patted us both on the back. “We don’t need any cat fights tonight.”

Jaycee and I shared a glance long enough to wink in agreement and both turned at the same time to punch A. J. in the shoulders. He didn’t so much as stumble backward. Stupid muscles. He laughed his way across the floor to Trevor.

I dawdled in front of Jaycee, flexing my ankles back and forth to the ground. It didn’t matter if I hated heels. This was important to her. “Sorry.”

“Me too.”

A. J. reemerged by my side. “Don’t worry, Jae. I’m on it.” He stood tall with his feet together like a soldier reporting for duty. “Nothing a few private dance lessons can’t cure.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not gonna happen, buddy.”

His stubborn smile begged to differ.

Our dance instructor clapped her hands. “Places, everyone.” If her mousy voice weren’t comical enough, her sweatbands topped it off.

She cued the music from the top. A. J. opened his frame in an invitation to join him. “Shall we?”

I grudgingly took his hand.

He leaned forward. “Try to relax. Let me do the leading.”

The instructor walked by right as I opened my mouth to offer some grandiose rebuttal. “Back straight, shoulders down.” She lifted my chin. “Head up. That’s it.”

I held the pose until she passed. It took everything in me not to smack the grin off A. J.’s face. “You’re really enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“You have no idea.” His smile stretched so far, I wasn’t sure how he managed to make his jaw work.

It was like reliving our basketball game all over again. God, I hated letting him win.

The instructor glided across the dance hall, weaving around the evenly spaced-out couples. “Now, feel the beat of the music. Let it guide your steps. And don’t forget to count. One, two, three. One, two, three.”

Her sentences flowed like melodic chants. Seriously, how many yoga classes had this chick sat in on? I feigned a compliant smile as she floated past us again.

A. J. rested my hand over his chest. “C’mon, Em. Let the beat guide your steps.” He tapped his finger over mine. “
Gu-gung, gu-gung
.”

“And who are you supposed to be? Patrick Swayze?”

He busted out laughing.

Ms. Jane Fonda whipped a troubled glare in our direction and cleared her throat.

A. J. straightened and drew me into position again. “Hey,” he whispered, “don’t make me break out my real dance moves. The kids were giving me lessons on Saturday. I got skills that’ll make you dizzy.”

“Ahem. No talking on the dance floor, please. Stay in step. One, two, three,” she practically hummed. “Yes, that’s it. Very good.”

Her ethereal pants flowed behind her as she glided past us.

Hmm, a yoga dance instructor fairy. A. J. was lucky she didn’t have a wand I could steal from her.

As soon as she faded from view, I smirked at him. “You wish you had moves like that. If I weren’t in these heels, you’d be the dizzy one.”

Did he just snort?

He dished out another haughty smile. “Let’s not forget the last time you tried to beat me. I seem to remember that being somewhat of an . . .” He twirled me across the floor and drew me back in until I almost bumped him in the face. “. . .
Embarrassing
moment for you.”

What I would’ve given to throw a basketball at his gut right about then. I pitched my nose in the air and looked away from him. “You had an unfair advantage.”

He drew me even closer. “You mean, like now?”

Ms. Fairy Queen floated by us on another celestial sweep around the room. “Lovely hold. Very nice.”

The couple to our right obscured her behind them. I stomped on A. J.’s foot while I had the chance. “Sorry.” I wrenched my shoulders in the air. “Slipped.”

The music slowed to an instrumental close. I curtseyed and returned the same impish smile following A. J.’s bow.

He applauded my successful completion of the dance and leaned forward. “See? You
can
do it. All you need is a little distraction.”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. He’d egged me on because he knew it’d keep my mind off the moves. After everything, he was still rescuing me when I needed it.

He spun past me on his way toward the bag he’d tossed in the corner of the room when he’d first arrived. Instead of stopping in the bathroom to change, he tossed the bag over his shoulder and headed for the exit. “It’s been fun,” he said, “but I need to get going. I have a date I can’t miss.”

“A date?”

He wheeled around, chuckling with something resembling flattery. “Don’t sound so surprised, Rosy.”

“I’m not.” In fact, I was relieved. Happy that he’d moved on. That was all I’d ever wanted for him. Happiness.

He reached behind him for the door handle. “I’m taking Andre to a basketball game tonight. Peace offering.” With a wink to match his maddening grin, he disappeared through the door.

A breeze snuck a pair of furled, brown maple leaves inside before the door closed. The cool air blew through my hair and fanned the instructor’s flowy pants as she sailed over to bring Jaycee her MP3 player.

She stopped between us, followed my gaze to the back of the door, and placed her delicate hand on my forearm. “You two make a lovely dance couple. But if I may offer a little piece of advice.” She leaned in close enough to whisper as if trying to spare me from embarrassment. “Don’t be afraid to let him lead.”

I couldn’t help it. I laughed until no sound came out, and the lady’s bewildered expression forced me to bite my tongue.

Jaycee grabbed my arm and steered me in the opposite direction. “Sorry,” she said to the instructor. “The stress is starting to make us all a little delirious.”

I’d regained my composure by the time we made it to the opposite wall. “Sorry, Jae. Her comment . . . the irony . . .”

“Mm hmm,” Jaycee mumbled through a tight-lipped smile. “I think it’s about time you lose those heels. They’re starting to affect your mind.” She tossed me a water bottle and my purse. “C’mon. Let’s get out of here. Starbucks is calling.”

Nothing like a venti chai tonic to put things back in perspective. Jaycee and I were still laughing as we strode up the sidewalk to our apartment, arm in arm. If nothing else, the dance would most certainly end up being entertaining.

Jake met us midway to the door and rubbed his snout under my hand as Riley rose from the porch. “How’d it go?”

I looked down at my sore feet. “Um . . . you mean before or after we had to restart the dance for the hundredth time?”

“She was great. Don’t let her fool you.” Jaycee slanted me a glance. “Just a little stubborn.”

Riley strolled toward us. “Em? Stubborn?”

I shook my head at both of them. “Ha. Ha.”

Expression sobering, he squatted and rustled Jake’s ears. Was he thinking about me dancing with A. J.?

Jaycee looked from Riley to me and jutted her coffee cup toward the door. “I’m going to go get out of these clothes. Think I might hit the gym for a bit.” She breezed past Riley and jogged up to the door with a level of energy that should’ve been zapped after that dance lesson.

The gym? Seriously? Maybe I needed to give the whole coffee buzz thing a try.

Riley stood and tucked his hands in his pockets. Jake lay down beside him and rested his chin over his paws. “Hope you don’t mind me waiting for you.”

“Of course not. But first things first.” I grabbed his arm for balance and stripped off one shoe at a time. “This dance might not be a total disaster if I can manage to stay on my feet.”

He smiled. “Trust me. No one’s going to be looking at your feet.”

I waved off his compliment. “You haven’t even seen my dress yet.”

“I wasn’t talking about your dress.”

Good thing the concrete was freezing. With any luck, the cold seeping into the soles of my feet would drain the heat crawling up my neck. Would we ever reach a point where he’d stop making me blush?

Riley laughed at my expression. “You still have no idea how easily you capture people’s hearts, do you?”

“I’m pretty sure Jaycee will be the one to steal the show on her wedding day.”

“Not for me,” he said without so much as a pause. “Though, seeing her in white might just make me wonder if I’m ever gonna get you in a wedding dress.”

“Is that right?”

He inched closer. “Mm hmm.”

“Mr. Calm and Collected isn’t getting anxious, is he?”

He feigned a look of innocence. “Me? No. I mean, if you don’t count the times when I see you.” He traced his hand down my arm to my fingers. “Or when I hear your voice,” he said while linking both my arms around his back. “Or when I’m close enough to feel your heartbeat.” He shrugged. “Other than that, I’m completely fine.”

“Mm, yes, well, that does pose a problem, doesn’t it?”

“The question is, what should we do about it?”

I scrunched my lips to the side. “We could ditch every reason we have for waiting and fly to Vegas right now.”

He craned his head back. “You’re really trying to test the limits of my perseverance, aren’t you?”

Like he didn’t test mine every single time he looked at me.

His cell rang. He barely tipped it out of his pocket and dismissed the call.

It killed me to watch him ignore calls that were probably far more important than he let on. “Any update on rescheduling the tour?”

“Brett’s working on it,” he said like it was a passing comment about the weather instead of his career.

I backed up. “Riley, please—”

“You know what I’ve been thinking? Why not daydream?”

“Excuse me?”

His fingertips found mine again. “Instead of worrying about all the question marks, why not view them as a chance to dream about the future?” He motioned toward the sky. “Kinda like cloud chasing.”

His eyes brought me back to the first day we spent on the sports field when I’d told him how I used to drag Dad outside to see the shapes in the clouds. From the beginning, he’d made it so easy to open up to him. And had gotten even better at being able to sidetrack me.

He expanded his smile until I returned it. “C’mon, top choice for a honeymoon?”

“Alaska.”

“That was a quick answer.”

“Always wanted to go. All that wide-open space. Pristine landscape.” I shrugged. “My love of the outdoors, I guess.”

He studied me. “Girl after my own heart. Top place to live?”

“Isn’t that a given?”

His forehead pinched, gaze dropping. “We don’t have to move to Nashville. The center . . .”

Couldn’t blame him for not finishing. My own voice faltered at the thought.

Jake’s collar jingled as he snapped his head toward a squirrel scurrying across the street. I squatted to rub his ears, grateful for the distraction. He rolled onto his back and arched his belly for me to pet instead.

“Saying goodbye won’t be easy. But my life’s with you.” I stared absently at the pavement. As much as I wanted to start that life, I wasn’t ready to think about the one I’d be leaving behind.

I pushed off the ground, dragged my hand around Riley’s waistline as I passed, and moseyed up the walkway. Jake lumbered up and trotted after me. “What if we daydream about the wedding part instead?”

“We can start with our vows. You want to write them together?”

Shoulders lifted, I teetered on the balls of my feet. “Actually, I want to be surprised.”

His face went blank. “Sure you didn’t trade places with my fiancée on the way over?”

“What?” I splayed my hands to my sides.

He bent down to pick up my heels and met me at the stoop. “I’m just a little shocked.” He brushed back a strand of my hair that had blown horizontally in the wind. “You—the girl who bruised my arm over the whole Biggie Rey surprise?”

“Oh, stop. I didn’t bruise you. And this is different. We can coordinate some, but I want to hear you say them for the first time when we’re standing at the altar. It means more to me that way. I can’t explain it.”