Page 99 of Take the Lead
They still had a week left to perfect two high-intensity dances. There was nothing they could do to stop Donna, and Gina didn’t need the extra pressure. She was already stressed. If a few minor paparazzi photos had thrown her into a frenzy, he couldn’t imagine how actual kiss footage would affect her.
That settled it. He wouldn’t tell her. Besides, she’d gone to Donna about the parking lot photos on her own, without involving him. This was the same thing.
The clock was winding down. Their time as partners would soon come to an end. Maybe having their relationship out in the open would help them be honest about it themselves, and they could figure out where they were going.
Gina would get it. She’d understand he was sparing her the stress, and trying to help them win.
Still, he left Donna’s office with a sick feeling in his gut.
Stone paced while the behind-the-scenes package played before their dancer’s-choice contemporary dance. After two weeks of practicing for the semifinals, he wanted them over with.
“We’ve never danced first before,” he said in a low voice.
Gina grinned. “Sometimes it’s nice to get it out of the way andenjoy watching everyone else. But we still have another dance tonight, if you want to obsess over that.”
He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The stripper dance.”
They’d been given a song from the movieBoylesque,a romantic comedy/dance musical about a group of teachers who start an all-male burlesque troupe to raise funds for their school. Stone had watched it that week and he could secretly admit it was a pretty fun movie. But he still wasn’t psyched about their dance.
Gina covered her mouth to suppress a giggle. “I told you, it’sboylesque.”
“I just never thought I’d be taking my clothes off for the delight of a room full of people.”
“It’s a job, just like any other.”
“I know. But I’m having second thoughts about that costume.”
“Don’t. It looks great on you. And anyway, it’s too late to change it.”
On the large screen above them, they relived Gina meeting the Nielsons. Then his mother’s voice echoed through the ballroom.
“What’s going on with you and Gina?”
Next to him, Gina froze.
His answer came next, spoken by his image on the giant screen. “We’re dance partners.”
Stone’s heart pounded. Maybe they’d leave it at that. Please, god, let it be left at that.
In his arms, Gina began to tremble.
The image changed: his mother, indoors at the Glacier Valley Inn, in the room whereLiving Wildfilmed their interviews.
“I think there’s something going on there.” Pepper touched the side of her nose and gave the camera a knowing nod. “I’m his mother. I can always tell.”
Gina gasped. “What—?”
“Shh. Don’t watch.”
Her eyes flickered in the reflected light from the screen as she stared at him. “Don’twatch?”
On the screen, Stone’s worst nightmare unfolded, the one he’d been expecting for the last two weeks. He and Gina, in the makeshift rehearsal room in the Glacier Valley Inn. Kissing.
Now, she shook in his arms, her eyes glued to the screen. When she turned to him, devastation was written all over her face.
“Stone?” Her voice was a hoarse rasp. “Did you know?”
A chill settled into his bones, and a cold sweat broke out over his skin.
