“And are you going to tell me?”
She peered back at him. “Don’t you recognize me?”
“Of course I do. You’re the girl who spilled coffee on me yesterday.”
She sighed, and something about the lines of her face drew a tug of memory, but what it was he didn’t know. “I’m Bailey.”
“Bailey?” Where had he heard that name recently?
As she continued to stare at him, like he was the world’s biggest idiot, the fogginess in his brain lifted. His heart hitched. No. No way. It couldn’t be. “Not—”
“Your dance partner? Yes.”
Whoa. “But…” His words failed. Was she kidding? She couldn’t even maneuver a coffee cup let alone teach him moves on the dance floor. This had to be a joke. “You’re a dancer?”
“Do you need references?”
As her head tilted, more memories clicked into place. Something about her throat suddenly looked like the picture he’d been sent, when she’d been stretched into a ballerina pose of beauty and elegance that seemed far too delicate for him. His gaze trickled down, and just as he’d suspected, she was about half the size of him. Not in height, but definitely in width. How could this tiny fairy-like creature teach him?
“Look, I don’t understand this at all. You’re too little.”
“Excuse me?”
“Like, I’d squash you.” Panic rose. “I can’t—I shouldn’t—”
“Whoa. Hold on, big guy. You don’t need to be scared.”
“Scared? I don’t do scared. Especially of little girls. No offense.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Why do people think they can say offensive things then tack on a ‘no offense’,” she said that phrase in a lower, sullen guy tone, “and act like they’re off the hook for being offensive? That is offensive. But do I point that out to you?”
His jaw sagged. Whoa. Don’t hold back, lady. “Except I think you just did.”
“Well, I guess that makes us even then.”
Her smile thumped him in the heart, just as it had yesterday. He’d never met anyone with her brand of daintiness and fire. She moved to adjust her seatbelt, then peeked across at him before the cabin crew announcement about emergencies stole her attention.
He watched her instead of the safety demonstration. With all the travel hockey demanded, it felt like he’d spent half his life in planes. Now she was up close, he could see the clear skin, the proud tilt of head, the honey gold hair swept high like yesterday, that only seemed to emphasize her cheekbones and delicate features.
She glanced back at him. “You should be paying attention.”
“I am.”
She huffed out a breath, but he thought he caught a tiny smile before she smothered it with a yawn.
The vibrations of the plane shuddered as it slowly rolled, then picked up speed then lifted from the runway. He noticed how she clasped the seat arm, her little hands looking fragile, like he could accidentally lean on her and her bones might snap. This wasn’t a good idea. It felt like all kinds of things could go wrong.
The plane leveled out, her hands released and she stretched out her fingers, before covering her mouth as she yawned again.
“Big night, huh?”
Her lashes lowered. “Like you wouldn’t believe.”
“Try me.”
She pressed her lips together. Then sighed. “How long have you known about this for?”
“Since Monday. You?”
“Yesterday.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly. So I’m sorry I’m a bit snippy. I was blindsided yesterday at lunch, then basically had to read the contract and rearrange all my classes and get a teacher in to cover everything from today.”
“You’re still working?”
Her lips twisted. “Not everyone gets paid big bucks. Some of us have to earn a living and pay the bills.”
Bingo. He settled back in his seat. “So you’re doing this for money.”
“I love to dance, but I can’t afford to work for free.” She shrugged. “I get that five grand isn’t much for you, but it’ll help get the bank off my case, and means I’m not in debt as much, so this was the quickest way to repay it that I could see.”
“Five grand?” He frowned. He was being paid ten times as much. Adding his charity contribution, he was getting seventy-five, maybe even a hundred. How wrong was that?
She winced. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have mentioned that, should I? That was part of the non-disclosure agreement, wasn’t it?”
The non-disclosure about their involvement and payments. Due to the tight time frame Luc had been granted an exemption, although only his agent, parents, and senior club management knew. He shrugged. “I don’t know if it counts when you’re sharing with your dance partner.” It was a lie. It totally counted. But he wanted to know more about her reasons for doing this, and just what this meant to her. “So, um, you needed some cash in a hurry, huh?”
