The Price {Completed}

Chapter Three

                I tried to hold myself as far from his bare chest as I could, which required me to stare at it to gauge how far I needed to lean away. Only when he coughed did I realize what I was doing, and hastily redirected my eyes in the opposite direction.

                "Could you get the door?" he asked.

                "What?" I asked, then saw we were standing stationary in front of the backstage door. "Oh." I grabbed the door handle and let us in.

                "Over there," I said, pointing out my trunk.

                Ferdinand set me down and fetched one of the spare chairs which he set up in front of me. For a moment I thought he meant to sit with me, but then he lifted my leg and placed it on the cushion of the chair.

                "I'll ask someone to bring in some ice to put on your ankle," he said. "And you should get a doctor to make sure it isn't sprained."

                "Thank you," I muttered, pulling at my skirt to cover my knee. "I'm sorry to have made you carry me in like that when you just finished hauling me around on the stage."

                "It was my pleasure." He grinned. Despite his bare chest and black lace mask, he managed to still exude confidence and grace when anyone else would look ridiculous as soon as they stepped off the stage.

                I looked down to escape his gaze under the pretense of testing my ankle with shaking fingers.

                "I have to get back before my cue for my solo," he said. "I hope you'll feel better."

                I nodded, glancing briefly up to see him heading for the door. I breathed a sigh of relief. Somehow he made it difficult to draw a breath.

                He passed through the door, but before he disappeared from sight, he backed up a few feet and looked over his shoulder.

                "Could you do me a favor, Nadia?"

                My name coming from his lips surprised me, but I managed to hide it enough to answer. "Yes?"

                "The girls wanted me to go out to a pub with them tonight, after all the to-do here has died down. It's supposed to be a welcome party of sorts, but I think one or two of them might have a few designs on me."

                Gertrude. And probably all the others as well. I shook my head. "They're just star-struck is all. All they're likely to do is never shut up."

                "It's not that I don't want to be a part of this company, but things could get awkward. So I was wondering if you'd come with me?"

                Immediately I began to refuse in a jumbled hurry, which caused him to raise his hands in surrender and laugh.

                "I only thought you might be able to keep them at bay. They all seem a bit in awe of you."

                I actually laughed at that. "They're not in awe of me, they just don't like me." Years of whispered conversations and pointed glares had taught me that.

                He shrugged easily. "Well, you don't have to come if you don't want to. It might be nice to get to know each other, but I understand." He headed back out the door, but still talked. "We're leaving once they let us go here, if you change your mind." With that he was gone and I was left with my aching ankle.