The Romance Dance: Castle Ridge Small Town Romance by Burton Allie

Author:Burton, Allie [Burton, Allie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alice Fairbanks-Burton
Published: 2016-10-23T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

Early the following morning, Reed snuck into the dance studio to finish the lights before Quinn came to work. He hadn’t slept well last night, with several forms of guilt choking him. He and his brother lied to Quinn with their trickery, and she hated liars. Which he totally understood after the way she’d been cheated.

He was a liar, and he coveted the woman his brother had dated. In high school, that wasn’t a huge problem. In the past they’d dated plenty of each other’s ex-girlfriends. Right now, with Dax so vulnerable, Reed found his needs hard to justify. Especially if Quinn only felt sympathy toward him.

Dax’s ex-girlfriend, the first woman his brother had ever had a real relationship with, had hit on Reed. She’d given some lame excuse about how he was mysterious and needy. He and Dax had gotten into a huge blow-up. Reed had never encouraged the woman. He hadn’t been interested in her or anyone else. When Dax had believed they were a happy couple once more, the woman had cheated on him with someone else. Hence the recent breakup, which had brought Dax to his lowest point, his most vulnerable.

Coming out of the storage area with the lights, Reed almost ran into Quinn. She backed around the corner to take a position by the front counter. Her expression rearranged from shock to welcoming, except her smile was too sunny, her eyes too bright, and her good morning too stiff.

Had her night been sleepless, too? “Morning.” He purposely left the good off.

Tension rose between them. There was no dance music to fill the awkward silence. She’d come down the stairs when he’d been tortured and playing the piano as a friend. She wasn’t lusting after him. He needed to act normal. The kiss yesterday meant nothing. He cleared his throat. “You’re at work early.”

Biting her lower lip, Quinn stood. She wore tights and a short, clingy, layered skirt. The top stretched across her slim waist and small breasts. She stretched to the tips of her toes—a nervous habit he’d noticed. “I’m worried about today.”

First day of her free classes. He softened with sympathy, and the awkwardness disappeared. He took a step forward, planning to give her a hug. Images of their last comforting hug crescendoed in his mind. Comfort had morphed to passion. Passion to lust and lost control.

He stopped and stiffened. No friendly hug, because for him the hug would be so much more than friendly. “You’ll be great.”

“What if the kids don’t listen? What if their mothers hate how I teach?” She sounded like a small lost girl.

“How can they not love you?” His voice rasped with the need to assure and comfort.

Everyone who met Quinn loved her. Izzy, Danielle, Brianna. Dax.

Reed’s lungs tightened. He had to remember Dax.

She held out her hand, reaching for Reed, an automatic reaction. He leaned back, afraid to connect. Afraid the connection would become something more on his end.

She let her hand drop onto the counter. “I know it’s silly, but I’m scared.

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