Love Takes Time (Christian Romance) (6 page)

“What
are we sitting here for?  Why in the world didn’t you call me and tell me
that?”

“I did,
but your phone has not been taking calls for the past few hours.”

Ryder
grabbed his phone, only to find that it had been silenced and he had missed
nine calls over the past four hours.  Three from his father.  

“Don’t
worry, I told him that I had talked to you and that you were aware and working
on a countermeasure.  Reaching out to them.  All that jazz.”

“Thanks.
 Sorry for shouting.  Dad is so close to early retirement and we both
know how much he cares about the company.  If he doesn’t think I can
handle the company he’ll either wait, have the board take over, or see if Royce
or Ramsey come around enough to get into the business instead of what they are
doing now.  I won’t work for a bunch of people that don’t understand my
family’s legacy. I love Ramsey, and Royce for that matter.  Ramsey could
probably do it but never would, and you know that there is no way I am letting
this company slide into Royce’s hands.  I work way too hard for this
company while he is off jetting to a different continent every week.”

He
looked at Trent and they both stood up thinking.  Trent spoke first.

“Looks
like the twins have some work to do!”

“Yep.
 You know it man.  I guess I really do need to get some sleep now.
 Let’s get up early and get on this together first thing in the office,
alright?”

“Cool.
 I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Alright.”

Ryder locked the door as Trent left and thought
about the company that he had worked with his father to grow.  The deal
really meant a lot and he was determined to do everything he could to make it
succeed.  It was strange though.  Even as they discussed the issues
of the extremely high profile account, he thought of Chelsea.  He shook
his head, knowing that he needed to have his mind focused if he was going to
finish the latest development out strong.  He’d just have to deal with her
another time.

Chelsea
stood in the dance studio and clapped her hands lightly in a rhythmic pattern,
creating a beat for the preteens in her dance studio.  

“Five,
six, five six seven eight.  And step and turn and…”

“I
can’t do this!”  One of her student shouted, a look of frustration on her
face.  

“Lauren
honey, you’re doing fine.  I used to have a hard time dancing just like
you.”

“Really
Miss Warner?”  The girl questioned her. 

“Yep. 
I was the worst dancer in my class until one day it just clicked for me. 
You know what . . . let’s do this.  I want you to set the beat for the
class rather than me.”

She
listened as the girl began to create her own pace, tentatively at first and
then with more confidence.  Pretty soon all the other students moved
slowly to her beat.  

“Ok,
now that you know when the beat is coming, just flow with it Lauren.”

Chelsea
felt good when she noticed Lauren’s face light up as she moved smoothly to the
beat of her own rhythm.

Now
this is what I love about dancing. 

Today
felt different to her.  She didn’t know why.  Maybe because of the
progress her students were making.  She loved teaching them and she loved
dancing so teaching dance was really a natural fit.  She knew that
now.  Still, that wasn’t everything.  She thought back to the start
of her day.  She had no school to contend with.  She didn’t have to
fight through rush hour traffic to get anywhere that morning, and when she did
get in she didn’t have to answer to a soul.  That was the life that she
had wanted.  

Things
had changed so quickly since she decided to take some time off from training
after her showcase. 
Denard
was upset with her
for stopping, which was ironic considering she had held him back for so
long.   Maybe he had the right to be.  He had a few months left
until graduation and she was his partner.   Sure, he could get an
underclassman to work with him but he argued that it wasn’t the same. 
He’d said that dancers know each other better than most but that wasn’t it. 

She’d
never realized it before but
Denard
had a thing for
her and he finally admitted it to her.  It was obvious now that she
thought about it.  She’d never considered him before because of their
relationship and she couldn’t now because it wouldn’t be fair to him.  Not
with the thoughts of Ryder looming.  He’d get over it.  He had to. 

“There
you go Lauren!  You’re doing great, you all are.  You guys are going
to be show stoppers at that dance.   Now we’re going to take a
fifteen-minute break.  You all earned it.  Just remember what you
learned from Lauren.  Find the beat with inside move your body with it.
 You’ll never miss a beat that way.”

Chelsea
bent over to tighten the bandage on her ankle and adjusted her leg warmers.
 She made a mental note to soak her feet in an ice bath later.  When
she heard the voice behind her speaking to one of the parents in attendance she
froze, still bent over as she took it in.  There was no denying who the
strong, distinct voice belonged to.  It was Ryder and he was walking her
way where he stopped right behind her.  She attempted to turn around to
greet him, but one leg caught on the other and instead of a graceful pivot, she
bumped into his chest only to fall flat on her bottom.  

She
looked up to see him standing over her, with the same irresistible smile on his
face.  The irony of this predicament wasn’t lost on her as it was an exact
replay of the way they had met the first time.  Maybe they were meant to
talk again but fate sure had a sense of humor at the same time.  She
pulled her hair out of her face and reached up to take his extended hand. 
 

“Now
this looks familiar.  Why is it that every other time I talk to you,
you’re getting up off the floor?  Wait, is this some new dance technique?”

She
took his hand and he effortlessly helped her up.  

“Thank
you, and no it isn’t.  Are you sure that you aren’t planning this in
advance?  It’s like you have some kind of magic wand or you can see the
future and already knew I’d fall.  I promise you that I really can dance,
although I must look like the biggest klutz in the world from your vantage
point.”

“I’m
starting to think that I just happen to have that effect on you.  I’d
prefer if it was sweeping you off your feet rather than constantly picking you
up, but I’ll take what I can get.”

Oh
you will, will you?  I thought so at first until you forgot who I was the
other night.  

His
statement made her remember the last time she had seen him and she was almost
led to say something mean about him ignoring her.  She decided to hold her
tongue and be nice instead.  Besides, she wasn’t one to act all silly
about a guy, no matter how much he smelled, looked, and sounded like the
essence of every attractive male trait in one outstanding package.  His
countenance was loaded with the same confidence of their initial encounter.

Apparently
nice personality Ryder was in full effect mode once again.  This was the one
that had made her heart race and her cheek flush with a simple flash of his
ivory teeth.  His presence owned the room like a king among commoners and
by that point in time, all eyes in the room had focused on him, especially the
female mothers who had accompanied their kids.  Not that he seemed to
notice.  He was intent and solely focused on her.  She looked
away.  Anywhere to be able to not fall victim to his spell binding gaze
once again. 

“That’s
an interesting statement. So what are you doing here, stalking me?”

“Not
at all.  Not that I mind resorting to those methods because I don’t, given
how much I really wanted to see you again.  Luckily for me, there are
easier ways.  After you left the bar the other night, I swung by a few
days later, hoping to catch you there.  That was when I ran into
Alex.  He’s a good friend, you know.  He wouldn’t tell me a thing
about how to find you.  Only that I should leave it alone because he was
under the impression that I was probably someone you wouldn’t want to talk
to.  If I’m not mistaken, there was even a semi threat that I should not
come back there looking for you.  Then he tried take my order.
 Interesting guy.”

Chelsea
knew that Alex wouldn’t have told him a thing.  He was a good friend for
sure and she wasn’t surprised that he didn’t let that stop him from making a
buck or two off of him.  She chuckled to herself.  

“So
after I left the bar I almost had no choice but to either wait until you showed
up one day and bum rush you before he could call the cops on me or find you by
other means.  I didn’t think it would be a good look for my company with
me in cuffs and all so I thought about it and remembered you told me about the
business you were starting.  It was a longshot but I looked up new dance
studios in the city and it wasn’t long before I found this place.”

“Wait,
you went through all that trouble looking for me?  If that isn’t the
definition of stalker, I don’t know what is.  My question is why you would
go through so much trouble to find me again.  Especially after you
couldn’t place me at all last Friday.”

His
look changed from hotshot and confident to more regretful and his shoulders
dropped as he released a deep sigh.”

“Ok.
 I definitely deserve that. Honestly, Friday night was the reason I showed
up.  It’s going to sound like a horrible excuse but I always believe the
truth is the best option so I’ll take my chances with that.”

“Yeah,
I like the truth too.”

“So
I was caught completely off guard when I saw you that night.  I’m sure you
remember the phone call I had in the car.  Well one of the reasons I
couldn’t just come off was because that dinner with the client was coming up
and I had to make sure everything was good.  Believe me when I tell you
that I was going to do my best to find you after that, even if I had to wait
outside of your school daily.”

“What
does any of that have to do with anything?  You could have just talked to
me so why didn’t you?”

“My
dad.  He was there and if you knew anything about him, you wouldn’t ask me
that question.  Me doing anything with you right then that didn’t involve
ordering a meal was completely and totally out of the question.  Believe
me, I wanted to talk to you.  It was like finding a needle in a haystack
only for it to not only prick your finger but bleed enough to send you to the
emergency room.”

“Interesting
analogy.”

“I
know.  It sounded better in my mind.”

“I
bet”

“Regardless,
I was going to wait till things died down and the guys got a little fuller and
less observant.  That was when I was going to come talk to you under the
guise of a bathroom break but you left and my chances at that were gone
too.  I hope you can forgive me for treating you in such a disrespectful
manner.”

Chelsea
thought about her own parents briefly and immediately understood why he had to
do what he did. 

“You
don’t owe me an apology Ryder.  I completely understand what it’s like to
have parents that require you to do things their way.”

“Maybe,
but I was still wrong.  I, for one, had a mother that taught me much
better than that.  If dad is strictly business, then mom is miss manners
herself and she would have been disappointed in how I treated a lovely woman
I’d just met.”

His
features softened and Chelsea could see on his face that he meant exactly what
he said.  He was honestly sorry about what had happened—  and what
hadn’t happened for that matter.  Any hard feelings that she was harboring
towards him melted instantly at the sincerity in his gaze.  The other
night didn’t matter anymore.  

“Well
thanks for the compliment.”

“My
pleasure.  It’s true after all.  You are a beautiful woman.”

“Laying
it on a little thick don’t you think?”

“Not
at all.  The last time I tried to play it cool, you decided to leave work
early just so you wouldn’t have to deal with me.  So yeah, I’ll take my
chances.  Besides, I despise telling lies and that is exactly what I would
be doing if I didn’t tell you that even in that situation, there was a part of
me that was just glad that I had another chance to see you that night. 
Although I am painfully aware that I did a horrendous job showing my
enthusiasm.”

She
figured he had groveled for her understanding for long enough but it was hard
to stop him.  He was so cute that all she wanted to do was watch and
listen.  If she didn’t have a class to teach, she most likely would have
done just that.  But some parents were there and even if they weren’t she
didn’t want to neglect her students.  She playfully tapped his shoulder.

“Ryder,
stop being so hard on yourself.  I could tell it was a meeting with some
muckety
mucks who probably thought more highly of
themselves than they aught.  Based on what you’re saying now the truth is
that some of this is my fault anyway.  If I had just stayed a little
longer you might have come to find me.  So we can share the blame.”

“Alright,
if you insist.”  

It
was then that she remembered her recent conversation with Ava.  

“Actually,
backtrack on that no apology thing.  If you really feel like you need to
apologize to me, I think I just got an idea on how to do so.”  

She
placed her arm in the crook of his and began walking him towards the door.  

“Shoot.”

“Well,
a friend of mine’s getting married soon and I could use a plus one…”

She
bit the corner of her bottom lip and raised her eyebrows, silently praying for
a yes.  

“Absolutely.
 Consider it done.”