"Really?" He looked at me quizzically.
"Well, yeah." I shrugged. "I know it's a lot of maintenance, and it's not as simple as just calling the landlord when something breaks, but I'd like my own yard one day, you know? Something that's totally mine that I can do whatever I want with. And preferably something with no stairs."
He chuckled as I hit the lights for the studio, making the entire space bright. "I can see the appeal of no stairs."
"Tell me about it," I groaned. "You spend an entire day dancing, wearing your body out, and then have to climb an entire flight up and down. It's murder on your knees. Some days I feel like a seventy-year-old lady in need of a walker."
I turned back just in time to catch him doing a sweep of my entire body. His green eyes seemed to darken, and I could have sworn I heard "sure as hell aren't built like a seventy-year old," under his breath.
My body gave an involuntary shiver and I was suddenly hit with a bout of stage fright, something I hadn't experienced in years.
"So … " I dragged out. "I'm not really sure which song I should play." My attention darted to my phone clutched tightly in my hands as I scrolled through my different play lists. Normally, dancing was as familiar as breathing, but I was so aware of Quinn standing in front of me that I had trouble concentrating. "Uh … there's-"
All of a sudden the phone was snatched from my grasp and Quinn's large, solid body was only inches away. "How about I pick? You just do your thing."
Quinn
I WAS GOING to Hell. There was no doubt about it.
As I scrolled through Lilly's phone, I started questioning how I'd ended up in the situation I was currently in. But the only answer I could come up with was: my own stupidity. There was no denying that something about the woman tugged at me, but I should have ignored the pull, not fallen into it.
Too late to turn back now, I thought, swiping my thumb along the screen until I came across a playlist that caught my eye. It didn't take a fucking genius to see she had her music organized by how each song made her feel, that was why the list titled Seductive seemed so goddamned appealing.
Like I said, I was going to Hell.
I didn't recognize any of the songs, so going on one with the coolest name, I picked "Gods and Monsters" By Lana Del Ray. "Okay, got it."
"All right. Just plug it in over there." She pointed to where she normally docked her iPhone. I followed her instructions and set the phone up. As soon as I looked back up, all the blood in my body rushed straight to my dick.
"What are you doing?"
Lilly looked at me like I was an idiot. "I can't dance in sweats," she stated like that was obvious to everyone but me. Her pants fell to the floor, revealing a pair of black shorts that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Seconds later, her baggy sweater disappeared, showing the tight teal sports bra she'd been wearing underneath.
I was so busy staring at all her luscious curves I hadn't even realized she said something. "Huh?" I asked, jerking my gaze up to meet hers.
"Can you push play?" she asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.
"Oh, yeah. Sure. Got it." Needing to focus on anything other than the disturbing fact my dick was stirring behind my fly at the sight of my daughter's dance teacher, I leaned back against the wall, crossing my ankles and shoving my hands in my pockets. As soon as the music kicked in, I knew I'd made an epic fucking mistake in my song selection, because fuck me, the woman moved like a wet dream to the sinful beat.
I was mesmerized as I watched Lilly dance, her skin tinged pink as she was taken over by the music. I was lost, just like the morning I'd watched her through the window, only this time there was a seductiveness to the song and the way she moved that made me want to bury myself as deep as I could go and lose myself inside her completely. It was a terrifying thought. My mind shouted that it was wrong, but my body wouldn't get on board, and as she lifted one leg straight up into the air, parallel to her body, the ache grew even stronger.
The beat kicked up and her body flowed like water across the floor. Guilt at feeling such an intense attraction to another woman flooded through me, and I knew I needed to move, but I was stuck, transfixed. She hadn't been exaggerating when she said dancing was an escape for her. It was written in the way she moved, the expression on her face. The sadness and pain were gone, having melted away to a serenity I envied.
As the final notes of the song began to fade and the song came to an end, I was finally able to come unglued from the floor. I needed to get the hell out of there.