Midnight Ballerina (24 page)

I tuned back into Nina and Monroe’s conversation, just as Nina was finishing up. “So, why don’t you come observe a couple of classes and maybe start helping out, and then we’ll go from there. The dance workshops will start up about a month or so after the holidays. I would love it if you signed on to be one of the instructors.”

“That sounds amazing,” Monroe answered a little breathlessly. “I would love to! Thank you so much for the opportunity.”

“Great!” Nina clapped her hands together. “Let me go back out to the office and get some paperwork together and we’ll go from there. I’m sure you won’t mind hanging out in here for a bit.” She winked at me as she passed by and Monroe immediately kicked off her boots, doing a little twirl around the room in her socks before grabbing onto one of the wooden bars and stretching one leg on it.

“Don’t you just love the smell of this place?” She inhaled deeply, briefly closing her eyes before putting her leg down and grabbing onto the bar with both hands as she began bending her legs in weird angles that I didn’t know were possible.

Not that I minded watching.

“Um…I guess.” I smirked as she inhaled again.

“I love being in a dance studio again, everything about it. The creaks of the wooden floor,” she bounced slightly in place, “the music.”

“The music?” I questioned and she nodded her head before twirling around me.

“Normally it’s a whole lot louder than this, but still, it’s so much better in a studio.”

I strained to hear it and could just barely make out soft music playing through the sound system.

“This is awesome, Miller. Thank you so much. It’s crazy, I can’t believe you brought me to the
same
studio I used to dance at! I mean, it’s been months since I’ve been able to come here, but it’s great to be back. And now I’m going to be instructing.”

“Well, actually, there’s something I need to tell you.” Her feet stopped moving and she came to stand in front of me. “I knew you danced here before.”

Her eyes squinted and her brows twisted together. “What do you mean?”

“Sometimes I do odd jobs for Nina when she needs some help. I stopped in here one night and saw you dancing. I couldn’t stop watching, I was mesmerized by the way you moved. That day when you were on stage with Vanessa, I realized it was you.”

“How come you didn’t say anything?”

I shrugged my shoulders and she giggled before leaping across the room and spinning around in a quick circle on her tiptoes.

I watched her dance for a few more minutes, groaning when I looked at my watch and knew we needed to get going. “Monroe, I hate to interrupt you, but we need to get going. You think you can grab the paperwork from Nina and bring it back in?”

“Do we really have to go?” She pouted her lips at me and I felt like saying no. I felt like forgetting about the club just so I could watch her dance all night long, but I knew that wasn’t a possibility. She leaped across the room, laughing when she crashed into me, and I luckily caught her in my arms.

“Thank you so much,” she whispered before her lips landed on mine, brushing ever so slightly, she pulled back to purse her lips. “So you
did
call me your midnight ballerina the other night, didn’t you?” One eyebrow was raised and I couldn’t deny it, she’d caught me. “I thought so but I wasn’t totally sure. I like it,” she whispered, moving to brush her lips against my ear and I slid my hands beneath her tank top, sinking my fingertips into her sides and groaned when her whole body shook against mine.

“Good, I’m glad because you’re sort of stuck with it now.” She pulled back laughing, her mouth dropping open, and I took full advantage as my lips crashed against hers. My tongue darted past her teeth to tangle with hers and she whimpered, cinching her legs around my waist tightly as I backed her against the wall of mirrors.

We breathed heavily into each other’s mouths, my hands roaming across her stomach, down to her hips, even moving across the front of her jeans, rubbing ever so lightly. She bucked against me, moaning wildly into my mouth. I wanted her right there, so badly, I almost gave in, and then a throat cleared behind us and reality set back in.

“Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed.” Monroe looked down at the floor, clearly still flustered, as she tried to fix the mess that I made of her hair with my hands.

“Sorry,” I whispered into her ear, letting my lips brush against it, enjoying the fact that even with the embarrassment of being caught red-handed by Nina, I could still make her whole body shake with one simple touch of my lips.

“Oh, I bet you are,” Monroe answered with a roll of her eyes. “But I’m not. I’ll deal with being embarrassed any day if I can get kisses like that from you all of the time.”

“Be careful what you wish for, my little midnight ballerina.” I slapped her ass and she practically skipped out of the room, apologizing to Nina, who simply laughed.

Did I really need to leave her just to head into the club? It was funny how I had a whole new perspective on life after knowing Monroe for such a short amount of time.

I HATED LEAVING Monroe so I could go work at the club, but it was my business and I wasn’t going to let it fall apart now that I didn’t have Randy around. I pulled Bianca into my office as soon as I walked through the doors, making Mick stand in the corner so she didn’t try anything stupid. She plopped herself down in one of the chairs across from my desk, looking annoyed.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” She crossed her legs and then uncrossed them before leaning forward, giving me a sugary sweet smile. Too bad those didn’t work on me, at least not from her.

“You know that I fired Randy, right?”

She nodded her head, starting to fidget in place. “Yeah, I heard. That’s too bad. Randy did a really good job around here. He’ll be missed.”

“Really?” My eyebrows raised and she had the nerve to bob her head again. “Yup,” she replied with a pop.

“Well, do you know why he got fired?”

“No, I have no idea.” She shook her head a few times and I squashed down the urge to roll my eyes at her. Did she think I was a dumbass?

“Really? Because I’ve talked to a few different people that said you were the main culprit in his little scheme. Is that true?”

“Um…well…I don’t….” She sputtered and then stopped, sitting up straighter before she began talking again. “You know, Mr. Buchanan, you need to loosen up a bit. I was just having fun and making money at the same time. What’s better than that?” She leaned forward, this time making a point to shove her tits together. Great, I could see what direction this was going in and I really wasn’t surprised.

“That shit could’ve cost me my business and ruined my reputation if y’all got caught.”

She simply shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Sorry, I guess. I’m sure I can make it up to you somehow,” she added in a flirty tone.

“Really?” I groaned, briefly shutting my eyes before reopening them to glare at her. “You’re done here, Bianca. You are no longer an employee of Pure, and I sure as hell will make sure that nobody else in this business hires you because you’re bad news, simple as that.”

Her lips pursed together. “You’re seriously firing me? Is this really because of what happened with Randy or is this because of that new girl that you have a thing for? What exactly do you see in her?”

I ignored her question, not even wanting to waste my breath. “You can leave now, unless you need to be escorted out by Mick here.”

She huffed loudly before standing up and throwing her hands in the air. “Ugh, no. I’m out of this place. See you later, asshole.”

“Bye,” I called after her cheerfully, glad that her and Randy were both out of here. Hopefully I could relax a bit and not have any more problems for a while. I checked the clock, seeing that I still had a few hours ahead of me, and I groaned. I never minded work before but after spending the day with Monroe, I would much rather be with her.

I had a feeling this was going to be a long night.

“I CAN’T BELIEVE all you did was kiss that man. Is there something wrong with you?” Amelia nudged my arm with her elbow as we walked through the food court at the mall, looking for an empty table so we eat our lunch. It was not a good idea at all to come this weekend because the place was packed. We ended up waiting for a table that was just finishing up and quickly snagged it.

“He said he wants to take things slow,” I explained, trying to keep the disappointment out of my tone. “And besides, I thought you said he was scary. Shouldn’t you be telling me to run the other way or something?”

She shrugged her shoulders before reaching across to steal one of my fries. “He just seemed like he could be a bit of a hard-ass, but with you, he sounds like the sweetest guy ever. Are you nervous to take things further? I know you don’t have a ton of experience in that department. Sounds like you and your boy toy Carter barely experimented with each other. If you need any tips, just let me know.”

“Tips?” I swallowed a sip of my drink and immediately began coughing. “I think I’m good, Amelia.”

“If you say so, Roe-Roe.” She leaned closer to me, talking in a hushed tone, and I could barely hear her. “But there’s a science to giving a good blow job and not to brag or anything, but I’ve had plenty of compliments.”

“Amelia.” My eyes widened and I slapped a hand over my mouth. “I can’t believe you just said that! I’ve barely ever heard you talk about sex. I thought you were too prim and proper for that.”

She rolled her eyes and picked up her fork to take a bite out of her salad. “I never talked about it because you weren’t having it, and I didn’t want to make you jealous. I figured I would at least offer.”

“Well, thanks, but no. If and when I do that, I think I can figure it out.”

“It’s not called a job for nothing, Monroe. But whatever, I’m sure you’ll manage or maybe Miller can give you some pointers.”

“So anyway,” I said, desperate to change the topic away from my sex life, or the lack thereof. “Are you still planning on coming home with me for winter break?”

I had already talked to Miller about taking the holidays off, even though I wasn’t too happy about having to discuss it since I was literally just starting the job. He was more than willing to give me any amount of days off that I wanted. That man was way too giving, but this time, I would take him up on his offer. I missed my family like crazy. And I wouldn’t feel so guilty when I saw them because I wouldn’t have to lie about where I was working. On top of that, I had the news that I would be instructing at the dance studio.

I still couldn’t believe Miller had lined that up for me, especially after handing me a position at his company. That man was beyond thoughtful and I couldn’t get over it. First, the horseback riding, and the picnic, even the fishing was sweet in its own way. And then he took me to the dance studio. To work there. I was ready to marry him on the spot.

Okay, let’s not get ahead of yourself, Monroe.
I had no idea if we had a
status
. Were we casually dating, seriously dating, seeing no one else, boyfriend and girlfriend? That seemed a little high school-ish to me, and Miller would probably look at me like I was crazy if I asked.