A Lesson in Love: A sweet forbidden love story Read online

  But even if it did, he shouldn’t take advantage of it. He was crazy for even thinking about it.

  He tightened his jaw as he met his sister’s eyes. “It doesn’t matter, Aisha. Rules are rules. I’m still Rose’s teacher. I’d be abusing my power over her if I initiated anything. How could I ever be sure that she was involved with me out of pure interest? And not because she felt obligated to?”

  Aisha’s eyes widened. She lifted her hand and made small circles with her index finger beside her own temple. “You’re not making sense, brother. I understand that you wish to be prudent because your job is on the line. But this nonsense about Rose feeling coerced to do anything… If, and I repeat if, you were ever to show her how much you care for her and she responded, it wouldn’t be because you’re her teacher. It would be despite that.”

  Rasheed gritted his teeth. “Whatever. I prefer not to talk about this. Let’s just discuss how you’ve planned Rose’s training schedule and try to reduce my involvement in it as much as possible.”

  Aisha winked. “Yeah, like that would be easy given that a) she doesn’t have a car and b) you’re the best percussionist in town.”

  Rasheed stifled a cry. Crap, why didn’t he think of that?

  He’d need to bring Rose to the dance school and take her home each time. He wouldn’t let her take the bus at that hour, especially not to the Lahatra. His part of town wasn’t as dominated with expats as hers.

  His shoulders slumped. “Darn it, you’re right. I’ll need to be there each time. How am I going to survive this without revealing to her that I like her?”

  Aisha grabbed Rasheed’s hand and gave a strong squeeze. “You’ll manage, brother. But even if you don’t, it might not be the end of the world. You know as well as I do that certain things are just meant to happen.”

  Rasheed closed his eyes and sighed.

  What was it that their mother always said? You can’t escape destiny unless you’re ready to live your days as a zombie?

  Well, then maybe he’d just have to wait and see what fate truly had in store for him…and Rose.

  Chapter 9

  “Can we take a short break?” Rose asked.

  Her back was covered in sweat, and her long hair stuck to her neck. Who knew dancing could be this exhausting?

  In the past five days, Aisha and Rasheed had practiced with her each afternoon after Rose’s classes. Aisha proved to be an excellent teacher just like her brother. Her explanations were crystal clear, and she encouraged Rose in a way that didn’t come across like a false cheerleading.

  Aisha glanced at her watch. “Sure. I would need to leave you guys now anyways, because I’m meeting a friend for a movie.”

  Rasheed arched his brows. “A friend? Do I know him?”

  Aisha shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She grabbed her bag and blew a kiss to both of them. “Be good, and do at least one more round before abandoning the ouled nail. It’s not required for the contest, but familiarizing yourself with each style will allow you to do the improvisation part better.” With that, she breezed out of the room.

  An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of Rose’s stomach. Did she hear that right? “Improvisation? Aisha didn’t mention this before.” She looked at Rasheed, who was staring at the door without blinking.

  She stepped closer and waved her hand in front of his face.

  He winced then focused on her. “I’m sorry, did you say something?”

  “Yes, I asked if you knew what your sister meant by improvisation.”

  He wrinkled his nose like he always did in the lecture hall when he was about to communicate a difficult assignment to the students. The sudden reminder that he was more than just a man she adored, made Rose’s throat thicken.

  It was all too easy to forget that Rasheed was her teacher while he sat there in a simple T-shirt and washed-out jeans, his hair messed up, and the drum under his arm.

  “In the competition, there’s a part where each contestant needs to perform a three minute dash-off. It can be in any style accepted for the event or be a mixture of those styles. So Aisha kept this little detail to herself? So typical.” He shook his head.

  Panic spread through Rose’s limbs. “How am I supposed to do that? It’s one thing to learn the steps your sister has prepared, and it’s another to stand in front of the audience naked and—”

  A loud groan interrupted her.

  Her eyes darted to Rasheed. Did it come from him?

  He swallowed twice then sucked in a breath. “Sorry, your word choice surprised me.”

  Her word choice? Ah, yes, she said naked… Her face heated in just a second.

  She cleared her throat. “I meant naked in a sense of, you know with clothes but just…uh…” her voice broke off. Each word added to her growing embarrassment. Why did she have to put her foot into her mouth?

  Rasheed was already moving on. “I get it. And you shouldn’t worry. You’ll be great. Everything we’re doing here will prepare you perfectly. Besides, it’s the group performance that counts. So even if you get lower scores on that particular bit, it will be balanced out with the rest.”

  Huh, that was a relief. Rose’s neck muscles relaxed, and she wiped her forehead. “Thanks for telling me this. I would hate myself if I caused your sister to lose the contest.”

  Rasheed clicked his tongue. “No, no. Without you she couldn’t participate. So you’re not disappointing Aisha in any case.”

  “Good. By the way, were you irritated that Aisha didn’t tell you who she went out with? You had the same look as my brother the first night you drove me home.”

  Oh, crap. Rose clapped her hand to her mouth but the words were out.

  Rasheed jerked back. “Your brother saw me? And said something to you? What was it?”

  Rose chewed on her lower lip. She didn’t let Rasheed take her to her door anymore. She always got out alone. She’d told him that it was just easier this way, but now her motivation became clear. Rose felt the warmth expand from her neck toward her skull.

  Great, by now she must look like a tomato.

  “Yes, Elliott saw you that night and then told Stacey. They confronted me thinking that I had a new boyfriend.”

  A muscle on Rasheed’s left cheek twitched. “And what did you tell them?”

  Rose shrugged. “I said that you were a friend, and that you were kind enough to give me a lift when I missed the bus.”

  Rasheed tilted his head. “So you lied.”

  “No. Yes. I me-e-an…” What was it with the stammering? It was clear that she had to keep the truth from her siblings. She lifted her chin. “I just repeated how you introduced me to Ramla and the other dancers. Only your sister knows that I’m your student.”

  Rasheed’s eyes narrowed, and he slowly stepped closer to Rose. His eyes sought her gaze. “I did that to protect you. I don’t want people to draw wrong conclusions about you.”

  Rose licked her lip. “Like what?”

  Rasheed lifted a brow. “You know what I mean.”

  Yes, Rose knew what he meant.

  And it was obvious that Rasheed wanted to avoid anyone believing it. It could only mean that he had no interest in taking anything further with Rose than this friendship they’d developed.

  The realization shredded her insides, and she dropped her chin to her chest.“Don’t worry about that. Nobody in their right mind would believe that you’re going out with me.”

  Rasheed gasped. “Why would you say such a thing?”

  Rose kept her gaze on her toes. “It’s the truth. It was easy to convince my brother that there was nothing between us because he saw you.”

  “And?” Rasheed’s voice sounded throaty and insisting.

  Rose peeked up at him. “And he immediately knew that a man like you would never date a girl like me. End of story.”

  Rasheed stared at Rose with his mouth hanging loose. He sucked in a breath, shaking his head. “Rose, I think you’re one of the brightest people I’ve ever met. B
ut, to be fair, this was a very stupid thing to say.”

  “Thanks for the compliment.”

  Rasheed pressed his lips into a hard line. “It wasn’t one.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “I know. I was being ironic. I just—”

  Rasheed grabbed one of Rose’s wrists and pulled her closer. “Do you even realize the effect you have on men?” His eyes burned with a dark emotion.

  Rose’s eyes flicked to his hand on her arm and he let go of it.

  He rubbed his neck with a hand. “What I meant to say is that you’re a very beautiful girl. You shouldn’t underestimate yourself.”

  The spot where his warm fingers had released her felt cold.

  Rose squared her back. He was just trying to console her, it was clear. If Rose had an effect on men, then it was to run away from her as far as they could. She thought back on Stacey’s attempts to fix her up.

  No, Rasheed didn’t know the many delusions she had to overcome in the past because even guys who, on paper, should’ve been interested, weren’t even willing to grab a drink together.

  She bit back the bitterness that rose in her throat and asked, “Do you think Aisha would kill us if we stopped here tonight? I don’t feel like dancing.”

  Rasheed blinked twice. “No, of course not. If you don’t tell her, I won’t. What do you say if we grab something to eat on the way home? You must be famished after moving for hours. I know I am and only my fingers worked out.”

  Rose shrugged. “Sure, whatever.” He was being charitable to try and cheer her up. She might as well just take it. Her stomach did feel kind of empty. Like her soul, for that matter.

  Why couldn’t she hide her emotions better?

  She waved toward the dressing room. “I’ll just go and shower. You’ll wait for me here?”

  Rasheed nodded. “Take your time.”

  Rose went to the changing room, where only her own clothes hung on the rack.

  She fetched them, took the towel from her bag, and carried them all to the bathroom. She let her things fall on a chair, undressed quickly and folded her training clothes in a neat bundle. Then stepped to the shower and turned on the water.

  As the warm drops trickled down her spine, she sighed. Her thoughts wandered back to the novella she’d sent to the scholarship program, and the knots in her belly twisted some more. Hopefully, Rasheed would never lay eyes on what she’d written. It would be the most humiliating experience of her life if he found out how deep she had fallen for him.

  She turned her head toward the shower and let her eyelids close.

  After a few seconds of staying motionless, she moved her neck and rubbed at her eyes. As she opened them, her heart jumped.

  What the heck? Why was it so dark? Did someone turn off the light? Wasn’t she the only one in the changing room?

  She fumbled to shut off the water and reached for her towel.

  Jeez, she really couldn’t see a thing. If she remembered well, the switch was outside. She hugged the towel to her body and tiptoed in the direction she believed the door was located.

  Chapter 10

  Rasheed rubbed his face with both palms while scolding himself.

  He just had to do it, didn’t he? And all was going so well these past five days. He’d managed to keep up appearances in the lecture hall and remain friendly but distant with Rose in the evenings.

  The moments in his car were the hardest because the reduced space didn’t allow for much distraction, which forced him to acknowledge the primordial need he felt to touch Rose’s skin or sniff at her hair.

  But still, he’d kept control and he could be proud of himself.

  Until now.

  A grunt escaped his throat and echoed back in the empty dance hall. Why did he have to have such an obvious outburst?

  Rasheed shook his head. He knew the answer, of course. He couldn’t express without words how erroneous Rose’s beliefs were about herself.

  He winced inwardly as he reminded himself of the words he said to her.

  Did Rose realize he was talking about himself when he spoke about her effect on men?

  He should be more careful in the future. He didn’t want to scare her with his intense feelings. He just wanted her to see how stunning and perfect she was.

  Rasheed picked up his drum with his left hand and with the right he scratched his head. And what did she mean by a man like you? Did Rose find him attractive as Aisha had suggested? A warm sensation curled up his spine at the thought that she might.

  But the fuzzy feeling turned icy as soon as he recalled the way she’d accepted his invite for dinner. No, Rose wasn’t interested in him. She’d looked like she got a tooth pulled out when she agreed to grab a bite with him.

  He squeezed the dumbek so strongly its membrane almost burst. He quickly released his fingers. What was the matter with him? Why couldn’t he keep his cool? The last thing he needed was to ruin his precious instrument and then he could call this evening a complete disaster.

  Rasheed hurried to put the drum into its place.

  As he straightened, the lights went out.

  Rasheed cursed under his breath. Oh, man! Had the caretaker of the office above them gone totally mental? Rasheed had told Ashraf four times in the past two months that if he deactivated the power supply in their part of the building, then it would cut the electricity to the dance school, too.

  He tapped his watch and it illuminated. Half past eight. Alright, maybe Ashraf thought they’d gone home already. His sister always finished her classes by eight.

  A muffled cry cut through the silence.

  Darn it! He’d forgotten Rose was in the shower. She must be lost in the dark. He had to get to the main switch and turn the lights back on.

  He bolted to his bag, lighting the way with his watch’s faint glow. He fetched his cell phone and activated the flashlight mode.

  The bright flash almost blinded him. He turned it toward the pavement and dashed to the door of the dressing room. He opened it carefully, keeping his eyes on the ground. If Rose was somewhere around, he didn’t want her to feel like he was spying on her.

  The room was quiet.

  “Rose?” Rasheed called out.

  There was no answer. Good, then she was still in the bathroom. He could get the power back on and disappear before she even noticed.

  He hurried, heading straight to the electrical cabinet on the opposite side of the dressing room. He held his eyes fixated on the beam of light.

  A sudden creak sounded at his left and he flinched. The phone slipped from his hand and fell to the floor covering the flash lamp. As he bent to collect it, something warm and moist crashed against his left arm.

  Rose.

  Before he could call out to her, he lost his balance and stumbled to the floor. His leg entangled with Rose’s, and he ended up pulling her down with him.

  He landed with a blunt thump on his back, while Rose’s body docked on his.

  She screamed.

  “Hey, it’s okay. It’s just me, Rasheed.”

  Her yell stopped and she angled her body backwards. Her towel tickled Rasheed’s forearm. His blood heated as he realized that she wasn’t dressed. She was lying on top of him in a towel.

  Just a towel.

  “Oh, gosh. What happened? I was showering and then the lights went out. Did you turn them off?” she asked. Her voice sounded calmer but her breathing was still quick.

  Rasheed struggled to collect his thoughts and order them into intelligible words, given the violent sizzles that were spreading in his limbs. If he only lifted his arms, he could be holding Rose in an embrace.

  No, this was the wrong kind of thought.

  He cleared his throat. “No, I didn’t. The caretaker in the office above us does it sometimes when he closes his shift. Their power is connected to ours, so it cuts the electricity for us, too.”

  Rasheed squinted his eyes, trying to make out the contours of Rose’s face.

  Her warm breath caressed his face
as she spoke. “And what are you doing here?”

  “I came to switch the power back on. There’s a central cabinet on the east wall of this room. I was on my way when you stepped out and I dropped my phone.”

  “Your phone?” Rasheed felt Rose shift her weight on his chest as if she was looking left and right. “There it is,” she exclaimed.

  A blazing flash made Rasheed see dark spots. He grabbed Rose’s wrist and pushed it further away from their faces. The light dimmed and his vision cleared.

  His heart stuttered as he realized he was staring right into Rose’s eyes. Her wet hair spilled over them like a protective tent, and she was smiling.

  “Thanks for cushioning my fall. This pavement looks quite hard.”

  She had no idea how hard it was. But not the pavement. Crushing on it was a breeze compared to the pain he felt at not being able to cup her face and taste her lips.

  Rasheed stirred. “Yes, it’s indeed uncomfortable. Especially if someone is smashing my lungs against it.”

  Rose’s mouth opened then she blinked. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t realize I was hurting you.” She sat up immediately, lifting the phone with one hand and hugging her towel with the other.

  Rasheed straightened. Let’s hope he hadn’t made her feel too bad. It wasn’t his intention. But he needed to get her warm body further away from his, otherwise his previous stupid phrase to her would pale compared to the idiocy he would commit.

  He rubbed his neck. “It’s okay. I’m fine. Would you mind giving me the phone? I’ll turn the power back on.”

  She handed him the phone and he rushed to the cabinet. With one click the lights were back, and Rasheed hoped that with it his ability to behave normally around Rose would return.

  But as he turned and caught a sight of her in the blue towel, he very much doubted that was the case. Her naked legs and arms still glistened with a few drops, and her clavicles were clearly visible as she pressed the fabric against her skin.

  Their eyes met and he could swear he saw Rose’s pupils dilate despite the bright lamp shining on them.