Page 16 of Take the Lead
Dangerous thoughts for a man who’d convinced himself Hollywood girls were a bad idea.
The purple bikini was bringing up all kinds of dangerous thoughts now. Extra dangerous considering he was clad only in a pair of briefs, and the spray tan fairy had just yanked at the waistband over his hip.
To make matters worse, Gina stood nearby, hands propped on her hips, watching him with open interest.
“See?” she said. “Spray tanning isn’t so bad, is it?”
Stone grunted. If he looked at her, he’d risk embarrassing them all.
“All done,” Martina said. “Gina, you’re up.”
Stone made a beeline for his shorts.
“Wait!”
The shriek made him freeze. He turned, and Martina scowled at him. “What are you doing? You can’t get dressed yet. Stand still until you’re dry.”
Torture. This was torture. Perhaps he’d done something in a past life to deserve the exquisite pain of watching Gina climb into the egg and turn in slow circles while being coated with tanning solution. When Gina turned to face the inside of the egg, Stone’s gaze dropped to her ass, firm and round, barely covered by the purple spandex of her bikini bottoms. When she tugged the waistband down an inch so Martina could spray under the fabric, Stone ground his teeth against the fresh wave of desire that slammed into him, his blood pulsing hot through his veins. His mind supplied images of Gina’s slender fingers drawing the fabric down further, inch by tantalizing inch.
No. He couldn’t think that way. She was his partner, his teacher.They had weeks of work ahead of them, work that required close contact and intimate touch. He’d never survive if he let himself entertain such thoughts.
He’d never survive if he got a hard-on in the middle of his first rehearsal—on camera.
Instead of Gina, he focused on how disgusting the whole reality TV circus was. He’d thoughtLiving Wildwas bad—hello, shirtless wood-chopping—but this was ten times worse. The manipulation, the utter lack of privacy, and the obvious efforts to throw the dancers off-balance. At least in Alaska, his producers were up front with him about their machinations.
“Stone!”
His head snapped up. Gina beckoned him from the egg. “Come on. Let’s take a selfie.”
Sighing, he trudged over barefoot and leaned into the egg next to her, as she directed. Gina stretched out a hand, holding her phone sideways. Their faces appeared on the screen.
“Smile!” Gina said.
Stone bared his teeth in some approximation of a smile. Gina’s closeness—the sweetness of her scent, her warmth hovering next to him in the curve of the nylon egg—shot tension into his muscles. He got out of there as fast as he could, but Gina followed.
“You want to grab food?” she asked, shaking her arms while the spray tan crew packed up. “After I’m dry, of course.”
All he could do was stare as her words went in one ear and out the other. Her arm movements made her breasts jiggle above the purple fabric cupping them. He wanted to replace the fabric with his hands.
Damn it.He had to stop thinking about her breasts. “No. I’m, uh…” He grabbed his shorts and yanked them up his legs. “I’ve gotta go work out.” It was the first excuse he thought of, but it was a good one. He had to burn off some of this tension or he was going to explode during their next rehearsal.
“Oh, no, you’re not.” Martina paused on her way out the door and wagged a finger at him. “No sweating, swimming, or showering forthe next six to eight hours. You’ll wash off the tan before it has time to set.” She gave him an appreciative glance. “I think you can skip this one workout. And don’t put your T-shirt on, if you can help it.” And then she was gone.
Fuuuuuck.Resigned, Stone stuffed the T-shirt into his gym bag.
“So… food?” Gina asked, popping up beside him in that damned purple bikini.
He shook his head. “No, thanks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Running out before she could say another word, Stone inwardly cursedThe Dance Offand everything associated with it. He was on fire, and now he had no way to cool the flames.
After Stone left, Gina waited for her tan to dry, then put on a lightweight beach cover-up so as not to put fabric lines into her tan.
Maybe she shouldn’t have accused Stone of half-assing it, at least not on the first day. But if they were going to begin as they meant to go on, she couldn’t let him get away with anything less than 100 percent. He was going through the motions and doing what she said, but his lack of enthusiasm was obvious. It happened with some male celebs when they were asked to move in ways that were uncomfortable for them. If they felt silly, they didn’t try. Toxic masculinity at its finest.
If she and Stone were going to win, he had to do more than try. He had to want to win, too. The trick was finding the key that would unlock his competitive spirit.
As Gina was packing her bag, Jordy flagged her down. “Donna wants to speak with you,” he said. “She’s in her office.”
