or foot hurts, the people watching you—”
“Will pity me,” she said strongly. “And I don’t want that.”
“Like hell they will. Trust me on this, beautiful. They’ll be so enthralled by what you’re doing. You’re the only one who will notice your flaws. You’re the expert, a perfectionist, but the rest of us are thrilled just to be given the chance to see you dance.”
She traced a sunflower on his chest and said, “But what if I can’t finish a performance?”
“Then you’ll get your applause early.”
“You make it sound easy,” she said with a smile.
“Not easy, babe, just realistic. Do you think Elisa or Angela is going to be critical of your dancing? Or Kennedy or Dottie? All of them are going to cheer on Miss Woni.”
She laughed.
“I’m serious, Roni. I get that you don’t want to be humiliated. Nobody does. And the last thing I want for you is to have the joy of dance stolen away. But I don’t think you’ve given yourself a fair shot. Maybe you can start small, do a private dance for me.”
She blinked at him, her lips curving playfully. “Like a striptease?”
“Hell yes, but only in addition to the real dancing you do. I show up early just so I can watch you dancing. When you’re telling the story of the song through dance, it’s mesmerizing. I can’t look away.”
“But I’m your girlfriend, so you see it through different eyes than everyone else.”
“Maybe, but if other people see even half of what I see, they’ll be blown away, too.” He tucked her hair behind her ear so he could see her face better and said, “Baby, you are too magnificent to let fear lead you. I wish you could see yourself the way others do, the way it sounds like you used to. I want to support you the way you support me, and if that means letting this go, I will. But tell me, Roni. Is that really what you want? Never to dance on a stage again?”
She lowered her eyes so fast he knew she hadn’t given up on her dream.
“That’s what I thought.” He kissed her forehead, bringing her eyes back to his, and said, “I would give anything to see you onstage if and when you’re ready, and that hope comes with an offer of a full-body rub before and after the performance.”
She slid her finger into the waist of his sweatpants and kissed his chest. “You’d give anything?” She ran her fingers over his pecs and said, “There’s a reason I didn’t give you a shirt to put on this morning.”
“Anything.” God, she owned him. She knew just how to distract him from the conversation.
A seductive smile played at her lips as she traced the tattoos on his arm, her eyes following her fingers along his forearm. “I really liked that thing you did the other morning when we made love in the shower.”
Instant. Hard-on.
He pulled her against him so she could feel what she was doing to him and said, “That thing with my mouth, or when I picked you up and took you against the wall?”
Her eyes blazed up to his. “Both.”
“Christ, baby,” he growled, and captured her mouth, lifting her into his arms. She wound her legs around his waist, and he carried her toward the bedroom, tearing his mouth away only long enough to say, “Does this mean you’ll think about the showcase?”
“That’ll cost you two orgasms.”
He scoffed. “What am I, lazy? We’re going for four.”
Chapter Seventeen
DIXIE AND JACE’S house was just like their family, or maybe like a mug of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day—big, warm, inviting, and at the moment, filled to the brim. Quincy hadn’t been kidding about everyone being there. Roni had never been in a house filled with so many people or so much love. When she and Quincy had arrived, they’d been passed from one embrace to the next and greeted with unexpected excitement, which was wonderful. The children had cheered, and Lincoln had toddled over yelling, Boofulhere! causing uproarious laughter. The kids had dragged Quincy off to play by the enormous Christmas tree. Even though the girls had been good to Roni since they’d met, and she’d gotten closer to Penny, and Josie had even texted a few times just to chat, Roni had still been a little nervous about feeling like an outsider since Thanksgiving was such a family-oriented holiday. But Red and the girls had swept her into their circle. Jed and Crystal’s mother,