Wednesday was, if possible, worse than Tuesday. She arrived at9:00 a.m., as Tony Asp had asked her to before she left the night before.
She thought that the place was empty when she first walked in, and it felt strange to be there. It was almost as if she had stepped back in time. The huge chandelier glowed in the ballroom, illuminating the striking marble floor and the beautifully carved strips of wall trim that contrasted with the lightly patterned wallpaper. The staircase rose into misty darkness, and for a minute she felt as if she had actually stepped back to intrude upon another lifetime.
A sudden blast of music almost sent her rocketing up to the ceiling; her heart slowed its wild pounding as she realized a tape had been turned on.A tape of Lee Condor and his group doing "Lorena."
It began with a drum beat that had a rock sound about it, but more than that, it projected the image of men marching off to war. A fiddle joined in.Then, softly, the sound of a keyboard.
And then Condor's voice.
It was a unique sound. His voice was a tenor, but a husky one, and it seemed as if it could reach inside the soul with its slightly raspy edge.
Bryn's nerves felt more on edge than ever. She felt as if his voice, like his eyes, could discover her secrets. As if it were an instrument that could strip one bare, expose the heart and the mind and leave them naked and vulnerable.
The song was beautiful. When other voices joined his in perfect harmony for the refrain, she felt an absurd rush of tears sting her eyes. You could feel it all, the love found, the love lost, the wisdom and sadness of resignation.
"Bryn, you're here. Great!"
Tony Asp was coming down the stairway, a tape recorder in his hand.
"Can't you just imagine when it's all done?" he asked jovially. "It's going to be wonderful.Just wonderful."
Bryn dredged up a weak smile. "I'm sure it will be."
"Set your bag down, honey, and take a minute to warm up. I'll be ready at the foot of the stairs."
Bryn obediently did as she wastold, wryly thinking she didn't need much of a warm-up. They had
"warmed her up" so much yesterday that she should be stretched and limber for years to come.
Still, she knew the importance of keeping her muscles and tendons from being strained, so she set into a Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
quick routine of exercises. Plies and stretches and, on the floor, more stretches. She rose, absently dusted her hands on her tights and walked the few feet to the stairway.
"All set, Tony," she told the dance director.
"Good. We're going to start back at the beginning, nice and slow," he told her with a smile. "You'll start working with Lee today instead of me."
"Lee?" She couldn't prevent dismay from sounding in her voice.
"Yes, Miss Keller. Me."
She hadn't seen him; she hadn't had the slightest idea that he was anywhere about.
But he was.Walking down the stairway. And his movements were so quiet that it made perfect sense that she hadn't heard him, but still she felt like screaming at him.
It was obvious that he had been there all along.Watching her. Not covertly, openly. She just hadn't known....Hadn't sensed his presence. And now it was suddenly overwhelming. She stared at him blankly as he continued down to meet her. He was in a short-sleeved knitIzod , kelly-green. The color seemed to bring out the glitter of gold in his eyes. His arms were bare, and his biceps bespoke wiry, muscled strength. The shirt hugged his torso, the trim, flat expanse of his waist, the triangular breadth of his chest and shoulders. Barbara had been right again: he appeared slim at a distance, but the closer he came, the more you became aware of the power of his frame. She was still looking up when he reached the bottom step. He stood a full head taller than she. And when he was there, right there before her, she sensed him again, as well as saw him. His after-shave was very light, and it made her think of cool, misty woods. It was pleasant, seductive....
And as frightening as that hot, leashed sense of energy about him.
"Good morning, Miss Keller."
The sound of his voicerazored through her blood stream.Chills, then fever, assailed her again.
"Good morning."
"Tony has been through this with me already, so we might as well give it a quick spin and see where the problems will be. I like the idea of the five steps--if you can handle the distance. I assure you, I'll catch you when you fall."
"Fine," Bryn said crisply.
"Tony?"
"I'm ready. Walk it through from the foot of the stairs. Then we'll try it with the music."
It had been so easy the day before. Today, as soon as Lee put his hands on her upper arms, she wanted to wrench away from him and run. She glanced uneasily at the fingers that locked over her gently. They were bronze from the sun, long, the nails blunt and clean. A spattering of jet hair feathered the backs of his hands. She found herself thinking that they were definitely a man's hands....
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