Page 52 of Love is a Dance Step
Well, that didn’t bode well.
Lola looked from Drew to Piper. “Am I missing something?”
Drew gave her a pained look. “Just… promise you’ll come to me if she treats you poorly.”
“I’ve been dealing with bullies my entire life, Drew. I can protect myself.” She took the key from Piper. “I’ll see you guys in the morning.”
Drew pushed a hand through his hair as he watched her go.
Piper chuckled. “I think I might like this girl after all.”
“What’s on tomorrow’s schedule?” Drew started toward the hotel, needing to push Lola from his mind and get refocused on the tour.
Piper pulled up the schedule on her phone. “You’re practicing with the dancers at ten to get everyone back on the same page after a week off. At one, there’s an interview with a local paper. You have a meeting at three with that songwriter you wanted to see when we were in Miami. I’ve scheduled you for a nap at five.” Yes, she scheduled his naps. “Then, at seven, you, Noah, and Jo are having dinner with one of the label execs who lives here in town.”
“What about Lola? We need to start getting her up to speed. I’d like to get her on stage as quickly as possible.”
They entered the lobby, and Drew tilted the hat to cover more of his face.
Piper typed out something on her phone. “I’ll have Brooke work with her.”
“No.” He said the word louder than he’d meant to.
They stopped in front of the elevators, and Piper turned to Drew. “Give me another choice. It can’t be you. You’re too busy, and it would look—”
“I know.” He couldn’t show Lola any more favor than the rest, not if he wanted them to take her seriously. “I wish Leah was here.”
“Me too.” The elevator door opened, and they stepped in. Piper hit the button for their floor. “But she isn’t. If not Brooke… how about Nolan?”
He thought of Lola dancing with Nolan in auditions, how out of sync they looked. But he didn’t have a better option. Brooke and Nolan were the best dancers he had. “Sure. Have her work with Nolan, but I want him to report to me on her progress. And have Brooke prepare to dance lead in two days. I’m sure that’ll make her happy.” There was no world in which he wanted Brooke at his side, but she was the only one who knew Leah’s choreography.
He unlocked his room, said goodnight to Piper, and slipped inside before leaning back against the door.
After a week in Gulf City, tomorrow, he’d officially be back at the office.
At least he had a scheduled nap.
16
Lola
Is it everything you’d dreamed?
That was the text Lola woke up to from Asher. She stared at her phone as she lay burrowed under the stark white covers in the double queen Miami hotel room, remembering the look on his face when he’d told her he loved her.
Was it everything she’d dreamed? Riding on the tour bus of a man she’d obsessed over for years. Well—she’d obsessed over his dance moves.
She had yet to experience any other part of the tour, so she texted Asher back.
Lola:Oh yes. We got to Miami, and a crowd was already chanting my name. I’m a very important person now.
Asher:I’m sure. LOL.
She set her phone back on the table between the beds, trying not to wake the roommate she hadn’t gotten to speak to the night before. Brooke Tanner had already been fast asleep when Lola slipped in.
“I can hear you breathing.” Brooke groaned as she rolled over. “What time is it?”
“Nine thirty.” Lola wasn’t a late sleeper, but the past few days had been exhausting, mentally and physically.
