“Get off me,” I whispered in a barely audible voice, too shocked to start pushing. Blake didn’t hear me, or perhaps he was ignoring what I said, and continued planting kisses along my neck. Finally finding some brain cells, I turned in his hold and stepped away. He stared at me, looking aroused and confused. He had no right to be confused. Where did he get off touching me without my permission like this?
I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I sensed a third presence. When I looked over Blake’s head, there in the open doorway stood Damon, and I’d never seen such a furious expression on his handsome face.
Our eyes connected, his filled with anger and hurt, mine filled with guilt and confusion, and then he turned on his heel and left.
“Rosie, come here,” said Blake, grabbing my hand and trying to pull me back to him. Since he was still facing me, he had no idea that Damon had been there, watching as he kissed my bare neck and I ground myself off his erection. Jesus.
I felt sick, violently ill. This was such a bloody fuck-up.
“Stop it,” I said, smacking him away.
“You liked me touching you. The noises you were making, fuck, Rose….”
At this I finally lost my temper. “Oh, for crying out loud, Blake. I thought you were somebody else!”
His expression was one of astonishment, but I didn’t stick around to argue with him. Instead, I brushed swiftly past him and out the door, hurrying to catch up with Damon. Out in the studio, the cast were arriving back from lunch, the place a riot of activity. I pushed past bodies, searching for a tall dark-haired man, but I couldn’t find him anywhere. Had he left?
“Rose, I need you over here,” said Jacob, grabbing me by the elbow and leading me into a group of dancers. “We’re going over ‘Rhythm of the Night’ again. Satine will ask Christian to dance with her, but I need you to make sure the surrounding dancers are on point. We don’t want another repeat of this morning.”
“No, of course not,” I said, a little breathless and still scanning the room for Damon.
Alicia made an appearance, clad in black dance pants and a flesh-coloured top that made me do a double take for a second. If you didn’t look too closely, you’d almost think she was going topless, the Lycra material moulding to her skin. Also, her bra was so thin that you could see her nipples poking through. Every straight man in the room’s eyes were glued to her, though in all honesty, there weren’t many.
“Somebody’s out to garner attention today,” Iggy commented dryly as he passed me by, and I couldn’t help but agree. Earlier in the day she’d had a wraparound cardigan over her top, but she must’ve taken it off during lunch.
There was still no sign of Damon and I started to panic, thinking he’d gone home early. The idea of him being so distraught that he simply had to leave made my heart clench with pain. It was never my intention to hurt him, never, and I felt physically ill at the mix-up. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I tried calling him, but it went straight to voicemail. Unable to get through, I tapped out a quick text message.
Rose: What you just saw was not what you think AT ALL. Please come back to the studio and let me explain.
I’d go after him, only I knew Iggy would tear me a new one if I disappeared, especially with the day we’d been having. Everybody began stretching and limbering up, and a minute or two later the door opened loudly, a gust of air rushing in. I turned my head to see Damon striding inside the dance studio, wearing his coat and scarf. He began removing them, a dark, scathing look on his face. Did he leave and then decide to come back? Had he gotten my message?
Jacob eyed him, opening his mouth as if to comment on his lateness. But then he saw his expression and seemed to think better of it. Alicia started walking in his direction, leaning casually against the wall when she reached him. I watched as I guided the dancers through their warm-up and could just about hear their conversation.
“Damon, I was supposed to be meeting with a friend of mine for dinner tonight, but she had to cancel.