Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,65

I mean, you could dance it with somebody else. At this point, Androv would toss on a costume and get out there with you.”

“I’m not dancing with anyone but you tonight.” She brushed a hand lightly over his hair, a gesture that was intended to be soothing. “Besides, who else knows to cue me a third of the way through the dance when I lose track, huh?”

Nicholas laughed, and if the sound came out a little husky, they both pretended not to notice. “I owe you, Danni,” he said seriously. She didn’t really need his cue; he knew that. No, she was doing this just for him, with a gentleness and compassion that he certainly didn’t deserve.

“You don’t owe me anything.” She grinned. “Though if you insist, I might take a partnership deal when The Nutcracker is over.” The longer she danced with him, the surer she was of this. Nicholas was a good man, a good partner—and he was the one she wanted at her side. He was the one she wanted to dance with for just as long as possible.

“You’d be willing to put up with me again?” He sounded a little bit incredulous.

“I think so.” Danni stood, albeit reluctantly. “We need to go,” she told him. “Allie’s going to be missing you.”

Nicholas made a face, easing the ice off of his shoulder. “It would be really cruel to hold this for a few more seconds, then have hands of ice when I escort her, wouldn’t it?” he muttered.

Danni giggled—but she did take it away from him. “You have to dance with me, too,” she pointed out. “And I don’t need cold hands on top of compensating for your lack of balance.”

He stuck his tongue out at her—but he didn’t disagree. He knew full well that he was off-balance on all of their lifts, and adding in new ones was just going to make things worse.

“In the wings!” someone yelled.

They exchanged a look; and then, as one, they set everything else aside. It was time to dance.

For the next little while, Danni was barely aware of anything but Nicholas. The audience was there, but in a vague way. Their fellow dancers were there; but again, she acknowledged them with only a passing familiarity. She just danced her heart out—danced for an audience of exactly two.

She danced for Nicholas…and she danced, as always, for God.

Suddenly—too fast, it seemed—it was over, and Nicholas was leading her forward for that final bow. The two of them linked hands. His, she noted with amusement, were cool in spite of the fact that she’d taken his ice pack away.

His smile was stunningly brilliant.

They’d managed every step of the dance perfectly, pulling off her changes as though they had done them a hundred times. Never once had they missed so much as a step; and while Nicholas’s weaker arm might have trembled as he carried Clara back to the sleigh, Danni was sure that only she had been able to see.

“We did it,” he whispered, relieved.

“That we did.” She squeezed his hand, realizing as she did that he’d instinctively given her the right, putting her on his bad side rather than allowing someone else access. “Are you okay?”

“Hurting.” He grimaced. “But I’ll be okay tomorrow. It’s not nearly as bad as it could have been.”

“Good. I was worried about you.” Danni tugged him a little bit closer as the curtain closed for a final time. “What do you say we make our appearance at this little after party short?”

Nicholas looked deeply relieved. “I’d say that sounds like a plan.” He slipped an arm around her shoulders, ignoring the chatter of the other dancers around them. “You sure you don’t mind? I’ll stay if you’d rather.”

“My family’s not coming up anyway,” Danni reminded him. “Dad didn’t have time to get the time off, and Mom didn’t want to make the drive without him.”

“Rough,” he said lightly, draping his arm around her shoulders. “If I admit to a heavy dose of relief, are you going to hold it against me?” She let him. It would take some of the pressure off of his shoulder—something that Nicholas tended to need desperately when he had pushed too hard.

“To be fair, you could leave without me,” she pointed out.

He looked surprised. “Do you know, I didn’t even think about it?” He looked down at her. “I’d rather have you with me,” he informed her. “I could use the distraction tonight.”

How could she turn him down, especially with that plaintive