Chapter 2

Two

Jess straightened her costume and adjusted her bejeweled hair clip. She was ready for her solo.

So far, the evening had gone off without a hitch, but the second she stepped on stage, a sense of inevitability hung in the air. Of what, she had no idea, only that something was going to happen.

It’d taken all her willpower not to let her apprehension affect her performance. Her routines and her fellow dancers always came first, so Jess had dug deep, like she had when Bartholomew had been at his worst. She pasted on a classic fake dancer’s smile and strutted her stuff.

Now, it would just be her on stage. She wouldn’t have the rest of the company to give her that extra boost of confidence.

The first bars of her music rang out through the speakers of the theatre, and Jess glided onto the stage and took up her position.

Hundreds of eyes watched her and, like always, it was hard to make out the faces of the people in the audience due to the lights blazing down on the stage.

Yet, as she often did, she scanned the crowd before starting her choreography, looking for a friendly face. As usual, all she saw were blurred faces. It should’ve been comforting, and it was—to a certain degree.

The music reached the starting point, and Jess leaped across the stage, putting everything she had into this final solo for this tour. She gave herself over to the routine. She became one with the music, her movements effortless.

This was why she loved to dance. Loved to be able to lose herself in the swell and quiet of the score. The flow of her body as it moved through the intricate steps of her contemporary routine. The applause and cheers from the audience when she completed a complex series of moves.

The melody wound down, and she slowed her movements until she twisted around and sank to the floor. Her heart was racing and sweat trickled down the sides of her face and the back of her costume.

The crowd clapped loudly, and she stood, this time her smile genuine as she bowed and waved her thanks.

As Jess stepped back from the edge of the stage, she heard someone yell out.

“Bravo, popsicle! Bravo!”

Her smile faltered. She had to have misheard that.

There was only one person who’d ever called her popsicle . Finn.

Her heart dropped to her toes, and she had to concentrate to not falter.

There was no way he was there. He hadn’t come to see her dance for years. Besides, if he’d had a ticket, she would’ve heard from her mom or Aunt Cerise that he was going to come to her performance.

Jess convinced herself she’d imagined her long-ago nickname, and she gave the crowd one last wave before dashing off the stage, ready to change into her finale costume.

She accepted the pats on the back from her fellow dancers as she made her way backstage. She had about fifteen minutes before she had to be ready, and she planned to make the most of it.

“My God, Jess, that was amazing.”

She made eye contact with her best friend, Kaley, in the mirror. Her bestie was standing behind her, already in her finale outfit. “Thanks. It felt good.”

“I’ve seen you do that choreography for months, but tonight, it was like I was seeing it for the first time. There was so much emotion on your face, and in every move. If Madame Baxter doesn’t sing your praises and sign you to another contract, then I’m going to eat my pointe shoes.”

Jess laughed and patted her face with her towel. “Even if I don’t get another contract, I won’t hold you to that. Pointe shoes are nasty. Not to mention, chewy.”

Kaley laughed. “You do make a good ‘point’ . But seriously, you moved me to tears, and you know it takes a lot to make me cry.”

She hugged her friend. “Aw, thanks. It did feel good out there.”

“You were born for the stage, and I’m so glad that you’ve shaken off what happened to you.”

Jess bit her lip, her happy mood fading a little. She rubbed the scars on her upper and lower arm. She’d have to recover it with makeup before she went back out on stage. If Madame Baxter saw any evidence of imperfection, she announced her disapproval loudly and in front of everyone. “I can’t say I’m totally over it, but things are getting easier.”

“That’s good.” Kaley stretched, grimacing as she arched her back. “I’m glad that this is the final stop. My body is telling me it’s time to give up.”

“I feel the same, but we both know at the end of the two-month break, we’ll be itching to get back on stage.”

Something flashed in her friend’s eyes—there one second and gone the next. Had Jess imagined it?

“Maybe. But you need to get ready. Are you up to hitting some bars after? This is sailor town, right?”

Kaley had been sick and wasn’t with her the night in New York when she’d seen Finn. Jess had kept the kiss and dance she’d shared with Finn to herself. Her little secret and, in the aftermath of what Bartholomew had done, it had been a little bit of goodness to cling to. It didn’t matter what had happened after she and Finn had kissed, only that they had.

While she’d recovered, there were many times Jess had imagined Finn walking through the door and holding her in his arms like he’d done that night. Of course, it hadn’t happened because she hadn’t told anyone, apart from the other dancers in the company, and only because her absence needed to be explained.

“It is. And sure, why not celebrate a season and tour well done?” Jess injected enthusiasm she didn’t feel. The chances of running into Finn were slim, even if she’d thought she’d heard her old nickname.

When is this going to end?

The question ran through Finn’s mind as he watched a couple dance on stage. They’d taken it after Jess’s performance.

Fuck, Jess.

When the whole company had taken the stage at the beginning of the show, he’d picked her out immediately. He hadn’t been able to take his eyes off her. It didn’t matter what the others were doing. His attention was solely on Jess.

When she’d come out and performed a solo dance, he’d been mesmerized. She’d glided across the stage as though she were skating on ice. Her body bent and twisted in ways he didn’t know were possible.

The story she told held Finn breathless and when she’d fallen to the ground at the end, he’d leaped from his chair, clapping loudly, and the nickname he’d given her when they’d been kids had slipped off his tongue.

“You okay, Hive?” Oak whispered.

“Yeah, why?”

“Your leg is moving up and down as if it’s on a fucking trampoline. It’s shaking my chair.”

“Sorry.” He immediately slapped his hand on his thigh, unaware he’d been moving it. It was a habit he’d picked up as a kid while living in the boy’s home. The movement had provided him comfort when he’d been anxious.

After he’d gone to live with his mom and dad, the habit had faded away, only rearing its head when he wanted something badly. Or was worried about something.

If he was anxious before going on a mission, Finn managed to curb the habit so his teammates didn’t see it.

Tonight, all he wanted to do was rush backstage and see Jess. Which was completely stupid, considering he’d ghosted her after their kiss. Not to mention, he’d vowed she was off limits.

However, she was also like family, so if he didn’t say hello to her, that would be rude.

Keep telling yourself that, buddy.

Finn tuned out the inner voice and focused on the stage. The couple had finished their dance, and the lights in the auditorium dimmed.

The shuffle of feet coming onto the stage was hard to miss, and he sat forward, hoping to see Jess again.

The lights rose and he could make out the whole company had returned to the stage.

He quickly scanned the dancers, picking Jess out easily. She was two dancers to the right of the center dancer in the front row.

After the way she’d performed, she should be front and center, as far as Finn was concerned.

The music started and they began to move. All in time, their movements synchronized to perfection. The choreography was upbeat, and soon they were encouraging the crowd to stand and clap.

Finn stood, and Oak and Sylvia were standing as well—although they weren’t clapping as enthusiastically as he was. He felt his buddy’s eyes on him, but he kept his attention on the stage and on Jess.

Her smile was infectious, reminding him of the first time they’d met, when he’d gone to stay with Aunt Poppy while his parents went away.

Jess had stayed with them while her dad worked. Aunt Poppy and Slick weren’t married at the time—they’d just started dating.

Finn and Jess had had fun, and when he’d left to go back home, she hugged him tightly. That was when he’d called her ‘popsicle’ for the first time, because she’d given him one for the ride home. Instead of saying thanks for it, he’d said ‘thanks popsicle’ and it had somehow stuck.

He was lost in thought. The stage and its occupants fell to the blurry wayside.

The auditorium lights raising jarred him, and Finn’s eyes landed on the closed curtains. He’d missed bowing and the dancers exiting.

Finn sat back down and stared at the heavy maroon screen.

Was Jess behind there, celebrating with her friends?

Was she dating one of her fellow performers?

Was there someone else waiting backstage with a huge bunch of red roses meant only for her?

His leg started bouncing again at the thought of another man putting his arms around her. Kissing her beautifully plump lips.

Finn shook his head. He had no right to be thinking or feeling this way. He’d believed he’d come to terms with his decision. But seeing her up on that stage, seeing the light in her eyes, walking away from her tonight wasn’t an option.

From the moment she’d come out on stage for her solo, he’d wanted to rush up there and see her. Hold her. Talk to her.

Fuck. These feelings were so out of character. Finn was always so in control of his emotions and actions. Yet, all it’d taken was one twirl, and everything he’d thought he knew about himself went out the window when it came to Jess.

“Do you want to go get a drink at the bar across the road?” Sylvia asked.

No, what Finn wanted to do was go backstage and see if he could find Jess. Would she even want to see him if he did venture there and ask for her?

“I’ll meet you there. I want to say hello to an old friend,” he said. He’d just given his buddy fodder to take back to the team, and for them to give him hell about it. He didn’t care.

In all the time he’d been on the team—which wasn’t long—the guys had given him shit about not hooking up with the many girls who’d thrown themselves at him.

Finn had always been particular about the women he spent time with. The girls that were just looking for a hookup weren’t his thing.

Prior to him going into BUD/S and becoming a SEAL, when he’d just been an enlisted sailor and combat soldier, he’d had a couple of relationships. The moment he’d completed his SEAL training, though, he’d focused on his career. He hadn’t wanted to put stress on a new relationship with him going off on missions at a moment’s notice.

There were plenty of SEALs he knew who were in committed marriages and relationships, but Finn had decided he’d wait, and when the time was right, he’d look at trying to find his person.

Was that time now?

Was Jess that person?

Again, he pushed the thought away. No matter how tempting it was. Nor how, when he’d been just a boy and Jess had been just a girl, he’d thought that one day they would get married.

Those had been the fantasies of a child. Now he was a hardened Navy SEAL, who’d seen atrocities and had done things that turned his stomach, but had needed to be done.

“Do you want us to come with you?” Oak said when Finn hadn’t made a move.

“No.” He shook his head. If there was a chance Jess would reject him, he didn’t want his friend to see it. “It’s fine. I shouldn’t be long. Why don’t you go ahead and go to the bar? Order me a beer.”

Like before, his teammate studied him. “Okay. And if you want to bring your friend along, that will be fine, too.”

He met Oak’s gaze. “We’ll see,” Finn muttered and headed toward the stage, hoping that one of the theatre staff members would direct him to where he could find Jess.

The closer he got to the stage, the more a sense of inevitability fell over him.

This was right.