said. She didn’t give him time to think about it. Instead, she counted him off and waited for him before she moved. On her second “One-two-three” he nodded and off they went, the same way they’d done before, only this time, it was Cole who determined their direction.
It was his hand on her waist that guided her, and for the briefest moment, she let herself get lost in the most basic of moves.
They returned to the center of the room and came to a stop. She should step out of his arms. She should drag her gaze away. She should run for safety.
But she did none of those things.
Instead, she simply stared, memorizing the way it felt to be held.
Behind her, Hildy cleared her throat. “That was lovely. Cole, I had no idea you could dance.”
“I can’t,” he said, still looking at Charlotte.
Finally, she took a step back. “Your turn, Amelia.”
The little girl stood and stepped forward quietly and stood in front of her uncle.
Cole smiled down at her. “Now the real test begins.”
Amelia glanced up at him, a curious look in her eye.
“The real professional,” he said. “I’m not sure I can keep up with you.”
A shy smile crossed her lips, and something inside Charlotte’s heart squeezed. “Are we ready?”
The pair nodded and Charlotte walked them through the first section of the dance. Cole wasn’t as graceful as Amelia, but he never gave up, and after about forty-five minutes, they had a solid start.
They came to a stopping point, and Charlotte smiled. “I think we’re going to have a winner on our hands.”
Cole looked at Amelia, and the two of them smiled.
Amelia looked at Hildy, who’d parked herself off to the side. “What did you think, Miss Hildy?”
Hildy stood. “I think your uncle might need a little more rehearsal than you. You’re kind of a pro.” She looked at Charlotte and winked.
“Ouch,” Cole said. “Hit a man while he’s down, why don’t ya?”
“I call it like I see it, kiddo.” Hildy reached over and squeezed Cole’s arm. “I’m sure Charlotte can get you up to Amelia’s level. It’s just going to take a little work.”
There was a gleam in Hildy’s eye that Charlotte didn’t miss, though she pretended not to notice.
“Can we go back to the pool?” Amelia asked Hildy.
Hildy put a hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Sure, honey.” She glanced at Charlotte, then at Cole. “We’ll see you both later.”
Amelia gathered her things into her dance bag, lifted her hand in a wave and walked out, Hildy close behind.
Charlotte slowly drew her eyes to Cole’s.
“I’m a hopeless cause, aren’t I?”
She laughed. “No. Not at all. But we can do some extra practicing if it makes you more comfortable. This really isn’t easy if you’ve never done it before.”
He groaned. “I’m going to make a complete fool of myself.”
She stuck her hands on her hips. “Enough with the pity party. You have an excellent teacher.”
At that, he smiled. “True. You’ve definitely made progress with my team. Gotta say, I was impressed.”
“Really?”
He looked confused. “Yeah. I’m sure you’ve been told that before.”
“Not so much,” she said. “Mostly I perform. I’ve only done a little bit of teaching. Maybe that’s why Connor hasn’t gotten back to me about the studio.” She walked toward the speaker and picked up her phone.
Cole frowned. “What about the studio?”
“I offered to buy it,” she said.
His heavy sigh told her something was wrong.
“What is it?”
“It’s just that he mentioned possibly selling to someone in Chicago.” Cole looked genuinely pained to break the news, but once he did, she struggled to process it.
“He did?”
Cole shrugged. “Said he got an offer from someone wanting to buy the business. That’s really all I know.”
“Do you know if he took it?”
“I don’t,” Cole said.
“It was probably a longshot. I just got my hopes up,” she said.
“Then convince him to sell it to you.” The finality in his tone was unmistakable.
She scoffed. “How do I do that?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, but I bet you can think of something.”
At the moment, she couldn’t, but he was right, she didn’t have to give up so quickly, especially since she didn’t have any details about this possible sale. Besides, this was her second chance, her backup plan. And if it fell through, she wasn’t sure what she’d do next.
34
The following day, Charlotte started her morning with a run that took her right past Julianna’s house. She stopped in front of it and stared at the door. It was early. Connor probably wasn’t