Deep wasn’t fun. Deep would lead to heartbreak when he left. Because hewouldleave. They always did.
Except right now, she didn’t care. If the spirit of the holidays was about believing in things you had no proof of, well…then that’s what she’d try to do. Maybe Nik was right and there was something real between them. Or maybe he was just playing her. But dancing was about being in the moment, so she let everything else wash away on a tide of trombone moans and swivel steps.
They rocked and kicked and jumped and twirled their way through the rest of dance, a flurry of movement that felt like sheer perfection. When the song ended, people clapped. There were tons of phone cameras pointed their way. They bowed for the assembled crowd, then Nik drew her away and back toward the hot chocolate stand.
As they walked, Jess pressed her warm fingertips to the taut muscles of her cheeks. She was grinning like a damn fool and breathing hard, but so was Nik. He met her eyes, his chest heaving. A flippy sensation happened somewhere in her ribcage.
Oh.
Oh. No.
He’d done it. Just like that. He’d wormed his way in and won her over already. If she were being honest with herself, he’d been doing it since last New Year’s Eve. The kiss, the heart emojis, the insistence on holiday cheer. Who could resist all that? Not her, that was for damn sure.
She had to try. She should try. Or…for now, she could just enjoy it. For a little while. She’d still be her snarky self on the outside, but inside…
She’d soak it all in, holding these warm, gushy feelings tight. So when he left, she’d remember, at least for a short while, how it had felt.
Nik collected their purchases from the concierge and bought new cups of hot cocoa, as promised. Then they sat at a different table to drink.
“You’re good,” she said, finally catching her breath after a sip of the rich, sweet cocoa.
He shrugged. “I do what I can. We can’t all be swing dance champions, like you.”
“What, did you Google me?”
“Of course I did. Didn’t you Google me?”
She pressed her lips together, not wanting to answer, but his expectant eyebrow lift teased it out of her. “Yes, damn it. I did.”
He threw his head back and laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners. It was a nice sound, light and masculine.
“You’ve done Broadway,” she said, because it was something she’d read about him and wanted to know more about. Why did he join touring productions when he could be on the biggest stage of all?
“I have.”
“So, why tour?”
He fiddled with the plastic lid of his drink. “You already know why.”
“The travel andadventures?”
He hunched his shoulders, cringing as she reminded him of his own words from nearly a year ago. “It seemed important at the time.”
“Is it because you’re from New York?”
“Partly.” He kicked out his legs and reclined as much as the flimsy chair would allow, folding his hands over his flat belly. “Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a relentless struggle to get those roles. You have to put in the time, the effort, and be one hundred percent dedicated. But when you can stay at your parents’ house in Brooklyn for free and your brother is a movie star with a memorable—and by that, I meanforeign—last name, it’s not quite as hard as it is for other people.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “Are you saying you went on tour because getting roles on Broadway was tooeasyfor you? Because if you are, I might have to throw this hot chocolate on you. And then you’ll have to get me athirdone.”
He shifted in his chair like he wasn’t comfortable with the topic. “It’s not that it was easy, it was that I felt…I don’t know,stuck. Like I hadn’t progressed at all as a person. As a dancer, sure, I was constantly learning new things. But as a…god, this is going to sound cliché.”
“Go on. I’m sorry, I won’t make fun.” Because now she was into it, imagining a younger version of Nik, living at home and wanting…more.
She understood that feeling. And she didn’t know what to do about it, so if he had an answer, she wanted to hear it.
“As a man.” He rubbed a hand over his face, and she caught the telltale red tinge on his cheeks. That sexy, sexy blush.
He dropped his hand and continued. “I’m a younger brother, by a lot of years. As long as I was at home, I was still the baby. Maybe you get it, because you have an older sister.”
