“Is that so? Didn’t look like all you were doing.”
Bailey nestled closer to Luc’s side, and murmured, “Um, if you want to talk with him, I’m totally okay with that.”
“You don’t want to skate anymore?”
She winced. “You know I appreciate this, but I really can’t skate without you.”
“Maybe you just need a better teacher,” Sean said.
Luc took Bailey’s hands. “Sorry, she’s with me, and we still have work to do.”
“We do?” she murmured.
“One hundred percent,” he muttered back.
No way did she need to spend a second longer in the company of the man the team had privately called Casanova. The man had more notches on his bedpost than Luc had hot dinners. His involvement in the betting scandal last year had apparently also seen his name linked to a few even less savory things, including rumors of violence against a prostitute. Luc had had a few run-ins with Sean before, and as the man didn’t fit the family culture the team was striving for, it’d been good to see him go.
“Catch you around,” Luc said. Like hopefully never.
“Keep practicing, dude. You look like you need it.”
“Wow,” Bailey said, as Luc drew her away. “He doesn’t like you much, does he?”
“Sean and I always had differences of opinions about how to treat other people.”
“Let me guess. You called him out for how he treated women.”
He glanced at her quickly. “You could tell?”
“Please. I wasn’t born yesterday. It might surprise you to learn this but some dancers can have narcissistic qualities.”
“No way!”
“Way.” She grinned.
He couldn’t help it. That smile pummeled straight into his chest, and made him do crazy things. So he scooped her up in both arms, to her shriek of laughter, which instantly drew every eye to them. Including Ella’s, who stopped what looked like an interview with Sean to focus on them. So he did what he’d wanted to do earlier, spinning around with Bailey in his arms, her arm around his neck, her chest pressed close to his, then slowly lowering her to the ice again.
She fanned herself. “Oh my goodness, Luc. You need to warn a girl before doing something like that.”
“Would you have said yes?”
“Probably not.”
“Are you glad I did?”
Her lips puckered, and he wished they were somewhere private where he could learn if that was a signal for a kiss. “Maybe.”
He grinned, his heart thudding with happiness. “You want to try that spin move we practiced earlier out here on the ice?”
“No! I can’t even skate in a straight line properly, let alone do something like that.”
“You just need to hold onto me. Like I said, I won’t let you fall.”
She bit her lip, and he could tell she was considering it. And she looked up at him. “Do you promise?”
“I care about you, Bails. I’ll always take good care of you.”
She looked deep into his eyes, then finally nodded. He held her hand, drawing her away from the boards, then clasped both of her hands together in both of his. “Trust me?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
He smiled, then slowly spun with her forearms in the trapeze grip she’d taught him. He built up speed until she gasped and slipped, one leg off the ice, then two, her grip sliding until she was holding onto his hands for dear life. But other than it being on ice, it was exactly as they’d practiced: him holding her, her beautiful hair splaying out, and Luc feeling that strange sense of power and joy at the center of it all. He slowed, then before they lost too much momentum, lowered her gently so she slid slowly near the boards.
Applause broke out behind him, and he glanced back to see Ella and Sean watching, the cameras on them still. He grinned, then skated to collect Bailey, who was flapping a hand at her cheeks, her broad grin saying she’d enjoyed that as much as he had. “You okay down there?”
“Apart from my tush getting cold.”
“We can’t have that now, can we?” He stretched out a hand and gracefully pulled her up. Then he gestured to their little audience. “Do you think you can manage a bow?”
“Maybe.”
He held her firm as she curtsied while he took a bow.
Then he helped her to the side, holding her hand as they found the guards and put them on. “Was that fun?”
“So fun.” Her cheeks were glowing, her eyes sparkling. “I was so tired before but this has been amazing. Thanks for bringing me here.”
“Now we just have to get you to a game one day.”
