To make her father look good.
He bought me an ice rink. That’s a lot of I’m sorry.
I looked back at the stage and said nothing, because there was nothing to say, and because Lila wasn’t thekind of person who would want me to say it even if there was.
But before I could think about the movement, before I could convince myself it was a mistake, I reached over and covered her hand in mine.
Ifelther suck in a breath, watched her stiffen from the corner of my eye…but just when I was ready to pull away and give her space, Lila exhaled softly and turned her hand in my hold.
And so we sat there in the darkness, the music—theemotion—spilling over us…our fingers twined through each other’s.
Holding hands.
Holding her.
Chapter Six
Lila
I knowit was stupid to be floating on air, but that’s how I felt. For like…days.
Kardok had held my hand at the ballet, and if I closed my eyes, I was back there in the darkness, his warm hand cradling mine as we breathed in tandem and watched the beauty unfold before us.
At one point in the second act, I’d begun to cry.
They were silent tears, me being overwhelmed by the dancer’s emotions and grace…but Kardok was there. He carefully put his arm around my shoulders, pulling me against him, as he cradled my hand in his other. I’d been warm and safe and comforted.
My heart still hadn’t recovered.
I told myself it was just a case of a partner offering friendship. He was a hockey player attending aballet, for goodness’ sake! Ofcoursethat was only because he wanted this exhibition to be a success, not because he had any strong feelings for me.
Right?
But a traitorous part of me whispered dreams that I should probably ignore.
It was bad enough that I had the hots for my pairs partner, bad enough that my stupid libido couldn’t control itself around him…I didn’t need to get my heart involved.
Unfortunately, despite my years of discipline, this was one area where I seemed to be fighting a losing battle.
I spent the next week working on the plans for the charity gala—I’d shifted a few other projects aside—and in communication with Maddie. A major online sports site had done a positive write-up about the exhibition which, in my opinion, still didn’t forgive them for the way they’d torn Kardok apart for setting up the Crushers’ power play in that last game, but ithadreally boosted our ticket sales.
Yeah, my hours were full of logistics and being charming and saying all the right things to make this event a success…and then, each afternoon, I stepped onto the ice and turned to total goo.
Oh, it’s not like my years of training had let me down; Joshua was clear I still had enough skill to pull this off. But being held by Kardok as we glided across the ice?
It was like a dream come true, and I felt as if I was floating through life.
But the problem with floating, of course, was that eventually you had to land.
In our case,landinglooked like Joshua clapping his hands together on Thursday and announcing that it was time to work on the approach for the overhead lift.
“Lila, you’re not committing! We’re going to do it again and again until you’re comfortable.”
Oh, drat.
I’d known this was coming. I’d been dreading this coming, in the specific way you dread something you know is your own fault and can’t blame on anyone else.
The overhead lift itself was not the problem. We’d done it dozens of times by now—in my living room, at the complex, on the ice with Joshua watching. Kardok could catch me out of the air with an ease that made me catch my breath each time, long after I’d stopped being surprised by the steadiness of his hands.
