Page 85 of Love is a Dance Step
Drew’s eyes didn’t leave Lola as Brooke dragged him away. He forced himself to focus on her. Dancing with Brooke came naturally to him after doing it on stage for weeks, but it wasn’t the same as dancing with Lola. There was no explosiveness between them. Each move felt perfect, but that was where it ended. Perfection stripped the emotion from a dance. He didn’t want to perform every step as he’d been taught. Like a robot.
That wasn’t what dancing was to him.
It was instinctive. His body knew what to do before his mind did.
Yet, as he drew Brooke to him, it was only his mind he listened to. The sweet melody of a violin was joined by other stringed instruments for a classical sound perfect for rigid dancing.
They moved through the crowded dance floor, knowing each step before performing the previous one.
“This is fun.” Brooke smiled up at him. “To get a break from the tour like this.”
“Yeah.” Drew offered her a smile in return. It wasn’t Brooke’s fault she wasn’t the girl he wanted in his arms. “Sometimes, I forget a tour can be about more than work.”
“It doesn’t feel like work to me. I get to dance on stage and stay in nice hotels. This is my dream, and I’m living it.”
He sometimes forgot to think of the dreams of others. Brooke might be insufferable half the time, but she was fighting for herself, for her chance to live the life she’d always wanted. He hadn’t considered what it would mean to her not to keep the spot as lead dancer. It wasn’t because she wasn’t good enough. In fact, she was a better dancer than Lola, technically at least.
What she lacked was a connection to him. And that wasn’t her fault.
“I used to think that of tours.” He remembered his first one and how even the crappy venues made him feel like he’d made it. They gave him more joy than any arenas did now. “Now, it’s my job.” He did love it, most of the time. When he wasn’t missing his family or denying himself what he really wanted.
Lola.
If he wasn’t Drew Stone, would he have realized how much he wanted her sooner? Would he have taken their almost kisses as reasons to try again rather than reasons to stay away?
“May I cut in?” Noah stepped in front of them.
Drew pulled away from Brooke. “Well, I guess I can give you one dance.” He held his hand out.
Noah batted it away. “I meant with Brooke. My own date turned me down.”
Giving Brooke a smile he hoped didn’t seem relieved, he let Noah pull her into his arms. Drew made his way back to the table and sat beside Lola. Jo was nowhere to be found, but Nolan lounged on Lola’s other side. The two of them laughed together, and Drew wanted to know everything that made her smile.
“What’s so funny?”
Nolan smirked and sipped his drink.
Lola startled as if she hadn’t realized he was there. “Nothing.”
Drew leaned in, inhaling her coconut scent. “Nothing made you laugh?”
She breathed him in, and he smiled, knowing she was as affected by his nearness as he was hers. Lola tried to act confident and aloof, but he’d seen another side of her, one beyond her shy countenance. He’d seen what she wanted.
And he’d seen her take it.
“I need another drink.” Nolan lifted his empty glass and shot them a wink before leaving them alone in a sea of people.
“Lola.” He skimmed his finger along her hand. “Dance with me.”
He’d asked her that many times before, but this was different. This time there were no screaming fans and the state of his tour didn’t rely on her dancing.
Here, now, he wanted an excuse to be near her again, to know their kisses had meaning.
“I don’t dance,” she breathed.
One corner of his mouth curved up. “That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.”
She shook her head. “No… I… I’ve never been to something like this. No dances, no balls. I just… when I’m on stage I can pretend no one is watching me.”
