‘A seven,’ she said, still not looking at Noah, or Melissa, or anywhere that wasn’t the floor.
Somehow, Noah got the distinct impression that Eloise wasn’t looking forward to dancing with him.
‘Cassidy is a six, but I’m sure you’ll be able to squeeze into them, won’t you?’ Melissa smiled sweetly as she handed over the shoes, and Noah prepared to dive in and separate them if Eloise finally lost the last scraps of her composure.
She didn’t. Instead, she looked at the shoes in her hand and pulled a face.
‘They have ribbons.’
‘I know! Aren’t they beautiful?’ Melissa squealed. Noah hadn’t really sensed ‘beautiful’ from Eloise’s tone. ‘Go on, put them on. You’ll want to practice the dance in them.’
‘I don’t want to practice the dance at all,’ Eloise muttered as she bent to put on the shoes, but Melissa ignored her.
It took some effort, even Noah could see that, but eventually the shoes were on, ribbons tied, and Eloise was proclaimed ready to dance.
‘Now, it’s a nice simple waltz, really,’ Melissa said. ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll demonstrate with Noah so you can see what Riley and I will be doing. Then you can step in and give it a go.’
Melissa moved into his arms before Noah could agree to the plan, and Iona started up the music. The familiar theme tune from Melissa’s biggest movie so far rang out through the room and, over her shoulder, Noah saw Eloise roll her eyes. He smirked at her and she returned the smile, her cheeks finally back to their normal colour.
‘Noah! You missed your cue.’ Melissa stamped one dainty foot on the floor and Iona started the music once again. ‘It’s just as well we’re rehearsing today. Obviously you haven’t been practising on your own.’
‘Every morning for twenty minutes, just like you asked, Mel. I swear,’ Noah lied shamelessly. It was a waltz. He’d learned how to waltz for his sister’s wedding when he was eight. If he could do it then he could do it now.
This time, he hit his cue perfectly, sweeping Melissa around the floor easily. But his attention wasn’t on his dance partner. It was on Eloise, watching from the sidelines. Her cheeks might no longer be bright red with embarrassment, but with every bar of the music she grew stiller and smaller somehow, fading away in that ice-blue dress.
That dress. When he’d walked in and seen it, it had blown him away. For all that he’d been spending the last twenty-four hours staring at Eloise, he’d not had a chance to see her in anything that accentuated her figure so well. Even the colour, which he wouldn’t have picked for her, added a strange otherworldliness coupled with her blazing hair. She looked like some mythical princess of ice and fire—and utterly unlike the woman who draped herself in shapeless suits and boring black dresses.
But now, as he whirled around the room with Melissa in his arms, she seemed to be retreating back into herself. She’d said she liked to fade into the background, and he hadn’t thought it possible. Until he saw her in action.
She’d made herself nothing, and he wanted to drag her out into the light again. Wanted to show her off, to see her beauty reflected around her. Wanted to show her how beautiful she was.
But, more than that, he wanted to protect her from Melissa and whatever plans she had that involved making Eloise’s life miserable.
Was this what not sleeping with a woman did to him? He couldn’t have her in his bed, so instead he started finding other reasons to be near her? They’d agreed to be friends, but this felt like something...different. Something that could be a whole lot more troublesome.
Tessa would probably rather he just slept with her and got it over with.
But Stefan the director might not. And until that part was in the bag... Eloise was still off limits. And maybe even after that, if what Tessa said was true. Noah could be staring down a long period of acting-enforced celibacy.
Unless... Tessa had only said to be discreet. He hadn’t thought that could be possible with Eloise, with the world watching them at Melissa’s wedding. But they were supposed to be spending time together. Nobody could talk about that. And seeing her fade into the background, realising how much she truly didn’t want to be watched... If there was anyone he could have a discreet fling with, despite his celebrity, it would be Eloise.
If he could convince her. Which was by no means a sure thing, given her feelings about actors.
The music came to an end at last, and Melissa hugged him close before stepping away again. ‘Right! Eloise’s turn.’ She turned to her maid of honour, smiling in a way that Noah could only describe as predatory.
She was waiting for Eloise to fail, he realised. If it hadn’t been for the world’s media watching, Melissa might even have waited until the day to tell Eloise about the dance and let her humiliate herself in front of everyone. But, since she wouldn’t risk her perfect wedding that way, this was obviously the next best thing.
No wonder Eloise looked as if she’d rather be anywhere but there.
He moved towards her, reaching out a hand to pull her into his arms.
‘I apologise in advance for treading on your feet,’ she said, and he smiled.
‘You’ll be fine. I’m hardly a professional dancer either, you realise? I’m best known for smashing through walls and beating people up.’
‘That’s true.’ She looked rather pleased about that fact, strangely.
‘So you do know my films.’ He grinned, more pleased by the fact that she was looking a little more relaxed at last than by the acknowledgement of his fame.
Eloise rolled her eyes. ‘Yes, fine. Everybody knows Noah Cross. You’re on, like, every billboard and every bus.’
‘Not all of them.’
‘Most, then. All those big budget blockbusters you’re always starring in.’ She frowned. ‘But you didn’t always do those, did you? Didn’t I read somewhere that you used to be on the stage?’
This time, Noah was surprised. ‘Yes, actually. Not many people remember my touring actor days now, though. I did a three-year stint as a stage actor, touring in a company that took Shakespeare all over the States.’
‘Huh.’ She tilted her head to look at him. ‘I suppose I could buy you as Hamlet.’
‘Not Romeo?’ He waggled his eyebrows in a suggestive manner, and Eloise laughed as the music started up again.
Melissa’s voice rang out around the room. ‘And dance!’
Of course, he hadn’t had time to actually talk Eloise through the steps, since they’d been busy discussing him, but she seemed to have picked up the basics from watching Melissa anyway. ‘You’re a quick study,’ he said as they spun.
‘My mum made me take dance lessons when I was younger,’ Eloise admitted, still looking down at her feet. ‘I did ballet, tap, modern, lyrical and even a couple of terms of ballroom. Apparently I haven’t quite forgotten everything.’
‘Then why were you nervous?’ Noah asked. She’d been terrified at the prospect of dancing; he’d seen it in her face. But why, if she already knew she could do it?
‘It’s not the dancing,’ Eloise admitted. But, before she could tell him exactly what the problem was, Melissa was striding across the floor towards them.
‘You’re doing it wrong,’ the bride said, grabbing Eloise’s arm and yanking her away from Noah.
‘I thought she had it, actually,’ Noah objected, but Melissa had already taken up her ballroom position.
‘No. I’ll show you again,’ she said to Eloise with exaggerated patience.
Noah