Midnight Ballerina

by Cori Williams

  Miller was there within a few minutes of me telling Amelia that I was okay with it, and instantly, I felt better.

  “Hey,” he said quietly and I motioned him over to my bedside, grabbing up his hand and all felt right with the world. The smile that he gave me was blinding.

  “Listen, I know you have some issues to work out, I get that, but what went down can’t ever happen again. Things got out of hand. We both said things I’m sure we could take back.” He nodded his head, dropping his eyes down to the floor and I could see that it was true for him too.

  “Monroe, I didn’t know that something was missing in my life until I met you and then I had you and all was right. Shutting you out sent everything spinning out of control. I promise that will never happen again.”

  “All right,” I whispered and he brushed his thumb across my cheek.

  “So does that mean you forgive me?”

  “Well, we can only go forward, so let’s start from here and see how things go.”

  “I don’t think I have a problem with that.” And then he kissed the ever-loving daylights out of me, getting me so excited I was sure my vitals were going crazy at the nurses’ station and I was surprised that no one had come running into my room.

  Miller stayed with me after that, never leaving my side once, and I was thankful because I probably would’ve freaked out if he did. I was relieved to have him back in my life and it seemed like we had never been apart. I know I would’ve been just fine eventually without him, but it made my life so much better with him in it.

  I took a short nap while they were finishing up all of my paperwork and once I woke up, I was glad to feel Miller’s hand still in mine and I was equally happy when I saw Amelia, sitting on the other side of my bed. I was confused, though, when I saw her glaring in the direction of the door, so I turned my head to find Tanner standing there, looking uncomfortable as hell with a girl that I’d never seen before.

  Miller was semi-glaring too, but when he saw me open my eyes he smiled and dropped a kiss on my cheek. “You ‘bout ready to go home?”

  Home. That word sounded good, but also confusing. I wasn’t sure where home really was at the moment. Did I just jump straight back into things with Miller, moving back into his house and having to deal with his mom, or go back to Amelia’s and take things slow with him?

  “Um….”

  Tanner interrupted the awkwardness by stepping forward. “Hey, Monroe. I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

  The girl that was with him smiled stiffly at me and waved. “Hi, I’m Marissa.” I knew I’d heard that name before and I knew Marissa had been his ex or soon to be ex-something. If my guesses were right when it came to Amelia and Tanner, I knew why Amelia was upset. What in the hell was going on there?

  I turned toward Amelia, who simply rolled her eyes, muttering, “Dumbass,” before she squeezed my shoulder. “Don’t worry, I won’t be mad if you don’t want to be my roommate anymore,” she whispered. “Go with your heart, Roe-Roe.”

  I turned toward Miller, squeezing my eyes shut once, but I already knew the answer. However cheesy that old saying was about home being where the heart is, I truly knew what it meant now, I could feel in it my bones. Miller was where my heart was, I knew it without a doubt.

  “Let’s go home.”

  I WAS MORE than relieved to go back to Miller’s house and find his mom gone. He explained what happened and my heart hurt for the hand he was dealt in life. He didn’t take her leaving as badly as I expected and soon life went back to normal for us. I started working for him in the office again, cutting my days back by a few, so I could spend more time working at the studio. He was barely ever at Pure, letting Luke take almost complete control, and I think he was happy to be out of that world for the most part.

  “Monroe, I’m getting ready to head out for the night.” Nina smiled from the doorframe, her bag already over her shoulder and her keys in her hands. “Are you going to lock up for the night?” I’d been doing it a lot lately since Nina decided to nix the late hours that were available the first time that I started dancing here. I loved having the place to myself for a little while, though.

  “Yeah,” I nodded my head and her lips twitched as waved goodbye.

  “Good, good. Well have fun tonight.”

  “Okay,” I answered, shaking my head as she left me there a little confused. I had already told her my only plans for tonight were to finish up the piece that I was choreographing for an upcoming recital and then head home to catch up on my recordings and maybe get a little reading in. That was fun, to me, but it would’ve been better if Miller was home. He was working on some job out of town and I doubted he would make it home before midnight.

  I danced for about thirty more minutes, working out all the kinks in my routine, before I decided to call it quits for the night. I grabbed my bag, flipping off lights as I walked around the studio. My phone beeped from my bag, so I grabbed it out, seeing that it was a message from Miller.

  Miller: Come unlock the front door, I’m here.

  I grinned, excited that he was back earlier than expected, forgetting about my lazy night that I had planned, it could wait for another time. I ran to the door and jumped into his arms and he grunted as he caught me. “Happy to see me?” He laughed, pressing a kiss into my hair.

  “Nope, not at all,” I teased as he sat me back down onto my feet. “Hmm…well maybe this will make you happy.” He brought a bag forward that I didn’t notice he was holding before. “I brought dinner and dessert. I figured you haven’t eaten yet.”

  “Dessert?” My ears perked up and I followed him into the back room, watching as he laid out a blanket that he’d brought along and started setting out sandwiches and chips, reminding me of our first date that seemed forever ago.

  “Yeah.” He held out a container that looked like it was stuffed full of cookies. “Amelia made them, they’re Milk Dud cookies. She said they’re your favorite.”

  “I knew she was my best friend for a reason.” I dropped down onto the blanket next to him, immediately opening the container of cookies and taking a bite out of one, closing my eyes as I savored the taste. I opened them up to see Miller staring at me. “What?”

  “Nothing, I just didn’t know that we were starting with dessert.”

  “It’s kind of a given when you bring these kind of cookies.” I finished it off, laughing when he pushed me backward and climbed over me, straddling my body. “What are you doing?”

  “Well, if you get to eat dessert first, so do I.” My laughter was cut off by his lips and he made me forget all about those cookies as he licked and sucked, nipped and brushed. Miller knew how to drive me wild with his kisses and soon I was bucking beneath him, needing more.

  “I did come here for a reason,” he said after sucking on my neck, long and hard, making me think that there would be a lovely mark there in the morning that I would have to cover up, but I guess I could deal with that.

  “It wasn’t to bring me dinner and do naughty things to me?” I moved my hand to grip the hardness at the front of his pants and he groaned, but pushed my hand away.

  “Well, we can get to that later, but I wanted to give you something. Close your eyes.” I eyed him suspiciously and he continued to wait, so I finally gave in, closing my eyes. “All right, hold out your hands.”

  I held out my hands impatiently and he placed something in them, it felt light and almost like paper so I was having a hard time figuring out what it could be. “Okay, open them.”

  I looked down to see that I was right, it was a folder filled with papers and I had no idea what any of them meant. I saw the dance studio’s name on the outside of the folder and a bunch of legal talk that I didn’t understand, so I looked up at Miller in confusion.

  “What is this exactly?”

  “It’s yours, the studio. You’re now the owner.”

  “Miller, what in the hell are you talking about? Nina owns the studio.”

  “Nina wants to retir
e and move down to Florida with her kids.”

  “Okay,” I dragged out. “But I can’t afford to buy it from her and there is no way in hell I’m letting you buy it for me. That’s insane, Miller.” I shook my head, pushing the papers into his hands and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “Don’t think of it like that, Monroe. Think of me as an investor. If you really want to, we can pretend that I’m the sole owner and you work for me.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Miller, I have no idea how to run a dance studio on my own, not to mention I have my last year of school starting up soon. How will I do that?”

  “We’ll figure it out, if we need to we’ll hire another instructor and I know all about running a business. Nina will be around for a little while longer to help you out along the way. Dancing is in your blood, Monroe. You live and breathe it. You belong in this studio, so I made it yours.”

  I smiled at him, glad that he could really see how much dancing meant to be. No one in my life had ever really seen that except for Miller. He just got it. He got me.

  I took a deep breath, the reality of what Miller had in his hands hitting me once I pushed my stubbornness to the side for a bit.

  “So this place is mine now?” I asked quietly and he nodded his head, grinning when I squealed and tackled him to the ground. “I can’t believe you did this. You are nuts, but I love you.”

  “And I love you, too,” he whispered against my ear and I loved hearing those words out of his mouth, every time he said them.

  I pulled back to look down as I straddled him. “It’s going to be hard figuring everything out.”

  “I know.” He reached up a hand, smoothing it across my cheek. “But we’ll figure it out together, my midnight ballerina.”

  Continue to follow along with Monroe and Miller’s story

  this Fall in Amelia’s book,

  Other Books by C.A. Williams

  The Journey Series:

  Chasing Leah, Book #1

  Limitless, Book #2

  One Simple Step, Book # 3

  Imperfect Perfection Series:

  Chaotic, Book #1

  Twisted Bliss, Book #2

  Stand-alone books:

  Full Count

  The Crush

  Frozen Dreams, Coming Winter 2015

  Midnight Novels:

  Midnight Ballerina

  Southern Sweets, Coming Fall 2014

  (Note: Future releases are only tentative.)

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  I DON’T GET sappy often, if you know me personally, you’ll know that I’m a very laid back, quiet person. My husband is not. So when they say opposites attract, my husband and I are just that. He talks to everyone under the moon, has the biggest ego I’ve ever ran into, and makes a joke out of everything. Although, I roll my eyes at about ninety percent of what he says, I wouldn’t have it any other way. We met when we were still in high school, he was a senior visiting his dad from out of town, and I was a sophomore. So on top of being young and in love, we had to make a long distance relationship work. And we did. We’ve been together for thirteen years now and married for seven, along with adding three wonderful kids into the mix. My husband was the first person to encourage me to write, not telling me that I was completely crazy for wanting to try.

  I’ve always been an avid reader and a creative thinker. When I went away to college I changed my major probably five different times, but I couldn’t find anything that fit. After having of our kids, I became a stay at home mom. While I love my kids, I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing. I started jotting down ideas for storylines, but having only a tablet, the ideas didn’t go very far. Then I brought up the writing idea to my husband. I had a laptop in my hands the next day. He’s my biggest supporter, telling anyone and everyone, including some he shouldn’t, about the steamy romance books his wife writes. I use him often as a muse when writing my books—if you read something cocky—it was probably straight from his mouth.

  So, while I can’t always find the right words to say out loud, or be able to tell him with a straight face and look him in the eyes, I want to thank him for always being there when I need him, listen to me when I complain, be even more excited about things then I get, and just for being him.

  He is my happily ever after.

  Alright, that’s enough sappiness from me!

  Oh, and thank you to all of my family who does support me, they know who they are, and for those that don’t, well don’t come a knockin’.

  Now onto the fabulous people that helped me throughout the process of writing Midnight Ballerina. To my beta readers; Julie Deaton, Danielle Plane, Stacia Newbill, Karen Derasmo, and Nicole Huffman. Words can’t express how much your help means and I’ll forever be grateful for any tidbit you throw my way. Thank you.

  To Julie at JT Formatting, I’m currently typing away at this and it has yet to be formatted, but I already know that you’ll do an amazing job. Julie takes things an extra mile, making books the most beautiful they can be and I’m so glad I found her.

  And last, but definitely not least, to Lea Burn—editor extraordinaire. I’ve worked with her on my last two books and she is by far the best of the best. Lea has a way to make everything sound so much better and she’s helped me so much along the way with Midnight Ballerina. Thanks Lea for everything that you do!

  I would also like to thank the readers and bloggers, you’re what makes the reading world go around and writers wouldn’t be anywhere without you.