Love Waltzes In (Dancing Under The Stars) Read Online Free Page A

lips turned upwards into a devilish grin. He opened the doors to the ballroom. “Selena, I want you to partner Bret for his tryout.”
    A thud echoed against the floor. Selena’s purse lay at her feet, and she scrambled to pick it up again. “Benny, uhm, you never said it was a tryout. You said you just needed to borrow me to run through choreography?”
    “Sorry, lassie. I thought it would be best if you dance with Bret for his audition. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors that we’re hiring a new professional this season. A true blue United States Marine. The audience will love him. They’re sick of seeing all the foreign wankers. And since you used to be his Sheila, I thought it would be easier for him to dance with you.”
    Bret clenched his face. “Whatever you say, Benny.” Bret walked into the ballroom, sat on a chair and took some dancing shoes out of the box.
    Selena looked over at Bret. “Tryout? Uhm, of course, Benny. No problem. I didn't know Bret was,”—Selena’s gaze darted over to Bret only for a moment, while her cheeks burned—“I mean, I thought he was still in the Marine Corps. But of course, you’d be lucky to have him on the show. He is, I mean, was, an amazing dancer.” She picked up her bag, sat on a chair on the opposite side of the room from Bret, and started attacking the soles of her shoes with her shoe brush, pieces of suede flying in the air.
    Despite her childhood dreams of her and Bret making a life t ogether, she hadn’t been able to turn down Dima’s partnership offer. She had made an agonizingly difficult decision. Now, Selena was exactly where she'd hoped to be in her career. But she never expected Bret would be sitting in the same room, waiting to dance with her again.
     

     
     
Rumba
    He seduced her with a glance. Pulling her toward him, he had her in his grasp, but she retreated. She danced around him, her hands tracing his chest. He took her by the waist, pressing her against his body. Leaning into him, she savoured his scent. She wanted to give herself completely to him, but couldn’t trust him. Spinning around, she gave him a longing look, then slipped away.
     

     
    Chapter Three
     
    Bret laced up his dance shoes. After the fog of war had burned off, he’d finally made the decision to do the show. Just one visit to see Pierce’s family and look at his little boy’s face made Bret knew he had to do everything in his power to provide for them.
    He had requested approval from the Marine Corps and his o rders were recently approved. Too bad he had to burn through two years of personal vacation time to do the show. He had one shot to convince the executive producer of Dancing under the Stars that he was the right man for the job. Bret was perfect on paper—a decorated United States Marine, an American Ballroom Champion—but could he still dance? He’d have to prove himself.
    Seeing Selena . . . it threw him. He’d known, of course, that he’d have to see her if he was cast on the show, but he hadn’t counted on seeing her so soon and definitely didn’t think he’d have to dance with her, touch her, smell her. She looked so hot, all nat ural and not painted up. The thought of running his hands all over her curvy body made him lose his focus. He wasn’t prepared to be this close to her so soon.
    He walked over to Benny. His former master coach looked just like Bret remembered: tall, silver-haired, with just a hint of sleaze. Ballroom’s very own Crocodile Dundee. An icon in the dance world, Benny was a six-time Blackpool champion, winning twice with each of his first three wives. His fourth and current wife, Dancing under the Star’s professional dancer Vika, was a twenty-four-year-old Ukrainian knockout who was also Dima’s cousin. Benny was dressed in a blood-orange silk suit with a black button-up shirt that was tightly fitted.  His hair was the same color as the sterling silver in his Australian black jade bolo tie.
    Benny held out his hand.