Page 48 of Fools in Love

“Good. Are these for me?” She took the bundle from him.

“Yeah, it pays to have your place right next to Suzie’s,” he joked as his eyes continued to scan her.

“I’m fine,” she said, touching his arm. “Really. I haven’t done anything too strenuous.”

He shook his head. “That’s not it.” His eyebrows rose and fell several times. “I’m just seeing you for the first time in…” He waved his hand towards her. “And may I say, wow.”

She laughed. “I’d do a twirl, but I’m limiting myself today.”

“Good idea.”

Her eyes moved over him. “You’re dressed to work out.”

He shrugged and rolled his eyes. “I thought I’d do some of those stretches you showed me. I’m pretty tense after fighting off the bug.”

“You’ve come to the right place.” She set the roses down on the counter at the back where she had her laptop. Josh had helped her set up software to receive payments that would even automatically charge clients each month for classes. He’d agreed to set up her website and social media pages, and Lilly had emailed him her logos and pictures of her dancing over the years.

They’d put her site information on all the flyers, and she already had people signing up for classes. She received a text message every time someone joined a class.

She moved back over to Tom and, for the next hour, ran through basic stretches and yoga poses with him. She had to admit, he was getting much better at it.

At only one point did she push her injured leg too far. When she was cooling off and tried to get off the floor to stand, her lower leg moved sideways, and the sting of pain almost made her fall on her face. Thankfully, Tom was there to catch her.

“You’ve pushed yourself too far,” he worried, holding onto her.

“No, I just got too comfortable,” she assured him. “Really, I should have been more cautious getting up.”

She felt him relax. “How did it feel? Getting back to it?”

She smiled, her hands remaining on his shoulders. “Great. I should be able to go back up on point without too many problems soon enough.”

He glanced down at her feet. “Does it hurt?”

“Everything about ballet hurts.” She laughed.

“Then why do it?” he asked, dropping his hands from her.

“Because it’s all I ever wanted from as far back as I can remember. The first thing I imagined myself doing in life.” She walked over to pick up the roses he’d given her and buried her face into their soft petals. “I loved working with these when I worked next door,” she admitted. “I’ve missed having time to be around flowers and plants.”

“You could always come over and help me with my yard,” he suggested. “I’ve been meaning to plant something but have no idea what. Besides…” He held up his thumbs. “They’re not green at all. I’d probably destroy or kill whatever was there.”

She smiled. She’d noticed his flower beds were empty and had itched to plant something there. She hadn’t asked for fear she was overstepping, even though, since that first night, she’d spent more than half her time at his place. She was even keeping some basics things over there—a bottle of her shampoo and conditioner, a toothbrush, a bag of makeup. Hell, she was practically living there, compared to her old relationships, most of which hadn’t lasted longer than a week.

“Are you sure?” she asked, biting her lip.

Tom took her shoulders and pulled her closer. “I’m sure. Plant whatever you want. We can hit the hardware store on our way home.”

She smiled against his chest and wondered if he’d done that on purpose. Calling his place, theirs.

“Suzie will have what I need next door,” she said. “We can catch her before she locks up.”

Just then the door to the studio opened, and they both turned. Kate was totally shocked to see Dmitri walk in.

“Dmitri?” She frowned over at her ex-dance partner. “What are you doing in Pride?” She felt Tom tense next to her and held onto his arm, just in case.

“I… came to officially apologize,” Dmitri said, moving into the studio another step. “I know it’s too little, too late, but…” He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. She’d spent half a year working with the man almost every single hour of every day. Still, he was as much a stranger to her as any of her ex-dance partners. She’d never really allowed herself to get too close to anyone before. She’d had a handful of friends, but the dance world was such a cutthroat business, you had to keep your guard up.

“You came all the way to Oregon to do that?” she asked, shaking her head.