When One Door Closes Another Opens

Like many young girls I studied ballet from an early age. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t my favourite type of dance at the time. I’m not the most graceful person (ok, I’m the person most likely to fall over and hurt myself) and I found tap and hip hop more fun and better suited to my less-than swan-like movements.

However ballet fascinated me despite my lack of talent.

I went through several years of exams and performed to a lot of the staple ballet music pieces such as Greensleeves and Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. I wore tutus (those things are scratchy as anything), learned to apply my own stage makeup, and practiced – though never mastered – pirouettes.

There was one thing that I never did: wear pointe shoes.

Sadly my proneness to injury got the better of me in my teens. I had terribly weak ankles caused by injuries (one of which involved me falling in front of a huge audience and having to be carried off stage – not fun) and flat feet. My podiatrist warned me that training in pointe shoes could very well mean a broken ankle and further damage to my feet.

I cried and cried and cried when I gave up ballet. Though I knew I had no real dance career ahead of me, seeing all my peers move forward while I was forced to give up was very upsetting (type-A sixteen year old girls do NOT handle this stuff well!)

 However, my years of ballet study did come in handy when I started writing. In 2012 when I sat down to start my very first book (which later became Only The Brave Try Ballet.) I drew on all that fascination, experience and knowledge to write my professional ballerina heroine, Jasmine. I drew on the angst I experienced all those years ago when I was unable to continue dancing as well as my experience of some terrible injuries (one which put my out of actions for several months) to make Jasmine’s conflict and character more believable.

These days I keep my fascination and appreciation for ballet in my writing and in my spare time. Last year I saw La Sylphide (fun fact: although lesser known than other ballets, it was originally choreographed in 1836 and is one of the world’s oldest ballets) and I often spent time watching dance-related videos on YouTube.

 Both of my current books for Harlequin KISS feature former professional ballerinas as heroines because it’s something I love writing about.

 Question: are you a ballet or dance fan? If not, what was your favourite hobby growing up?

Sunday Smooch - Stefanie London

Welcome to another LoveCats DownUnder Sunday Smooch!

Today we have a smooch from  Stefanie London but first 


... the two winner of last week's Sunday Smooch Giveaway is librarypat!


Can you please contact jstgeorge.author(at)gmail (dot)com to receive your copy of The Billionaire's Pursuit of Love.

And now for today's Sunday Smooch from 'Only the Brave Try Ballet'.

Step up, Grant Farley…not your typical ballet student!
Football pro Grant Farley is nursing an injury and needs to get back into shape fast. Ballet wouldn't be his first or even his last choice, but he's desperate. Enter tantalizingly prim teacher Jasmine Bell one disapproving arch of her eyebrow and Grant knows he'll enjoy getting her tutu in a flutter!
But it's not only Grant's flexibility that Jasmine's pushing to the limit! He knows she feels the heat between them, so why won't she give in to it? Time to convince Jasmine that if she's brave enough to dance en pointe she can certainly handle a fling with him!

 

Scene set-up

Grant is an AFL player suffering with a recurring hamstring injury, under his physio’s orders he’s taking ballet lessons to regain muscle flexibility and strength. Jasmine is an ex professional ballerina who has ended up teaching after a car accident ended her career. Jasmine’s ‘hands on’ way of teaching has been testing Grant’s restrain and finally the tension has gotten too much for our hero and heroine.

Smooch  

‘Are you ready to do it on your own?’ Jasmine dropped down from the position so she was an inch or two below eye level with Grant. She tried to unscramble her senses, to focus on the lesson.

‘I can.’ His voice was low, predatory. ‘But don’t you think it’s much more fun when we do it together?’

The air between them was thick with electricity, its gravitation pull unravelling her sensibilities. She so desperately wanted to touch him. Her mouth was dry, anticipation making her pulse race.

He placed his hands over hers and Jasmine jumped at the way her blood pulsed harder and harder.

‘Why so jumpy? Are you uncomfortable being alone with me?’

‘No,’ she whispered.

The problem was she was far too comfortable as he stood close to her. All she wanted to do was melt against him. She envisaged herself pressing against his broad chest and sturdy thighs. Her entire body crackled with excitement as they stood, merely inches apart, in the empty ballet studio.

Why was she feeling like this? He was out of her league—in a league she never wanted to be a part of again. Ever, ever again.

He reached his hands up to her face, cupping the sides of her cheeks in his palms. It was the wrong thing to do; she shouldn’t be going down this path. But desire raced through her veins and filled her with irresistible warmth, overpowering logic. He was intoxicating.

Up close, she felt the pull of his hypnotic stare. The endless blue of his eyes made the rest of the world fall away. It made sense and reason evaporate. Her lips parted.

Grant drew Jasmine’s face to his in a swift and practised movement. Her eyes fluttered closed as his mouth came down. The soft fullness of his lips pressed hungrily against hers, his tongue hot and probing. Jasmine sighed into him. It had been so long since she’d been kissed, and a lifetime since she’d been kissed in a way that made her weak in the knees.

Grant moved one hand from her face, down the length of her arm, and snaked it around her waist, drawing her closer to him. Every inch of her burned as their bodies fused together, the thinness of their workout clothes mimicking the deliciousness of skin on skin. Her hands found their way into the wavy depths of his golden blond hair. It was thick and silken against her palms. Her fingers gripped tightly as he dipped her, demanding deeper access to her mouth.

His breath was hot on her face as his lips moved down her jawline to the slender column of her neck, each kiss searing her skin. He backed her up until she pressed against the wall of the studio, crushed between plaster and the hardness of him.

Stefanie London

To be in the draw to win a copy of 'Only the Brave Try Ballet', leave a comment answering this question from Stefanie:

There are a lot of sexy professional athletes out there, which sports star would you most like to share a passionate kiss with?

Come back next Sunday, when the winner of today's giveaway will be announced and a smooch from Amy Andrews will be posted!

Smooch Graphic by WebWeaver