Arabella looked down at him and laughed, breathless, shaky, and gorgeous. "That was . . . God . . . intense. Hold on to me so I don't topple over." Leaning forward she splayed her hands on his chest, still breathing hard.
"Just when I think there's nothing you can do to surprise me," Grady said.
///
"The perks of dating a dancer," she said with a chuckle. "Limber and with stamina."
"I'm a lucky man."
"And don't forget it."
"I don't plan to." Grady knew she was joking, but he reached up and brushed her hair to the side. He didn't want to scare her with talk of the future. "What were you going to tell me, my little dirty dancer?"
"Oh." The smile left her face and her expression grew serious. Arabella shifted to the side and then rested her head on his chest. She drew little circles but remained quiet.
"Are you going to leave me in suspense?"
"No." Arabella rolled over to her back. "I sold Hip, Hop, Health today."
"What?" Heart thudding, Grady moved onto his side and propped his head up in his hand. "Why?"
"I was stretched to the limit. I expanded too fast."
Grady frowned. "Why didn't you come to me?" He felt a pang of hurt that she hadn't confided in him.
"Because I knew you'd offer to bail me out. And I didn't want that," she replied slowly.
"Arabella, it's okay to need someone, to ask for help," he said gently, but not without some irritation. "We needed you to get Heartbeat in shape and you came to the rescue. Without you we'd never have been able to pull this off. Needing help is okay."
"That's different," she answered a bit defensively. "You're paying me."
Grady reached over and cupped her chin. He ran the pad of his thumb over her full bottom lip. "I don't just love you, want you. I need you. How can I get through to you that there's nothing wrong with needing someone? It feels good to have a soft place to land and a rock to lean on. I want to be that for you too."
She looked at him with stormy eyes. "You already are in so many ways."
"And Arabella, I also need your complete trust. I don't care how the hell something might look or sound. I have never and will never cheat on you or betray your trust." When she remained silent, he persisted. "Do you trust me?"
"Yes," she replied, but there was enough hesitation in her voice to give him pause. "Trust doesn't come easy to me, but I do trust you, Grady. I should have always trusted you."
He sighed. "I wish you had come to me on this. We could have figured out a solution rather than you selling your company."
"Well, I'm selling it to Jenna Clark, who has been with me from the beginning. She wants me to stay on as creative director, so I'll get to keep my hand in the business. And I get the satisfaction of knowing she'll keep the same format and values. She's a sweetheart, and all the years of work and planning won't go to waste. Not to mention that it will remain a fun place to work out and keep fit. I imagine she'll be able to keep expanding when things stabilize, and she has the funds needed to keep the business going until then. I'm not sorry I started the studios, so don't feel bad for me."
Grady nodded, but he was still visibly upset.
"And there's an upside," she said brightly. "I can use the money you're paying me to buy my grandmother's house. I'm going to call my dad tomorrow and tell him not to put it on the market. I'm so excited about that, so more good is coming from this decision."
Grady's heart thudded, and he wondered if he should tell her that the house was already hers. Or should he call her father first and come up with some sort of plan to keep it a surprise until Christmas? "Wow," he said, uncertain and a little blown away by her news. "Why did you come to the sudden decision to sell your fitness studios? At least, it seems sudden."
"Actually, I had a chat with Jimmy earlier, and he made me realize that I needed to prioritize what's most important in my life."
Grady felt another stab of hurt. "So Jimmy knew about this? You went to my brother instead of coming to me?" He couldn't keep the pain from his tone.
"Of course not!" Arabella sat up. "No, he stopped by here."
"Does my brother make a habit of stopping by here?"
"Did you really just ask that? Holy shit, Grady."
Grady sat up too and shoved his fingers through his hair. "That was seriously stupid. I'm really sorry."