But she’d never kissed him back then. Or felt his arms around her, or—
She jumped up from the couch and started to pace. Once she realized she’d missed him—and hated herself for it—she stomped on his foot.
Not one of my best moments.But as childish as that had been, it had felt good.Let him feel some pain for once.
“Olivia?”
She startled, forgetting that she was still on the phone. “Sorry, Aunt Bea.”
“You seem a little distracted. Is everything all right?”
“Yes.” She perched on the edge of the couch, her posture straight. “Erma and Jasper had a good time.” That’s what she’d heard as she slipped out of the studio without anyone noticing. Erma had been smiling, but it was hard to tell with Jasper. He was always a sourpuss.
“I’ll have to give her a call and find out all the details. I still want to take lessons, and I’m sure I’ll be better next week. Uncle Bill and I will meet you there.”
Olivia ran her hands over her pajama pants. As soon as she arrived home, she’d thrown off the dress and put on her most comfortable pj’s. She felt foolish for being so dressed up when everyone else was casual. She’d even outdressed Karen, who had worn slim jeans and a three-quarter-sleeved pink shirt. How could she go back there, knowing Kingston would return?
Or would he? It wasn’t as if he needed any lessons. Once he and Sunny had started dancing together, she could see he was way out of everyone else’s league. The two of them looked good together. Very good.
Something ugly twisted in her stomach. “I’ll have to check my schedule,” she said.
“You and that schedule of yours.” Aunt Bea chuckled. “All right. I think I’m going to turn in. Spraining my ankle was enough excitement for me today.”
“I’ll call and check on you in the morning on my way to the library,” Olivia said. She was concerned, even though her aunt was downplaying the incident. “Or I can stop by—”
“That’s not necessary, sweetie. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive. I’m just clumsy.”
“Okay.” Olivia stood up again. “But I’m still going to call you.”
“Please do. I love hearing from you. Have a good night, sugar.”
Olivia hung up and pinched the bridge of her nose. She didn’t want to go back to the dance studio. Tonight had been a disaster even before she’d been forced to dance with Kingston. Jared wasn’t the bad dancer—she was. He’d been covering for her mistakes by overplaying his.
She shouldn’t be surprised. She wasn’t graceful or athletic. She was a bookworm who liked vintage movies and got smacked down every time she tried to do something different.
She went to her bedroom, pulled out her laptop, and brought up her Eighteenth-Century English Literature class notes—the course schedule, procedures, and syllabus. Class started on Friday, but she didn’t have anything due for the next few weeks. She frowned. She couldn’t even use her classwork as an excuse not to continue the lessons—not honestly, anyway. Then again, she could say that she was busy with school, and just do the assignments ahead of time. That was what she typically did anyway, but she’d always had several classes to juggle along with work, so staying ahead was crucial or she’d fall behind.
She could tell everyone she had too much to do to take a stupid dance class. She didn’t have to go back to the dance studio, ever. She would never be in Kington’s armsagain or experience the same thrill she had when, during their dance, his hand had moved from the side of her waist to the back. He’d taken control of the dance.
And I liked it.
She shut the laptop and scrambled off the bed, then did a little shimmy as if shaking him off. She could come up with all the excuses in the world not to go back to Sunny’s studio, but there was only one real reason: Kingston would be there. Maybe. He might decide the lessons were too easy and skip the whole thing. But if he did show up, there were several other men she could dance with. She’d even pick Jasper if it came down to him and Kingston. She could handle the old man’s bad disposition.
It was clear she couldn’t handle her feelings for Kingston at all.
What she could do was avoid him. Pretending he didn’t exist would be even better. Whatever it took for her to completely rid herself of him to the point where he didn’t elicit any emotion from her, positive or negative. She was breaking his hold on her tonight. That was a promise she was determined to keep.
Chapter9
The following afternoon, Kingston began preparing for his first night as an assistant ballroom dance teacher. Now that he’d made the commitment, he needed to practice the different dance steps. The rumba had always been easy for him, so he didn’t practice that one much, but he found some online videos and refreshed his memory of the cha-cha, the waltz, and the tango. It was almost impossible to practice the tango by himself, and out of the four dances he was the least proficient at that one. He decided to call his mother and see if she was available to practice.
“I’m sorry, Kingston, but this week is completely booked,” she said above theclickof her turn signal. “I have my garden club meeting today, Wednesday is church potluck before the evening service, Thursday I’m going shopping with my friends from the country club—”
“It’s okay.” He didn’t need a litany of her activities, and she would have happily given him one if he hadn’t interrupted.
