Take the Lead

by Alexis Daria

  The crew leapt into action, running ahead to keep his face in view. He kept his expression impassive, just to thwart them. Inside, he seethed, burning with the need to tell them all off.

  In the living area, Stone settled Gina into his mother’s armchair while the camera operators hovered around them. When he stood, her hands clung to his arms, and she met his gaze with a look of terror.

  Guilt stabbed through him. This was his fault. When Miguel approached him with the “bear” idea, he’d shrugged and said it sounded fine, like he did with all their other idiotic plans. He’d never expected that Gina would respond this way. It made sense, though. She was a city girl, through and through. Frightening her like this was just cruel.

  He sank to his knees beside her. “Pass me that blanket,” he told one of the PAs, pointing at the handmade quilt draped over the back of the narrow sofa. “And get her a bottle of water.”

  After tucking the quilt around her, Stone rubbed her shoulders and stroked the hair out of her face until she drank half the water. Maybe it was weird to be touching her in such a familiar way, but he couldn’t stop. If he could soothe her, or make her smile again, he’d know she was okay. From the way she leaned toward him, she didn’t seem to mind his touch.

  “Are you okay now?” he asked, ignoring the two camera crews surrounding them. She nodded, biting her lip. Damn, she was sweet. And close enough to kiss.

  Her producer stepped up behind him. “Ready to go, Gina?”

  Wait, she was leaving? Already?

  Their eyes met. Stone wanted to ask her to stay, to do the whole thing over. He wouldn’t act like such a robot this time, and they’d nix the bear interruption. They’d dance on the porch and laugh, like they weren’t surrounded by other people. Like they weren’t being paid to talk to each other.

  But what was the point? He’d be in Los Angeles soon enough. Their initial meeting was over. The crews had the footage they wanted. It was time for her to go. This place wasn’t for her. Better that she leave now, before the Living Wild crew came up with some other way to traumatize her. She should go back to the city where she belonged.

  Stone pulled on a sweater and followed them through the forest to the beach. One of the Living Wild helicopters waited for them on the sandy spit. They loaded Gina in and took off, soaring away over the water.

  After the helicopter and the seaplane were gone, Miguel kept Stone on the beach for a reaction interview.

  “What did you think of Gina?” Miguel prompted.

  Fuck. What did he think of her? In reality TV, it was hard to know what was real and what wasn’t, and she’d left him with a contradictory mess of impressions.

  Most of all, he was a dick for scaring her.

  Miguel was waiting. Stone went with something non-committal. “Gina was cool. For a city girl.”

  Miguel’s eyes lit. “Explain.”

  Stone shrugged. “Most people aren’t used to the way we live at Nielson HQ. Things are wild out here.”

  “Do you think Gina will want to come back to visit?”

  “I can’t imagine Gina will ever want to visit again, not after the bear thing. People from the lower forty-eight aren’t cut out for Alaska. There’s no Hollywood or Disneyland. We don’t have manicures or hair salons.” He held up his hands to show his dirty fingernails, remembering the way Gina had stared at his hands when he’d shown her the axe.

  What must she have thought of him?

  Building steam, he kept going. “This way of life is too difficult for most folks. They can’t hack it.”

  “Are you looking forward to moving to LA for rehearsals?”

  Not at all. Being on The Dance Off required him to live in Los Angeles for however long he lasted in the competition. It could be months.

  “I’m going to miss my family, for sure,” Stone said, since he couldn’t admit how much he was dreading the move. “And all of this.” He spread his arms wide to encompass the beauty and nature surrounding them. “Who wouldn’t? It’s beautiful here.”

  “Are you nervous about learning to dance?”

  Like he was going to answer that. With his hands on his hips, Stone smirked a little, posturing for the camera. “I scared off a bear today. You think there’s anything in Los Angeles that could scare me?”

  Miguel sighed. “Is that the best you can do?”

  Stone threw up his hands. “What do you want me to say? That I’m glad my partner is terrified of me? I’m sure it’s going to make my experience in Los Angeles so much easier, thanks.”

  “Relax. It was a great scene. You played it perfectly.” Miguel conferred with the rest of the team to come up with better answers for Stone.

  The break gave him time to rein in his anger. It was useless, anyway. He’d signed up for this bullshit. He’d known what he was getting into.

  It’s not forever. That’s what he told himself when the pressure, the cameras, and the manipulation got to him. It’s not forever.

  When Miguel came back to him, Stone dialed down the sarcasm, listened to their notes, and dutifully recited his lines back to the camera. After a few more questions, he got the signal his family was returning soon.

  Back at Nielson HQ, Stone dropped onto one of the benches surrounding the fire pit. He scrubbed a hand over his face. This whole thing was a fucking disaster. There had to be other reality competition shows he could join that would earn him enough to pay his mother’s medical bills. What happened to the show where people ate bugs? He could do that.

  Since the cameras were still rolling, he started a fire, then sat back to sharpen one of his hunting knives. It was the kind of b-roll footage they could intersperse in any episode or commercial.

  Stone heard his family coming long before he saw them. Reed and Raven had loud, carrying laughs, and Wolf was prone to howling. It wasn’t for show—it was just Wolf, living up to his name.

  Living Wild had picked up the nine Nielsons in a package deal. Jimmy and Pepper Nielson had seven children with names inspired by the natural world. Four boys, followed by three girls: Reed, Stone, Wolf, Winter, Raven, Violet, and Lark. When Jimmy approached the network with his pitch, it had been too good for the producers to pass up.

  Stone’s shoulders tensed as his family entered the clearing. Cameras stood at the ready to catch the barrage of questions.

  Wolf approached first, giving Stone a slap on the back. “Bro, who’d you get?”

  Stone kept his attention on the knife. “Gina.”

  Whoops and hollers followed, which would have happened no matter which female dancer he’d been assigned.

  His mother, Pepper, sat beside him on the rough-hewn bench. “What was she like? Was she nice?”

  “Yeah, she was nice.” Before he’d pulled out a gun and scared the wits out of her. “She’s a city girl, though. We saw a bear, and she left early.”

  Reed snickered. “Girls like her are bear bait.”

  They teased him a bit more, and he tuned most of it out, like he always did. When the cameras shifted away to follow Reed and Wolf’s antics, Jimmy sat on Stone’s other side and spoke into his ear, even though the lavalier microphone he wore picked up everything. The editors would cut out whatever didn’t match the Living Wild narrative.

  “Don’t get too close to that dancer,” Jimmy said. “And keep your mouth shut. You’re a terrible liar. If you let something slip, this whole house of cards is gonna fall. I’d send Reed if I could, but they wanted you.”

  Stone’s guts turned to ice at his father’s words. Still, ice was better than red-hot fury, which had grown harder to ignore as of late. He’d done everything they’d asked of him for Living Wild, leaving behind the life he’d built in Juneau. Since when was being a bad liar something to be criticized for? Sure, Reed was better at acting the role of the cool off-the-grid survivalist, but he also had a drug problem. Sending him to Los Angeles would be a disaster.

  Stone kept his tone mild. “Gina and I have nothing in common. We won’t have anything to talk abo
ut, aside from our dances.”

  “Good. We’ve got a good thing going here. Don’t need you screwing it up.” Jimmy heaved himself to his feet and ambled off to steal the spotlight.

  Pepper patted Stone’s knee. “Just stay quiet, honey. You’re good at that.”

  “Yeah. Sure.” He was “the quiet one,” after all. The responsible one.

  Miguel gestured for Stone to get up. “Let’s get some shots of you practicing those waltz moves with your sisters. And try to look excited about this, okay? We’re going to do a lot of cross-promo to build ratings from the network exposure.”

  While the camera operators buzzed on the periphery like all-seeing, ever-present gnats, Stone summoned a smile he didn’t feel and twirled the girls around the bonfire in the gathering dusk.

  In a few short days, he’d be in Los Angeles, twirling Gina. He had to find a way to apologize for the bear without cluing her in to the truth.

  * * *

  Gina used the helicopter ride to pull herself together. At least it wasn’t a hot air balloon, like she’d joked. By the time the crew arrived at the Glacier Valley Inn, she was ready to film her reaction interview on the wooden deck outside the dining room. It overlooked sparkling water and an island full of huge evergreen trees. They stood tall and straight, their pointed tops spearing toward the picturesque sky.

  Behind her, the sun set over the inlet, painting the sky above the mountains in vivid streaks of orange, pink, and deep purple. It was without a doubt the most beautiful sunset she’d ever witnessed, but after her encounter with Stone, all she wanted to do was hole up inside her hotel room and decompress.

  God, Stone must think she was some kind of hysterical female. Not the image she wanted to project anywhere, on camera or off, and especially not with her new partner. Her new hot partner.

  Once she was finally set free—and they’d removed her mic—Gina retreated to her room. She wanted to call her family, but she’d be too tempted to tell them about her experience, and she wasn’t allowed to divulge the identity of her celebrity partner until the cast reveal on Morning Mix in a few weeks.

  Still, there was one person she could tell. After washing her face and changing into sweats, Gina initiated a video chat with Natasha Díaz, her roommate and fellow pro dancer on The Dance Off. Propping the phone on the pillows, Gina stretched out on the bed and waited for Natasha to pick up.

  After a few seconds, Tash’s smiling face filled the screen on Gina’s phone.

  “Hey, Gina G.” Natasha’s long curly hair was pulled into a high bun and she wore her glasses, which meant she was in for the night. “Cuentame. Who did you get?”

  Gina rubbed her temples. “Girl, you are not going to believe what happened to me today.”

  When Gina finished, Natasha’s eyes were wide behind her glasses and she pushed her face close to the camera. “A bear? You’re shitting me, right?”

  “A motherfucking bear.”

  Natasha shook her head. “Where the hell are you?”

  “Somewhere in Alaska. Near Juneau.”

  “Where’s that?”

  Gina shrugged. “Hell if I know.”

  “Okay, enough about the bear and Alaska. Get to the good stuff. Is he hot?”

  With a groan, Gina flopped over onto her side. “Super hot. Like steam rising in the cold air off his ridiculously huge muscles hot. I’m not convinced he’s a real person.”

  “Mmm.” Natasha licked her lips. “I can’t wait to meet him. Especially since you won’t make a move. Not after that whole fiasco with dumbass Ruben.”

  “Don’t remind me. I think they’re setting me up for a showmance. And we just gave them a ton of footage.”

  “Shit, they should have paired him with me if that’s what they want.”

  Gina pinched the bridge of her nose. “Part of me can’t believe the producers did that, and the other part totally believes it. I bet you anything it was Donna’s idea.”

  “Fucking Donna.” Natasha tsked. “Still, what’s the worst that could happen if you go along with it?”

  “The worst?” Gina blew out a breath. “The worst would be playing into the ‘sexy Latina’ stereotype, setting a bad example for my nieces, and losing out on future jobs because they think I’m unprofessional.”

  “Everyone in this industry sleeps with each other. Hell, I do it all the time.”

  “It’s different when it’s private. An onscreen showmance makes it the most interesting thing about us. Stone and I will be able to create exciting storylines without it. He’s used to reality TV. He knows how this works.”

  “Whatever you say. You might change your mind when you hear who Kevin got.”

  Gina groaned. “Is this going to make me mad?”

  “Yup.”

  “Tell me anyway.”

  “An Olympic figure skater.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Of course Kevin got the Olympian. “That guy has the best freaking luck. I’ve got a wilderness survivalist who’s more comfortable with a gun than dancing in hold.”

  “Don’t worry about it so much. Once you’re both in LA, you’ll be on your own turf. He can’t bring a gun to rehearsal.” Natasha exhaled with a huff. “At least you’ve met him. I don’t find out who my partner is for another couple of days. I’m itching to get started.”

  “Me too.” As beautiful as the forty-ninth state was, Gina was ready to say goodbye to Alaska and get back to Los Angeles.

  A showmance was out of the question. It had the huge potential to backfire on her. She’d seen it before when fans, pissed off by the “will they or won’t they” dynamic, stopped voting for the couple in question. Every step of her career, she’d succeeded through talent and hard-earned skill, and she would do the same with Stone.

  All she had to do now was turn a mountain man into a ballroom dance champion.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Butterflies quickstepped in Gina’s belly as she waited for Stone to arrive for their first rehearsal. Freaking out over a bear was not the kind of first impression she’d wanted to make, and it would suck if things were weird between them. Natasha was right, though. They were on her turf now, and she was determined to come across as professional and in control.

  Gina practiced a few moves in front of the mirrors in the rehearsal room they would use for the rest of the season. Some of the other pros had started to practice already. Natasha had met her partner—star football player Dwayne Alonzo, fresh off the Super Bowl—the previous morning for a short rehearsal. According to Tash, Dwayne was good-looking, but boring.

  Maybe Stone would turn out to be boring. That would certainly make things easier on a personal level, although it wouldn’t help their chemistry as partners. As she did a few foxtrot steps, Gina squinted at her feet, picturing Stone’s much longer stride. She had her work cut out for her.

  The door opened, revealing Stone in all his rugged Adonis-like glory. His long hair was pulled back in a man-bun—a style she’d never thought sexy until that moment—and he wore navy basketball shorts and a white v-neck tee. As he entered the room, the camera crew followed him in.

  Gina suppressed a dreamy sigh. It was highly inconvenient to have such an attractive partner. Meeting him in the middle of a forest had made him appear almost otherworldly. A few days in LA had convinced her he couldn’t really be as handsome and muscular as she remembered. Seeing him here, in the most mundane of settings and outfits, yet still larger than life and stupidly handsome, was like a slap in the face to her libido.

  Haha, his body seemed to say. I really am that sexy. Deal with it, suckah.

  Whatever. She’d danced with plenty of good-looking men. Granted, many of them had slim dancers’ builds, but so what? She could be an adult about this. Even though she wanted to giggle like a thirteen-year-old meeting her favorite boy band.

  Yikes. She needed to get a grip. The overhanging threat of the showmance meant she had to keep herself in check.

  “Hey there.” Trying for nonchalance, she strolled
over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, as she did with all her friends. As if the scent of him—pine and fresh air and man—didn’t make her want to close her eyes and breathe deep. She pulled back, ignoring the urge to roll around in his warmth like a big fuzzy blanket.

  Looking into eyes the same blue as clear Alaska skies, it took her a minute to find her wit. “My goodness, you’re big. How tall are you exactly?”

  He scratched the back of his head. “Six-seven.”

  “Shoot.” Gina cringed. “Sorry. It’s just . . . you’re even taller than my initial estimate. I’m five-foot-six, and it’s a challenge to choreograph a dance in hold when the partners have such a huge height difference.” She grinned to put him at ease, like her nervous babbling was normal. “Don’t worry. I’m an excellent choreographer, and I wouldn’t have gotten this far if I were afraid of high heels.”

  He eyed her feet and his brow furrowed. “Are those . . . high-heeled sneakers?”

  She lifted a foot to show him the side view. “They’re wedge high tops.”

  “You can dance in those things?”

  “Dude, I can dance in anything.”

  “I’m not sure I can.” He cast a skeptical glance down at his own feet, clad in shiny black dance shoes.

  Gina bit her lip, searching for a reply that couldn’t be misconstrued in editing. Ballroom dance required intimacy, and they didn’t have long to form a bond as partners. As much as their initial meeting had unsettled her, Gina was the expert here. It was up to her to make him comfortable, even though just looking at him gave her butterflies.

  Fucking butterflies. Jeez.

  “How are you settling in?” she finally asked. “Did you have a good flight?”

  He shrugged, the fabric of his t-shirt pulling tight over the muscles. “Uneventful flight. The hotel is nice. Different from what I’m used to.”

  She sent him a teasing grin. “I can’t imagine a bear is going to pop out from behind the ice machine.”