What was his relationship with Harlow Duquesne? The woman was stunning and as close to royalty as it got in the United States. But Mason said she recently married. What was his connection? If he was with her, that meant he’d be here through the opening night at least. Maybe she’d run into him again. The thought made her happy.
“Quit smiling,” Rose barked.
With a roll of her eyes, she obeyed. Though Rose was a few years younger, she had no problem ordering people around like a drill sergeant. But she was a true Picasso with her brushes. She could transform even the ugliest duckling into a swan.
Brandi the Hairstyling Queen, as she called herself, breezed in with her big bag of products and proceeded to brush, curl and tease Cassidy’s hair into submission. Normally, all of this would happen in the bungalow outside that housed Rose, Brandi, several other technicians and all their equipment, but everything was different on the day when partners met for the first time. She had to stay inside her studio and wait her turn. As the defending champion, she was the last to meet her new partner for the season.
Rose and Brandi finished, and she knew without looking at a mirror that they had worked their magic.
“Cassidy, I need you to come here,” Shelly Moore, the segment producer said. She pushed to her feet and walked over to where Shelly indicated, standing with her back to the door.
“Are we ready?” Shelly asked into her headset. “Good. Let him in.”
Cassidy held her breath. This was the most nerve-wracking part of the whole production. Sure, the first critique after the first dance was hard, as was every single elimination, but this meeting would set the tone for the entire run of the show. If she was partnered with someone who didn’t give his full effort, it would be a long, grueling season. If she got someone like Antwaan, her last partner, the weeks would fly by. Antwaan had been a sponge, soaking up everything she taught him and then squeezing out a rousing performance. She’d loved coming to the studio to teach him moves. He was a natural.
She hoped she was lucky enough to draw someone with a fraction of Antwaan’s commitment. She knew some of the other dancers thought she was the favored one, always getting the best celebs. But that wasn’t the case. Russell Ingram and his staff were fair and didn’t play favorites. Still, that didn’t stop Irina and some of the others from complaining, sometimes vehemently.
Her second year on the show, she’d been paired with a former child sitcom star who’d been out of the business for a few years. He’d packed on the pounds and from her initial meeting, she assumed he had two left feet. But he’d worked extremely hard, taping every session so he could go home and practice. He lost weight, gained confidence and won over America and the judges for a top three performance. He wasn’t the best dancer, but he was one of the hardest working ones. In her thinking, it wasn’t just the talent of the partner, it was up to the professional to draw the best from their celeb. Irina had never finished higher than fourth. Telling.
The door opened—this was it. She spun around to find out who she’d be dancing with this season.
“OMG, I hit the jackpot! I got Cassidy! Somebody, pinch me! I must be dreaming!”
She pasted on an excited smile, not immediately recognizing the face. He was young, maybe early twenties, with a complexion that hinted at mixed heritage and curly brown hair. His green eyes sparkled and his teeth were white as snow. He was absolutely adorable. She pretended to recognize him while silently urging Shelly to hurry the heck up and make the introductions.
“Cassidy Swain,” Shelly introduced on cue, “meet your partner, Trey Holiday, the star of Disney’s hit show, Trey Chic, and lead singer of the rock band Slam.”
“Trey, I’m so happy to meet you,” she enthused as she hugged him. He was a good height, maybe six foot, with a lean swimmer’s build. She couldn’t wait to mold him into a dancer. “So tell me, Trey, do you have any dancing experience?”
“Besides the hip hop clubs?” His smile flashed. “Nothing formal.” He did a quick footwork sequence that was pretty damn good.
She smiled at him, excitement bubbling in her veins. “Well, Trey, welcome to the new season of Dancing With the Celebrities. We’re going to have so much fun.”
#
Mason found the correct room and slid inside, doing his best to stay out of camera range as he eased his way to Sawyer.
“Where did you disappear to?” His coworker didn’t even look at him, his sole focus was on his wife as she glided across the floor.
“To the SUV for some ibuprofen.”
Sawyer did look at him this time, his gaze filled with concern. “Headache?”
Mason shrugged a shoulder. “Mild one.”
“I pushed too hard, didn’t I? You should still be recovering.”
Mason scoffed. “I’m fine. It just comes and goes, nothing major. It doesn’t affect my ability to do my job.”
Sawyer studied him and then slowly nodded. “You’ll tell me if it’s too much?”
“Absolutely.”
Satisfied with the answer, Sawyer turned his attention back to his wife and Mason breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to be removed from the case. Not only because he knew he could handle it, but he’d just found the woman he’d dreamed of for the past two weeks. Cassidy Swain. Pulling out his phone, he did a quick search. He read the first few listings, suitably impressed. She was better than good—she was the star of the show. She’d won a couple of times and seemed to be the face of the show, making appearances and attending events. He clicked over to photos. There were several of her dancing, some posing with children and adults alike. She was smiling in each one and the others in the pictures looked awed to be in her presence.
Damn, he was intrigued.
What had she been doing in Bloomington? He navigated to the official Dancing With the Celebrities website that listed her background. His brows raised. She was originally from there. She’d graduated from Julliard, despite traveling the country and the world with her partner, Colin Rafferty, in competitive dance events. They’d won several titles. The more he read, the more impressed he was with her talent. True, he’d never considered dancing much of a sport before, but watching Harlow and Cassidy, he’d changed his mind.
Harlow came jogging over, a huge smile on her face. She launched herself at Sawyer and he caught her easily in his lap.
“This is so much fun!”
“Babe, you’re phenomenal,” Sawyer said before kissing her silly.
Mason rolled his eyes. Newlyweds.
Harlow nudged him to get his attention and he was happy to note they’d managed to separate their lips. He was beginning to think they were permanently attached. “What do you think, Mason?”
“I agree with Sawyer. You’re a natural.”
Her grin was brilliant. “Thanks. I’m lucky to have been paired with such a great partner.”
“Speaking of,” Sawyer growled. “If his hands drift lower again, I’m going to rip them off and feed them to him for lunch.”
Harlow gave her husband a stern look. “No harming my partner. You promised.”
“So I can’t shoot him?”
“No, dear. You can’t shoot him.”
“I’ll take care of it for you,” Mason whispered out of the side of his mouth. Sawyer held up a hand for a fist bump.
“Neither of you can shoot my partner,” she clarified with a not-amused shake of her head. When Sawyer opened his mouth, she cut him off with, “No stabbing, no kneecapping, no waterboarding, no harming him at all.”
Sawyer gave a disgruntled huff.
“Harlow, darling, are you ready to resume?”
“Darling,” Sawyer rumbled.
“Coming.” With one last kiss to her husband, and a command to behave, she bounded off his lap and jogged over to Marcus. He explained the next sequence and before long, they were gliding across the floor again. The ever-present cameraman followed their movements. Actually, calling the person with the camera a man was a stretch. Kid was mo
re like it. He looked like he was still in high school. If not for the full-sleeve tats that covered both of his arms, hands and fingers, he could’ve passed for a student. Even his neck was inked. He wore a pair of faded jeans, so no telling if his legs were covered, as well. Pretty soon, all that would be left was his face and he’d have to lose quite a few piercings before he hit the tattoo parlor. For the life of him, Mason couldn’t understand why anyone would want a ring in their nose that made them resemble a bull. Or gauges in their ears that created an obscene hole and disfigured them permanently, like camera-kid. Ah, well, to each his own, he supposed. The world would be pretty dull if everyone looked alike.
When Marcus started teaching Harlow another sequence, Mason took out his phone to do some more background digging on the lovely Ms. Cassidy Swain.
Chapter 3
The next afternoon, Cassidy entered the largest practice room, ready to rehearse the group number that award-winning choreographer Marcella DeBois had designed for opening night. Cassidy’s solo would lead off the show, but this piece was scheduled for the start of the second hour of programming. It featured all of the professional dancers and, judging by the various sizes of boxes scattered about, props.
She flipped on the lights and placed her bag on a shelf. She was the first to arrive, as usual. She hated to be late. Her muscles were already warmed up from dancing with Trey all morning. The man had moves! He was a dream to coach and she was looking forward to teaching him new routines each week, if they survived the cuts. Starting with the second week of competition, two couples would be eliminated at the end of each show until only four remained. Those four would be narrowed down to three and then the next night, one. The last two shows of the season aired on back-to-back days.
Dropping to the hardwood floor, she placed one bent leg over the other and twisted to loosen up her back muscles. She’d been both eager and excited to arrive at the studio this morning, and it wasn’t the prospect of dancing with Trey, though that was thrilling. No, the reaction was from the possibility of running into Mason Rossi again. When she failed to spot him roaming the halls, she tried to come up with an excuse to visit Marcus and Harlow’s practice room. She couldn’t come up with any that didn’t make her feel like the stalker she accused Mason of being. She wasn’t even sure if he was in the building or how long he’d be staying. For all she knew, he could be on his way back to Indiana.
The rest of the crew began to filter in, distracting her from her thoughts. She jumped up to hug her compadres, some she hadn’t seen since the final episode last season. She caught up with what had been going on in their lives the last few months. Irina Dubov entered the room alone, striding in like the Queen of England, chest thrust out, head held high. Irina didn’t lack self-confidence. Or arrogance. She did, however, lack friends, except for her sycophant Lacy Brubeck. Cassidy expected Lacy to come bopping in behind Irina, but the door closed with no sign of the other woman. She couldn’t remember a time when the two didn’t arrive together. Maybe they had a falling-out? But no, that wasn’t right. She’d seen Lacy enter Irina’s trailer earlier today. Unless the fight happened in the last few hours, they were still thick as thieves.
The door creaked open and she assumed it was Lacy. Instead, a young woman entered, looking unsure and anxious. Her long, black hair was fastened into a ponytail and her brown eyes nervously scanned the room. Cassidy recognized her immediately. Emma Eto, the winner of the latest Show Us You Can Dance season. Cassidy had been a guest judge one of the weeks and had been impressed with Emma’s range and movements. She was a ballroom dancer who picked up choreography easily and her sunny personality was contagious.
If she was here, that meant she must be a new pro for the season. Did that mean Russell Ingram had finally gotten rid of Lacy? One could hope. Too bad he didn’t pull the plug on Irina, too, but she had a healthy following. She acted sweet and caring on camera, but that was the image she presented to the public. The bitter, back-stabbing, narcissistic bitch had remained off camera for the most part. A couple of times, her true colors appeared, but it didn’t seem to faze her die-hard fans.
Cassidy headed over to Emma to welcome her. When Emma spotted her, her eyes widened in recognition and a smile broke across her face.
“Hi, Emma.”
“Oh my gosh, you remember my name?”
“Of course. Congratulations on your win.” Cassidy hugged her. “You’re a beautiful dancer.”
Emma’s hands covered her face. “Thank you. That means so much to me. I’m about to go all fan-girl on you and ask if I can take a selfie with you?”
“Of course.” Cassidy stuck her head beside Emma while the girl lifted her phone and snapped the picture.
“Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Are you our new dancer?”
“Yes! I still can’t believe it.”
“They like to keep tight-lipped around here, so I didn’t hear about your hiring. Was it part of your winning SUYCD?”
Emma tossed her head back and forth. “No, I was offered the position two weeks ago. I thought someone was punking me.”
Cassidy chuckled. “Well, I’m glad you’re here. Let me introduce you around.”
“Oh wow, thank you.”
Cassidy led her to where Laura Kipling and Crystal Brady were stretching and conversing. She introduced Emma to the two veterans. “Welcome, Emma,” Crystal greeted in her Australian accent.
“We’re happy you’re here,” Laura added.
Four of the men were standing in a circle, talking. Cassidy introduced her to Danny Marconi, Rowan Magnus, Ken Popovich and Stanislov Mayorsky. They all greeted her warmly.
Jamie Dunne was chatting with Marcus Howe and Cassidy sincerely hoped the pretty Irish redhead didn’t fall prey to his charm. He could really turn it on when he locked his sights on a woman. She should know. They welcomed Emma and she didn’t like the leer Marcus gave the young dancer. He was a horn-dog. She’d find a way to discourage Emma if Marcus pursued her.
Last and certainly least were Irina Dubov and Bryan Bergan. They were sitting apart from everyone and their whispering stopped abruptly when Cassidy approached with Emma.
“You have some nerve showing your face here,” Irina spat in her Russian-tinged accent.
Emma came to an abrupt halt and then stepped back. “Excuse me?”
Irina waved a dismissive hand at her. “Not you. Her.” She pointed at Cassidy.
Cassidy was so tired of the other woman’s hostility, especially since she’d done nothing to earn it, except be more successful. “What are you taking about, Irina?”
“It is because of you that Lacy was fired, no? You poisoned Russell against her. Probably when you were rolling around in the sheets. Sucking his—”
“That’s enough, Irina.” Danny Marconi, having overheard, stomped over. “That was totally uncalled for. If you can’t behave and be civil, I’ll talk to Russell myself.”
“Us, too,” the other dancers called out. Even Marcus.
Irina glared at everyone and then turned her hatred at Cassidy again. “I do not care what they say. It is your fault.”
“I had no idea Lacy was no longer a part of the show.” She struggled to keep her voice even, when all she wanted to do was scream at the other woman. A dancer hadn’t been fired since she’d started on the show. There had been a few who hadn’t been asked back. And yes, there was a difference. If Lacy was let go, there was a good reason.
“I do not believe you.”
“That’s not my problem. I came over to introduce you to the newest member of the team, Emma Eto.”
Irina looked Emma up and down, her gaze filled with contempt. “I did not know that they were allowed to dance in China.”
Emma glanced at Cassidy and then at Irina. “Oh, are you talking to me? For your information, I’m American. My heritage is Japanese.”
Irina waved a “what-ever” hand at her. Bryan, the dolt, had remained stubbornly mute. He was a fool. Irina strung him along l
ike a puppy, but she would never date him. Hell, she’d eat him for breakfast if they did go out. Bryan wasn’t the sharpest knife in the utensil drawer.
Cassidy guided Emma away from the duo, not surprised to discover Emma was shaking. She felt their gazes drilling into their backs. She led her to a bench along a wall and then grabbed her hands. “Don’t be upset and don’t let them get to you,” she advised. “Irina is like that to everyone.”
“Oh, I’m upset, alright. I walked away when what I really wanted to do was land a reverse roundhouse kick to her solar plexus. Condescending bitch.”
Cassidy burst out laughing. “I thought she intimidated you. I’m sorry.”
“No, she pissed me off. I never liked her watching the show and now I see why. I didn’t buy into her sweet as honey act.”
“I didn’t either before I came on the show. I wonder how she has so many fans.”
“Probably all men who watch her jiggle her boobs while she prances around in next to nothing.”
Cassidy was still laughing when Crystal came jogging over, a huge smile on her face. She looked first at Emma and then Cassidy. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Sure.” Cassidy stood and moved a few feet away.
“I didn’t want to tell you this in front of the new girl, but guess what? Richie got all that on film. He’s going to show Russell.”
She glanced over at the smirking cameraman. He pulled his face away from the viewfinder to wag his brows. Irina wasn’t popular with the show personnel, either. She was rude to the makeup artists and costume designers, and she was always late. Frankly, it was a wonder she was still around. Having Richie, an unbiased observer, show Russell the tape was good, and it was bad. If it got Irina booted from the show, that would be good. But she would blame Cassidy. That would be bad. The woman had a vicious mean streak.
She didn’t think Russell would fire Irina now since the show officially started with the partner introductions. It’d be too hard to find a replacement who could devote the next few weeks to the show on no notice. Most likely, he’d just not invite her back next season.
Last Dance (COBRA Securities Book 14) Page 3