Dances with Monsters(86)

"So, you talk to Drew about Sunday?" Connor asked, breaking into Heath's reverie.

"Yeah, yeah," Heath said, groaning himself as he pushed into a sitting position. "She said she'd come."

"And John? You told her about John? How was she about that, since you mentioned she had a rough past?"

"Fine," Heath said with a shrug. "Totally fine. I guess I'm the one with the issue, not her."

"What happened to her, if you don't mind me asking?" Connor asked softly.

Heath shrugged. "Some really, really bad shit. I don't think it's for me to say, really. I sort of found out on accident myself. I'm not sure she would have ever told me. But…it was bad, man."

Connor nodded musingly. "That's probably all the information I need," he said lightly. "But I'm glad to hear she's coming. Ever since the girls found out she's a ballet dancer they've been bugging the shit out of me about her."

Heath couldn't help laughing. "Why?"

"They keep asking me if I think she'll teach them some things when she comes over. You know they're both getting into dance stuff now."

Heath recalled that on one of the last times he'd been by to see them, Maggie and Lucy had taken him by the hands and demanded that he follow them so they could show him their ballet shoes, their little tutus, and all of the things that they'd learned at their most recent lesson. He groaned inwardly but it was with amusement—now that they knew Drew was a "real ballerina", they'd never leave her alone once she set foot in the house.

"I'm sure she'd like that, anyway," Heath said. "She's good with kids, has some nieces and nephews of her own. And she is a dance teacher, after all."

"Good," Connor said. "I know everyone is looking forward to meeting her."

Heath cleared his throat and occupied himself with taking off his own wraps. "I'm, uh, takin' her to go see that ballet that's coming into town tomorrow," he said. "As a surprise."

Connor looked at him and lifted his eyebrows. "Heath Riley, burnin' romantic at heart," he joked. "Orchestrating surprises for a special young lady. Who woulda thunk?"

"Shut up," Heath said, instantly regretting telling him. Connor laughed and patted the air.

"Calm down, I'm just givin' you shit," he said. "That's nice of you. What made you do that?"

"Well, it's her favorite," Heath mumbled. "She couldn't get tickets, so I got some. Thought I'd do somethin' nice for her, since, like I said, she's had a rough year."

"Nothin' in it for you, either, right?" Connor said suggestively, chuckling again.

"It is not even like that, man," Heath said solemnly.

"Maybe not yet," Connor amended. "C'mon, Heath. Surprising a girl with ballet tickets? Ballet tickets! Not to mention meeting her family right away, bringin' her to meet ours…I think my baby brother's in love!"

"Whatever, man," was the best Heath could muster as his thoughts immediately turned to her.

He knew he wasn't in love with Drew. But he also knew he did really like her and that that "like" had the potential to grow into something more. And while the things he'd done for her or because of the fact that he liked her warranted no expectation of a counteraction on her part along the lines of what his brother was suggesting, he couldn't help but wonder. His mind immediately took him back to the previous night, saying goodbye to her inside her apartment. She'd shocked the shit out of him when he'd felt her tongue brush over his lip, so much so that he'd been sure it had been accident. But when she did it again, there was no mistaking what she was asking for, and he'd been only too happy to acquiesce her. In terms of physicality, he found himself at an impasse. On one hand, he knew the hideous attack she'd endured last year had done a lot of damage, damage he couldn't even fathom, to her body, her mind, her soul, most of all, her trust. He felt completely uncertain of how to proceed with her. They'd broken the first physical barrier—but what was too much? What was she open to? What were her limits? He knew that they'd likely have to discover those answers together, but in the meantime, he felt completely inadequate in dealing with her—he wanted to be as sensitive as possible, which in and of itself was typically unheard of as far as he went, and he never wanted to do anything to hurt or upset her. On the other hand, he was a man. And she was a woman to whom he was completely and decidedly attracted to, and one with whom he would love to break a few more boundaries with. He hadn't felt this way about a woman in an extremely long time, and hadn't dealt with a woman on any level in almost as long. Hell, just tasting her lips and tongue last night had rocked him up like he'd never been rocked up before, not even when he'd seen her practically naked in front of him, and he'd had to be very carefully about holding her just slightly away from him, lest she feel just how much he was enjoying what was going on. He thought about her face, how it had looked when he'd turned to look back at her once he'd walked out the door. Her cheeks had been pink, her hair tousled from his hand, her warm brown eyes bright and sparkling. Her lips, slightly swollen from their exercise, were such a tantalizing shade of dark pink, and she'd been biting at her lower lip in such a way, that he simply couldn't resist stealing just one more kiss. He'd been able to think of little else since then. And he needed to think of something else, and fast, as his body was beginning to stir at the memory and that was just not good business with his brother sitting right there.