Doing makeup for one of Ava and Paige’s dance studio shows was always so much fun for Morgan. Unlike a red carpet event, no one was shouting at anyone else, no one was storming around, and there was certainly no one phoning their agent to ask whether they were contractually obligated to wear a particular dress or brand of makeup.
It helped, of course, that Morgan had gotten a really good nap in before she headed down to the dance studio. Especially considering how sore she was from all the outdoor work she’d been doing on the garden plot. Sore was okay. Sore and exhausted wasn’t. Not when she felt the bulk of her energy was spent trying to figure out how to stop noticing how sweet and gorgeous and sexy Brian was. At least for a few hours while she was here, she’d have a little breathing room to get her head back on straight.
“Do you know all the stars?” one of the girls she was making up asked her. “And do their makeup all the time?”
“I do know quite a few people in Hollywood, but I usually do their makeup only for big events and while they’re filming.”
“Are they all as pretty and thin as in the magazines?” another of the girls asked.
Morgan knew dangerous ground when she heard it. To most people, her business might be about making people look better, but for her it had always been more about showing people the sides of themselves that they kept hidden. It certainly wasn’t about pushing girls to live up to the impossible.
“No one looks like that without the aid of photo enhancement,” she assured the dancer. “Not even the biggest movie stars in the world.”
“Really?” Both girls looked like they wanted to believe her but weren’t sure they could.
“Yes, I promise you it’s true. I’ve always loved to play up people’s best features, but I wouldn’t ever want to change who they really are.”
“Is that what you’re doing for us? Playing up our best features?”
“You’re both absolutely beautiful,” she told them, “so anything I do will be like the cherry on top of the sundae. Yummy, but not at all necessary.”
She set to work on natural looks, and in a short space of time, she had the girls staring at themselves with delight.
“I wish I could look like this all the time.”
“I’ll show you how. Like I said, I simply highlighted your natural beauty.” Five minutes later, the girls thanked her profusely and another couple of dancers came to sit before her.
Morgan glanced over to where Paige was helping the girls warm up before the performance. When they were teenagers, Paige had played the black swan in Swan Lake, and Morgan had done her makeup. It was the only time Morgan could remember her talented sister agreeing to dance a major role, but apart from that one night, Paige had remained the only one of her sisters that Morgan hadn’t been able to give a makeover.
One day, she vowed, she was going to get her hands on her sister, and then Paige wouldn’t be able to hide her natural star quality any longer. But for today, Morgan had to keep her focus on reining in the kind of chaos that could only happen just before a performance. There were the girls warming up, the ones Morgan was just finishing making up, and several just starting to get into their costumes.
And, she realized as she heard a familiar low voice, Brian was now there, too.
Her breath went and her heart immediately started beating harder as she saw how incredibly handsome he was in his suit and open-collared shirt.
“Mr. Russell, you came!” The four girls she’d just finished making up clustered around him, obviously thrilled that he had shown up.
“I can’t wait to see your show. I’ve heard great things about it from Ava and Paige. Thank you for inviting me.”
They each told him about their specific roles, and after the girls walked away, Morgan said, “It’s really sweet of you to come to support your students.”
“I figure that if I go to all the football games, I should come to the dance recitals, too. It’s a big deal to them,” Brian said. “Their chance to be in the spotlight. I want to encourage them.” Just the way he’d always encouraged her. “You’ve done a great job with their makeup, Morgan. They look beautiful, but still their own age.”
Funny how after years of compliments from big stars and powerful people at TV networks, a few kind words from Brian felt so amazingly good. “I know just how hard the teenage years can be, so I wanted to show them how beautiful they already are so that they can really learn to love themselves.”
“Love.” His eyes were dark, intense, as he looked into hers. “That’s what it all comes down to, isn’t it?”
Before she could even attempt to think of a response, Paige rushed over. “Hi, Brian, glad you could make it. We’re having a bit of an emergency with one of the props and could really use your help.” She turned to Morgan and added, “We’re also having trouble getting everyone into their costumes backstage. Help!”
* * *
By the time Morgan and Brian both made it into the audience to take their seats, only two remained in the very back corner. Ava and Paige always did a great job with their dance classes and the show really was good. Still, it was nearly impossible for Brian to keep his attention on the stage when Morgan was sitting so close beside him.
She was shifting in her seat as if she were trying to stretch her muscles, and guessing she had to be sore from the intense gardening work they’d done the past two days, he didn’t think before reaching out to massage the muscles of her back. So many times in their past when they’d had long study sessions together hunched over their books, Morgan’s muscles had cramped with tension. All these years later, he still remembered where to find all her tender spots.
“You haven’t been stretching, have you?” he whispered, low enough that the music from the stage covered it. “Can I help?”
He was surprised—and totally thrilled—when she nodded and leaned into him. As he worked his fingers into her tight muscles, he could feel her resistance melting away. Intent on making her feel better, he swept aside her long blond hair, his hands drifting from her shoulders to the small of her back.
This close, it was impossible to ignore how attracted he was to her, and how much he longed to be even closer. So much closer. But they were in the middle of a room full of people. He needed to control himself.
“Don’t stop,” Morgan breathed, and even in the near darkness of the dance school’s theater, it was easy to see the effect his touch had on her. Her eyes were half-closed, her limbs loose and relaxed, her lips parted as her soft breaths came slightly faster.
Seeing her like that—and knowing it was because of him—switched on a bright, hot light deep inside of him. He’d been trying to be so careful. Trying not to rush things, but now…
Brian slid his hands from her shoulders up to the nape of her neck, and when she turned toward him, he did what he’d wanted to do for seven long years and kissed her. Finally kissed her with all the hunger, all the pent-up need that he couldn’t possibly hold back anymore.
Brian expected Morgan to pull back, but instead she kissed him back with the same intensity. Her fingers twined with his as they made out in the darkness, pulling each other so close that she was nearly on his lap and he was barely a breath from dragging her there.
The lights for intermission came up so suddenly that they both jumped in shock. And as the light spilled over them so that he could see clearly into her eyes again, Morgan pulled away.
“Oh God, we shouldn’t have—” She put her fingers over her lips. “Your students might have seen—” She shook her head as she stood up to flee.
Morgan’s sister Emily was looking up at them, her expression impossible to read. But even though he worked with Emily at the high school, right then he didn’t care what she was thinking. Morgan was the only one who mattered.
And she was slipping away.
Literally, given that when he went to follow her, several of his students’ parents stopped him to chat about their kids’ progress in his science class. By the time he was able to make his escape without being completely rude, he found that Morgan had taken Michael’s seat in the front row next to Emily. Michael headed to the back of the theater to take Morgan’s old seat next to Brian just as the lights began flashing to let the audience know they should return to their seats.
Michael was a few years older, but because Brian had dated Morgan for so many years in high school, he felt he knew the other man pretty well. Plus, he’d seen Michael with Emily enough times to recognize unrequited love when he saw it.
“Are you planning on starting things up with Morgan again?” Michael asked point-blank.
Brian appreciated the direct approach. “I’d like to, yes.”
“Morgan is like a sister to me, and her father won’t have this talk with you, because he isn’t that kind of guy, but I will.” Michael pinned Brian with a hard gaze. “Don’t hurt her.”
“Hurting Morgan is the last thing I ever want to do.”
Michael studied him in silence for a few moments before he finally nodded and turned his attention back to the two Walker women who were leaning in close and whispering to one another. Probably about the two of them.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” Brian asked. “Wanting something that you know you might never be able to have, but not being able to stop wanting it despite that.”
Michael didn’t deny it or try to say that he didn’t know what Brian was talking about. Instead, as he stared down at the back of Emily’s head, Michael agreed, “Yes, it’s hard.”