Chapter Eighteen

Lacie woke up the next morning with a new attitude after having cried everything out. She’d shoved all the hurt from Simon into a box, next to her fears, and put it in the closet of her mind. She duct-taped it well so she wouldn’t be tempted to open the box and explore them more without a ton of effort, and now she was ready for a new day.

She came out of her room to find Simon by the coffee pot readying her cup. It was sweet, but he didn’t say anything to make it more than professional, so she simply said “Thank you” when he handed it to her.

“Did you sleep well?” Simon’s spine was stiff and straight as he watched her.

“Yes, I did. Thank you.” Oh, such manners. Her daddy would be proud.

“I had an idea about the ballroom dancing with the kids,” Simon began, and Lacie tried desperately to focus on his words and not the freshly showered smell emanating from him, or his dark eyes focusing on hers, or the way his lips curved around the rim of his coffee mug. Or who Tanya was.

“I’m all ears,” she managed, burning her tongue.

“I can teach them a series of dances, the foxtrot, the box step, the waltz, and we can have an assembly to invite the parents to at the end of the summer term.” He sounded funny, like he was reluctant to speak about this but was making an allowance. Was he extending a peace offering?

“That actually sounds really nice. We could do it during music time before recess.” That way she could still get some instruction time in, but she could also work some other stuff in there too. Counting was one thing the dancing could reinforce. They could work on colors with costuming and things. Her mind raced with the possibilities.

“Well, jump in the shower, and I’ll go make a CD of music real quick.” Simon flashed a smile at her, and her knees went positively weak. Shoving that back in the box, Lacie turned to do his bidding.

Lacie was glad to have Simon with her today instead of Dex. Even though things were slightly uncomfortable around him, she’d decided it was a discomfort of her own making. She was the one with all the expectations, but he was just being nice. She did feel safer around him, though, so she just reveled in that feeling.

Simon was chatty in the car on the way to school, telling her about the man Quinten had arrested for trying to plant video cameras in her house and what that might mean to Lacie.

It should have terrified her. Really. Somebody was going to a lot of trouble to put her in danger, and here she was in relative safety with Simon by her side. Enjoying things.

Yeah. She was nuts.

But his low voice—rough, like the scotch he enjoyed—washed over her as he replayed the events, and Lacie listened as though she were a third party, appalled but not involved. It was like they were all happening to somebody else.

Truth was, Lacie felt like nothing could touch her as long as she stayed near Simon. And she couldn’t find a single thing wrong with that assumption.

When school started, the kids were glad to see Mr. Pierce. Dex had been nice but stilted, obviously not accustomed to kids. Simon wasn’t, either, but had managed to fall into an easy camaraderie with them. He treated them like tiny grownups, and they seemed to like that. He expected them to act like adults, and they liked him for his high expectations.

It was bizarre, but it worked.

As he laughed with a group of kids during center time, Lacie watched, struggling with her feelings. After yesterday, it was clear she felt too much for him—way more than he felt for her. She couldn’t help it. She liked him. He was everything she wanted in a man, he was just the wrong man.

When it came time for “dance” class, Lacie listened with no small amount of amusement as Simon began his lecture and started fielding questions.

“Okay, who likes sports?” he began, and a sea of raised hands assaulted him. Pointing to Jamerick, he asked, “What’s your favorite?”

“Football.”

“Okay, do you think all those football players do is practice football?” At Jamerick’s nod, Simon replied, “Well, you’d be wrong. They have to practice all sorts of sports to be good at football. Football only uses certain muscles, and those guys have all sorts of muscles, right?”

One little girl raised her hand, and Simon called on her. “Do you do all sorts of sports? You have lots of muscles.”

Lacie smirked to herself. No female in a twenty-foot radius was immune, it seemed, even the young ones.

“As a matter of fact, I do. In fact, what we’re going to learn today will teach you to use some muscles you didn’t even know you had. And it will make you a more graceful football player, so you won’t fumble as much.” He smiled brightly, turned to the whiteboard in the corner, and explained the steps to the first dance they were going to do. Making all the children stand, he had them practice the steps.

“Now, Miss Hill and I will show you what it looks like when you have a partner, so watch carefully, okay?” Turning to her, Simon held out his hand. It was a simple matter, really, to show the kids, but a knot of nerves settled in Lacie’s stomach. And his eyes didn’t help.

They landed on her, and a predatory look settled in them. This was a horrible idea.

Simon stood in front of Lacie and addressed the students. “Okay, one hand will hold your partner’s.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and ran it down the length of her arm, entwining his fingers with hers as he held her arm up. “Boys, your other hand will go under her other arm, gripping her rib cage, like so.” He curved his other hand like he’d instructed, but his thumb rested just beneath her breast, softly stroking the underside.

Lacie stopped breathing.

“Both partners hold their heads up high. This is a proud dance. This is the dance of the snooty. Hold your noses in the air and be a complete snoot the entire time, okay?” Lacie followed Simon’s example. His chin was up, but his eyes were focused solely on her. “Now, the steps.” As Simon counted, he glided her across the gym floor with an audience of children. But as far as she could tell, the children had melted away.

Lacie couldn’t breathe with Simon spinning her around the floor as if they were made to dance together, leading her this way and that, finally ending in an intimate dip with his nose at her throat. Whispers and applause met her ears.

“And that is how you waltz.” Standing her upright, as if he hadn’t just tilted her world on its axis, he addressed the kids again. “When you’re older, it’s a great way to pick up chicks. Now, partner up.”

That was tricky, but as soon as Lacie caught her breath, they were pairing up children, adjusting stances, and counting aloud to the music. It was disastrous, but the kids enjoyed it anyway, and it was a fantastic way to spend the afternoon.

That night, Simon’s housekeeper had left more food for them to eat, the most enormous hamburgers Lacie had ever seen. They were delicious. They ate and laughed about the kids and whether or not the whole dancing thing would work, and then Simon told Lacie goodnight and left her to go to bed.

She was unbelievably confused. He ran so hot and cold, she had no idea what was going on anymore. All she could do was go along for the ride and hope she came out intact at the end.