I’d love to. I’ll drive. Let me know when to pick you guys up.
Abby broke into a huge grin, staring at the screen and reading the message several times. Another one appeared as she was looking at it.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Had a gunshot wound.
Audrey and Sara were using large cushioned blocks to build a tower at a children’s museum exhibit. Abby smiled as she and Chris watched from a nearby bench.
“Sara’s a very happy kid,” Chris observed.
“She is. Audrey’s much more like me.”
“You’re not happy?”
“Oh, I’m just more serious, I guess. Introspective.”
“What kind of dancing did you take lessons in?” he asked.
“Christy’s Mom taught several different kinds, and we learned all of them. I liked tap the most, but I think ballet benefitted me the most. I was always too tall for serious ballet dancing, but I love it anyway.”
“Do you still get to do that kind of dancing?”
“Not much. But it helps me choreograph routines for the club. This probably sounds silly, but I take pride in my choreography. I try to make my dances artistic and challenging.”
“That’s not silly at all, Abby.”
“Mickey does theme nights sometimes, so I have routines for the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s...then there’s black and white night, costume night…You should see my Flashdance routine. By the end I’m wearing nothing but legwarmers.”
“That sounds like something I’d like to see,” Chris said, grinning.
“You can be my test audience if you want. I’m going to the club in the morning to practice something new I’ve been working on.”
“Do you want me to watch you?”
Abby looked away, feeling shy under Chris’ probing gaze.
“If you want to. It would be nice to get unbiased feedback from a man. They always think if you ask for an opinion, you’re interested in them.”
“Then tomorrow morning it is. So what’s black and white night?”
“We divide up, and half the girls are white, so they dress up in angel costumes. The other half get to wear black and be vixens.”
“Ah,” Chris said, his eyes sparkling. “And which are you?”
“I’ve been both. Which do think I’m best at?” she asked in a teasing tone. Chris laughed and shook his head.
“I bet you’re quite talented at both…Hey, whatever happened with the guy whose number you took?”
Abby waved dismissively.
“I never called him. I decided you were right. Or maybe I was right to begin with. It’s not a good idea to date men from the club. Right now it’s not a good idea for me to think of dating anyone. I don’t need any more drama.”
Chris rubbed his face in the darkness, wide awake though he had been trying to sleep for more than an hour. It was always hard for him to sleep at night since he was so used to third shift. But tonight he didn’t think he had a chance.
Abby asking him to watch her dance had almost undone him on the spot. The way her cheeks had flushed…and the image of her as an angel or a vixen, either one, had made him hard. He hoped she hadn’t noticed.
He wondered if seeing her dance would get the fantasies out of his system. They had intensified since she’d told him about accepting another man’s number. He was wondering if she would move on to someone new before he even had a chance to sort out his feelings for her.
Tomorrow would help him figure out just how deep he was in. Maybe she would strike him the same way she had the first time he’d seen her dancing at the club: as just another woman with a great body.
But as he once again grew hard just thinking of her, he doubted it.
Chapter 6
Abby hadn’t felt nervous before dancing since her early days at Mickey’s, but she did as she stretched on the stage, waiting for Chris to walk through the door she’d left unlocked.
It was mid-morning, and the club was empty. It was so different from the flashing lights, blaring music and crowds of onlookers she was used to that it didn’t even feel like the same place.
She wore a camisole and body-hugging boy shorts, because she had decided not to strip during the dance. It was too intimate. For anyone else, she could, but not Chris.
“Hi,” Chris called as he walked in.
“Hi,” she said, the knot of nervousness in her stomach intensifying as she jumped up. “I got this chair out for you.”
“I get to come up to the stage?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as he climbed the stairs. The chair was on the opposite side of the stage from the pole, so he could see her well.
“Yes. Sit,” she said, disappearing backstage to turn on her music. “Should I start with the new one or warm up with an old one?”