“Says the woman who looks like she raided her grandmother’s closet without wanting anything to match.” He made a grab for his knit cap, but I tossed it behind me.
“This week felt temporary until all those babies were born.” I fussed with his hair.Don’t judge!I’d always wanted to feel how thick and soft his hair was.News flash!It was very thick and very soft. “I need a set work schedule from you for the Sleigh Café.”
“That’s easy. Monday through Friday, same hours as you’ve worked this week.” He took my hand and placed it at the back of his neck. And then he lifted me into his lap. “You see. You have problems and I have solutions.” He rubbed his thumb tenderly over my lips.
“I like the sound of that.” I leaned closer for that kiss he seemed to be teasing me with.
Nick eased back. “However, in return, I think you should cancel your appointment with Bixby.”
“Bixby? Bixby who?”
Nick grinned. “Exactly.” He drew me closer.
My phone chimed.
I squirmed off his lap and onto the bench. “I should get that. It might be urgent.”
“What could be more urgent than you kissing me?”
“I don’t know. I just have a feeling…” I grabbed my phone.
It was an email from my agent. The subject read:Rockettes Need Replacement Dancer.
I quickly read his missive. “The Rockettes need a dancer Monday. They asked for me. They’re willing to pay my airfare to get me back in time.” My pulse raced. “They asked for me. Wow.” I couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.
“I’m happy for you.” Nick stood, grabbed his cell phone and silencedOh, Holy Night. He snapped up his knit cap and pulled it on his head. “All this talk about retiring… I should have known you wouldn’t do it. You’re leaving.”
“What?” I stared up at him, still feeling the adrenaline rush of the offer.They asked for me.
He walked toward the door. “Come on. I’ll drive you home so you can pack.”
“What?” I repeated, standing. I shed the jacket, the T-shirt, and kicked off the wooden clog. “I never said I was going to take the job.”
“You didn’t have to.” He reached the door and held it open. “I can hear the excitement in your voice. And I know you aren’t ready to hang up your dance shoes.”
“This offer…” I shoved my feet into my shoes and grabbed my coat. “It doesn’t change anything.”
Nick raised his brows. “But it does. This is your life. Dancing defines you. If it didn’t, you’d look around and find you something else. But you haven’t.”
“It is my… Itwasmy life. I wish I could just as easily find something I love just as much as I used to love dance. But let me say it one more time – I don’t have heart for dance anymore.” I had heart for him.
I loved him.
I probably always had. He was everything I wanted in a soulmate and everything that called to my soul. But my suspicions had been correct. Until I found something else to fulfill me work-wise, we couldn’t have a solid relationship.
Nick opened his mouth as if to say something and closed it again. He turned toward the door and then turned back again. His hand reached out to stroke my hair. “You have plenty of thoughts, but I know you, Al. You haven’t decided anything. You’ve been going with the flow – with work at the café and covering dance classes at the studio and…with me. And maybe that should stop. Maybe if you didn’t show up at the Sleigh Café tomorrow, you could spend the day sorting through your thoughts and making some decisions.”
“What happened to being certain about your feelings for us?” Because he seemed awfully insecure about it, which wasn’t like Nick at all.
“I just heard you talk about a dance opportunity with more enthusiasm than you ever talked about having a relationship with me.” Nick took me by the arm and gently drew me out the door. “Try being certain in the face of that.”
My heart took a tumble. He had a point.
But still… “Nick, I can be flattered by a job offer and still turn it down.”
“But should you?”
I locked the door to Mom’s shop, his question echoing in my head.Should I?“Why are you being like this?”