Page 3 of Take the Lead
Mine.She hadn’t meant to say that, didn’t want to examine the mixed emotions the word sparked.
“Yes,” Jordy said from behind her. “That’s your partner.”
Hot damn.
The bare-chested man chopping wood behind the main house was six-five if he was an inch, covered in rippling, bulging muscles and smooth, tanned skin. Obliques and delts flexed and released with each swing, highlighting his pure strength and perfect form. The rustic axe acted as an extension of his beautiful body and hit its mark every time.
He was the kind of man who’d look remarkable doing any activity, but he fit here, as if he’d sprung from the earth fully formed—and conjured by Gina’s wildest fantasies—for the express purpose of chopping wood.
She wanted to lick him just to make sure he was real.
Jordy gestured her forward to confront the magnificent wood-splitting specimen. The camera crews fanned out. Gina’s heart rate had yet to return to normal, and she seemed to have swallowed her own tongue, but she obligingly took a step.
A twig snapped under her boot.
The smallcrackstopped the man at the top of his swing. His head whipped around in her direction. As he straightened, the hand holding the axe fell to his side, and he scooped back his long dark blond hair with the other. Their gazes met, the bright blue of his eyes visible across the clearing.
Chest heaving, he swung the axe into the wood stump, leaving it embedded and quivering.
If Gina wasn’t careful, she’d start quivering, too.
A light brown beard covered the lower half of his face, amplifying his intense masculinity to a thrilling degree and making him look wild, unpredictable, and… delicious. The defined muscles of his torso made her mouth water. She swallowed hard.
Work. Cameras.Job.
Ignoring her thudding heart and warm cheeks, Gina marched toward him. Around them, camera operators shifted to capture every nuance of their first meeting—every word, every reaction, every sign of nerves.
Despite her calm expression, Gina’s mind whirled, connecting the dots as she approached her new partner.
First, her producers had made sure she was perfectly groomed and looking her best.
Following that, they’d thrown her off her game with an unsettling seaplane ride.
And now, they were surprising her with half-naked wood-chopping and so many muscles it bordered on rude.
Gina’s steps faltered as the truth hit her.Shit.She should have seen it right away, and would have if the first sight of him hadn’t short-circuited her thoughts.
This man would likely be the hottest guy in the cast, and Gina was young and single. It could only mean one thing.
They were being set up as this season’s showmance.
Two
Well, Stone had expected a city girl. And he’d gotten one.
With the axe safely in the stump, Stone caught his breath, unable to take his eyes off his dance partner as she approached him. She’d appeared in the clearing like she’d taken a wrong turn in Los Angeles and ended up in Alaska. Wrapped in a pale pink wool coat and high black boots, with her long brown hair spilling out from under a matching knit hat, she looked polished, put-together, andsmall.Next to her, he was a great hulking brute. How were they supposed to dance together? He’d crush her.
She was pretty, of course. Her eyes were dark and thickly lined, her lashes long, her golden skin reminiscent of the cones of a Sitka spruce after they had matured. Her full lips were painted the color of winterberries and caught his attention more than they should have.
Yeah, definitely pretty, but she didn’t belong here. Why the hell had the production dragged this delicate Hollywood dance diva all the way out to Alaska to meet him? Stone had to fly to Los Angeles for rehearsals anyway. They could have easily filmed their first meeting there.
But if a few years on a reality show had taught him anything, it was that TV producers didn’t care about convenience. Meetingin the remote wilderness, as opposed to a bright, stark rehearsal room, would make for better behind-the-scenes footage. The contrast between their appearances was purposeful, a deliberate move on the part of the producers, and Stone hated them for it.
Hated himself for taking part in this madness. A dance show, of all things.
His partner stopped a couple feet away from him. If she was nervous, she covered it well. Her grin lit her face, showing all her teeth and transforming her beauty into something more approachable and real.
“Hi there, partner.” Her voice had a musical quality he hadn’t expected, and a slight accent he couldn’t place. “I’m Gina Morales.”
