Once Upon A Diamond (Prince Uncharming Book 1) (5 page)

“Okay. Okay.” His brows furrowed as though Greg was calculating all the ways he could find her.

A deep satisfaction shouldn't have thrummed through her veins. He'd told her their attraction couldn't lead to more. His intent to find her again could have everything to do with adding another notch on his belt to reinforce he wasn't damaged goods—someone a woman would and could walk away from at the altar.

But Gregory Woods was...she didn't know. Not really, and she wanted to know him. She pushed out a breath and relaxed against her desk. “So...see you around?”

“Definitely,” he said, his voice dark and unmovable.

CHAPTER FOUR

Like Greg had done a few days before, Drew glared up at the sign above the building. In his cousin's defense, this was the fourth dance studio they'd trolled in the past few days.

Drew dragged his hands down his face. “Okay. I know I asked you this before but are you sure she said to stalk her?”

Greg gave his cousin a blank stare. “I'm not stalking her.”

His cousin pinched the bridge of his nose. “In the barest technical sense.”

Scraping together a semblance of calm, he replied, “I would have to actually know where she is to stalk her.” He moved toward the door, anxiety nipping at his heels to get inside.
This
studio would be the one where he'd find her.

Drew stepped in front of him, blocking the entrance. “You do know where she is. Three blocks from the university. In her jewelry store.”

It was his turn to glare because they had talked about this. “Sure,” he said with all the patience he could muster, “but that's not where I'm supposed to find her.”

“I don't mind helping you, but I want to know why. Is this for sex?”

Did he want to have sex with Yvonne? Hell yes. Their kiss hadn't been enough, at all. When she'd touched him, he'd forgotten everything including the past. It was just him and her standing in her office. He could have taken her there on the desk if she'd been open to it.

But he'd told her the truth. He wasn't ready for more. So his cousin had a valid question. What were they doing chasing down a woman this hard? He liked her, but could it be that simple?

“I don't know,” Greg answered honestly.

Something had happened between the moment he'd said good bye to her that last time and when he’d woke up the next morning with a fierce need to find Yvonne outside of her shop.

It wasn't that she made him
want
, but she made him laugh. He put his head in his hands and sighed. “You're right,” he said to his cousin.

“I was just asking the question. If you don't want to keep doing this, fine. If you do, I'm for it. I...” Drew sighed.

Greg dropped his hands and met his cousin's gaze. “What?”

Drew shifted his stance his expression forming into grimace. “What happened with Abigail isn't your fault.”

He stepped back, shaking his head not wanting to take a stroll through that minefield. “I don't—”

“She bailed on you,” Drew said not bothering to pull the sucker punch.

Those words hit and he took another step back. “Get to the point or I might punch you.”

“And that's it. You're not that guy. But you're taking this shit like you are. The Greg that I know is straight-forward. He would have gone to Yvonne's shop with flowers or some other sappy crap and asked her out. I would have made fun of you for it, but you wouldn't care. You say what you mean and mean what you say.”

Abigail had told him there was no spark, no
there, there
in their relationship. He wasn't just a good guy but the perfect guy—the one every woman should fall for. There was nothing wrong with him but deep in her gut she felt, knew he wasn't the one for her.

How in the fuck could he fix that? How could he know the next woman wouldn't feel the same. Sex was easier. Emotional crap was where he had doubts, questions. He was supposed to move on. He was supposed to not care. But he'd gotten down on one knee and asked a woman to take his last name, to be his forever. And gotten his teeth kicked in. How could that not screw with his head?

Greg sucked in air, held it and blew it back out. “All I know is that I want her more than anything right now.”

Drew let out a laugh that sounded really bitter. “She's the one thing you can't have.” His cousin muttered the next so low, Greg had to strain to hear him, “Yeah. I know that feeling.”

Greg shook his head. “Let's go in. If she's not there, then I'll go back to my old self.”

But you can't
a small voice whispered in his head.

Drew frowned at him. “So it's not just sex?”

He shrugged in reply. “It is what it will be.”

“Stop being philosophical. You know that confuses me.”

Greg laughed. The man was his best friend and he knew him better than most. Drew was more in tune to the world and himself than he’d admit. “Shut up and move.”

Drew put up his hands and stepped aside. “If she's not here, I'm driving you to her store. I have better things to do with my life than driving around town looking for a woman I'm not even going to sleep with.”

Greg paused with his hand on the door. “You came with me just to be the peanut gallery.”

“True, but still. It stopped being amusing two stops ago.”

“And yet that hasn't stopped you from putting down the groundwork to sleep with any of the dancers we've met.”

Drew smirked. “I like to multitask.”

Greg stepped inside the dance studio. He hadn't realized he'd been holding his breath until he didn't see her. Women filled the studio. Some chatted, some were stretching but they all wore stockings and what he imagined was ballerina workout gear—long loose shirts, hair buns and pink flat shoes.

Many gave them sidelong glances as they settled into the chairs on the opposite side of the wooden bar and mirror. None approached them or got on their phones to call the police or protective husbands. He took that as a good sign.

Eventually Drew's smile enticed a few to come over and ask questions, flirt and other things Greg didn't pay too much mind to. He was too busy watching the door. The class started in thirty minutes and that meant there was still time for Yvonne to show up.

Drew whispered, “This is the right place.”

He dragged his attention away from the door for only a second. “What?”

“While you were sitting there daydreaming about her and ignoring me, I actually asked someone.”

Greg straightened in his chair. “Was this before or after you asked this woman out for drinks?”

Drew looked at him like he was dumb. “Before.”

He opened his mouth to reply when the studio door opened. Yvonne wore a long shirt, one sleeve hung lower on her shoulder. The gray shirt had worn edges and she'd topped it off with black tights and running shoes. She also wore her hair in a bun. Yvonne should have looked like the rest of the women in the class, but to him she was beautiful. He could feel the stares on them. By now all the women would know why he was here.

Yvonne frowned and then let her gaze scan the room. When she got to him, her smile said, “The things I'm going to do to you later.”

He approved of the smile so he leaned back and crossed his arms. “Good to see you.”

She slipped her gym bag off her shoulder, walking toward him. “How many places did you get kicked out of for looking like a creeper?”

He gestured his thumb toward his cousin. “That's why he's here.”

“Drew, I assume. The charmer.” She offered her hand. His cousin took it, his expression unreadable.

“Nice to finally meet you.”

Her gaze drifted back to Greg's. “Do you often take your cousin when you're hunting down women?”

He had for many years. Not exactly something he was proud of. “Figured he could smooth over any ruffled feathers.”

She lifted a brow. “Safe answer.”

“True answer,” he threw back.

She glanced at Drew and then shook her head. “You could have just come to the shop.”

“Yeah.”

She bit her lip. “Well, settle in. Class is about an hour long. By the end of it, I'll be sweaty and gross. You can ask me out for a drink and pretend you don't find the sight of me drenched in sweat unappealing.”

He let his gaze roam from her breasts to her legs. Those tights left almost nothing to the imagination. Her ass was firm but he had no doubt it would be as soft as her breasts. So Yvonne drenched in sweat...
yeah
. “Not likely.”

Her eyes widened. “Well...” she sounded breathless and then turned to move to the rest of the dancers.

Drew whistled. “You just eye-fucked the dog shit out of her. I think my work here is done, because you're probably going to do it the entire hour.”

Greg snorted and clasped his hands behind his head to settle in for the show. “Probably. Catch up with you later?”

“I know that look. I will see you in about a month.”

He gave his cousin a sharp look. “What?”

“Nothing. Happy hunting.”

He frowned at his cousin's back and then let his attention stray to Yvonne. She'd taken off her shirt and wore a glorified sports bra. That left her stomach bare. Her brown skin almost looked golden under the florescent lights. She was fit and lush and in a glorified sports bra.

The next hour was going to be pure torture. He shifted in the chair to get more comfortable and waited for the torment to begin.

*****

To Yvonne's surprise, her friend Jessica waited five full minutes before she moved next to her on the barre. Her friend had actually given her time to put on her
pointe
shoes sans an interrogation.

Jessica's dark locks were pinned into a sloppy bun. Sweat or no sweat, she wore waterproof mascara and a touch of lipstick. The former gave her brown eyes a doe-like quality. The rich plum shade of lipstick only highlighted her dark-toned skin.

“So who’s this tall, dark and handsome stranger?” The words were clipped and as always Jessica's voice sounded husky.

A client
, Yvonne started to reply but he was more than that by now. “A man who kissed my lips off yesterday.” Yvonne grinned when Jessica lost her balance.

She continued to stretch and gave her friend time to come up with a suitable reply. “Okay,” Jessica said. “So why is this the first time I'm hearing about him?”

“I've been busy. We just met. Take your pick.”

“What's wrong with him? If he was a good prospect, you'd have called me right away.”

He was broken and she didn't try to fix men. She also didn't believe a man would somehow magically change because of love. Never had. What she got is what she had, and pretty much she would have to make peace with the man as is or walk.

Yvonne had never reached that “make peace” part of the theory. “Does it matter? We're going to have fun with each other.”

Jessica narrowed her eyes. “Are these lies that you're telling yourself? You never bring a man to class.”

“I didn't bring him. Technically.”

“What does that even mean?”

She gave her friend the short version. By the end of it, they'd run through their leg stretches. Jessica said, “Either that was one hell of a kiss or he's stalked women before.”

Yvonne shook her head. “He's a financial analyst. He's a gambler at heart. He couldn't turn away from a challenge.”

“Don't they just look at numbers and give advice?”

“He looked at the risks—me. Considered his odds. Made a choice.”

“Sounds romantic.”

“It is, because I'm not a sure thing or a safe bet. And still, where is he? How is he looking at me?”

Jessica had no chill. She looked right at him, held his gaze for five seconds and then said, “Like he's going to flip you onto his bed and do things you can't repeat without getting flustered.”

Yvonne's smile was slow but no less bright. “Exactly.”

She whistled and shook her head. “You're playing with fire.”

She'd definitely thought about that the past few nights. At some point she’d had to kick off her covers because she was too hot at the truth of that. “Maybe.”

Surprise laced her friend's voice, “You don't sound scared.”

That in and of itself should have put a sliver of fear in her heart. She was being foolhardy. She let herself watch him out of the corner of her eye. Looking at him directly, especially the way his gaze was just gobbling her up, would force her to grab the barre for support. “He's not a safe bet, but he's safe.”

Her friend's brows went up and she wore an are-you-crazy expression. “You know this how?”

The question not the look, gave her pause. “You know I'm not touchy-feely.”

Jessica's eyes widened. “I'm shocked you're even using that word.”

“
Right?
But I just know.”