Seaside Embrace(19)

“That’s great. Now try this.” Jana showed her how to move her hips in a more fluid motion. She wasn’t surprised to see that Theresa picked up the moves quite easily.

“Theresa! Wow, look at you. I can’t even do that.” Leanna jerked her hips from side to side.

Bella laughed. “Girlfriend, you need that Foxy Mamas class bad.”

“I know, right?” Leanna touched Jana’s shoulder. “Can you help me do what Theresa is doing?”

“Of course,” Jana said. “Theresa, that’s marvelous. You’ve got it.” She gripped Leanna’s hips and helped her move in a less jerky fashion.

“I feel sexier already,” Leanna said. “Kurt is going to be so happy.”

They danced for a few minutes, laughing and chatting about how silly they must look. Jana assured them that they looked beautiful.

Theresa looked at her watch and gasped. “Oh my. I have to leave for Boston. I’m sorry, girls, but I need to cut our meeting short.”

“Theresa, thank you for considering this, and for taking the time to talk with me this morning. I truly appreciate it.” Jana didn’t think before she moved in for a hug. Theresa stiffened at first, then awkwardly patted Jana’s back. “As I said, even if you don’t want to approve the space for classes, I’m so thankful that you took the time to consider it, and I’d still be happy to help you learn to dance if you’d like.”

“Oh, goodness.” Theresa stepped out of the embrace. “Well, we’ll have to review the association bylaws. Assuming there are no legal issues, then we’ll have to take a vote of the owners, and if they don’t have an issue with it, then as long as we set up rules about hours of operation, number of people on-site, and parking…oh, and insurance. We’ll have to speak to our agent about that, and you should look into that, too, Jana. There seems to be much to consider, and I really do have to leave.”

“That’s okay,” Bella said as she opened the front door. “Why don’t you take off? In the meantime, Jana can look into insurance and put together the other information you’d like to see.”

“So, this is really a possibility, then?” Jana asked.

“Well, let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. We’ll need to read the bylaws, as I mentioned. If that’s in order, then as long as we can come to an agreement with the rest of the items, you have proper insurance, and the majority of the owners agree…” Theresa smiled as she reached for her keys, glancing around the room one last time.

As soon as they were outside and Theresa drove away, Jana said, “Oh my God! We might really do this!”

Jenna, Amy, and Jessica came outside with the babies and joined them, squealing with joy. After a round of hugs, the girls began talking about the details Theresa had mentioned: insurance, majority vote, parking.

Jana leaned against the laundry building and closed her eyes.

“Oh my God,” she whispered more to herself than anyone else. “I might really do this.”


***

HUNTER SPENT THE day helping Grayson with an order for hibachis that had come in late last week. Once they finished fabricating parts for them, Hunter’s thoughts returned to Jana. From the moment he’d seen her dancing, so graceful and confident alone in her studio, he’d known exactly what he wanted to create for the competition. After leaving her house last night, he’d come straight to the shop and tried to sketch his ideas, but his thoughts kept racing, then just as quickly, fraying, just out of reach. He’d finally given up and realized that what he wanted to create was too big, too alive, for drawings, and he’d heated up the forge and gone to work.

Now, as he headed out the back door toward the warehouse where they kept the scrap metal, it didn’t take long for his mind to skip from images of Jana in her skintight dance shorts and barely there top to the hurt look in her eyes when he’d turned away from her in the studio, causing his chest to tighten. Those thoughts were chased by the surprise in her eyes this morning when he’d shown up at her door, and later, to the confused look on her face as she studied him. His feelings for her had taken a deeper, meaningful turn, and he had a feeling that she’d not only noticed, but was confused by them.

Despite the hot and cold signals Jana had tossed his way, she’d not only gotten under his skin, but she’d found her way into his heart. Not only had Hunter found his creative muse, but Jana had also inspired him in other, more important ways. He’d begun looking hard at the man he’d become, and while he was proud of his accomplishments, and his loyalty to family and friends ran deep, he also saw his faults. And where Jana was concerned, they didn’t look like mere fissures. He was staring at the fucking Grand Canyon. He was bound and determined to be the man she deserved. If she wanted romance and finesse, then she was going to get it.

Sometime later, with a cart of metal, he headed back into the shop.

“What’s all that?” Grayson asked as Hunter laid the metal out on the table.

Clark came through the doors to the shop and hollered back to them before Hunter could answer. “Do you mind if I take off?”

Hunter and Grayson exchanged a hopeful glance.

“Going to see Nina?” Grayson asked.

“Sort of.” Clark joined them by the machinery. “When we went out the other night, it made me realize how much I missed her, and how much I missed Billy.”

“That’s great, man,” Hunter said. He’d heard him on the phone late last night, and he’d been hoping they were patching things up.

“Yeah, I guess. It also made me realize how far we have to go. As a couple, I mean.” Clark rubbed the back of his neck and looked away for a moment before saying, “Nina made an appointment with a therapist in Yarmouth, and she wants to talk to each of us separately first, before we do any couples counseling. So I’m taking Billy out for a few hours.”

“That sounds like a great start.” Hunter was relieved. It sounded like his friend was on the right path. He went into his office, where he’d stowed the pieces he’d made last night. He’d only begun forging the metal for the body, but he could already feel it coming to life. He laid the pieces carefully on another worktable.

“Have fun with Billy,” he said to Clark.

Clark lifted his chin toward the table. “New project?”

“No. Just an idea for the competition.”

“Cool,” Clark said. “Can’t wait to see it. I’ll catch up with you tonight at your place, then.”

“I’ll be late,” Hunter said, eager to spend a few extra hours working on the sculpture.

Grayson lifted his eyes from where he was crouched before a shelf, picking through iron rods.

“I will, too,” Clark said. “Catch ya later.”

Grayson rose to his feet. He ran a hand through his thick, dark hair and studied the pieces Hunter had already made. He lifted the piece of metal Hunter had been working with last night. The form hadn’t taken shape yet, but it was close enough that he knew Grayson would recognize where he was going with it.

“A woman’s stomach?” Gray cocked a brow. “Wow, and I thought you and Jana were just fuck buddies.”

“Don’t call her that.” Hunter snagged the metal from his brother’s hand. “It’s just an idea I had.”

“To build yourself a woman?” Grayson teased. “I’m pretty sure she won’t do for you what a living, breathing woman will.”

Hunter ignored him.

Grayson laughed. “Okay, seriously. Tell me what’s going on, big bro. I thought you were ending things with Jana, and then you show up at the bonfire with her after searching ‘how to be romantic’ online.”

Hunter ran his hands over the smooth, cold metal and set it on the table as he chose the next piece. “It’s a dancer, from the thighs up. I see her with her head back, and I’m thinking about thin twisted strips for her hair, hanging down. No eyes, just lashes, nose, and mouth.” He pictured Jana in the studio, her head back, eyes closed, as she swayed to the music.

“Wow, dude. You’ve got it bad.” Grayson smiled and patted him on the shoulder.

“It’s a piece of art.” He wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all himself.

“She’s getting to you.”

Hunter leaned against the table. He crossed his arms and shook his head. “Shit. She already has.”

Grayson laughed again.

“Seriously, Gray? What’s so fucking funny?”

“You. You have this look of pain on your face, like you can’t stand the idea of any woman getting to you, but then your voice is all dreamy like a girl’s.”

Hunter cocked an arm to punch Grayson, and Grayson sidestepped, laughing louder.

“Bastard.” Hunter chased him around the table and grabbed him around the neck, wrestling him into a headlock. “Shut the fuck up.”

Grayson continued laughing. Hunter ground his teeth together, trying to stifle his own laugh. Grayson elbowed him in the ribs and spun away with his arms up in surrender.

“Okay, okay. I’ll shut up,” Grayson said, barely stifling his laughter. “But she’s definitely gotten to you. What’s so bad about that?”