Page 89 of Take the Lead
“I can’t. Meli gave us two hundreds. Nothing can ruin this night.”
Rick Carruthers ended up leaving at the end of the episode. Gina was sorry to see him go—not as sorry as Stone, though—and they hugged him at the end.
But then she saw Meli rounding the judges’ table and heading straight for her. Her pulse pounded, and she stepped aside to greet her idol.
They were the same height, which surprised Gina. Meli had always seemed taller in the movies.
“Gina, I want to say what a pleasure it was to see you dance tonight.” Meli leaned in to give Gina a kiss on the cheek. She smelled like roses. “I have to run to catch a flight, but I’ll be in touch. Be well.”
“Thank you.” Gina returned Meli’s wave, stunned.
I’ll be in touch.What the hell did that mean?
Gina met Stone’s eyes over the crowd of dancers surrounding Rick and his partner, Mila. The heat was back in Stone’s gaze. Tonight, they would talk out whatever was between them.
The prospect terrified her. She didn’t want anything serious, didn’t want to talk about her feelings or relationship fears.
But he was right. He deserved to have his say, and to know why she’d pulled away.
The thought of being close to him again filled her with warm, delicious feelings. She wanted him. She missed him. And maybe having him in her bed again, being close to him, being held by him, would be worth the discomfort of baring her heart.
“You want to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me all week?”
Gina sat next to Stone on the edge of her bed, facing him. She still wore her hair extensions and full-face makeup from filming. Hell, Stone was probably still wearing makeup, too. He held himself stiffly, his lips pressed into a flat line.
She fiddled with the quilting on her blanket. This was the last thing she wanted to be talking about. It would be so much easier if she could say she was over him, that it had been a fun fling, but it was time to get back to business.
It wasn’t true, though. Even now, with all her doubts piling in, she still wanted him. Not just for fun, or for sex, but for more. For the way he listened to her and respected her. For the way his strong fingers found all the knots in her back muscles and brought her relief, simply because he wanted to help. For the way he made her laugh with his moments of unexpected silliness.
Deep longing churned her insides, made her want to lean toward him until she fell into his arms. Maybe then the unrelenting yearning would cease.
But then what would happen when he left?
He was waiting for an answer, his jaw set and eyes wary.
She swallowed hard and told him the truth. “You scare the shit out of me.”
His lips quirked. “Ditto.”
With a groan, she gave in and closed the distance between them, cuddling into his embrace. “What do we do? Where do we go from here?”
What do I do when you’re gone?She didn’t say it, though. It would reveal too much, and she wasn’t ready to think that far ahead.
He held her against his chest and rubbed her back with his big, rough hands. Everything about him was big and rough, until you realized he was the sweetest, most caring man you could ever hope to meet.
“We keep trying to win,” he said. “The rest of this… we’ll figure it out. We have time.”
They didn’t, though. It was only a matter of weeks before the season ended, and then he’d be leaving. What more was there to figure out?
She lifted her head, zeroing in on his lips. “Stone?”
His hand stilled on her back. “Yeah?”
“I don’t want to talk.” She crushed her mouth to his, loving how his arms banded around her. She groaned as his tongue swept into her mouth.
They tipped sideways onto the bed, tugging at each other’s clothing.
“Stone, I need you.Now.”
