LITMIR.BIZ

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better of responding. Holding his arm out for her, he waited patiently while she took longer than she needed to walk past without touching him.

      ‘We should continue this conversation over drinks.’

      He stood close behind her while she set the alarm code for the studio. Elise bristled at his proximity, her body primed for his touch and yet retreating at the same time. Warning bells rang a crazy, maddening cacophony in her head while she chanted to herself: don’t give in, don’t give in.

      ‘There isn’t a conversation to continue, Col.’

      ‘So turn up, I’ll buy you a few drinks and you can think about where else I can shove my proposal.’ He followed her out of the studio into the balmy summer air.

      Temptation curled in her belly like a snake preparing to strike. Her otherwise enviable discipline had never extended to Col. Somehow he made her forget everything she needed to do, every obligation she had, every belief she clung to.

      ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He brushed his thumb across her cheek so gently she might have imagined it.

      He was gone before she could think to protest, leaving her to fume that he’d got one over on her. Her fists clenched again, and she took a moment to steady herself before walking to her car. He had some nerve, coming back and turning up here as if his absence hadn’t left a giant, gaping hole in her life.

      Feeling her phone vibrate in her bag, Elise dug through the mess of papers and beauty products to find the buzzing device. ‘Hello?’

      ‘Elise Johnson?’ The male voice was unfamiliar. ‘I’m calling from Victoria Bank. Do you have a moment to talk?’

       TWO

      Around them the café bustled as though the world wasn’t crashing down. People laughed, sunshine streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows and the cheerful sound of cups clinking against saucers scratched at Elise’s nerves. Perhaps a third coffee wasn’t a wise choice for someone who was already more hyper than a puppy on speed. Still, overindulging in coffee was a little better than face-planting into a tub of peanut butter and chocolate-fudge ice cream, which was exactly what she wanted to do.

      The bank manager who called her last night had very politely informed her that she was at risk of defaulting on her loan for the EJ Ballet School studio. He’d asked her to come in and talk to one of the staff at the bank and explore what options were available, but Elise knew that without somehow increasing the money they were making the studio would be a goner. Then how would she support her mother?

      The last twenty-four hours had been a mind-bender. Elise had flipped from telling herself it would all be okay to preparing herself for the worst, and with a night of terrible sleep behind her she felt frayed at the edges. Between her encounter with Col and the call from the bank, she’d barely eaten from the growing discomfort of nerves bundling tightly within her.

      ‘Ellie?’ Jasmine waved a hand in front of her face, her dark eyes narrowed. ‘You still with us?’

      ‘Col came to visit me yesterday.’ She hadn’t been planning on telling her friends—or anyone else for that matter—about Col’s visit but the words slipped out before she could stop them.

      ‘Wow.’ Missy, her other best friend slash employee, watched her with eyes wide as dinner plates. ‘That’s a surprise.’

      ‘I know.’

      Missy fiddled with her coffee cup. ‘It’s been a while, hasn’t it?’

      ‘Five years.’ She nodded. There hadn’t been a word from Col in half a decade...not a peep since the night he left. ‘He wants to hire me...well, kind of.’

      ‘What on earth for?’ Jasmine asked, incredulous.

      ‘He wants to hire me to do something performance related, but he didn’t tell me what it was exactly.’ It sounded more ridiculous when spoken aloud than it did in her head...if that was possible. ‘He offered to pay me.’

      ‘What kind of performance?’ Missy leant in, her turquoise eyes alight with curiosity. Jasmine elbowed her in the ribs, glaring.

      ‘Like I said, I don’t know.’

      Jasmine shook her head. ‘That sounds sus...you’re not thinking about it, are you?’

      Elise rolled her eyes; her friend was ever the protective mother hen. ‘I wasn’t thinking about it.’

      ‘But...?’

      ‘Maybe now I am.’ She sighed. ‘I don’t know.’

      ‘It’s not a good idea,’ Jasmine said and Missy rolled her eyes.

      ‘I know that.’

      ‘Well?’

      ‘Well...’ She paused, letting out a long sigh. ‘The studio’s going through a rough patch.’

      Missy’s aquamarine eyes widened. ‘You should have said something!’

      ‘It’s not a big deal, Miss.’

      ‘It is if you’re thinking of letting Col hire you,’ Jasmine replied.

      ‘This is my family we’re talking about...my life.’ How else would she support her drinking, gambling, all-kinds-of-screwed-up mother?

      ‘You deserve better.’ Jasmine shook her head, letting out a frustrated huff. ‘We’ll find a way to get the money for the studio. We can fundraise, run a charity drive...’

      Missy nodded her head in vigorous agreement. ‘Anything you need.’

      ‘It’s a little worse than what a charity drive can help with.’ That was it; the stone-cold truth was out there. ‘Promise me you won’t tell the other teachers about this.’

      The girls nodded and answered without hesitating, ‘We promise.’

      Elise looked at her watch. She had precisely three hours in which to forget her dignity and plan how she was going to tell Col she was considering his offer...without even knowing what it was. How desperate was that? Her cheeks flamed at the thought; there was no way she should be doing this.

      And yet he’d managed to make her the vulnerable party. Clearly his lure was as strong as it had ever been.

      Closing her eyes, Elise forced the thought from her mind. She was doing this for the money and the money only. The fact that she’d wanted Col since she was old enough to understand the concept of desire was totally beside the point.

      Ugh, why did she have to think about that? An uncomfortable sensation surged between her legs and Elise shifted in the hard café chair. She would not think about sleeping with Col, she would not think about sleeping with Col, she would not—

      ‘I don’t even want to know what you’re thinking about.’ Jasmine sighed.

      ‘I do,’ Missy chimed in with a wink.

      ‘I’m not thinking about him.’ I’m not, I’m not.

      ‘Like I said, don’t want to know.’ Jasmine shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe you didn’t tell us about the studio. How did it happen?’

      ‘I wish there was an easy answer to that.’

      ‘It’s pretty black and white when it comes to finances, Ellie. What’s going on that you’re not telling us?’

      How could she tell her best friends that her mother had gambled away their savings on a horse race? Well, on several horse races and one greyhound race if she’d got her facts right, but it was all the same in the end. No money to pay the loan on the studio. A decline in the economy meant they’d lost a chunk of their student body when their parents could no longer afford added extras like ballet tuition. Then there were the ongoing costs for her mother’s medication, the fact that she hadn’t been able to go

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