Page 107 of Dance with Me
“My agent. Someone reached out to her about a choreography job.”
“Isn’t that what you want to do? I mean, yeah, we choreograph dances every week for the show, but making up short routines for non-dancers is totally different than a job as a choreographer. You should take it.”
Natasha pressed her fingers to her forehead, which suddenly throbbed with pressure. “It’s too much change all at once. Anyway, I said I’ll think about it.”
Lori bustled in. “Oh my god, you guys. You will not believe what I heard today.”
“I’m going to pour the wine. I have the feeling we’ll need it.” Kevin ducked into the kitchen.
Lori kicked off her big turquoise and silver high tops and ran over to Natasha. Her eyes were wide, her mouth pinched in a serious little frown. “Tash, I know who your next partner is.”
“Really?” Natasha perked up. “Donna hinted a while ago that he was a musician.”
Lori shook her head slowly. “Nuh-uh.”
Kevin pushed wine glasses into their hands. “Don’t drag it out, Lor. Spill.”
Lori took a deep breath, then blew it out in a rush, words tumbling out. “Tash, don’t be mad at me. I’m just the messenger. But as soon as I heard, I knew I had to tell—”
“Lori!” Natasha and Kevin both yelled her name in unison.
“Spit it out.” The longer Lori stalled, the more her nerves high-kicked into gear. Natasha took a sip of wine to soothe them.
Lori’s hands flapped by her sides, but she nodded and said, “It’s Rocky. Rocky Lim.”
Natasha froze.
Kevin spoke up. “Rocky Lim, from those martial arts car racing movies? Is he—oh, shit.” He turned to Natasha, a hand covering his mouth. “Didn’t you and he used to . . . ?”
She nodded, then knocked back the glass, chugging the rest of the wine. “Yeah. We used to. And Donna knows it.”
Lori shook her fist in the air. “Fucking Donna! Why would she even do that?”
Kevin glowered into his wine glass. “I know why. She’s a manipulative little punk. She’s keeping Tash in line, showing her how much she can mess with her life, and trying to destroy her connection to Dimitri.”
Lori’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh. Does Dimitri know about you and Rocky?”
Natasha shut her eyes. “He knows. We once ran into him at a perfume launch party. I was with Rocky, he was with some TV host.”
Lori mouth twisted. “Maybe I’m wrong?”
“How’d you find out?” Kevin asked.
“Not too many Asians in Hollywood. There’s a gossip grapevine.”
Natasha grabbed her phone. “You’re not wrong. Look.”
She pulled up some texts, and showed them the screen.
Kevin scrolled through. A bunch of texts from Rocky, most of them general greetings and variations of “How’s it going?” with photos taken around England and comments on British TV shows.
The last one read:Hey, babe. Give me a call when you’re free.Followed by a winking emoji.
Kevin pointed at the phone. “That’s a booty call right there.”
“It means he’s in town.” Natasha took the phone back. “I didn’t call him. Didn’t even think of it. But that means he’s here. And if he’s here, then there’s a chance you’re right, Lori. I wouldn’t put it past Donna to swap him out as my partner.”
Lori squinted up at Natasha’s head. “Is he even tall enough to be your partner?”
