I nodded.
She got out her phone and thumbed through it before music filled the studio from a Bose sitting on the shelf below the DVD player.
“I’m going to bring my left foot forward while your left steps back,” Justin whispered. “Then we step to the side with our right foot and finally bring our feet together. We do this over and over on my lead, okay?”
“Okay.”
I looked down at his feet as we began to move. The moment he turned, I resisted and accidentally stepped on his foot. “Sorry.”
“It’s fine. Ready to start again?” Justin asked.
The next time, he stepped on my foot because I went forward instead of backward. I let out a yelp.
“Sorry.” Justin instantly went to the floor, his hand rubbing my toes over my socks. “Are you okay?”
Katerina paused the music. “Where are your shoes?”
“I only have sneakers with me.”
She let out an exaggerated sigh. “What size are you?”
“Six and a half.”
She pursed her tiny mouth, an eyebrow raising.
“Seven,” I admitted.
“Wait here.” She left the room.
“Justin, I don’t think we can pull this off in two weeks. I don’t even know how to waltz.”
He stood and looked down at me, eyes soft. “But how cool would it be if we could pull it off?”
That cozy, warm feeling spread through me like that day at his apartment. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what drug was being released from my hypothalamus, but it was even better than dopamine. Or maybe it was a mix of several…
“Alright, I’m willing to give it a try if you are.”
“I am.”
Katerina came in and handed me a pair of worn dance heels. “Put these on and start again.”
I did as I was told and got into the stance, being sure to keep my back straight and elbows out. Katerina started and stopped the music five times to give some instruction when I had begun to learn the steps without needing to look down or one of us stepping on each other’s toes. Chin up. Lock our gaze. Smile. Dip on the back and forward steps, rise on the side and together. She called it the rise and fall of the waltz. After about an hour, we danced through the whole song without Katerina stopping it once.
Gazing into Justin’s eyes without interruption was harder for me than I realized. His irises were mostly green with specks of brown, and his dark lashes only intensified the color. They were beautiful and hypnotic, and I felt like I was floating there in his arms.
When the music stopped, our feet stilled, but our hands were still clasped together. I didn’t want to let go but finally released my fingers from his grasp.
I tugged at my necklace and looked over at Katerina, who was scrutinizing us with her glare. “Hmm,” was all she said. With a hand on her hip, her pointer finger tapped a few times. “Come back tomorrow, and we’ll work on your soft shoe.”
“Thank you,” Justin said. Katerina nodded before grabbing her bag off the floor and walking out of the studio.
Justin side-smiled. “That wasn’t so bad, now was it?”
“Not at all.” I felt a nudge of pride. “I know how to box step now.”
“We’re going to need more than one-hour lessons of basic steps if we’re going to learn that dance.”
“I can stay longer if you want me to show you some basic tap steps and get a head start.”
