Naked Angel by Logan Belle Read Free Book Online Page B

right back to sewing.
    “I hear congratulations are in order,” she said in her thick Polish accent before turning her attention immediately back to the work at hand.
    “Yes, opening night was a huge success. And we couldn’t have done it without you. I wanted you to have these,” Mallory said, putting the flowers on the floor next to her.
    “I’m talking about the marriage proposal,” Agnes said. “And thank you. I love Sabine Pastel orchids. They live longer than most house pets.”
    “Oh! Yes. Alec really shocked me,” Mallory said.
    “I’m not surprised.” Agnes turned to Nadia. “And how did you do, ballerina?”
    Nadia felt her stomach sink. It was bad enough that she’d frozen in front of a hundred people last night—including Max Jasper. Now she had to admit her failure to a woman who was not only a former ballerina who’d mastered burlesque, but one who’d spent her later years at the helm of the longest-running and most successful burlesque revue in Manhattan.
    “Nadia got cold feet,” Mallory said, winking at her.
    Agnes nodded. “It’s not for everyone,” she commented.
    “That’s true—but it also can just take time. So I was thinking maybe you could let her watch you create costumes. It’s so inspiring, and if she decides she doesn’t want to dance . . .”
    “It’s a lot of work,” Agnes said with a heavy sigh. Nadia wasn’t sure if Agnes meant creating costumes, or showing someone else how to do it.
    “I’m not ready to give up on performing,” Nadia said.
    “What happened to your ballet?” Agnes asked.
    “I keep breaking my foot,” Nadia said. Six months later, and she still felt like crying every time she said it. Agnes clucked in sympathy.
    “Let me see the ring,” she said to Mallory. Nadia witnessed the flush of joy on Mallory’s face when she held out her hand. Agnes inspected the diamond as if it could solve the mysteries of the universe. “Very nice,” she finally pronounced.
    Nadia hated to think this way, but looking at Mallory’s sweet satisfaction, she wondered if a good relationship was another bar she would never reach.
    Her cell rang, an incoming number she didn’t recognize.
    “I hate cell phones,” Agnes said.
    “Better take that outside,” advised Mallory.
    “I don’t even know who it is. I’m not going to answer it,” said Nadia.
    “Live dangerously—answer it. Just take it outside,” said Agnes.
    Something about the woman was so authoritative, Nadia found herself pressing the green button and saying hello. And as soon as she heard the male voice on the other end, she wished she hadn’t.
    Mallory decided, while Nadia dashed down the stairs to answer her phone, to use the private time with Agnes to try to end the nagging worry she’d felt since her conversation with Alec last night.
    “Can I ask you a question?” Mallory said.
    “Of course. Is it about the club?”
    “No,” Mallory said.
    “Good,” said Agnes.
    “It’s about marriage,” said Mallory.
    “Now that is a topic I can speak to,” said Agnes. Mallory didn’t know much about Agnes’s personal life—it was widely assumed she had none. But Mallory had heard her mention a long-ago marriage. It had obviously ended at some point, but she didn’t know when, how, or why. And considering how circumspect Agnes could be, Mallory doubted she would ever know.
    “I’m afraid our relationship will change once we’re married.”
    “Of course it will.”
    “For the worse.”
    “Of course it will,” Agnes repeated.
    “Really?” It might be honest, but it wasn’t the answer Mallory had expected. She’d thought Agnes would tell her she was being ridiculous, as her friends surely would.
    “Yes. It will get worse, and then better, and then worse, and then better, and then so bad you want to leave, and then good enough to make you stay . . . and there you have it. Marriage.”
    “Okay. I guess I know that, on some level. And everyone deals with it, right?”
    Agnes,