Nick mock groaned. “You’re going to be the death of me, woman!” In his heart—where he wasn’t sure even he acknowledged it—there was a faint answer to that. But what a way to go!
The next morning, Nick was pleased to see that his shoulder was actually loose and moving freely for the first time in days. He was a little bit stiff as he began the morning; but after a quick shower and a couple of Advil, he was definitely back in fine form.
The night off did me a lot of good, Lord, he admitted tiredly. It’s a shame Danni can’t afford for me to do it every night.
Except that he had underestimated his new partner. She took one look at him that morning and nodded, clearly seeing exactly how much the early evening had done for him.
“You’re not doing any of those lifts,” she said flatly.
Nick stared at her, sure that he must have misunderstood. “Excuse me?” he demanded.
“Oh, you heard me.” Danni put her hands on her hips, giving him that imperious look that always reminded him so much of Katarina—except that when she got it, it was because she was looking out for him, not because she was about to do something that would cause him even more pain. “Tell me you aren’t feeling better than you have in days.”
“I can’t tell you that.” It never even occurred to Nick to lie to her. He knew better than that. Danni would probably just see right through him if he tried; and anyway, it would absolutely destroy the relationship they had been building if he tried to lie about something so obvious.
“Then admit that you need the break, and take it.” Danni lost the haughty posture, walking quietly over to stand beside him. “That shoulder needs a break—and you know as well as I do that when we hit dress rehearsals and performances, you’re going to be in even more pain if you don’t take the time to let it heal now.”
“Allie—“
“Can wait.” Danni’s eyes twinkled. “Tell her I’m being demanding and insisting that you work with me every spare minute this week. I’ll demand it and make it more truthful, if you like.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Except that you aren’t going to let me dance.”
“Oh, I’ll let you dance,” Danni corrected immediately. “You can dance until your feet are ready to fall off, if that’s what you need to do—but you’re not going to do the lifts. We’ll walk through them like we have been all along.”
He wanted to argue with her—wanted to be strong enough to argue with her. She needed the practice. Yeah, they had it down now; but she hadn’t been doing it that long. They couldn’t afford to simply not practice.
“We’ll go back to doing it all-out at the dress rehearsals,” Danni promised him. “But until then, take the break you need.”
Nick felt as though he had been transported into an alternate reality. Thanks to Danni, he had several days to just let his shoulder rest. He danced as much as he ever had or more; but she kept a close eye on him, and any time his jaw tightened even the faintest bit, she made him sit down and take a break.
By Thursday night, he actually didn’t need the ice anymore—which was good, because the next day was their dress rehearsal.
How had he managed to end up with this gentle, understanding partner who actually cared whether or not he was in pain? What had he done that was good enough, pure enough, that God would give him someone who was so entirely good and caring that it would never occur to her to push him when he was hurting?
Danni was Katarina’s opposite in every way that mattered.
By the time they reached the dress rehearsal, Nick was actually eager to dance the entire pas de deux with Danni again. He had dreaded the dress rehearsals, the performances themselves, for weeks; but now, suddenly, he was able to relax into it. Danni would look out for him—he knew that, and appreciated it more than he could put into words.
And then, on his way to the dress rehearsal, Katarina caught up to him.
“Well, it looks like you’ve made it,” she sneered.
Nick’s eyebrows shot up. “There was a question about whether or not that was going to happen?” he asked curiously.
“Well, sure.” She shrugged. “Without me, you don’t have the drive