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Friday.” For the most part, that was true. Rebecca ate every Friday at Sloan’s Thai restaurant after her mid-morning workout. Only this particular day, she’d been grabbed by brutes and lugged all over Ohio.
    Rebecca pasted on a bright smile, ignoring the throbbing in her head. “I was busy today.”
    “Oh, I saved you a seat. I thought about calling you but Ricky came in and we got talking.” Brittany’s face lit up as she thought of her long-term crush. “You remember me telling you about Ricky, don’t you?”
    “Is he the singer?”
    “Drummer.”
    “Ah, yes. The drummer.” Rebecca opened the door to the studio. “Did you get his number yet?”
    “I did.” Brittany winked. “He is so handsome, Becca. You’ve got to see. His eyes are like...” When she couldn’t think of a proper comparison, she sighed.
    Rebecca thought of Gideon. She knew several ways to describe his eyes. Smoke. Fog. They were a deep, opaque grey when he was being sympathetic. They turned nearly black when he was angry.
    Emptiness left her gloomy throughout class. Her pirouettes were mechanical and without the fire she usually felt when she danced. When she gripped the barre, she dug her fingers into the wood, trying to fight the guilt of having run out on him.
    He was a complete stranger to her, yet he had tried to help her. She realized he had done more than anyone in her life would have done for her. The guilt she felt was justified, but she needed to get over it and keep her mind sharp if she was going to survive this fiasco.
    When class was over, Rebecca remained behind with a few of the other girls. She’d missed her morning workout and planned on making it up with extra dance time. She executed triple runs until her calves were screaming.
    “Want to go get a drink?”
    Rebecca glanced over at Brittany as she stretched her abused muscles. “I don’t think so. I’ve had a busy day.”
    “Maybe tomorrow?”
    “Maybe.”
    Brittany picked up her gym bag. “I’m going to step out for a smoke. I’ll walk you to your car when you’re done.”
    Rebecca nodded and watched her friend leave.
    She guzzled an entire bottle of water and slipped the pins from her hair. Her scalp wept as she rubbed out the tension. She brushed her ebony hair out, leaving it down, and was about to grab her sweatpants from her bag when the door to the studio opened.
    It was dark outside the studio, but Rebecca didn’t need light to recognize the man standing in the doorway. Brittany giggled up at him as she led him into the building, her smile wide.
    She stopped upon seeing Rebecca. “Becca, there you are. Your—ah—friend here has been looking for you.” Her eyes wide and bright, Brittany covered the side of her mouth with her hand and mouthed oh, my God to Rebecca.
    Rebecca ignored her and turned blindly to grab her bag. “Thanks, Brit.”
    Well, hell.
    The pounding in her chest hurt. Rebecca avoided Gideon’s eyes as she let him lead her outside. He grabbed her arm, not gently, and pulled her along. He released her once they stepped onto the sidewalk.
    “Which one’s your car?”
    She didn’t speak. She turned to the right and walked down to her Pontiac.
    “Where’s the painting?”
    Rebecca didn’t trust that calm, quiet tone of his. It shook her more than the chill in the air. Waiting for his outburst was worse than receiving it…she hoped. “The trunk.”
    “Get in.” He opened the passenger door for her, then shut it smartly.
    Rebecca watched him as he walked around the front of the car. He reminded Rebecca of a dangerous animal. A panther, she decided when his eyes met hers in front of the hood. They weren’t smoke now. They were black, dark and fierce.
    He opened the door and slid his long legs under the steering wheel. He had to make major adjustments to the seat, but once that was done, he took the keys Rebecca held in her nerveless hand and started the engine.
    While he navigated her little car along the road, a