Free A Stormy Spring by C. C. MacKenzie Page B

could be a drama queen and a pain in the backside but he was a friend and she’d be forever grateful to him for helping her pick up the pieces of her fractured world.
    However, he was also a rabid gossip and there was no way she would ever discuss her sex life with him or with anyone else. The dance world was a small one and she had a reputation to maintain. If certain individuals, men, got wind she’d had a quick fling with Lucas Del Garda her life wouldn’t be worth living.
    Lucas had done precisely as she’d asked. He hadn’t called her or visited her home or the studio. Her emotions swung between missing him desperately and being convinced she’d done the right thing. How many times had she wondered if she’d overreacted? And how many nights had she struggled to find peace and sleep? Her body tortured her. It ached, pining for him, dreaming of his touch, his smell, the sound of his deep gravelly voice and the look in those dark eyes for her.
    However, Lucas had taken it into his head to send her a Blackberry of all things. The relief he wasn’t out of her life completely fought with the fact that he’d refused to listen to her regarding her cell phone. He had no idea who he was dealing with. Her technological deficientness had made her a legend in her own time.
    Becca ran the cool bottle of water over her throbbing head and wondered why the hell she’d agreed to meet someone called Margo. Lucas had given the woman her cell number and she’d called her incessantly, leaving messages and texts until Becca had given in. Lucas’s PA was a force of nature and didn’t understand the word no. For weeks, no matter how many times Becca sent the Blackberry back, the thing was like a boomerang, it kept returning.
    She had no idea how to use the device and she didn’t want to know either. Margo totally understood where she was coming from, she said, and only wanted to run through it with her. Apparently Lucas was making her life hell and would Becca please give her a break? After four weeks, their little chats had become a highlight of Becca’s day. The woman was funny and real and definitely had Lucas’s number.
    Becca had agreed to meet her for a coffee today after she’d finished work. Now she wondered how she’d come to agree to such a scheme? And it didn’t stop her from speculating yet again if she was doing the right thing by accepting Lucas’s gift. But she missed him so damned much!
    She swallowed a gulp of water and shook her head as Justin gave her an elbow nudge and asked her again what was the matter?
    ‘Nothing. I’m fine, really.’
    He rose, hauling her to her feet and tossed her sweats before tugging on his own.
    Surprised, Becca stretched to ease out her aching shoulders.
    ‘What are you doing? We’re not finished.’
    Justin mumbled under his black sweatshirt, pulling it over his blonde head of shaggy hair.
    ‘We are for today. We’ve been invited to the Blue Lagoon tonight and you’re my partner.’
    Becca swallowed a groan as she pulled on thick leggings. The headache from hell pulsed relentlessly in her temple. She hoped she wasn’t coming down with something nasty. Since the night she’d met Lucas she’d managed to avoid the exclusive private club.
    Justin usually cruised the West End with his current squeeze.
    ‘What’s wrong with Ben?’
    ‘He’s met the love of his life.’ Justin’s smile was forced and her soft heart went out to him. His constant quest for true love was, in the words of Star Trek, ‘to boldly go where no man had gone before.’
    Becca’s fingers toyed with his blonde-tipped hair and then she pressed her lips to his lean cheek.
    He sent her a sad smile and said in a pathetic voice, ‘There’s a crowd of us going. Come with me, sweetie. Have some fun for once. Let your hair down.’
    She wondered how he’d react if he knew she’d let more than her hair down recently. For all his talk about her finding a man, Justin wouldn’t be pleased. He’d become