Free Dancing Shoes and Honky-Tonk Blues by LUANN MCLANE Page A

fall into bed in my undies.

6
    Just Rewards
    “What happened to bright-eyed and bushy-tailed?” Rio asks with a hint of a smile.
    “My doggone tail is draggin’.” I try not to glare at him. While swallowing a groan, I blot beads of perspiration from my brow with a small towel.
    “Okay, let’s take five.”
    Oh, thank the Lord! Waiting tables is way easier than this! Plus, I’m surviving on a glass of orange juice and a hastily consumed bagel because it took me forever to decide what to wear this morning. Since Rio is looking classy in black pants and a formfitting white shirt I’m wishing that I had settled on something more stylish than gray sweatpants and a pink T-shirt.
    “Okay, try again. A bit longer if you will. Keep your back straight and your chin up.”
    “What? It hasn’t been five minutes, has it?” Again? Longer? Turning away I toss the towel into the corner of our rehearsal room and mutter, “Jerk.”
    “Excuse me?” Rio asks with the arch of one dark eyebrow, the same eyebrow that he has arched at me all morning long.
    “Work. I said this sure is work. ” I add a sweet smile for good measure but when he turns around I stick out my tongue, deriving a small sense of satisfaction. I swear if I find him fast asleep somewhere I’m going to shave the doggone eyebrow right off. I giggle at the thought and he whirls around.
    “Do you find something amusing, Miss Harper?”
    I’m picturing him minus one eyebrow, so I sort of do , but I shake my head. “Not at all.”
    “Good, now let’s try this again.”
    Again? How many times do I have to stand on one doggone foot and point my outstretched arms to the ceiling?
    “You have to do this until you don’t topple sideways,” he explains as if reading my mind. “This is called Pilates . It will help you with balance, flexibility, and eventually strengthen your core muscles. Eventually you’ll be able to control your muscles with your mind using this method.” He points to his abdomen and doggone core muscles clearly defined by the tight shirt distract me from his instruction. This constant distraction has been happening all morning, making me appear stupid, but hey , the man should wear something other than butt-hugging pants and a shirt that shows each and every ripple of muscle.
    “We’ll work on endurance later.”
    Oh, goody.
    “Now let me show you how to do this again . Inhale deeply while bringing your right leg up to your left thigh. Get your balance first, Abby. This is where you’ve been going wrong. Then slowly push your arms skyward, palms together like this. Press your knee back without moving your hips. Alignment is crucial. Hold this position for thirty seconds while pointing your fingertips to the ceiling. Stretch as far as your body will allow.” He demonstrates this move with such grace and agility, none of which I have been able to master.
    “Will I have to wax your car, Mr. Miagi?”
    “What?” That one danged eyebrow goes up again and he looks at me still in the pointing-to-the-ceiling pose that has some crazy name that I’ve of course forgotten.
    Oh yeah, the tree pose.
    Rio’s eyebrow slides back down to form a frown. “Wax my car?”
    “You know, wax on . . . wax off?” I demonstrate with circular motions but when he shakes his head I realize that references to The Karate Kid are wasted on him. “Never mind.”
    “What’s waxing a car got to do with anything?” he persists. His accent is getting more pronounced as the morning progresses. At one point he muttered a whole paragraph in Spanish and I don’t think it was anything particularly flattering.
    “I guess about as much as standing here like a tree!” Oh, crap . . . I said that out loud. I swallow nervously when a muscle jumps in his clenched jaw. He looks at me for a long heart-pounding moment and then says something under his breath. I strain my ears to hear but I do think it was once again in Spanish.
    Now I know that this is where I should