by Lucy Kevin
“Christian, I was just calling to make sure that you got to the island okay.”
“Thanks for checking on me,” he said, still smiling. He’d accepted a long time ago that no matter how many birthdays he’d had, his mother would always worry about him. His father had left when Christian was a young boy, and she’d been the best single mother in the world. “Sorry, I meant to phone earlier, but I got caught up on a business call.”
“I know you need to prepare for your big new movie role, honey, but I sure am going to miss you this Christmas.”
He was going to miss spending Christmas with her, too. It was why he had made sure that his mother would be surrounded by her siblings and their families over the holidays during his absence. Family, he knew, was very important.
“I’m going to miss you, too,” he said. “In fact, if dance practice goes well, maybe I could squeeze in—”
His mother cut him off. “If you’re going to be the next Fred Astaire, you’re going to need every second of those classes you’re taking on the island.” Her voice softened. “And I just know you’re going to do a fabulous job, honey.”
“Thanks again for calling, Mom.” He thought he heard footsteps coming from inside the house. “I’m about to meet Morgan Walker and her family for dinner, though, so I’ve got to go.”
“You’re at Morgan Walker’s home?” his mom asked.
“Actually, I’m at the house she grew up in, but I believe her whole family will be there.”
“Christian, you know that I am just about her biggest fan ever!” For a moment, she sounded like an awed schoolgirl. One who never missed an episode of Morgan’s show. “How could you not tell me this?”
Right then, the front door swung open to reveal Paige standing in the foyer. Wearing dark jeans and a pretty light blue sweater, she looked simply stunning.
She smiled at Christian...at least until she saw the cell phone pressed to his ear. Her smile faded as she gestured that he should come in when he was ready, then she turned and walked away.
“You have to get me Morgan’s autograph, Christian,” his mom said, now in high gear. “Or, better yet, let me talk to her. You know how much I love her show.” When he didn’t answer right away, his mother continued with, “I’m sure she won’t mind. She seems so nice on TV, and if her family is anything like her, they’ll all be just as nice, won’t they?”
Christian couldn’t help but think about Paige. Of how fresh and pretty she’d looked back at the theater. And the smile she’d given him just now before it had faded. “Yes,” he agreed. “Yes, they are very nice.”
Morgan walked into the foyer a few moments later, smiling in greeting. “Hold on a second, Mom.” Covering the phone with one hand, he said, “Morgan, I’m sorry to do this in the middle of a family occasion, but would you mind speaking to my mother for a few moments? She’s a big fan.”
Morgan laughed at that. “Your mother’s a big fan of mine?”
“Huge.”
But Morgan had already reached for the phone and was saying, “Hello, Ms. Greer. Angie, of course…no, it’s no problem. It’s absolutely lovely to get to speak to you.”
Christian listened as Morgan laughed at something his mother said. Probably some story about him as a kid. Like all mothers, she tended to come out with those at exactly the moments when they would be the most embarrassing. Eventually, Morgan said good-bye to his mom and handed the phone back to him.
“Now, honey,” his mother said, “you will make sure to get Morgan’s autograph for me, won’t you? You won’t forget?”
“No, Mom, I won’t forget. I love you. I’ll call you later.” He hung up and turned back to Morgan. “Can I ask one more favor? Can I get your autograph for her before I leave tonight?”
“Absolutely. I’m so flattered.” Christian followed Morgan into a large living room filled with people. “Now that I’ve chatted with your mom, come meet my father, Tres. He’s your biggest fan.”
“It’s great to meet you, Christian,” Tres said as he shook Christian’s hand. “Thanks for joining us for dinner.”
“The pleasure is all mine.”
The Walker family was very warm and welcoming, if a little on the large side. He was wondering where Paige had disappeared to when Morgan began to introduce him to everyone else. In addition to her father and Paige, there were three other Walker sisters and an assortment of boyfriends and husbands, as well as their grandmother, Ava, whom everyone called Grams. Christian was definitely going to have to be on his game to keep all the names straight tonight.
As they all began to take their places at the large dining table, he was glad to see that he had been seated next to Paige. Very glad.
She wasn’t anything like the models and actresses he spent so much time around. No doubt that was part of the reason he wanted to get to know her better. But it wasn’t nearly the entire reason. Nor was the fact that they needed to get along so that they would be dancing well together by the time the studio sent an entertainment news crew to the island for a publicity shoot.
No, it was simply that from the very first moment he’d seen Paige in the dance studio, his heart had all but stopped in his chest.
She was beautiful. Breathtakingly, heart-stoppingly beautiful. The kind of beauty Christian thought he ought to be used to after spending years around some of the best-looking actresses in television. Yet, next to Paige, none of those women measured up. Paige had the same blond hair and elegantly crafted features as Morgan, but there was something else there, too. Something that made her look astonishing even in simple dance leggings and glasses.
What was it about her? Her porcelain skin? Her innate poise and elegance? Her sky-blue eyes? Christian could certainly think of several co-stars who would happily sell their souls for looks as perfect as Paige’s.
Maybe that was a part of it, too. There were plenty of beautiful people in Hollywood, and at the TV studios in Seattle, but few, if any of them, seemed so sweet, or to possess such a sense of decency and gentleness. None of the actresses he knew, for example, would have ever worn dance leggings and a ponytail backstage during a show. On the contrary, they would have been busy making sure that the whole occasion was about them. Whereas Paige had quite obviously wanted to make sure that everything ran as smoothly as possible for the kids. He’d even spotted her backstage, helping out a girl who’d hurt her foot.
Finally, Paige came back into the living room. And as he held out her seat for her—her eyes going wide as she realized she was going to be sitting next to him throughout dinner—he suddenly couldn’t help but wonder if this week in Walker Island would change his life forever.
CHAPTER THREE
“Is it true that Jimmy Zhang actually gets faint at the sight of blood?” Paige’s father asked Christian.
“You really are a fan of the show if you know about that, Tres,” Christian replied with a smile. “The first week we were shooting, it looked like he might have to quit the show, because even though it’s fake blood it looks pretty darn real. But he’s such a great actor that the writers came up with the idea of making his character an infectious-diseases specialist who can’t stand to look at blood, or anything even the slightest bit gross. Of course, by that point Jimmy had spent the week training himself to get over it.”
Paige nibbled at her food, barely tasting it, though she’d been starved by the time she’d left the dance studio. She was surprised to note just how effortlessly charming and gracious Christian was as he made her father laugh with the insider information about the TV show before turning to speak to her grandmother.
“I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere before, Ava.”
“I bet you say that to all the girls, dear,” her grandmother replied with a twinkle in her eyes.
Christian laughed, before saying, “I’ve just remembered, there was a documentary about the island, wasn’t there? I caught it at Sundance.”
“The documentary was mostly about Hanna and Joel,” Grams insisted. “Althou
gh I do seem to be getting quite a bit of fan mail. What do you do with your fan mail, Christian?”
“It’s hard to stay on top of it,” Christian admitted, “but I figure that if they can take the time to write to me, I can take the time to reply. And it helps that a lot of people are getting in touch through social media these days. It means I can keep the conversation going.”
Yet again, Paige was surprised by his response. She’d expected him to say that he had people to take care of his pesky fans. After all, he was a really famous TV star. Surely he had assistants for that and for everything else, too.
Then again, when she’d seen him standing on the front step, hadn’t she been wrong to assume he was talking to his agent about some new big-money role? Who would have guessed that he would be talking to his mother? And that she would be putting him on the grill about getting Morgan’s autograph. He’d sounded like anyone who was trying to please their mother.
It had been kind of cute, actually.
“I’ve noticed that same thing ever since Michael got me online. It’s amazing the way we all end up having a big group conversation,” Grams said. “I’m also amazed that people from the strangest places seem to want to ask me about my dancing back when I was young.”
“So, dancing runs in the family?”
Paige noted that he seemed genuinely content to listen as Grams explained how she had worked as a dancer in Seattle and how their grandfather had been so supportive when she’d wanted to start the dance school here on the island.
“If Paige has any trouble with you, perhaps you’ll find me taking over your dance instruction,” Grams joked.
Christian looked over at Paige then, and her breath caught in her throat when she realized how deep and intense his gaze was. He hadn’t looked at anyone else that way tonight, she realized.
Only her.
“I don’t plan on giving Paige any problems beyond my two left feet. Hopefully, I’ll end up being the best dance student she’s ever had.”
Paige had heard a few horror stories from Morgan about actors who wouldn’t follow direction or who didn’t seem to understand that they had to make some kind of effort beyond looking pretty. But she knew she needed to at least try to give Christian the benefit of the doubt despite the fact that, on the surface with his standard red carpet shots and paparazzi snaps, everything about him said typical A-list type.
“I’m glad to hear you’re excited about getting started with our lessons,” she said softly. When he smiled at her, the heat in his gaze had her nearly stuttering on her next far-too-true words. “I am, too.”
A short while later, as the plates were being cleared away to make room for dessert, Christian asked, “Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to make one quick phone call.”
“Your mother again?” Morgan joked.
“Actually, it’s my nephew’s birthday tomorrow, and since I know he’ll be busy with his friends all day, I figure tonight is my best chance to get him to pick up the phone so that I can wish him a happy birthday.”
Paige could practically hear her sisters sigh at how sweet that was. Heck, she was barely managing to hold back her own sigh at this point.
In an effort to think about something—or someone—other than Christian and how great he’d been all night, Paige asked Rachel and her daughter, Charlotte, about their recent experiences surfing off Bondi Beach in Australia. Paige loved the way Charlotte talked her usual enthusiastic million miles an hour as she explained all about how she’d quickly managed to learn to stand up on her surfboard and was now an even better surfer than her mom.
“It sounds amazing,” Paige told them, and it did. In Nicholas, her sister had not only found a man who loved her more than anything, she’d also found a whole new, exciting life for her and Charlotte that had both of them sparkling with happiness.
“Nicholas is really famous,” Charlotte informed her. “Everyone always wants to say hello and get his autograph. And mine and mommy’s, too, now that we’re a part of his TV show.”
Paige stroked a hand over her niece’s hair as she asked her sister, “Do you ever find that it gets a bit much, with people always recognizing Nicholas and now both of you, too?”
“They’re mostly very sweet about it,” Rachel assured her. “Besides, he’s so good with his fans and deserves the attention.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Paige said, before laughing and adding, “although you know me, I just can’t see why anyone would want to be famous.”
“You can’t?” Christian asked as he re-entered the dining room.
Just looking at his handsome face had Paige’s mind going blank for a moment before she managed to reply, “People coming up to me in the street?” She grimaced. “I would hate that.”
“Morgan doesn’t have a problem with it,” Rachel pointed out. “And Grams is enjoying all the attention she’s been getting thanks to Hanna’s documentary.”
“Yes, well, Morgan was always meant for the spotlight, and Grams used to be a dancer. They’re both used to it.” All that attention would be absolute purgatory for Paige.
“But you’re a dancer, Paige,” Christian commented. “So aren’t you used to being in the spotlight, too?”
“No, I’m a dance teacher. It’s not the same as performing.” To deflect his gaze that seemed to see too deeply into her, Paige said, “Brian is also a teacher. He teaches science at the high school and is also the football coach.”
“I’ve always wondered what it must be like to be a teacher,” Christian said to Morgan’s fiancé.
“It’s what I always wanted to do,” Brian told him. “Although I’m sure it can’t be any harder than your job. I’ve seen Morgan working.”
“I think her job is a little harder than acting, to be honest,” he said modestly. “Mostly, I just memorize my lines, stand around until they’re ready to start the scene, and then hit my mark.”
“But you love it, don’t you?” Emily guessed.
“I do,” Christian replied with a smile for Paige’s oldest sister. “Which is good, because I’m not sure that I’d be much good at anything else.”
“That’s how I’ve always felt about being a guidance counselor. Even as a little girl, I used to want to help everyone plan out their lives,” she said with a laugh.
“It must be so rewarding watching the kids you’ve worked with go on to succeed in life.”
“It really is,” Emily agreed. As Paige watched, Christian easily got Emily talking about her favorite students and how much she loved helping them figure out their passion and then go for it.
“Your grandfather opened the school, didn’t he?”
“You’ve done your research, haven’t you?” Paige could tell Emily was impressed.
“I always like to know something about the places I’m going to be spending time.”
Christian continued to work his way around the table, asking several questions about what Hanna was filming at the moment for her newest documentary. Inevitably, they got into a discussion about different ways of shooting scenes and the way Hanna would want to change some of the camera angles if she were directing Seattle General Medical.
“Sometimes it seems like they’re trying to do clever things, going for that reality TV look, but it seems like those things tend to date rather quickly,” Hanna said. “I wonder if they’d be better off doing more of the simple shots that give the scene time to breathe. Especially since your show is more about the acting and the story than trying to compress action with the camera.”
It was amazing how easily everyone in her family was opening up to him, Paige thought. And when Christian shifted his gaze to her, yet again it struck her that even just the way he looked at her was undeniably sexy, and full of male appreciation.
Not that any of that mattered, of course. The two of them would be the worst couple in history, with one needing the spotlight and the other absolutely abhorring it.
“Ever since I’ve taken on this role,” he said t
o her, “people have been telling me how much dance technique I’ll need to absorb. But I think what I’m missing most of all is the philosophy of dancing. What dancing means to people. And why dancers are so passionate about doing it.”
For Paige, dance was everything. Dance was the sense of freedom it gave her, even when she was doing precise pre-determined movements. Dance was being able to express feelings with her body that were so much harder to say with words. Dance was beauty, emotion, and a gently flowing power all at once.
But how could she say that to Christian Greer? Especially while they were at dinner with her entire family?
“I’ve always loved to dance,” she finally said in a soft voice. “It’s a part of me that I don’t think I could live without.”
“They all danced young,” Tres added, “but Paige was the only one who stuck with it and followed in my mother’s footsteps.”
From the way Christian looked at her then, she thought he might be about to reach for her. Maybe to touch her hand or stroke her cheek. And it was the realization of how badly she wanted him to do that that had her jumping up out of her seat and saying, “Excuse me, I’d better go get dessert for everyone.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Christian knew he should let Paige disappear into the kitchen to let the heat that was growing between them cool down. But he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this intrigued by a woman. One who came from such a great family but was so different from all of the people she was related to at the same time.
What, he wanted to know, had shaped Paige into the woman she was today? Ava had obviously helped raised all of the Walker girls, but Paige was the only one who had followed in her dancing footsteps. At least part of the way, into teaching.
Was there any part of Paige that longed to be on stage performing? Or was the spotlight truly that horrible to her?
And if so, why?
“I’ll go and give Paige a hand,” Christian said, standing.
“You’re our guest,” Emily said, starting to stand up herself. “I’ll go.”