still with his hands in the air turned and beat a hasty retreat, shaking his head as he did so.
Fuming, Merry stood, hands on hips and muttered, “Odious little man.”
Suni, passing by, overheard. “He is indeed,” she agreed. She looked up at Merry. “But be careful, my dear. He’s a powerful one too.”
“Well, this time he may just have bitten off more than he can chew!” With that, she turned on her heel and strode purposefully to where Daniel was waiting.
Step Five.
A pattern was quickly established. After they’d done any necessary group practices or filming in the television studios, Merry and Daniel would hurry off to the rehearsal rooms, near Venetia’s flat, and continue to dance into the night.
During these one to one sessions, Daniel gave nothing but encouragement and positivity, something that Merry really liked about him. She sensed a preoccupation, though, and she thought she knew what or rather who caused it. Once, on an energy high from all the dancing, she’d gone out with Harri, Julia and Daniel. It became very apparent that Daniel was besotted with Julia Cooper. Over some shared tapas and far too much bubbly, Merry watched as Daniel hung on Julia’s every word, laughed at all her jokes and kissed and hugged her whenever an opportunity arose. Harri seemed impervious to it, or maybe he was confident in his fiancée’s feelings for him? Whatever the truth, it made for great people watching and Merry started forming material about the agony of unrequited love in her head. It never made it onto paper, though, for as soon as she hit the Egyptian cotton in Venetia’s spare room, after the novelty of all the physical exertion, she was sound asleep.
Merry and Daniel started later than usual at the Maida Vale dance studios one night. The place was eerily deserted. And cold. They were going over the moves for the group dance for the umpteenth time before concentrating on their first dance for the competition proper: a waltz.
The merengue was still proving a challenge and Merry was tired tonight, her usual energy having been used up. She could manage the basic marching type steps, it was co-ordinating her hips and knees into the required sexy dip and sway that defeated her, especially after a long day’s rehearsing with the group. School dancing lessons had never seemed so long ago.
“Focus Meredith, you’re drifting.” Daniel’s voice pierced the fog of her exhaustion. “Pull into me on the beat. No, more than that, you should be right into my groin.”
“Any further in and we’d be committing an illegal act,” she grumbled in response.
“Well, that’s the idea, lovie. It’s got to look absolutely filthy.”
“And this goes out on primetime television?” Merry said between gasping for air, “it’s obscene.”
“Oh, the obscener the better.”
“Is that grammatical?” Merry frowned as Daniel took her arm and twisted it over his shoulder.
“You’re the one with the expensive education, babe.”
“I must’ve missed the tutorial on Dirty Dancing,”
Daniel laughed. “Now, let’s do those first few steps again. Your timing’s really good but you need to push up from the floor more to give it some bounce.”
“If I bounce much more, I’ll give myself a black eye,” Merry said, as she attempted to shove her breasts back down into her leotard.
Daniel watched with interest. “They are rather large aren’t they?”
“Everything about me is large,” Merry replied, with asperity but wasn’t displeased by the gleam in Daniel’s eyes. It was the first time he’d shown interest in her as a woman and not just a dance partner.
“But perfectly proportioned,” he added, with a charming smile, as if realising how ungallant his remark was. “No, keep your arm there so I can take my hand and - oh not again!” he cried as Merry dissolved into giggles at his touch. It was the third time she’d done so tonight.
“I can’t help it, I’m really ticklish there. Ooh,” she sighed, as Daniel increased the pressure and rubbed his hand down her side rather than lightly caressing. “That’s better.” She melted into him for a moment as the hand searched downwards. “Mmm. That’s so much better.”
“Then perhaps we’ll do it like this,” was the only reply he made.
Merry found she enjoyed looking Daniel over as, having declared a break, he strolled to the water cooler to get a drink. He was wearing his white jeans again and they showed off his long legs and tight behind to perfection. Until she’d started her training, Merry had never realised how fit you had to be as a dancer. Daniel was in about as good a shape you could be, with the strong lean muscles of the professional dancer and not an ounce of fat on him. She noticed he’d had his hair cut since yesterday and she preferred it to the slightly eighties look he’d sported when she’d first met him. Now his hair had a rumpled, just got out of bed look, which she knew meant hours in front of a mirror to achieve. Or, perhaps she was wrong? Daniel didn’t seem as vain as the other dancers. Perhaps this was how he looked when he’d just got up. Merry felt herself blush inside. She knew what it was: sheer lust. She was developing a crush on Daniel Cunningham. And it was a wholly enjoyable and familiar feeling. She’d been famous at university for never falling seriously for someone. She flirted; it was as habitual to her as breathing and she’d had one or two flings, but she’d never really had her heart touched by anyone. Not seriously. But she’d had crushes. And she loved the excitement of them. As she watched Daniel gulp down water and then wipe his mouth with the back of his hand she felt a thrill go through her. She wanted this man.
“Penny for them?” Daniel offered her a cup of water.
Merry hoped the blush stayed where it had begun; deep inside. She turned on her smile, it usually had the effect she wanted. “Oh, just thinking how quiet it had got, now the aerobics class has finished.” She took the water and drank gratefully.
“Had enough?”
“Oh no, I’m happy to carry on all night if we have to.”
Daniel laughed. “That shouldn’t be necessary. Want to have another go at the merengue?”
Merry thought about having slide up against Daniel’s crotch and her tiredness fled. “Why not?” She picked up a towel and mopped her face. Despite the lack of heating, she was working up a sweat again. Must be the exercise. Or the ultra-close proximity to Daniel’s presence. “You never know, I might even get it right this time.”
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