Page 34 of Love is a Dance Step
Brooke may have missed it, but Lola saw the frustrated crease form between Piper’s eyes.
Piper looked down at her clipboard. “Take numbers one-sixty to one-eighty-five into ballroom C and show them the steps. They’re up in an hour. Grab Nolan and a few of the other male dancers. We want both the solo steps and the duets.”
Brooke popped her gum again and nodded. She jerked her head toward Lola, telling her to follow.
“Good luck,” Ben called after her.
She’d need it.
Brooke called out the other numbers as they passed, and a line of girls formed behind them. “Yo, Nole. Grab the boys and follow us.”
A lanky man nodded.
They entered the empty ballroom that had been set up for the dancers to learn the choreography before auditioning. A wooden dance floor stretched across one side, and the tables and chairs were pushed up against the walls.
Brooke pulled off her sweatshirt to reveal a pink tank top. Lola looked down at herself still in her work uniform, a uniform that wouldn’t exactly show off her dancing. Who was she kidding with this?
Well, it was too late now. She removed her vest and unbuttoned the top few buttons of her shirt. Kicking off her shoes, she removed her socks. Most of the dancers had dance shoes on, but Lola preferred to dance barefoot anyway to feel her connection to each step.
“All right, dancers,” Brooke called. “Line up and follow me through the steps. If you get lost, you can leave because this isn’t the job for you.” She nodded to Nolan who turned on a familiar Drew Stone song.
One of Lola’s favorites.
Brooke turned her back to them and counted out a beat. By the time she made the first step, Lola already knew what was next. She knew every one of Drew’s dances from poring over his videos and teaching herself his moves in the solitude of her bedroom.
She’d never let anyone see.
Until now.
It didn’t take her long to get into the rhythm, and a smile slid across her face as she went through the steps she knew by heart.
Girls dropped out as they failed to follow along. Brooke refused to repeat anything as she yelled out commands.
By the time the song ended, only ten dancers remained panting and grinning at each other. There was no choreography like Drew Stone choreography. If she ever met his choreographer, she knew she’d fangirl just as much for them as for Drew.
Brooke surveyed the remaining group. “Good, when you audition, we’ll see if you remember the steps.”
They were only going through them once? It didn’t matter to Lola, but the other girls murmured, their anxiety apparent. Lola wondered if that was Drew’s decision or Brooke’s. She studied the dancer, wondering why Drew needed to find a new lead when he surely had loads of dancers who could have filled in for Leah.
And how did that make his current dancers feel?
By the scowl on Brooke’s face and the fact that she barely tried to get them ready for auditions, Lola guessed not good.
Brooke faced them once more, and the four men joined her. “Drew wants to see you dance with a counterpart. Meet Nolan, Jasper, Mark, and Ian. You’ll take turns learning the partner dance from them. Have fun. I’m out.” She gave them a haphazard wave before leaving.
Nolan stepped forward. “We don’t have long before we have to bring the next group of dancers in, so let’s get started.”
11
Drew
The moment Lola entered the room again, Drew sensed it. She trailed the other dancers… the ten. His eyes narrowed. Piper sent a lot more than ten with Brooke.
He refocused on the group of dancers before him. His dancers, both male and female, provided the other side of duets. Drew didn’t only want someone who could dance. He needed someone who could dancewithhim.
The dancers were fine, some were even good, but none of them drew his eye. He sat back in his chair beside Ben and Dax. Noah and Jo had left already. Part of the deal with the tour break was the two of them doing a couple of pop-up solo concerts. It wouldn’t be long until they had to leave his tour, and he dreaded that day. They gave him a few months. Once they left, a new act would replace them, but Drew couldn’t imagine it being anyone else.
He understood though. Jo didn’t want to be on stage once she could no longer hide her advancing pregnancy.
