think I’m ever going to figure them out.”
“The dances?” Jen said coming over to the two of them. “You should probably stop chatting if you want to master them.”
“Sorry,” T.J. said. “I think I’m a lost cause.”
“I’m not ready to give up on you yet. Maybe Nate can help you with the footwork. He seems to know his way around the dance floor.”
“I think I’d rather practice with a beautiful woman than with this retired pitcher.”
“Ditto,” Nate said.
“Well, I have other students who need my attention as well. And I’m not getting through to you,” she said. “Nate, why do you think that is? “
He realized she was being sincere. She wanted to help T.J. and that was the first time he realized that the dance lessons were important to her. He’d been too busy looking at her body and watching her sensual moves to pay attention earlier.
“I’m not sure. T.J. is used to using his body as a blunt instrument and dancing is more subtle, isn’t it?” “Yes, I think you’re right. How about a line dance?”
T.J. groaned. “No. My sisters have tried rather unsuccessfully to get me to Electric Slide with them.”
She laughed. “Does liquor help? Some people can’t let go of their preconception that others are watching them dance until they have a few drinks.”
“Not even a keg of beer could relax me,” T.J. said. “But I appreciate your trying.”
“It’s my job.”
“And you are very good at it,” T.J. said. “I’d put a good word in with your boss but I think he already knows how good you are.”
Jen glanced over at him. “Does he?”
Nate nodded. “You are very good.”
He realized she was flirting with him just a little and he silenced the voice in the back of his head that had said she was off-limits. Her interest was all the permission he needed to pursue her.
She went back to the front of the classroom and told everyone to take a five-minute break. Then they’d practice the dance they were going to do to open the show one more time.
Nate followed Jen out of the room. She stopped in the hallway when she realized he was behind her.
“I’m sorry that T.J. isn’t getting the dance.”
“That’s fine. You’ve gone above and beyond trying to teach him.”
She nodded. “I’m not sure that you and I should dance together.”
“Why not?” he asked, stepping closer to her.
She wrapped one arm around her waist and tipped her head to the side. The high ponytail that held up her pretty brown hair brushed against her shoulder. He reached out to touch the end of it. Her hair was soft.
“That’s why,” she said. “I’m starting to forget you are my boss, Nate. And I like this job.”
“Dancing with me isn’t going to compromise your job,” he said. “Luna Azul doesn’t have a fraternization policy.”
She wrinkled her brow. “I know that. But if something …”
“What?”
“It would be awkward and I really like this job,” she said, then turned and walked away. And he let her leave realizing that she was concerned and that he had no idea who she was beyond a pretty girl that he was attracted to.
Jen wanted to just dance into the night with Nate. To pretend that her actions would have no consequences and that she could give in to the powerful attraction and that everything would be fine.
But she wasn’t the young girl she’d once been. And she’d paid the price for making a bad decision based on her desires before. She wasn’t about to make the same mistake twice.
It didn’t matter how nice he’d felt when he’d held her in his arms. Or how right they’d fit together as they danced. It didn’t matter.
But it did. She was always looking for a man who made her feel the way that Nate had when they’d danced together. It wasn’t just the dancing but how he’d kept her gaze and how they’d just instinctively found the rhythm of each other. That kind of dancing was rare and she wanted to do more than just salsa with him.
She wanted to pull him close while the soul-sex sounds of Santana played in the background. Stop it.
She needed this job. This was the new Jen Miller. No longer a creature who was ruled by what felt good or right, she now followed the rules. Put family first and was a good girl.
She had to remember that. Marcia had given her a place to stay when she’d needed it and she had promised her sister that she’d changed. That she’d embrace … well, being someone new.
Marcia had always thought that Jen was spoiled and to be honest, she was. She’d had talent from the age of eight. She’d been a dance prodigy and everyone had expected great things from her. And for Jen, those things had come easily.
Crashing at age twenty-six hadn’t been in her plans and leaving the competitive dance world behind hadn’t been, either. If she wanted to dance—and let’s face it, she didn’t know how to do anything else—then she needed to keep this job.
And that meant staying away from Nate Stern.
“You okay?” Alison asked, joining her in the hallway.
“Yes. I’m just trying to catch my breath before we go on.”
“You and Nate …”
“I know. We have dance chemistry.” “In spades. I think you should capitalize on it,” Alison said.
Sure, it was easy for her to say. She didn’t have to go out there and dance a sensual dance with a man who was all wrong for her.
“How?”
“Have him come back every night.”
“I doubt he has time for that. He’s a busy man,” Jen said. “Are you ready?”
“I am. Are you going to hang around and wait for XSU to perform?”
“Probably. You?”
“Yes. My boyfriend is meeting me here.”
“How’s it going with him—Richard, right?”
She nodded. “Pretty good. It’s not a forever thing, but we have fun together.”
Jen wanted that. Some guys she could have fun with and not lose her heart to. But she’d never been able to do it. Maybe it was simply the way she was wired but she didn’t do casual. That’s why Nate worried her.
If
