Chances (Mystic Nights #1) (14 page)

His hand reached out to grab her shoulder. She tried not to wince. “Don’t rush into anything like that.” His voice was cajoling, but she heard the undercurrent of political speak ease. “Josephine just wants to be sure she is doing what is best for our people. She second guesses every proposal that comes before the board.” He laughed. “She takes her job way too seriously. I, on the other hand,” he touched his chest, “believe we should work to make our people’s dreams come true.” He gave her a measured look.

She pulled her shoulder out of his grasp, and took another step back. She wasn’t buying it anymore. And his next words confirmed her distrust. “Well, as I said, if you want that studio in that space, have dinner with me, at my place, and we will DISCUSS it further. I’m always available.”

Aliya had enough, shaking her head, she began to walk off. He didn’t even deserve a response though she gave him one. “No thank you, Peter. That’s not how I do business.”
How much clearer could she be?
She heard him laugh, but she didn’t turn around.

“I could make this easy for you,” he called after her.

Her stomach rolled. He was basically saying if she wanted his vote for the space, she would have to sleep with him. Such a pig. No way. Not happening.
How had she not seen the man for what he was from the very beginning?
She’d seen that kind of thing in Vegas plenty of times. She just hadn’t expected to see it here, with the tribal council no less.

Getting into her car, she realized she should have spoken to Myrtle or Jason. Peter Sebastian was the epitome of the sleaze ball politician. He spoke one way, but acted another. His incessant requests to go out with her had all been for one purpose and one purpose only. And he knew she was seeing Jonathan. She was done trying to court his vote. She wasn’t going to chase him down for his support or vote, especially now that she knew it most definitely came with strings attached. She would focus her efforts where it would count and not suffer the indignity of the likes of Peter anymore.

Feeling much better, Aliya headed home. She would use her afternoon to see what other facilities were nearby the reservation. One setback wasn’t going to derail her dreams.

Pulling out of the now nearly empty parking lot, she made the left turn onto Dale Avenue when a blur of activity caught her attention. A car just sped up and blocked Peter from pulling out. Stopped at a stop light, Aliya glanced back and saw Simon Wheeler jumping out of his car. He was talking animatedly, and Peter looked upset. His hands raked through his hair. Then Simon handed him a large yellow envelope. She saw Peter glance inside. He smiled broadly and then patted Simon on the back. But Simon still looked upset. He was talking with his hands. Putting them up in the universal sign for stop.

Just then a car horn behind her tooted, and she looked back. The light had changed to green and she was holding up traffic. She stepped on the gas wondering what the casino’s accountant was doing speaking with Peter. And the envelope thing had all been very suspicious. Ugh, she watched too many movies, and just because he was a sleaze bag, lecherous pig, didn’t mean he would was corrupt too. She pushed the thought out of her mind as she headed home. She was anxious to start looking for back up locations for her studio. And perhaps seeing Jonathan again after tonight’s performance might be a nice way to end her day.

*

Distracted by driving
and her own thoughts, Aliya didn’t notice that both Simon and Peter had noticed her. After the car horn had sounded, both men looked up to see Aliya Chance looking their way with a perplexed expression on her face. She had a line of cars behind her. Peter slipped the large envelope inside of his jacket. “Simon, we might have a problem.”

Simon glanced at the woman speeding off down Dale. He recognized her from the casino. Shit! That woman was seeing Jonathan. “Was that a dancer from Mystic?” he asked, a cold dread enveloping him.

“Yes, it was,” Peter confirmed. “And, we need to keep our eye on that one.”

Simon nodded nervously. He pulled a handkerchief from his side pocket and mopped his brow. Even with the bitter cold, Simon was sweating and nervous. Time was running out, and he knew that it was just a matter of days before Jonathan Sassacus was on to their little operation, dancer or no dancer. “Time is running out, Peter,” he voiced his worries aloud.

“I don’t think so.” He felt confident his tracks were covered. Only Simon could expose him. And Simon wouldn’t be around for much longer. “We have time. One more week. Let’s wait it out.” Peter was determined to not only pull out millions from the casino, but he wanted to take down the entire Sassacus clan. He’d worked too long, and suffered too much at their hands to bail out now. He was in this until the bitter end, and was confident this time he would come out the winner.

And he loved a good gamble. Nodding at Simon, he got back into his car. There was still hope. A chance. And if not, he had a back up plan, time, and the millions to enjoy it.

‡

T
he afternoon performance
finished and Aliya stayed after the stage crew cleaned up and reset the stage for the evening. Instead of heading home she wanted to work a bit on her own. Sometimes she liked the solitude of a quiet stage. It helped her to visualize what the sequence of moves should look like. She was trying to perfect one of the dances she was choreographing for the new spring show. She had her notebook out and was taking notes after she performed each movement, combining them as she went along. She did not see Jonathan sitting in the audience quietly observing her.

As Jonathan watched her from the darkness, he thought she never looked more beautiful. She was truly radiant while she was dancing. It was in that moment he realized he was falling for her. Yes, the attraction was there. It was blazing hot. But even watching a movie with her had been an eye opening experience. He never felt so at peace than when he was with her. Thoughts of work, stress, and life just slipped away.

She was engrossed in performing several of the moves he had seen her perform individually, putting it all together. She was incredibly graceful and elegant as she performed a difficult jump into the air. Stunning. He watched her run to her tattered notepad, pick it up, and scribble a few more lines down. She’d repeated the process several times until she had worked for nearly thirty minutes and perfected the dance she was choreographing to her satisfaction.

When she shut the notebook and stuffed it into her backpack, he knew she was preparing to leave. It was then he made his presence known. He clapped. Just for her. He hadn’t wanted to startle her, but heard her gasp softly.

She peered into the dark theatre and though she couldn’t see him clearly, she recognized his form, even in a suit. It was his shoulders. Amazing. “Jonathan?” she asked tentatively, to be sure, though she doubted very much it could be anyone else.

“Yes, it’s me,” he stated softly as he began to move. She heard him approaching and soon he stood in the light from the stage. He simply took her breath away, and not just because she found him incredibly handsome, but because he was seeping into her heart more and more. She quickly scrambled to the edge of the stage and jumped down effortlessly into his waiting arms.

Despite her rough morning, she forgot everything else in his presence. Caring for this man, falling for him, had happened so fast. And if what she suspected was true, about her condition, she didn’t know how that would effect them. For now, she kept that concern to herself. She wanted to be sure before she made any decision.

She knew she was falling in love with the man, but it had been barely two months since their first encounter. She still had no clue how he was feeling about them. When he took her into his arms wordlessly, she succumbed to his lips on hers and was lost in the moment. She was going to take what she could for now. Enjoy it while it lasted. He licked the seam of her lips and she opened for him wrapping her arms tightly around him until he lifted her like she was nothing and seated her on the edge of the stage and stood between her open legs which she wrapped around his torso. He groaned his pleasure. And she felt the same way.

“Mmm, I could really get used to this,” he murmured against her cheek inhaling her, enjoying being close to her this way.

“I feel the same way, Jonathan. Is this crazy?” she asked, afraid to express her feelings, but wanted to know if he was feeling the same way. She knew it was a loaded question and didn’t want to pry, or push.

“No.” He kissed her neck. “It’s not. It’s perfect.” Jonathan touched her forehead with his and looked deeply into her eyes. He saw something there. A soul mate. He knew he wanted this woman in his life. The silence stretched between them and they both laughed awkwardly, still touching forehead to forehead.

Aliya broke the silence. She wanted this man to know her. All of her. Know what he was getting into before they took it to the next level. If they were to make it, he had to know the truth. “I was engaged once. I ended it.” Her words came out unsteadily. She wasn’t sure how to begin.

Not expecting those words, but sensing she was trying to tell him something, he encouraged her to go on. “The past is the past, Aliya. I heard something about that. But I don’t judge people by the past. The present speaks for itself.”

She took in his words. He must know some of it already, she assumed. But she wanted to be sure he knew the truth, and that it came from her. “I don’t want any secrets between us.”

He saw her eyes looked sad, and he gave her a slight encouraging nod. “Okay. No secrets.” Again he waited. She was tensing up and so he stroked her arms. “There has never been a woman I have wanted to spend more than a night or two with until you, Aliya.” Saying it out loud sounded silly, but he wanted her to know he cared about her. He sensed that was what she needed in order to open up.

“No dark secrets. No one from the past?”

He shook his head in the negative. “Nobody.” He was telling the truth. Yes, there had been plenty of women, girls in college, but all had been fleeting. All had known he wasn’t interested in more than sex.

She swallowed hard. Though his words had been meant to lessen her worries and fears, it had the opposite effect on Aliya. This made it harder to tell him what she wanted him to know.

He saw her eyes shining. A lone tear slipped down her cheek.

“Hey, hey, now, what’s this?” He wiped the tear away with the pad of his thumb. “We are beginning to care for each other. A lot, I suspect. I told you the past does not matter.” He heard her sniffle. He stayed patient.

“I do care, Jonathan. A lot. And that is why I want to tell you something I did. Something about my past. I don’t want to fall in love and then you find out from someone else, and can’t handle it.” There. She said it. She couldn’t turn back.

Jonathan let out a sigh. He knew her story, well, some of it. He suspected she was talking about the rumors about her having an abortion. He wanted to ease her fears and tell her it did not bother him, it was her body, her choice. He could see she was struggling with her decision to tell him. This was hard for her. It pained him to see her so distraught. So he told her some of what he knew so her secret wouldn’t seem so overwhelming. “Darling. I know you were engaged. To a detective. I know you ended it. I know you went to Vegas to pursue your dancing career, and I have heard the rumors of you having an abortion. Lantern Hill, sadly, is a small town, and well, secrets are hard to keep here.”

Her mouth flew open and she gasped. He knew. She was shocked, and stunned all at the same time. He knew it all! He knew and still looked at her like that. “You knew?”

Her eyes were round. He nodded. “And it was your choice to make.”

Another tear slipped out and she pulled him closer. He heard her sigh of relief as she laid her head across his chest. “Oh, Jonathan, I just want you to know it means the world to me that you don’t judge me for what I did.”

“Because you chose to have an abortion?” He shook his head. “You were twenty, right?”

She peered up into his eyes and saw nothing but concern for her. She nodded. “I was young, naïve.” He saw a deep sadness there, but she surged on ahead. “I think if I would have had the support of my family around me then I may have chosen to have that baby. I regret it now. It still pains me to think about it.” She wanted him to know it hadn’t been an easy decision for her. It had been the hardest choice she had made in her life.