Vicious Cycle (Vicious Cycle #1)(32)

My words seemed to ease Willow’s concerns a little because she stopped trembling. Taking her by the shoulders, I gently eased her back to where I could look into her eyes. “Maybe if we knew what he looked like, we could find him and put him in jail.”

My pep talk did nothing to convince Willow to talk. She just slowly shook her head back and forth. “Okay, then, let’s change the subject. All this shit is too heavy for someone your age.” I swept up her long, dark hair. Twisting it around, I wrapped the hair tie around it. “There. How’s that?”

Willow turned around on the bench. When she was facing the mirror, she turned her head left and right. “It looks good. Will you put the ribbons in now?”

“You’re a bossy thing, aren’t you?” I teased, trying to lighten the mood.

She laughed. “Maybe.”

Although it pained me greatly, I tied the ribbons around her bun. I had to admit that she looked cute as hell. Her outfit had transformed her into a ballerina. Whether or not she had any talent for it was yet to be seen.

“Okay. That’s enough mirror time. Let’s get you to Miss Alex,” I said.

She reluctantly turned from admiring her reflection and met me at the door. When she tugged on my hand, I bent down to her level. She surprised the hell out of me by standing on her tiptoes to bestow a kiss on my cheek. “Thank you, Deacon.”

“You’re welcome.”

Cocking her head at me, Willow asked, “Maybe soon I’ll be ready to call you ‘Daddy.’”

Her statement caused me momentarily to stagger back. Where the hell had that come from? Did I even want the kid to call me “Daddy”? I’d sure as hell have to be more of a father for her to call me one. I couldn’t deny her words caused an ache to burn through my chest. Somehow I finally found the words to respond. “I think I would like that.”

Willow smiled before bounding out the door. When we got back into the gym, I noticed two or three of the guys standing stock-still outside of the boxing ring. Instead of their attention being trained on Bishop, they stared off to the side. It took me only a moment to figure out who they were staring at.

I started to tell them to put their tongues back in their mouths, but I never got the chance. Instead, my eyes zeroed in on what they were obsessed with. Outfitted in her own skintight leotard, tights, and skirt, Alex was bent over, ass in the air, with her palms pressed to the mat. I could have never imagined something as simple as stretching could be so f*cking sexy.

Oblivious to all the stares, she rose up and then brought her arm over her head. As she leaned in to the stretch, her ass swished provocatively. When she finished with the one arm, she moved on to the next one. And then she pulled a move that proved my undoing. She stretched her leg out next to her head. “Fucking hell,” one of the guys muttered.

“Why are you all staring at Miss Alex?” Willow demanded, bringing me out of my fantasy of how many positions I could put the very limber Alex in.

Willow’s words startled Alex. Her leg dropped down, and then she whirled around. When she saw all the men standing around, her face flushed. Trying to ease her embarrassment, I shouted, “Go on. Show’s over. Go back to work or whatever the hell you were supposed to be doing!”

As the men scrambled, Willow raced over to Alex, who was now cowering in the corner. When I reached them, Alex shook her head. “I don’t think this is going to work.”

“Look, I can promise you what happened was just a onetime thing. There’s never any women down here, so naturally they had to gawk when they saw one.”

Alex’s cheeks were still red. “I won’t feel comfortable. … I won’t be able to focus if I have to worry about being ogled.”

“What’s ogled?” Willow asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” I snapped.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t.”

“You mean I’m not going to get to have ballet lessons?” Willow asked in a small voice.

Before she could throw a fit, I held up my hands. “Just give me a minute to think of a solution, okay?”

Both Willow and Alex crossed their arms over their chests and stared expectantly at me. “The basement,” I blurted.

“What?” Alex asked.

“I can set you up something in the basement.”

“But it’s scary down there,” Willow said in a hushed voice.

“It won’t be when I’m through with it. I’ll put in more lights, clean out some of the junk, and put up some mirrors.”

“That sounds wonderful,” Alex gushed, a pleased smile on her face. I could only imagine that in her white-bread world, she hadn’t had much exposure to the tough-as-shit men who train here, so I guess it made sense she’d be so put off.

“What do you say, kid?” I asked Willow.

“I think it sounds okay.”

I laughed. “Just okay. Man, there’s no pleasing you.”

She nibbled on her lip before asking, “Will you put in a barre, too? You know, like it’s a real studio.”

“I think I can swing that.”

Her face lit up. “Then I love it.”

Before I thought better of it, I reached out and ruffled her hair. “Glad you think so.”

Willow jumped back from me. “Don’t mess my hair up!”