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“Please, call me Ian. I insist,” he replied seriously, eyes intent. “Is it your leg? I noticed you weren’t using your cane, but maybe it’s hurting you now. We can work around that. You can always stand on my feet like Shelby did and let me do all the work.”
Flustered, her mind went blank for a moment. “It’s not my leg. It’s doing fine right now. I only use the cane when it’s acting up.”
“Then you don’t have an excuse for saying no.” He held out his hand again. “Come on. Dance with me. Lots of teachers are dancing with student’s fathers. Unless there’s another reason you don’t want to.”
He had her there. And she couldn’t let him know the real reason she didn’t want to dance with him. He already had more power over her and her emotions than he should have, and she couldn’t let him have more.
“All right, I accept.” She placed her fingers in his palm so he could help her up.
Stifling a gasp as a bolt of sensation shot through her the moment her skin touched his, her gaze flew up and she looked into the bright blue depths of his gaze. Judging by the look in his eyes, he felt the same jolt of electricity she did, and her heart leapt at the thought even as she told herself them both having the same reaction was bad, very bad.
His fingers tightened around hers for a moment and then he led her slowly to the edge of the dance floor. Needing to make sure she kept as much distance between them as she could, Holly held up her right hand for a more traditional dance hold. Lips quirking, Ian deferred to her, but she could see in his eyes that he knew what she was doing.
They swayed to the music, and Holly flitted her eyes around, looking anywhere but at Ian. The butterflies in her stomach from his nearness were strong, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt them. Maybe never. Not even with Kyle had she felt this level of awareness for a man.
Guilt immediately flooded her at the thought, and she briefly closed her eyes. What was she thinking? Kyle had been everything to her, and no man could come close to that. And especially not this muscled up fighter who was so different than anyone she’d known before.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, interrupting her thoughts. “You went pale for a moment there.”
“I’m fine.” She couldn’t bear to look in his eyes, not wanting him to see any of what she was feeling. “Just not comfortable with dancing with a student’s dad.”
“I think it’s more than that.”
“It’s not.”
“Then why won’t you look me in the eye?”
Slowly taking a deep breath, she tried to wipe all emotion from her eyes, and reluctantly met his. Cocking an eyebrow, she stared at him. Lord, his eyes were beautiful, the bright blue color enhanced by his blue shirt. This man was so gorgeous. It was epically unfair to the female half of the population for any man to look as good as this one did.
“Are you happy now?” The words came out in a whisper.
“Not quite, but I’m getting there. This was a good start,” he replied.
What did that mean? His blue eyes were warm, full lips curled up into a smile, but she couldn’t figure out exactly what he’d meant, and the warmth in his gaze was seeping into her. Glancing away for a moment, needing to break eye contact, she changed the subject.
“So where’s Shelby’s mom? Shelby never talks about her.”
His eyes darkened and a muscle jumped in his jaw. This time, it was him who looked away. “That’s not a subject I want to talk about.”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. Look, I know how it feels to lose a loved one. And you never really get over it, and it doesn’t necessarily get better, but you learn to live with it. And every day is a little better than the day before.”
“What?” he asked, frowning. Realization dawned in his eyes. “No, that’s not it. Farrah didn’t die. She’s just a worthless piece of shit.”
“Mr. Gallagher.” She gasped. “I hope you don’t talk about her like that in front of Shelby.”
“I don’t need to. Shelby knows.”
“I doubt that’s the case, if she hasn’t been told that before, like you say. Little girls love their mothers,” Holly said, frowning.
Exhaling heavily, he said, “Look, I know what I’m talking about. Farrah was awful to Shelby. Her whole tribe was. They mocked my daughter relentlessly for her birthmark, treated her like she was the dirt beneath their shoes. Shelby knows better than anyone the kind of person her mother is.”
Holly tr
ied to comprehend a world where anyone, especially her own mother, could be mean to Shelby. Her whole family on her mother’s side, since she assumed that’s what he meant by tribe, although that was a strange way of referring to them. But the idea just wouldn’t compute. Children were a blessing, something to be loved, not treated as Shelby was.
“Her mom was cruel to her, over something as insignificant as a mark on her face?” she asked in disbelief. She felt incredibly protective of Shelby, and she couldn’t imagine how her own mother wasn’t.
Eyes softening, Ian’s lips curled up as he gazed into her eyes. “You think it’s insignificant? And yes, she was. Unbelievably cruel. That’s why I fought so hard to get her away from them and with me. And why I got so upset about a boy making fun of her for the mark. She’s had enough of that. She doesn’t need more.”
