Dominate Showbiz: Media Tycoon Discovered My Talent-Chapter 134: The Waltz

When Antony said getting warmed up, being the serious man that he was, he actually, quite literally meant getting warmed up properly.

The two of them dropped to the floor, right in the middle of this ultra royal-core room, stretching their legs out, circling their arms like they usually did for their dance sessions.

Kaija stole a glance at the handsome man striking a perfect arm stretch next to her, brow twitching faintly. Though she hadn’t watched that many romantic movies, she was sure there was no scene with the couple stretching and warming up before a slow dance.

"Your hand, please, my lady," Antony said, extending his hand toward hers with his head and one knee lowered, like a true prince.

With the prince-like attire he had worn since he arrived at the Open Hall, with tailored trousers the same brown color as his hair, and a camel suit jacket over a white shirt, he looked every bit like a royal prince to her eyes right now.

Kaija placed a hand awkwardly onto his, feeling painfully shy. With one firm pull of his hand, she was once again locked into that same pose with him, just like yesterday in the studio.

The music was already playing in the background, the mood it set as dark and soothing as the air in the dimmed ballroom right now. It was a classical piece led by violin and other string instruments, and yet, there was a modern touch to it.

"This song doesn’t sound like any classical song I’ve heard before," Kaija said, placing her hand awkwardly on his chest.

His lips curved faintly at her cluelessly placed hand, gently moving it to where it was supposed to be on his upper arm instead.

"Of course you wouldn’t have heard anything like this before," he said. "I made this track just last night."

Kaija’s face darkened instantly. She knew the man was basically a beast when it came to music production efficiency, but come on...

"Let’s start with the basic steps first, shall we?" he said, placing his hand on her back. "When I move, I want you to move your feet along with me, without looking down at them. Just feel the music, feel your feet, and look at me the way you do right now."

"Aye aye, sir," she replied lightly, her bright grin drawing a smile from him too.

His feet started moving, and the two of them began circling right beneath the grand crystal chandelier in the middle of the room.

As much as Antony wished she were still wearing the beautiful, flowing scarlet dress from earlier for this dance, the mini dress she had on was indeed more suitable. Though he had deliberately slowed down, her feet were still clumsily struggling to match his steps, thankfully not stomping on his just yet.

"Turns out getting really good at one chair dance performance doesn’t mean you’d improve at dancing in general," Antony commented evenly, as if offering a professional judgment.

"I don’t think so, Instructor," she scowled. "It’s just that you’re too good at anything you do. I mean, didn’t you tell me you’ve never tried this before? The way we’ve been going, I find that very hard to believe."

"I never tried," he confirmed flatly.

"Then how the hell did you get this good?" she pressed.

"I dismissed a few classes this morning and worked on it," he replied, serious as ever.

Her face started twitching violently now. Just one morning, and the man was leading her like he had been doing it all his life?

"Right," she mumbled. "You haven’t just proved my point that you’re a pro. You’ve also proved that you’re simply inhuman, Instructor."

A soft chuckle slipped out of him as his hand left her upper back. "You know, I’m not exactly your instructor anymore, now that you are no longer a trainee," he said, twirling her around in one smooth motion before pulling her back firmly.

The turn made the poor amateur Kaija stumble on her own feet, fingers clawing clumsily at his chest in the end.

"But I thought you insisted that I call you that from the beginning?" she asked, struggling back onto her feet.

"I did," he said, his voice suddenly small. "But now that I’m dating you, I’d prefer it if you call me by my name."

Her eyes widened slightly before lighting up into a smile. "Like... just Antony?" she said, lips curving with amusement, as if enjoying how it sounded to her ears.

Antony’s steps slowly came to a halt.

Given how dim the room was right now, perhaps she couldn’t tell how that red tinge had once again returned to his face, but the lack of light still couldn’t hide how his eyes were trembling faintly, how his teeth were sinking into his lip.

"Would you say it one more time?" he asked, his tone now even more earnest than when he’d proposed the idea earlier.

"Antony," she called out again without hesitation, her face blooming into a bright, satisfied smile at his permission.

"Antony, Antony, Antony, Antony," she repeated over and over, her tone lightening every single time. "Wow, I like the sound of that so much more than just Instructor, I must say. You should have let me call you that earlier, then maybe I would’ve put all my effort into dancing without slacking a minute."

None of her comments were reaching his mind now.

The entirety of his focus had narrowed down to the lovely sound of his name, spoken so softly, so playfully in her deep, sultry voice.

"Kaikai," he called out with great difficulty, eyes lingering on her slightly parted lips. "Can I... can I..."

Kaija blinked a few times, trying to read what sort of request he was trying to voice, why he was even struggling to say it.

"Can you what, Instructor?" she asked, giving him time to find his words.

"Can I, um, uh... I..." he stammered, his cheeks burning hotter by the second, his chest tightening along with it, unable to force the word "kiss" out.

As decisive as he’d been when he pressed his lips to her forehead that night at her door, the Antony who had never known what a kiss with a girl felt like, how it should be done properly for the entire thirty-two years of his life, now found himself unable to cross the line, especially when faced with the girl blinking up at him with wide, curious blue eyes.

"Your lips..." he uttered at last, swallowing hard. "Can... can I...?"

Only now did Kaija finally have a clue what the golden-eyed man before her wanted.

Her lips curved into a sweet, soft smile, blue eyes glinting with unhidden delight.

"You should have asked me much earlier," she whispered, cupping both hands over his burning cheeks. "I’ve waited for you to ask since the moment we walked into this room."