Welcome to Pembrooke: The Complete Pembrooke Series

by Jessica Prince

  “My mom enrolled me in dance classes and I discovered that when I was moving, when the music was playing, all the mean things those kids said about me just… disappeared. It was my escape, to this day it still is. So, to answer your question, that’s why I never wanted to pursue something like New York. It might sound weird, but what I do now, when I dance, even when I teach my kids, it’s all for me. If I tried to join a company, everything I did would be for them. Doing what I do now, I don’t have to answer to anybody. I don’t have to worry about the routines becoming monotonous. I get to leave my head for a while and not worry about the outcome. Does that make any sense?”

  I hardly recognized my voice, the sound rougher, almost jagged as I said, “It makes perfect sense.” I had no clue what was coming over me, why I was reacting the way I was, but I couldn’t stand to see that heartache in her eyes any longer. Standing from my place on the floor, I held my hand out to her. “Come on. I want to watch you dance.”

  “What? Now?” she asked incredulously. “You want to watch me dance right now?”

  I gave a casual shrug and let my lips curl up in a grin. “Why not? You got other plans at the moment?”

  “Well… no, but—”

  “Perfect, so nothing’s stopping you.” She didn’t seem convinced, and for reasons beyond my comprehension, I wanted nothing more than to see this gorgeous woman dance. So, I pushed.

  “Come escape with me for a little while.”

  8

  Lilly

  “Come escape with me for a little while.”

  He couldn’t have possibly known how much those words meant to me just then. After finally opening up and telling someone about my father, the need for an escape was beyond intoxicating.

  And Quinn realizing that and giving me exactly what I needed meant the world to me. I couldn’t have denied his request, even if I wanted to.

  Taking his hand, I let him pull me off the floor. Once I had my feet firmly beneath me, he broke the connection, shoving his hands in the pockets of his faded jeans. My skin still tingled from the contact, and my heart squeezed at the loss of it, but I pushed forward, heading to the door that led to the internal stairs, grabbing my keys and phone off the counter on the way.

  “This is really convenient,” Quinn spoke up from behind me as we headed down the stairs. “No commute, no having to worry about traffic.”

  I looked back at him and smiled as I flipped the switch that would light the lobby area and moved to the main studio door to unlock it. “It’s pretty great. The place used to be smaller when Chloe lived in it. She had the apartment built when she opened the bakery, but when they expanded and I decided to open a dance school, they gutted the place and made it stretch over both businesses. I love the apartment, but I have to admit, I’d like a house one day.”

  “Really?” He looked at me quizzically.

  “Well, yeah.” I shrugged. “I know it’s a lot of maintenance, and it’s not as simple as just calling the landlord when something breaks, but I’d like my own yard one day, you know? Something that’s totally mine that I can do whatever I want with. And preferably something with no stairs.”

  He chuckled as I hit the lights for the studio, making the entire space bright. “I can see the appeal of no stairs.”

  “Tell me about it,” I groaned. “You spend an entire day dancing, wearing your body out, and then have to climb an entire flight up and down. It’s murder on your knees. Some days I feel like a seventy-year-old lady in need of a walker.”

  I turned back just in time to catch him doing a sweep of my entire body. His green eyes seemed to darken, and I could have sworn I heard “sure as hell aren’t built like a seventy-year old,” under his breath.

  My body gave an involuntary shiver and I was suddenly hit with a bout of stage fright, something I hadn’t experienced in years.

  “So…” I dragged out. “I’m not really sure which song I should play.” My attention darted to my phone clutched tightly in my hands as I scrolled through my different play lists. Normally, dancing was as familiar as breathing, but I was so aware of Quinn standing in front of me that I had trouble concentrating. “Uh… there’s—”

  All of a sudden the phone was snatched from my grasp and Quinn’s large, solid body was only inches away. “How about I pick? You just do your thing.”

  Quinn

  I was going to Hell. There was no doubt about it.

  As I scrolled through Lilly’s phone, I started questioning how I’d ended up in the situation I was currently in. But the only answer I could come up with was: my own stupidity. There was no denying that something about the woman tugged at me, but I should have ignored the pull, not fallen into it.

  Too late to turn back now, I thought, swiping my thumb along the screen until I came across a playlist that caught my eye. It didn’t take a fucking genius to see she had her music organized by how each song made her feel, that was why the list titled Seductive seemed so goddamned appealing.

  Like I said, I was going to Hell.

  I didn’t recognize any of the songs, so going on one with the coolest name, I picked “Gods and Monsters” By Lana Del Ray. “Okay, got it.”

  “All right. Just plug it in over there.” She pointed to where she normally docked her iPhone. I followed her instructions and set the phone up. As soon as I looked back up, all the blood in my body rushed straight to my dick.

  “What are you doing?”

  Lilly looked at me like I was an idiot. “I can’t dance in sweats,” she stated like that was obvious to everyone but me. Her pants fell to the floor, revealing a pair of black shorts that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Seconds later, her baggy sweater disappeared, showing the tight teal sports bra she’d been wearing underneath.

  I was so busy staring at all her luscious curves I hadn’t even realized she said something. “Huh?” I asked, jerking my gaze up to meet hers.

  “Can you push play?” she asked with a hint of laughter in her voice.

  “Oh, yeah. Sure. Got it.” Needing to focus on anything other than the disturbing fact my dick was stirring behind my fly at the sight of my daughter’s dance teacher, I leaned back against the wall, crossing my ankles and shoving my hands in my pockets. As soon as the music kicked in, I knew I’d made an epic fucking mistake in my song selection, because fuck me, the woman moved like a wet dream to the sinful beat.

  I was mesmerized as I watched Lilly dance, her skin tinged pink as she was taken over by the music. I was lost, just like the morning I’d watched her through the window, only this time there was a seductiveness to the song and the way she moved that made me want to bury myself as deep as I could go and lose myself inside her completely. It was a terrifying thought. My mind shouted that it was wrong, but my body wouldn’t get on board, and as she lifted one leg straight up into the air, parallel to her body, the ache grew even stronger.

  The beat kicked up and her body flowed like water across the floor. Guilt at feeling such an intense attraction to another woman flooded through me, and I knew I needed to move, but I was stuck, transfixed. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she said dancing was an escape for her. It was written in the way she moved, the expression on her face. The sadness and pain were gone, having melted away to a serenity I envied.

  As the final notes of the song began to fade and the song came to an end, I was finally able to come unglued from the floor. I needed to get the hell out of there.

  For no other reason than I didn’t want to leave her.

  Lilly

  The second the song started playing that nervousness in my belly erupted in a swarm of butterflies. It felt like my whole body burned red, but, as always, the instant I began dancing, the rest of the world disappeared. There was nothing but the steady thrum of the music and Lana Del Rey’s sultry voice. Every fiber in my body moved as if on autopilot, my feet carrying me across the floor as though they had a mind of their own.

  My head cleared of absolutely everything. There was no
pain or heartache, no stage fright, no nerves. I was in my own world where I ruled over everything. I made the rules here, and the number one rule was that all the heaviness in life was left at the door.

  The last few lines of the song played, and I let my eyes drift closed, not needing my sense of sight to finish the number. It was as familiar as the beat of my own heart. Once I hit that last mark, I pulled in a long, much needed breath as I slowly lifted my eyelids. For those four minutes, I’d forgotten all about Quinn being in the room with me, and seeing him watching me with an unreadable expression on his face gave me a start.

  His eyes grew darker with every step he took in my direction, and I couldn’t help but feel that, in that very moment, he was the predator and I was his prey. My heart began beating against my chest for an entirely different reason as he got closer, closer. Only inches stood between us when he finally stopped. I could smell the intoxicating spiciness of his cologne.

  “S-so,” I stuttered, out of breath from not only the exertion of dancing, but his heady presence. “What did you think?”

  “That was…” The muscle in his jaw ticked, and his hands balled into tight fists at his side. “Fucking incredible,” he finally finished, rendering me momentarily speechless.

  “Yeah?” I asked on a sigh as the air around us went electric. Just like the night outside my apartment, my skin prickled with awareness as the moment stretched out between us.

  “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. The way you move… it’s unbelievable.”

  I couldn’t help but touch him right then. Reaching out, I placed my hand on his arm and whispered, “That’s an amazing compliment. Thank you so much.”

  I meant for my touch to increase the connection I felt between us, but for some reason it seemed to snap him out of it. I could actually see the shutters falling down over his green eyes.

  Taking a step back, he cleared his throat and lifted his arm, rubbing the back of his neck. His tone when he spoke next was completely void of any emotion. “You’re very talented. I have no doubt Sophia will learn a lot from you.”

  Disappointment coursed through my blood, my shoulders drooped in defeat, but I did my best to paste a smile on my face. “Thanks. She’s a fantastic student.”

  “Well…” Quinn glanced down at his watch, and I got the impression he was trying to look anywhere but at me. “It’s getting late. I should probably go.”

  I kept my tone light as I said, “Okay. I’ll walk you out.”

  “No need.” He was already moving, reaching the door in a few quick strides. “Have a good night.”

  And just like that, he was gone, leaving me wondering what the hell just happened.

  9

  Lilly

  I’d been dragging all morning long. Concerns over my father were weighing so heavily on my mind I had trouble finding sleep at night. And to make matters worse, it had been a week and a half since my private performance for Quinn, and he was still giving me the cold shoulder. If there was any chance of surviving the day, I needed one of Chloe’s pastries and a cup of coffee STAT.

  Taking the internal stairs, I headed down to the café below and made a beeline toward the bakery side.

  “Morning,” I announced, as I dramatically flopped down onto one of the barstools.

  Chloe smirked at me. “Well good morning, sunshine,” she teased, taking in my less-than-enthusiastic expression. “Coffee?”

  “Intravenously, please. And two almond scones while you’re at it.”

  She set about making my coffee and grabbed my scones from the pastry display. “Rough morning?”

  I made a sarcastic face and stuffed half a scone in my mouth, talking around the delicious, crumbly goodness. “That’s putting it lightly.”

  Chloe grimaced at my stellar display of table manners and opened her mouth, no doubt to lay into me for talking with my mouth full. Lucky for me, a handful of customers made their way to the counter and started placing their orders, giving me time to swallow my food.

  By the time she made it back to me, I was one scone down and had already started sucking back my steaming cup of coffee. “So why the foul mood?” she asked, wiping the crumbs I’d left behind off the counter as she gave me that look. You know, the one that said she was in full on Mother Mode. “Does it have anything to do with whatever’s causing those dark circles under your eyes?”

  Grabbing a spoon from the counter, I held it up and tried to examine my warped image in the polished metal. Damn, I did have dark circles under my eyes. How had I not noticed that?

  “You aren’t sleeping, are you?” she continued in that motherly tone of voice. “Is there something going on?”

  I should have known Chloe would be like a dog with a bone. During the months that Eliza was away in Denver, the woman nearly mothered me to death in an attempt to make up for missing her step-daughter.

  “Just busy gearing up for the Winter Showcase,” I lied, wanting to keep the truth about my father to myself for a little while longer. I spent my days and nights stuck in my own head, fretting over what I couldn’t change. I couldn’t bring myself to put words to it yet. It wasn’t the most logical way of thinking, but part of me felt that by telling everyone in my life, by putting the truth out there into the universe, I could possibly lose him faster. And I wasn’t ready for that.

  Telling Quinn had been so much easier. He was, for all intents and purposes, a stranger. And it wasn’t lost on me that we shared something thanks to our grief. Maybe that was why I felt that strange connection. But either way, I just couldn’t bring it up yet.

  Her face pinched in concern. “You push yourself too hard.”

  I heaved a sigh and took another bite. “I’ll be fine.”

  I watched as she geared herself up to argue, but the door from the kitchen swung open, and one of her employees came out, carrying an overloaded basket stuffed full of every pastry imaginable. I stared longingly at the basket of goodies. “Please tell me that’s for me, and I’ll love you forever.”

  Chloe chuckled as she took the heaving basket from the poor girl who looked like she was about to collapse under the weight of it. “Sorry. This is for the guys at the fire station. I take a basket to them and the Sheriff’s Department every month. Gotta keep our civil servants happy.”

  I cocked an eyebrow and smiled. “And it keeps you from getting traffic tickets.”

  She at least had the decency to blush a bit. “You’d have thought being the Sheriff’s wife would come with those particular perks,” she replied flatly, making me burst into laughter despite my exhaustion.

  Another pack of customers hit the counter just then. Chloe looked from the quickly forming line, to the basket, to me, and I almost dreaded the question I knew was coming.

  “Would you mind dropping this stuff off?” She pushed the basket in my direction and gave me a pitiful look. “Pretty please?”

  I swallowed down the groan that wanted to come out. I’d been on the receiving end of Quinn’s silent treatment the last several days. Traipsing onto his turf wasn’t exactly something I wanted to do, but I couldn’t say no to Chloe.

  I wrapped my fingers around the handle of the basket and hefted it up, grunting at the unexpected weight of it. Who knew bread could weigh so much. “Fine. But if I strain a muscle, or throw my back out carrying this, I expect baked goods for life.”

  She laughed and waved me off. “Deal.”

  I moved slowly out of the restaurant toward my car, using the bulk of the basket as an excuse, when really I was just dreading a possible run-in with Quinn. If he was at the station, how would he act? Would he acknowledge me, or pretend I didn’t exist? Would I be subjected to more of his coldness?

  Trying to guess his mood was like trying to tell the time by the time of day by the sun. And considering I flunked out of Girl Scouts, it was safe to presume I could not do that.

  I spent the entire — albeit short — drive to Pembrooke Fire Department worrying my bottom lip until I finally
tasted blood. Why Quinn Mallick had such an intense reaction on me was anyone’s guess.

  When I pulled into the small parking lot in front of the brick building, I noticed the two big bay doors were open. I parked in the spot closest to one of the open bays in the hopes of getting in and out fast. Inhaling deeply, I shut the car off and opened my door, struggling to stand with the massive bundle of food in my hands. I couldn’t even see over the top as I started walking in what I hoped was the direction of the door.

  As I got closer, I started to hear voices, and breathed a sigh of relief when none of them sounded like Quinn. My relief, however, was short-lived when the toe of my shoe caught on a crack in the concrete. Thanks to the basket creating an off-balanced center of gravity I started going down… fast. I let out a loud, startled squeak as I squeezed my eyes closed and braced for impact. I was fully prepared for it to hurt like a bitch — Chloe was going to owe me so huge — but a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist, catching me mid-fall, before I could face plant.

  “Lilly?”

  Well, shit. I squinted one eye open and chanced a brief glance over my shoulder. “Quinn… hey. How are you?” It would have been ideal if the ground beneath me had opened up and swallowed me whole. Unfortunately, no such luck.

  He gave me a bewildered look as he studied my face, and I was acutely aware that he was still holding onto me tightly, my back pinned to his firm chest. “You okay?”

  I took a step away, putting pressure on his arms so he’d let go. It took him a few seconds to break the connection, but once he did, I was finally able to take a full breath. “Yeah,” I answered, as I worked to prop the heavy basket on my hip. “Just tripped carrying this damn thing.”