“So, dancing runs in the family?”
Paige noted that he seemed genuinely content to listen as Grams explained how she had worked as a dancer in Seattle and how their grandfather had been so supportive when she’d wanted to start the dance school here on the island.
“If Paige has any trouble with you, perhaps you’ll find me taking over your dance instruction,” Grams joked.
Christian looked over at Paige then, and her breath caught in her throat when she realized how deep and intense his gaze was. He hadn’t looked at anyone else that way tonight, she realized.
Only her.
“I don’t plan on giving Paige any problems beyond my two left feet. Hopefully, I’ll end up being the best dance student she’s ever had.”
Paige had heard a few horror stories from Morgan about actors who wouldn’t follow direction or who didn’t seem to understand that they had to make some kind of effort beyond looking pretty. But she knew she needed to at least try to give Christian the benefit of the doubt despite the fact that, on the surface with his standard red carpet shots and paparazzi snaps, everything about him said typical A-list type.
“I’m glad to hear you’re excited about getting started with our lessons,” she said softly. When he smiled at her, the heat in his gaze had her nearly stuttering on her next far-too-true words. “I am, too.”
A short while later, as the plates were being cleared away to make room for dessert, Christian asked, “Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to make one quick phone call.”
“Your mother again?” Morgan joked.
“Actually, it’s my nephew’s birthday tomorrow, and since I know he’ll be busy with his friends all day, I figure tonight is my best chance to get him to pick up the phone so that I can wish him a happy birthday.”
Paige could practically hear her sisters sigh at how sweet that was. Heck, she was barely managing to hold back her own sigh at this point.
In an effort to think about something—or someone—other than Christian and how great he’d been all night, Paige asked Rachel and her daughter, Charlotte, about their recent experiences surfing off Bondi Beach in Australia. Paige loved the way Charlotte talked her usual enthusiastic million miles an hour as she explained all about how she’d quickly managed to learn to stand up on her surfboard and was now an even better surfer than her mom.
“It sounds amazing,” Paige told them, and it did. In Nicholas, her sister had not only found a man who loved her more than anything, she’d also found a whole new, exciting life for her and Charlotte that had both of them sparkling with happiness.
“Nicholas is
really
famous,” Charlotte informed her. “Everyone always wants to say hello and get his autograph. And mine and mommy’s, too, now that we’re a part of his TV show.”
Paige stroked a hand over her niece’s hair as she asked her sister, “Do you ever find that it gets a bit much, with people always recognizing Nicholas and now both of you, too?”
“They’re mostly very sweet about it,” Rachel assured her. “Besides, he’s so good with his fans and deserves the attention.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Paige said, before laughing and adding, “although you know me, I just can’t see why anyone would want to be famous.”
“You can’t?” Christian asked as he re-entered the dining room.
Just looking at his handsome face had Paige’s mind going blank for a moment before she managed to reply, “People coming up to me in the street?” She grimaced. “I would hate that.”
“Morgan doesn’t have a problem with it,” Rachel pointed out. “And Grams is enjoying all the attention she’s been getting thanks to Hanna’s documentary.”
“Yes, well, Morgan was always meant for the spotlight, and Grams used to be a dancer. They’re both used to it.” All that attention would be absolute purgatory for Paige.
“But you’re
a dancer, Paige,” Christian commented. “So aren’t you used to being in the spotlight, too?”
“No, I’m a dance
teacher.
It’s not the same as performing.” To deflect his gaze that seemed to see too deeply into her, Paige said, “Brian is also a teacher. He teaches science at the high school and is also the football coach.”
“I’ve always wondered what it must be like to be a teacher,” Christian said to Morgan’s fiancé.
“It’s what I always wanted to do,” Brian told him. “Although I’m sure it can’t be any harder than your job. I’ve seen Morgan working.”
“I think her job is a little harder than acting, to be honest,” he said modestly. “Mostly, I just memorize my lines, stand around until they’re ready to start the scene, and then hit my mark.”
“But you love it, don’t you?” Emily guessed.
“I do,” Christian replied with a smile for Paige’s oldest sister. “Which is good, because I’m not sure that I’d be much good at anything else.”
“That’s how I’ve always felt about being a guidance counselor. Even as a little girl, I used to want to help everyone plan out their lives,” she said with a laugh.
“It must be so rewarding watching the kids you’ve worked with go on to succeed in life.”
“It really is,” Emily agreed. As Paige watched, Christian easily got Emily talking about her favorite students and how much she loved helping them figure out their passion and then go for it.
“Your grandfather opened the school, didn’t he?”
“You’ve done your research, haven’t you?” Paige could tell Emily was impressed.
“I always like to know something about the places I’m going to be spending time.”
Christian continued to work his way around the table, asking several questions about what Hanna was filming at the moment for her newest documentary. Inevitably, they got into a discussion about different ways of shooting scenes and the way Hanna would want to change some of the camera angles if she were directing
Seattle General Medical
.
“Sometimes it seems like they’re trying to do clever things, going for that reality TV look, but it seems like those things tend to date rather quickly,” Hanna said. “I wonder if they’d be better off doing more of the simple shots that give the scene time to breathe. Especially since your show is more about the acting and the story than trying to compress action with the camera.”
It was amazing how easily everyone in her family was opening up to him, Paige thought. And when Christian shifted his gaze to her, yet again it struck her that even just the way he looked at her was undeniably sexy, and full of male appreciation.
Not that any of that mattered, of course. The two of them would be the worst couple in history, with one needing the spotlight and the other absolutely abhorring it.
“Ever since I’ve taken on this role,” he said to her, “people have been telling me how much dance technique I’ll need to absorb. But I think what I’m missing most of all is the philosophy of dancing. What dancing means to people. And why dancers are so passionate about doing it.”
For Paige, dance was
everything.
Dance was the sense of freedom it gave her, even when she was doing precise pre-determined movements. Dance was being able to express feelings with her body that were so much harder to say with words. Dance was beauty, emotion, and a gently flowing power all at once.
But how could she say that to Christian Greer? Especially while they were at dinner with her entire family?
“I’ve always loved to dance,” she finally said in a soft voice. “It’s a part of me that I don’t think I could live without.”
“They all danced young,” Tres added, “but Paige was the only one who stuck with it and followed in my mother’s footsteps.”
From the way Christian looked at her then, she thought he might be about to reach for her. Maybe to touch her hand or stroke her cheek. And it was the realization of how badly she wanted him to do that that had her jumping up out of her seat and saying, “Excuse me, I’d better go get dessert for everyone.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Christian knew he should let Paige disappear into the kitchen to let the heat that was growing between them cool down. But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this intrigued by a woman. One who came from such a great family but was so different from all of the people she was related to at the same time.
What, he wanted to know, had shaped Paige into the woman she was today? Ava had obviously helped raised all of the Walker girls, but Paige was the only one who had followed in her dancing footsteps. At least part of the way, into teaching.
Was there any part of Paige that longed to be on stage performing? Or was the spotlight truly that horrible to her?
And if so, why?
“I’ll go and give Paige a hand,” Christian said, standing.
“You’re our guest,” Emily said, starting to stand up herself. “I’ll go.”
“I’d really like to help,” Christian insisted. And he also desperately wanted a few moments alone with Paige.
It looked as if Emily might be about to argue further, but Christian was used to working with directors who wanted to take charge of everything and was already halfway to the kitchen to help Paige. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Emily sit back down to resume her conversation with Michael.
Paige was just picking up a platter of meringues in the kitchen when he all but crashed into her. He ended up having to grab the tray, his hands clasping over hers, so that both they, and the desserts, wouldn’t go toppling over on the floor.
“Christian, what are you doing in here? You should be back in the dining room, talking to my dad, or to Grams, or—”
“Your family is great, but I’d rather find out more about what makes you tick. I meant it, you know, when I said that I wanted to understand why you love dancing so much.” Paige looked as if she didn’t quite believe he could possibly be that interested in her.
“I...” Whatever she’d been able to say fell away as their eyes met and held. Even though he knew there were nearly a dozen people in the dining room just behind him, in that moment Christian felt like they were the only two people in the world.
She licked her lips, drawing his focus down to her soft and very sweet-looking mouth before she said, “We should get this dessert out to the dining room before there’s a revolt.”
It was a distraction, and an obvious one, but Christian knew better than to try to push her too much tonight. Especially with her entire family there. Carefully moving his hands from hers, Christian opened the door to the dining room so that she could carry in the tray of luscious dessert.
But once they were seated at the table again and the desserts had been handed around, Christian realized he just couldn’t let it go. “Are you in charge of the big performances with the kids every year at the dance studio?”
“I am, although
The Nutcracker
is our biggest show of the year by far. Hanna,” she said as she turned to her younger sister, “why don’t you tell Christian about the performance you filmed last year?”
As Hanna regaled everyone with amusing stories about the filming of last year’s show, Christian listened attentively, even though what he really wanted was to get back to talking with Paige.
Unfortunately, the perfect opportunity never materialized. Tres was keen to know about the way the next season of
Seattle General Medical
was going to play out. Morgan wanted to catch up on a couple of former clients of hers who were also on his show. Even Rachel’s little girl, Charlotte, wanted to explain her idea for a movie—a really cute idea that involved more monsters and spaceships than the average summer blockbuster.
“Time to head home and go to bed now, sweetie,” Rachel said, picking her daughter up when she’d finally seemed to run out of steam.
And somehow Paige had again managed to remain in the background throughout. She was, he’d noted tonight, a master of doing that.
“Thank you so much to all of you for the very warm welcome to the island. I should probably be getting back myself. After all, I’m going to need plenty of sleep if I’m going to be ready for a good long day of dancing with Paige tomorrow. And since I managed to make a couple of wrong turns getting here on foot, I should probably plan on some extra time to get lost on the way back, too.”
“Why don’t you walk him back, Paige?” Ava suggested as she hugged Christian good night. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about, and you can make the arrangements for tomorrow.”
“Grams…” Paige began, but then she nodded and even gave him a small smile. She grabbed a coat and her purse and led the way outside.
“It’s so much quieter than Seattle,” Christian observed as they headed toward the main road. Christian could see the lights of the harbor shining in the distance and a few small pleasure craft at anchor in the bay.
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, not at all. It’s just that when you’re used to living in the city, you really notice the difference when you come to a place like Walker Island.” In Seattle, there would have been plenty of people still out and about, going out to dinner, or to the theater, or to any number of other events. There were certainly tourists and islanders enjoying similar things here, but on a much smaller scale—and with the stars almost impossibly big and bright as they twinkled from the dark sky above.
“Your hotel is this way,” Paige said, leading him down the road into the center of town.
“Once I’m at the hotel,” Christian said as a thought occurred to him, “it will mean you’ll have to walk back alone. Are you sure you’ll be okay?”
Paige waved away his concern. “Walker Island is really safe.”
“Especially for you, I’d guess,” Christian said, suddenly distracted by the scent of Paige’s perfume. It was a subtle, beautifully delicate scent.
Paige looked over at him, a question in her eyes. “Why especially for me?”
“You’re a Walker, and I’m guessing that everyone here must know you. It’s a little like being famous, isn’t it?”
“I guess so.” Paige didn’t look as if she much liked that idea. “But I try not to think about it too much. Besides, being ‘famous’ here just because I am a Walker isn’t the same as if I’d done something important.”
He was silent for a minute before he asked, “Am I saying all the wrong things?”
She stopped walking to stare at him, genuinely surprised, “No. Why would you say that?”