Page 36 of Watch Me

With heat burning a path through my veins, I burst out of the security office and stalk toward the front door. Del follows close behind.

I intercept Shanna two seconds after she walks in. “Querida,are you all right?”

Shanna lifts her lashes in a skittish glance. “Fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Her guarded tone sets off alarm bells. So she’s trying to push her armor back in place and put distance between us. I frown. Did I push her too hard last night? Or make her feel too guilty?

“When you didn’t arrive at eight-thirty, I was concerned.”

“No need.” When I reach up to help her with her coat, she jerks away. “Don’t. Just wait until…”

“We’re on stage, and I’m supposed to fuck you?”

She swallows and sends me a shaky nod that sears my guts with panic. After tonight, she’s going to turn around and walk out of my life if I don’t think fast.

“Is something wrong?” I gentle my expression.

She looks away. “This is business. You’re doing what you need to do. So am I.”

“Shanna, this isn’t just business or sex to me. I want it to be more than that for you, too.”

She shoots me a wary stare. “Until Saturday, I have to focus on fixing my problem. You want me to dance for the joy of it, not for the trophy. I can’t be joyful if I already know before I dance a step that I can’t win.”

I sigh. I’d hoped I’d gotten through to her during our ice cream date, at least in some small way. But I’ve been deluding myself. She’s determined to shut me out and focus on the prize.

“Not to interrupt, kids,” Del says, “but you need to make your way back to the room so you can get started. Showtime is in eight minutes.”

Resisting the urge to rake a hand through my hair, I gnash my teeth. I need a minute to collect a few props and my thoughts.

“Can you show her to the room?” I ask my business partner. “I’ll be there in five.”

I don’t wait for the answer. I brush past them, into the security corridor, and let the door slam behind me. Dread and anger crash to the bottom of my stomach. Unless I act fast, this could well be my last chance with Shanna. I have three minutes to figure out how to turn her head in my direction, convince her I’m not simply out to save my business or get laid, and persuade her we can be more permanent partners beyond tonight.

Miracle, anyone?

17

Shanna

Del escorts me through the club. I’m aware of people all around me swaying and writhing to the techno music. But my thoughts…Alejandro has a lock on those.

Last night and today, he’s acted as if he cares. Why? I’ve told him over and over that our scenes together are strictly business.

Yeah, did it feel like business when he was deep inside you, making you scream?Or when he fed you ice cream and did his best to understand you?

The man has me so confused. What should have been nothing more than a temporary arrangement for the sake of ferreting out a mutual enemy—and okay, maybe a little mutual pleasure—has suddenly become very tangled. In the space of a few days, I’ve come to think of Alejandro as a fixture in my life. The thought of him no longer being around hurts.

So dangerous. How can I focus on the competition with everything hanging over my head if I have to add new feelings for Alejandro to the mix?

We cross the dance floor and push past a couple panting heatedly and letting their fingers do the walking. He escorts me down a long hallway. At the end, he holds a door open.

One peek inside, and I suck in a surprised gasp. This is a straight-up fantasy! Plush, like a pasha’s palace. Rust, gold, bronze, with accents of black and cream. An enormous bed. Pillows everywhere.

The audience will be bigger in this room. And closer. The odds of someone bringing in a camera are definitely greater.

“We’ve got the security angles covered,” Del assures me before I even open my mouth. “There are cameras all over this place. We’ve spent all day rigging it up. If someone tries to film you here, we’ll nail him.”

He wanders closer. I tense. Truth be told, the man makes me nervous. He’s dark like Alejandro. Both men have a wide streak of bad boy. Alejandro is like a fire, hot and sometimes unpredictable, though never quite tamed. But Del…he seems like a very cool customer. He probably does everything on his terms, in his time, in his way. And shows zero emotion doing it.

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