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. Then why are we havingthis conversation, hmm?Jolie opened her mouth, but had nogood answer for that.Catrina pointed toward the stage. Get your ass out there and dance likeyou mean it.I m hosting this rally.Mytroupe better be the best damn act of thenight. She turned to the other companymembers scattered around the dressingroom finishing their last touches ofmakeup and raised her voice. Showtime, ladies and Bret! Pop apasty! She threw an arm around Jolie ship and winked. Make the munchkinsquirm.* * * A-are you sure we re safe uphere?Hauk grinned as he hel thed as hpedAshley settle onto a ledge overhangingthe old electric company floor. We resafe as rain. Rain falls.He laughed as he took a seat next tohis ex and dangled a boot over the edge.It was surreal to be with her again,especially now after so much hadchanged.He wouldn t have figured Ashfor The Underlight type; their methodscould be a bit more underhanded thanshe used to approve of.But for whateverreasons she d signed up, it was good tosee her again. We re fine.Trust me.Iwatch all their shows from up here.Catrina and the Pussy Will-Oh!troupe had redone the cement-and pipe-filled space in green, gold and purpletinsel for the Mardi Gras Pride Rally,which featured acts from some of thebest dancers and musicians around thestate.The crowd below was packed andseemed to be having a great time.Thusfar no trouble had stirred and Jolie wason next, so Hauk had decided to climbup to his usual out-of-the-crowd spot towatch.Up here he could still scan fortrouble, no one could see him and theyhad a great view of the stage.It would be a lot easier to maneuver,however, if Ash wasn t so determined tokeep her knees together, her heels on andher hose from catching on anything.He dthought her meticulousness was cutewhen he was seventeen, but now it madehim miss Jolie, who never worriedabout things like that, just blazedforward into any situation.That boldnesswas one of the things he appreciatedabout her.He still needed to find that woman.He d planned to ask her out before theshow, but she hadn t come by to talkshop like she d said she would.LikelyCatrina had kept her running around.After her performance, then.And ifshe didn t come out, well, he d go findher.The memory of this morning s kisshad kept a spring in his step all day, andhe didn t want to waste time beforegetting another one. You re grinning again, Ashley saidwith a nudge of her knee.He could feel the grin get bigger, buthe gave a non-committal shrug.In thepast he d have spilled his guts to her.All through growing up, Ash had beenthe one person he could tell anything to.Despite her more conservative bent, ormaybe because of it, she d reveledvicariously in his troublemaking ways.But things weren t the same now; ofcourse they weren t.They were shyaround each other.Back in the day theycouldn t be near each other withouttouching, and he used to harass her abouteverything, from her tiny feet to herperfectly ironed shirts.But time hadtaken that ease away.Or his accident had.He didn tresemble her friend, or her ex, anymore.Deceptive as they may be, appearancesmade a difference to everyone. So your friend is a dancer? Whatkind? Ashley asked.He smiled and was rewarded with ashy smile back before her gaze slidaway from his face.But this time hereyes found his again quickly.Progress.He wouldn t ruin the moment bymentioning it. Jolie s trained as a ballerina.Shewas so good the Houston Ballet wantedher to audition, but her family wouldn thear of it. Jolie was one of the mostphysically competent women he d evermet.Training her in self-defense hadbeen a pleasure, and not just because heliked her company.He loved to watchher move, to see the way her braingrasped a concept and her body executedit.He hoped she never needed to use anyof the defense techniques he d taught her(likely a vain hope, he knew), but itmade him feel better knowing she wasmore than competent at gettiad ent at ngout of harm s way.And he couldn t help thinking if shecould move like that in a sparring match,she must have some damn fine moves inother places that he d sure like toexperience.Catrina came onstage to announcePussy Will-Oh!, and Ashley joined in theapplause. I love the ballet, she said.Hauk nearly choked on a laugh. Oh,she doesn t do ballet anymore. What does she do?The spotlight hit an aerial hammock,pale purple nylon folded in half andhanging from the ceiling.Currently thehammock stretched around the perfectcurves of a reclining body.Haukcouldn t see her face, just shadows andhints of a form cocooned in lavender, butit was Jolie.He had damn fond memories of thosecurves pressed into fabric. Is that her? Ashley asked. Mm-hm.Jolie kicked straight up, and theshadows highlighted her long leg andspiked heel.His whole body stiffened indesire. Is this one of those modern dancethings? I haven t seen much of that.Jolie moved.The hammockresponded to every motion, hugging herbody as she slowly twisted in the air. But I m happy to give it a try,Ashley continued. They re a burlesque troupe, Haukmuttered. Burlesque? Isn t that& strippers?Hauk peeled his eyes off of Jolie longenough to glance at Ashley.She soundeda little panicked.Maybe he would vethought that was scandalous, too, back inthe day.But they were adults now, and alittle skin wasn t a shocking thing.His focus riveted back to Jolie, as hewas determined not to miss a moment ofher skin. They do some of that.But it smore than just stripping.They re good.The troupe has a contortionist and acouple acrobats.Jolie does aerialdancing, and she s teaching some of theothers.All of them are professionallytrained dancers. So why do they take off their clothesif they have real talent?He shrugged, unable to help a grin. Why not?Other dancers had entered withchairs, and the dance picked up speed asthe audience cheered.Jolie gathered thefabric with her hands.Arching her back,she inverted so she hung under thehammock instead of inside it, showingoff that amazing athleticism and thoseperfectly defined shoulders as she gotthe hammock spinning faster and faster.In his periphery he could seeAshley s blond hair shaking next to him. It s just not something I thought you dbe into.Hauk didn t know how to take that, sohe stayed quiet and watched the show.After a long moment, she asked,  Isshe your& girlfriend?There was a note in her voice that hecouldn t place.It almost soundedwistful, and he turned to study her moreclosely. No.We re just friends.She nodded, her expression stillinscrutable [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]