Chapter 24 #2
The corner of his mouth inched upward. We extended our other arms until my right hand met his.
“Is this okay?” I whispered, searching his features for any sign of discomfort.
Sure, a supposedly married couple shouldn’t have any issue being up close and personal like this, but I didn’t want him to endure something he didn’t want to. Not when it would be just as easy to stop or put distance between us and claim it was for the sake of the class.
“More than okay,” he murmured huskily, his eyes dipping to my lips.
Heat curled in my belly until it flooded my veins. That alternate timeline felt achingly within reach.
With great effort, I returned to teaching. After the hold came the crash course on footwork and counting. And, two minutes before the end of class, the demo while those who wanted to try it danced along.
Colt and I danced together with surprising ease. Hard muscle against soft curves. Push and pull. Lead and follow. Order and disorder, all coexisting in harmony. Depending on each other to be exactly what they were or everything would fall apart.
“You’re very graceful,” I said quietly, a mischievous smirk pulling at my lips. “For a cyborg, that is.”
He chuckled and treated me to a smile. His delicious aroma filled my lungs, overpowering the tang of sweat that always seemed to linger in the rooms at the rec center. “You’re pretty graceful, too. For a thunderstorm.”
I smiled, resisting the temptation to count the freckles by his eyes. To think about how the freckles on his lips would taste. This close, it would be easy to find out. So, so easy.
It was only a second or two, the time stolen for us amidst the instructions I had to give to everyone. But it was more than we’d had all week, and just enough to keep me from giving up all hope for us.
Until his expression sobered as I finished the last of the counts aloud. As we reluctantly pulled away from each other, his brow furrowed. “We need to talk, Lex.”
A hole formed in my gut. A black hole that sucked all the light and warmth from the last hour into it.
I fought to keep my expression neutral even as my insides collapsed on themselves.
Nothing good ever came after those words, and it wouldn’t take a crystal ball to figure out what he wanted to talk about.
“Yeah. We do,” I said flatly.
I pasted a smile on my face and bid goodbye to everyone, reminding them of online resources they could use to practice until we’d meet again.
Ignoring Colt and the way my body zeroed in on him through the chaos, I sought out Charles and Vivienne, who lingered near the exit.
Three of their bodyguards hovered behind them, eying the people filing through the door.
Vivienne looked between Colt and me, a divot creasing her brow and a slight frown on her mouth before she replaced it with a bright smile.
She leaned into Charles and wrapped her arm around him.
“What a great class, Lex! You’re a natural at this.
I know I can’t wait to practice that Argentine tango at home. ”
She directed her smile to her husband, who returned it with such blatant desire in his eyes that I felt like an intruder on a private moment.
“Me neither, mon amor ,” he murmured, cupping her jaw. “I can only think of one dance I’d enjoy more.”
“Nobody said we couldn’t do both,” Vivienne replied, her smile coy and her eyes sultry.
This officially just got awkward. They hadn’t technically mentioned the horizontal mambo , but it didn’t take a psychic to pick up on the vibes between them.
“I’ll leave you to that,” I cut in, sounding every bit as awkward as I felt. To make matters worse, I made finger guns at them. Because that was apparently what my brain decided the situation needed, as if it wasn’t already uncomfortable enough.
Hopefully they were so wrapped up in each other’s gaze they didn’t notice.
I shoved my hands into my hair before they could misbehave more, using the opportunity to redo my frizzy ponytail. “Thanks for coming! It was a nice surprise.”
I didn’t bother asking how they’d managed to get into a class that had been “registration only.” This rec center let the instructors police who came to their classes, and I wasn’t about to turn my targets away.
“Thank you for letting us butt in!” Vivienne spared me a glance before returning her attention to Charles. “I think we should make this a new hobby for us.”
“I certainly wouldn’t oppose.” I pulled my curls through the last loop of my hair tie and smiled. “You two are always welcome here.”
“You are too kind,” Vivienne gushed. “Tell me, have you studied ballroom dance or what?”
I walked with them to the doors of the rec center, giving the altered version of dance experience my cover identity had.
The Gauthiers’ lingered by the doors, the three bodyguards flanking them. Vivienne didn’t spare them so much as a glance.
“That’s incredible.” She laughed and bounced on her heels, flexing her thighs in their biking shorts. “If that class taught me anything, it’s that dancing is no easy street.”
“True that,” I agreed, chuckling with her. I cocked my head to the side and lowered my voice, sparing the otherwise empty lobby another glance. “Speaking of impressive, how on earth did you convince Colt to come tonight, too?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked, blinking innocently.
I arched a dubious eyebrow, and she laughed again.
“Okay, fine, I’ll admit I was hoping he’d come tonight, but it wasn’t like I told him to or anything.” She squeezed her husband’s hand. “I just had Charles text him asking which rec center you taught at tonight, that’s all. He decided to come all on his own.”
Huh.
I wasn’t sure what to do with that information yet, but it was nice to have it.
I looked around again as if I’d find Colt peeking out from around a potted plant or something to eavesdrop on us. “Well, thanks either way.”
“Trust me, the pleasure is all mine.” She also looked around and, deciding it was safe enough, leaned in and lowered her voice, too. “Did it work? Because it looked like it was working great up until the end.”
I blushed, the memory of dancing so closely with him fresh in my mind and branded on my skin like a tattoo. A small family entered the lobby, towels strung over their shoulders and their hair wet. The two kids chased each other, their squeals reverberating against the walls.
Where was Colt? And for that matter, where were the Gauthiers’ last two guards? They’d left the class shortly before it ended and were still nowhere in sight.
“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly. Truthfully. “I hope so. We’re going to talk things through… as soon as I find him.”
Vivienne’s smile softened in understanding, and she gave my arm a comforting squeeze. “Growing pains of a healthy relationship, I’m afraid. If you never had any conflict to work through, I’d be worried.”
I snorted. “That’s reassuring, actually. Thank you.”
Sure, her husband was a wanted criminal with a laundry list of offenses, but their marriage itself thrived, and they’d been married over a decade, based on Charles’ file.
“Of course.” She offered a sly grin and scooted out of the way so the family could exit. “Now, go get your man.”
“Wherever he is.”
She laughed at that. Charles watched her with open adoration, a faint smile on his lips. Even the guards looked slightly less murderous than normal.
“Wherever he is,” Vivienne echoed, then waggled her brows suggestively. “Maybe he’s freshening up in preparation for the sweet, sweet making up after the fight.”
“The best part about fighting,” Charles added, his hazel eyes twinkling.
My cheeks burned a few degrees hotter. Before they could flirt with each other more, I bid a hasty goodbye and hightailed it back toward the classroom where I’d left my athletic bag.
I made it to the hallway one classroom down from mine when I caught sight of Colt leaning against the wall and stopped short.
The hallway ended in a doorway to another classroom and had a hallway branch off it.
The branch-off led to restrooms, drinking fountains, and a janitorial closet.
Colt leaned against the wall right before the branch-off, pretending to scroll on his phone like he was waiting for someone.
He was incredibly convincing, had I not done surveillance with him before.
Thanking my well-worn shoes, I padded soundlessly to his side, careful to keep my heels from tapping the tiles underfoot. Colt met my eyes for a brief second before returning to his charade.
And then I heard them. Voices. Masculine voices, one of which was familiar.
ButtFace the bodyguard.
“He wants it by the middle of June,” ButtFace growled. “I don’t care what Le Chimiste said.”
My stomach sank. If he was referring to what I feared he was, then Charles’ next cocktail would hit the streets two weeks sooner than we’d anticipated. Which meant two weeks less to stop it.
“He claims he’s working as fast as he can,” another voice replied. “You’re not the only one with skin in the game here.”
“Maybe if he spent less time dancing and more time working on it, he’d be done by now,” ButtFace grumbled.
“Don’t need to tell me that,” the other guard snapped. “I don’t wanna babysit any more than you do, but if he?—”
A toilet flushed inside one of the restrooms, and the guard cut off immediately. There was one agonizing second of silence and then, to my horror, the scuffle of rapidly approaching footsteps.