Page 62 of Love is a Dance Step
“Brooke, you may leave.” There was no room for argument in Piper’s voice.
Brooke ducked her head and practically sprinted from the room, leaving Lola to face Piper and the unknown woman.
The woman ran a hand down her tailored, dark blue jacket and fiddled with a silver button. “Well, that was unpleasant.”
Piper sighed. “That could describe every interaction with Brooke.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I definitely wasn’t supposed to say that.”
To Lola’s surprise, the other woman laughed. “Don’t hold back on my account, Pipes.” Pipes. So, they were friends.
Piper’s lips curved into a smile before she turned to Lola. “Mel, this is Lola, our newest dancer.”
The woman rushed forward and held out a hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”
Lola gripped her hand. “Um, who are you?”
Piper bit back a grin. “This is Melanie Snyder. She’s the label’s head publicist, handling the difficult cases like Drew.”
Melanie laughed. “Drew definitely isn’t easy, but he’s a heck of a lot simpler than Noah.”
“Noah.” Piper groaned. “The scandal king.”
Lola had read many articles about the British bad boy. She knew little about him other than what the tabloids said, but from Piper and Melanie’s smiles, she could tell there was affection there.
“Anyway.” Melanie’s smile held a kindness. “Drew won’t tell me anything about you, Lola, but on our tours, we like to be a bit of a family.”
Lola tried her hardest not to laugh at that. The dancers, and even Drew, had definitely not welcomed her like a family would.
Melanie continued. “So, I told Piper to introduce us. I’ll only be with the tour for the next week or so before I have to get back to L.A. for the release of Dax Nelson’s newest single. Piper and Noah tell me you’re from Drew’s hometown.”
She swallowed. “His brother is my best friend.” A best friend she hadn’t talked to since she left other than a simple text. His ‘I love you’ was still strong in her mind.
Melanie’s smile widened. “That’s wonderful. I know Drew is close with his family, so you must know him well.”
“Um, not really. I haven’t seen him much since I was a kid.”
“Fascinating. Tell me, how long until we can replace Brooke with you?”
Lola choked on a laugh. “I don’t know. Nolan doesn’t seem to think I’m ready, and I’m starting to wonder if I ever will be.” The confession poured out of her. “We aren’t… connecting.”
“From what Piper says, you’re a great dancer.”
Lola looked to Piper in question. The assistant had barely spoken to her since she joined the tour. Lola hadn’t thought Piper liked her. “I don’t know about that.”
“You are.” Piper rubbed the back of her neck. “I know what you overheard at auditions, but you’ve proven me wrong with how quickly you’ve stepped in here. Look, Lola, Drew doesn’t want to keep dancing with Brooke. We need to get you ready.”
“What if I can’t do it?”
Melanie waved a hand. “Of course you can do it. If it’s a connection problem, maybe you just aren’t comfortable with Nolan. We can try a different partner to see if it helps. If it does, we’ll get Drew to assign you a new partner to practice with.”
“Should I grab David?”
Lola tried to imagine which dancer she spoke of but came up empty.
Melanie shook her head. “Get Noah.”
“Didn’t he go with Drew?”
“No. I tried to make him, but he pretended to be sick. You know how much he hates press events. He’ll do anything to get out of them.”
