One Last Dance
Angela Stephens
Genre: Mature New
Adult
Date of
Publication: 9/23/2013
Book Description:
“One dance, that’s all I’m asking for.”
Dreams don’t come true. That’s one thing that
Sophie Becker knows for certain. Sophie spent the first nineteen years of her
life dedicated to her dream of becoming a dancer, but when an injury ends her
career as a performer, she struggles to find an anchor.
Now, a few years later, Sophie has tried to move
on by opening a dance studio in the heart of Manhattan. She thinks she can hide
from her pain, but it’s impossible in the face of daily reminders of the
opportunities she has lost.
One night, a mysterious stranger walks into her
studio, threatening to tear down the facade she has worked so hard to build up.
Henry Medina is the reclusive CEO of Medina Properties and has a troubled past
of his own. Henry is cocky, handsome and all he wants is to dance with Sophie.
When a dance becomes more than just a dance,
will Sophie be able to handle the intense emotions that he stirs up? Will Henry
reignite the passion in Sophie’s heart and heal her soul or will he leave her
more broken than she was when he found her?
Excerpt:
When she was sure Darren was gone, she followed
the stranger back into the classroom. Darren had turned off half the bank of
overhead lights when he’d exited earlier, leaving the room bathed in a dim glow.
She watched the man as he stood in the center of the room, dark eyes scanning
and cataloging everything.
Sophie took a deep breath, willing her frantic
heart to calm. “What can I do for you, Mr...”
He spun on his heel, the move smooth and agile,
until he faced her. “It is you. I knew it.”
Sophie’s head spun. She would know if she’d seen
this man before. “I’m sorry? Do I know you from somewhere?”
“Buenos Aires.”
A shock went through her system. That was a city
she knew well.
“I saw you dance in a competition and you had
more pasión than
I had ever seen.”
He had no accent, yet the way he said pasión showed he knew the language,
and probably tango. Sophie felt a jolt in her stomach and her
shoulders slouched. She wasn’t expecting another reminder of her past from a
stranger. A reminder of a time before her knee had betrayed her. Whatever he
was expecting, it was from a past version of herself. He would be disappointed
by the present Sophie. “I’m sorry, Mr.—”
“Henry. Please just call me Henry.”
“Okay then, Henry,” she said, shaping the
syllables with her tongue and lips. “I appreciate the compliment, but that was
a long time ago. Why did you come in here tonight?”
His gaze rested on her mouth as she spoke his
name and again she felt that flare of heat on her face. A slow, crooked smile
spread across his sensual lips, his mouth turning up at one corner and
revealing a deep dimple. “I saw you through the window and I felt compelled.
I’ve wanted to see you dance since that night, but I couldn’t find any of your
performances. Then tonight as I’m walking down the sidewalk I see you teaching
a class. You’ve been under my nose this whole time.”
The stab of pain in her stomach intensified.
That she could have such an effect on a man this beautiful was so flattering,
and yet realizing that the dancer who had created that effect was no longer
able to dance devastated her. She needed to get him out of here before she
began to cry. “Henry—”
“Dance with me.”
“I beg your pardon?” Did he really think he
could come into her studio and dance with her because he saw her in the window?
Because he had seen her at a competition once? “If you’d like lessons, I’m
happy to give you a schedule. We have new classes starting all the time.”
He was already stalking over to the chair at the
front of the room and the loathsome cane propped against it. She saw him pluck
something from the seat and realized it was her iPod remote. “I don’t want
dance lessons. I want to dance with you.”
“I’ve had a full day. And I don’t give out free
private lessons.”
His thick brows rose. “I’ll pay double your
normal rate. For the whole hour. One dance and I’ll leave.” He pointed the
remote at the iPod dock and waited, gaze steady.
He couldn’t be serious. “Does that normally
work? The ‘double your rate’ bit?”
“I wouldn’t know. First time I’ve used it.”
So he was a charmer. Sophie’s thoughts went to
her knee. She wiggled her leg a bit to test its strength. It felt fine, which
was strange given the pain she had been in earlier. Her attention returned to
the beautiful man in front of her. The urgency that had emerged in his eyes
left her startled. “Well I can tell you. It doesn’t.”
His hand dropped, but his gaze remained fixed on
her, his dark eyes searching. They travelled down her body, and Sophie thought
for a moment she felt his eyes linger on her bad knee, but they returned
quickly to her face. “No? What about this: when I saw you dance in Buenos
Aires, I felt your pasión. I felt connected to you, like I knew you just by watching
you move. I feel that again today, and I have to know if we have that
connection.”
He stepped toward her,
stopping a foot in front of her. His eyes locked again with hers. “So I’m going
to say it again. Dance with me. Please.”
His close proximity brought a new warmth to her
body, and Sophie was surprised to find she had begun to grow wet between her
legs. She knew the connection he was talking about. It was something she had
felt with Christian when they had danced, and as she thought about it she
realized it was something she shared with the gorgeous creature in front of
her. Henry. She tasted the unspoken syllables in her mouth, wondered what it
would be like to scream them.
She snapped out of her reverie and dropped her
eyes down to the skin exposed at Henry’s open collar. A shake of her leg showed
her knee was fine. “Henry—”
His hot breath was in her hair as he stepped
forward. “I will pay you ten times your normal hourly rate. One dance, that’s
all I’m asking for.”
She looked up and saw his expression. If eyes could
be on fire, his dark eyes were blazing. For her. “You don’t even know my rate,”
she said quietly.
He smiled. “Whatever it is, it doesn’t matter.”
His hand came up for her in perfect form, just as Darren’s had earlier.
One more check of her knee. It felt good. What
the hell, she thought. It was worth one dance: the money—she would have to
make up her private rate—and to know if this handsome man she had just met
could connect with her in a way no one had in a long time. “One dance,” she
said.
My Review: 4 1/2 stars
This book was a little different for me. I've never danced professionally, just for fun. I could see that the characters had passion for the dance and each other. Sophie was a competition dancer until she had an accident that ruined her career, now she teaches dance. Henry is a complex man, who doesn't let very many people in - but his passion for Sophie and the dance is more than Sophie expected. They each have their issues and trying to work past them is painful to both. The story is centered mainly on Sophie, but I wouldn't have minded being inside Henry's head for a chapter or two. This was a well written book by someone who obviously knows about the passion for dancing, and what that can do to a person once it's taken away. Sophie and Henry both have passion for the dance, especially if it's with each other. They just have to be willing to chance more than one dance.
About the Author:
Angela
Stephens is the author of the Beautifully Broken series and the soon to be
released New Adult novel "One Last Dance". Angela enjoys reading
stories about bad boy heroes falling for funny heroines with big hearts.
In
her spare time, she can be usually found baking, knitting or curled up with her
e-reader at the beach.
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