Sweet Revenge by Katherine Allred Page A

it.”
    “So how did you get to be a rich and famous choreographer?”
    “Rich and famous, huh?” She smiled. “A ctually, I just got lucky. The mother of one of my students considered herself a patron of the theater. She produced an off-Broadway show and asked me to do the choreography. It was horrible. Bombed after one night. But it just happened there was a man in the audience who produced music videos. He contacted me later and asked me to do the choreography for his next project. The video went gold. The rest, as they say, is history.”
    “Well, I for one, am glad you decided to come home.”
    Damn. He was playing with her hair again and it was making it hard to think. “There’s one more thing.” Jessie cleared her throat. “What have you told A my about sex?”
    His brow arched and a grin tugged at the corner of his lips. “What brought this on?”
    “A conversation we had earlier today.”
    “She asked you about sex?”
    “Not exactly. She wanted to know if kissing was gross.”
    A chuckle rumbled from deep in his chest. “A nd what did you tell her?”
    “I told her not if it’s someone you care about.” She dug her elbow into his side. “Stop laughing. This is serious. If she decides to pursue the topic, I don’t want to tell her something that contradicts what you’ve told her.”
    “Just how did this subject come up?”
    Jessie could feel the heat creeping into her cheeks and prayed he wouldn’t notice. “She said she thought you liked me and wanted to know if I liked you.”
    “Do I dare ask what your response was?” He was still grinning.
    “I said you were nice.”
    “That enthusiastic, huh?”
    “Well what did you expect me to say?”
    “Okay, fair enough.” He released her hair and draped his hand over her shoulder, his thumb rubbing gently over the skin below her ear. A shiver ran over her at the light touch, and heat curled inside her.

    “First of all, I’ve tried to answer all her questions honestly, so she knows the basics. But we don’t call it sex. We call it making love. I don’t want her getting the idea that there’s anything casual about it. I want her to know there should be more involved than just physical feelings.
    There needs to be an emotional commitment first. I’m trying to teach her that both parties involved have a responsibility to each other and if they aren’t ready to accept those responsibilities then they shouldn’t be in a relationship.”
    “A nd how does she take that?”
    “So far, so good. A t least she looks like she’s listening. The biggest problem is finding a balance. I don’t want to scare her, but I do want her to take it seriously. A ny other questions, Sherlock?”
    She tilted her head and studied him. “You were serious when you said it had been a long time since you were interested in any woman, weren’t you?”
    “Did you think I was lying?”
    “A s a matter of fact, I did.”
    “Well, I wasn’t. It’s been six years.”
    Shock ran through her. “But you and Becky-“
    “Were divorced four years ago. I moved into the spare room two years before that. A my is the only reason I didn’t end it sooner. Becky was sleeping with every man in town. I had no desire to touch her. A fter the divorce…well, A my took up every spare minute I had. But that’s not the only reason. When you’re burned as badly as I was, it makes you sort of shy away from anything resembling a relationship.”
    “I’m sorry, Chase. I didn’t mean to drag up things you’d rather forget.”
    He nodded. “I guess I should go.”
    In spite of the words he continued stroking her skin. Jessie was afraid to move. She didn’t want him to stop, she realized, even if he didn’t seem aware of what he was doing to her.
    “I’ll pay you for A my’s lessons.”
    “I’d rather you didn’t. I want this to be fun for her, not just another business deal.”
    “Can you afford a free student?”
    “Two free students.” She smiled at him. “Better