Free Falling for Her Soldier by Ophelia London Page A

end was an inside joke. He made a mental note to ask her about it.
    She pulled into a lot outside the Anastasia Dance Studio. Charlie parked in the space next to her. “I wasn’t too fast for you?” She grinned over her shoulder as she strolled to the front door.
    “No one’s too fast for me, baby,” he replied automatically, then mentally slapped the back of his stupid skull. Why did his tendencies lean toward tragically lame come-on lines around this woman? Like she was making him nervous, throwing off his game.
    Or maybe he had no game with Ellie.
    She grabbed the door handle and turned back. “ That ,” she said, giving him a playful glare, “was too cliché…even for you.”
    Charlie blew out a deep exhale, laughing under his breath. “It’ll never happen again.”
    “Good,” she said, then she shot him a flirty wink, again surprising the hell out of him.
    As they stepped inside, Charlie was further taken aback. He didn’t know what he’d expected when he thought about going to a ballet studio. Maybe a bunch of guys wearing tights and speaking Russian or people doing splits in the middle of the lobby. Besides that twisted Natalie Portman movie, he had no frame of reference.
    Except for the hot pink paint job on the walls, it looked like the front lobby of any other gym. There were three flat screens, one showing a fish tank and the others showing different angles of what he assumed to be where people did the dancing. In the corner sat a rack of black T-shirts that had the same Anastasia Dance Studio logo as the one painted on the wall. The lobby was lined with folding chairs and had a long white reception desk.
    “Hey girl.” A woman with a long, dark ponytail waved to Ellie from behind the desk and stood when they approached. “So, this is Hunter,” she said, sizing him up.
    Charlie turned to Ellie. “Huh. You told her about me,” he stated, not bothering to hide his smile.
    She was glaring at the other woman, but then became preoccupied by her phone. “No, I just told her I was, ya know, bringing you along in case she needed help with anything. Apparently we’ve gotten kind of busy with the fittings. This is Jane. She helps run the Stacy Studio.”
    “Nice to meet you,” Charlie said, then looked at Ellie. “Who’s Stacy?”
    Ellie didn’t answer, but the dark ponytail did. “Stacy ran the school before,” she explained. “And it’s very nice to meet you, Hunter.” The way she gawked at him made Charlie feel unnerved, like a piece of meat in a window.
    “Jane,” Ellie snapped. “Ease up. He’s never been to a ballet studio. Don’t scare him.”
    “First time, eh?” Jane walked around the desk and straight up to him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”
    Charlie looked to Ellie for a little help, but Ellie just rolled her eyes. “Take care of him,” she said to Jane. “I have to go change.”
    He wanted to follow her, but Jane suddenly had ahold of his arm. “Hey,” she said, “I know you’re all hot and everything, but don’t play her.”
    “What?” Charlie asked, eyeing her fingers gripping tightly around his arm.
    Just then, the front door swung open and some moms and little kids entered. But Jane didn’t let go. In fact, she tightened her grip.
    “I…” Charlie said. “I won’t.”
    Jane dropped his arm, batted her lashes, and smiled up at him. “Good,” she said sweetly, as if nothing had just happened, “because Stephanie called in sick.” She looked past him and waved. “Hi Brooke, hi Maggie. You look adorable.” Her eyes shifted back to him. “So it seems I’ll need your help after all. Big strong guy like you.”
    “Uh, sure,” Charlie said, getting that meat-in-the-window feeling again. “Anything I can do.”
    Jane walked behind the desk and pulled out a big box with some kind of pink netting spilling out. It was puffy and out of control. “Take this upstairs to the costume room,” she directed, unloading the stuff from the box and shoving