Page 35 of Take the Lead

I’ve made an effort with my hair and make-up. I tell myself it’s in case they’re planning to film us today. But I know it’s also because I want Aleksis to think I look nice. Merle too, much as I hate to admit it. I just hope I can trust my body not to react when I feel his hands on me again.

I grab a newspaper to read on the journey and this time Sofiya’s interview with Stella has been printed.

She looks gorgeous and comes across well, without a trace of bitterness.

She talks about the early excitement of meeting Merle, how she adored watching him perform and how she thought they’d be together forever.

Then she admits their marriage was nearly derailed twice by his affairs, and that she found the strength to move past them because she still loved him.

“ But when I saw the pictures of him with Kate, I just knew I couldn’t go through it again. And as soon as I decided that, it was like a weight had lifted from my shoulders – a weight I hadn’t even realised was there.”

Then Stella asks Sofiya about the first time she met me.

“ My brother was so angry about her and Merle. I’d kept the other infidelities from him, so it came as a shock.

In some ways I think he even felt responsible – I wouldn’t have met Merle if I hadn’t been at a dance competition with Aleksis.

But he was taking his anger out on Kate and that wasn’t fair.

So I went to the studio to help them clear the air.

And I found myself, unexpectedly, liking Kate a lot.

She reminded me of myself when I first met Merle, swept up in the excitement of the dance world and brave enough to take a chance on romance when it came along.

Once my brother stopped being so hot-headed, he started seeing it too. ”

Stella asks how Sofiya felt when Aleksis admitted he’d developed feelings for me.

“ He didn’t want to tell me at first. He didn’t want to upset me.

But he didn’t want to lie to me either, so they came to mine for dinner, so we could get it all out in the open.

And it was lovely to see how easy they are around each other and how they make each other laugh.

It made me aware Merle and I hadn’t laughed like that for some time.

It’s hard to find the connection they’ve got.

When it happens, you’ve just got to follow your heart. ”

And this is followed by a plug for the following week’s show.

I wonder if Merle has seen it and if he has, how he feels about being exposed as an even bigger love rat.

And if, deep down, he’s sad that Sofiya isn’t standing by him this time.

But it’s business as usual in the Fire on the Dance Floor reception room when I arrive.

He’s engrossed in a conversation with Daniele and Valentina and couldn’t look more composed. I do my best to ignore him.

Despite the early hour, the atmosphere is charged – this is something new for everyone. I grab a coffee and join Beth, Liam and Tammy, who are already sipping steaming cups.

‘Did you stay much later last night?’ I ask. If they did, they’re wearing it well.

‘I left just after you,’ Tammy replies. ‘I decided to follow your good example.’

‘I saw it through to the end,’ Liam admits. ‘And the landlord said he’d save the same spot for us next week, if we want it. I think he was pretty pleased when he saw all the empties on our table.’

Aleksis arrives, kisses both my cheeks and asks if I got a good rest.

‘I wouldn’t have turned down another hour in bed, but I’m fine. You?’

‘I was a bit restless, thinking about today and our choreography for the week, but I’ll survive. I think that must be our rueda teacher over there,’ he says, nodding towards a petite girl with long dark hair who I haven’t seen before.

Olivia introduces her as Ros, and as she looks around the room at each of us, I notice her pausing when she gets to Merle – the effect he has on everyone. But when I follow her eyes, he’s not looking at her, but at me. It feels like time stands still as he holds my gaze.

‘We’ll give you a few more minutes to finish your drinks then we’ll head to the studio and get started,’ Olivia announces, breaking the spell.

It turns out Ros has a big voice despite her small frame, so once we’re in the studio she quickly has us all forming a circle in pairs.

As even the basic moves involve switching partners, I’m swiftly passed from Aleksis to Theo to Gabriel and then to Merle.

And just like before it feels like I’ve been hit by a bolt of electricity as soon as his hand touches my back. So I’m not in control of it, then.

His eyes find mine and his lips curl up into a smile, but there isn’t time for either of us to say anything as I’m already moving around the ring to Dean and Liam, then Elijah and back to Aleksis.

‘Good,’ Ros says. ‘Now let’s move on to something more complicated.’

Soon we’re adding claps, spins and jumps, and it gets pretty chaotic as we start switching partners, not just with the couple next to us but the one next to them, as well as reversing the direction in which we switch.

We go wrong several times, but Ros corrects us then gets us to practise over and over until we get it right.

Then the turn patterns start getting technical and we really have to concentrate.

Not just on where our arms and legs are meant to be – but on remembering the names of the moves, which are all in Spanish, so that we know what to do when Ros calls something out.

It’s not easy but it’s exhilarating, and I’m not the only one who breaks into a smile when we successfully put a few sequences together in a row.

We don’t stop for two and a half hours – when Ros announces a fifteen-minute rest and drink break – and I realise I haven’t even had time to think about Merle. I’ve whizzed past him multiple times, been back with Aleksis seconds later, and passed by everyone else in between.

‘I don’t know why I haven’t done this before,’ Aleksis grins as we head to the drinks machine together. ‘I love it.’

‘Me too.’ I feel just as animated. ‘There’s so much to take in, though. I feel like I need to make notes.’

‘It’s a steep learning curve. We’ll definitely need the extra practice days they’ve booked us in for.’

‘Kate.’ Merle’s voice behind me makes me jump and my heart rate trebles as I spin round to face him. ‘Can I have a word?’

I look back at Aleksis and his whole demeanour has changed. His jaw is clenched and the animosity rolls off him in waves. When his eyes meet mine, I can see how much he wants to give Merle a piece of his mind. But instead he shrugs and leaves me to decide whether to talk to him.

‘What’s up?’ I ask Merle, sounding as suspicious as I feel.

‘In private?’

Aleksis shakes his head and fires him a warning glance before turning away with a sigh. I watch him stalk across the room to join Tammy and Elijah, where he stays with his back to us. I consider following him, but curiosity gets the better of me. I want to hear what Merle has to say.

‘So now you decide you want to talk to me?’ It annoys me that I sound so snippy.

He puts his hand on my back and steers me further away from everyone else, and that familiar electricity radiates out from his fingers. The spark shouldn’t still be there, but my treacherous body has its own ideas.

‘I thought it was time we made our peace,’ Merle says earnestly as I battle to ignore the fizz in my veins.

‘I know it hasn’t been easy. I have wanted to talk to you, honestly I have, but I wanted to protect you.

I didn’t want to give anyone here anything more to talk about.

I didn’t want to make your life more difficult. ’

I scowl at him and wait for him to continue.

‘I thought I was doing the right thing. But now, being around you again, it’s made me realise that was a mistake. It’s really good to dance with you again, Kate. It’s reminded me how special it was before. It really meant something. I miss it – all of it.’

I stare at him wide-eyed. I don’t know what I was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this.

‘You had a wife,’ I hiss, struggling to keep thoughts of our studio days at bay.

‘I didn’t want to tell you and scare you off. I didn’t want it to stop. Especially not the way it did. We had a good thing, Kate, didn’t we? Don’t you miss it too?’

It would be so easy to tell him I do. But it only takes a glimpse of the grimace on Aleksis’s face and the withering look on Emilia’s to bring me back to my senses.

‘What exactly are you doing here, Merle?’ I snap. ‘You’re with Emilia now and I’m with Aleksis. I don’t know why we’re even having this conversation.’

‘But you’re not, though, are you?’ he says, placing his hands on my shoulders and looking me straight in the eyes. ‘I see you together and you’re not really together. Not like we were. Not like we could be.’

I shake myself free, not quite believing what he’s suggesting and not wanting him to think I’d even entertain the idea. Thankfully, Tammy chooses that moment to come to my rescue.

‘Hey Kate! I need your help a minute. Sorry, Merle, I’m going to have to steal her away.’

She grabs my hand and pulls me towards the ladies’ loos.

‘Everything okay?’ she checks.

‘It was nothing.’ I wave it off. ‘He just wanted to say sorry for everything that happened.’

‘As long as that’s all he wants. You know you can’t trust him,’ she warns.

And she’s right, of course. But I can’t pretend I didn’t feel the tiniest flicker of temptation – and it’s left me rattled. Why? Because I thought I was stronger than that and that I’d never let him get under my skin again.

And there’s something else, too. The mere suggestion of it feels disloyal to Aleksis, even though we’re not really together.

I do my best to put it out of my mind for the rest of the day, but it stays in the background despite Ros giving us plenty to think about.

By the end of the session, I feel mentally drained and it’s a relief when Aleksis suggests we don’t hit the town afterwards.

All I want is a hot bath and my duvet – and some time to try and work out how I’m feeling.

I even turn down a quick drink with Beth, Liam and Tammy.

Back at the flat, Lucy perches on the edge of the bathtub while I soak in a sea of bubbles so she can hear how my day went and, more importantly, what it was like to dance with Merle again. I tell her about our exchange.

‘But Tammy interrupted before he could say anything more, so it was left with him having more or less suggested we could pick up where we left off,’ I sigh.

‘Would you want to?’ she asks, sounding surprised.

‘I know I shouldn’t. But he’s just that one who you know with every fibre of your body is bad news, and yet you want him anyway. I mean, why would I not want to have amazing sex with the hottest man I’ve ever laid eyes on?’

‘Erm, because he ghosted you afterwards, he’s with someone else now and because you’ve become friends with his wife?’ she points out.

‘I know all that. But then when he’s standing in front of me, I forget about all of it and just remember the sex. The annoyingly fantastic sex. It’s infuriating.’

Lucy pats my shoulder and stands up to leave. ‘I think I can predict where this might be going,’ she says. ‘Just make sure you don’t end up getting hurt.’