Free Just Breathe by Janette Paul Page A

hot property tonight. We’ll see you at the table.’ He found another cluster of guests.
    ‘I’m amazed we haven’t seen you before,’ a man asked. ‘How long have you been modelling?’
    ‘I’m not a model. I’m a yoga teacher.’
    He raised his eyebrows. ‘No wonder you’re so good. What else do you do?’
    It was one of the more annoying questions she was asked at parties, as though teaching yoga wasn’t enough on its own. ‘Nothing. I’m just a yoga teacher.’
    ‘That must be great,’ he said. ‘Give me a call some time. I’d love to pick your brains about business opportunities in that market.’
    Dee’s mouth opened and closed in surprise. Not a sideshow act but a brain to pick. She smiled jauntily and sipped more champagne as Ethan led her onwards.
    ‘So what’s your game plan?’ The question came from a highly polished thirty-something woman with a handshake like a vice.
    ‘What do you mean?’
    ‘The yoga teaching is a great idea, gives you a bit of a back story, probably an edge on the standard model-singer-actor thing. But now you’ve got our attention, what’s your game plan?’
    ‘I, um, don’t have one. I’m just going to teach yoga.’
    The woman smiled conspiratorially. ‘Yeah, it’s not good to look too greedy. Well, I don’t know what you’ve got planned but I can tell you, you could have a big future if you’ve got the right moves.’ She flipped a business card out of her evening purse. ‘Give me a call if you want some advice.’
    At the next group and the one after that, Ethan introduced her to a bunch of other people whose names she couldn’t remember, mainly because she was so stunned.
    ‘You’ve got a great figure. Is that the yoga?’
    ‘Do you do private classes?’
    ‘How do you manage to look so serene?’
    Dee felt like she was in a parallel universe where yoga geeks were gods and everyone wants to be short and muscly. She’d never had so many compliments in so short a time. No, she’d never had so many compliments period . She was in danger of being flattered into a good time.
    ‘More champagne?’ Ethan took her empty glass and replaced it with another.
    Had she finished that one already? She sucked up his smile, took a sip, admired him over the rim of her glass. She’d been aware of him watching her as she shook hands and attempted small talk. At first, it made her nervous, expecting him to draw her aside, tell her how better to handle herself. Then she realised he was just watching – not critiquing. After that, the bemused look on his face made her feel pretty cool.
    ‘Enjoying yourself?’ he asked as they moved across the room again.
    ‘I think so.’
    He laughed and it was as though he’d reached right inside her and sprinkled around some kind of feel-good herb. Her stomach tingled and her mouth curled up. If he ever gave up his suits, multimillion-dollar business and glamorous lifestyle, she wouldn’t let him out of her sight. Ha, ha, like that’d ever happen.
    A photographer hovered in front of them. ‘Mr Roxburgh, can I get a shot of you and Ms Nichols?’
    ‘Sure.’ He stepped in beside her.
    ‘Perhaps a bit closer,’ the photographer suggested.
    Ethan slid his arm around her waist and pulled her gently into him. ‘How’s that?’
    Nice. Very, very nice, Dee thought. Her skin hummed where his arm rested across her back and his warm palm pressed softly to her hip made her legs go all wobbly. Fortunately, she was small enough to fit snugly under his arm and she leaned into him to keep herself upright. At least that was what she’d say if anyone asked. She looked up at him, inhaled an exotic aroma of aftershave and dinner jacket and musky male and understood why Roxburgh Girls were always photographed pressing themselves against him.
    ‘One more, if you don’t mind, Mr Roxburgh.’
    Dee smiled again, hoping she didn’t look as dazed as she felt, and had a chuckle to herself. If this photo made it into the newspaper, her mother