Page 62 of Flirty Dancing

There were a few murmurs of agreement but Calebrolled his eyes and threw a cheeky salute. “You got it, drill sergeant.”

Grace and a few others tittered.

Mateo’s eyes flashed but his lips curled in a smirk. “You can be a dick, Caleb, just be a dick in this room one hour before showtime.”

Archer fought the smile threatening to creep across his face.

Mateo’s eyes held his for a second, the hard edges maybe softening.

Caleb tilted his chin. “You realize no one actually gives a shit about a tiny rip in a costume?”

Mateo took a step closer to Caleb, his voice quieting to a near-whisper. “That’s fine, Caleb. I just need you in this room not giving a shit one hour before showtime.”

Caleb glowered. “Can we go eat now, or are you going to control that, too?” He took Archer’s hand and pulled him toward the door.

“Just be back—”

“Yeah, I know,one hourbefore showtime. Jesus.”

Archer thought he heard the low rumble of Mateo’s laugh as the door closed behind them.

“What an asshole,” Caleb muttered as he marched up the path.

“Mmm,” Archer said, smile now free in the long evening shadows.

14Things Fall Apart

The next day, Archer was making his way down to the cabin after lunch when he spotted Eileen Lamb waving at him from the expanse of grass by the beach, glowing in her yellow dress. He turned toward her, smiling and waving back.

“Hi, Ms. Lamb!” he called when he got closer. “How are you?”

“Hello, Archer,” she said. “I’m fine, thank you. But… what I want to know is, how areyou?”

Archer frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I’m a bit worried about you. The show has seemed a little… er… ragged the last week or so, hasn’t it? Is everything going okay?”

“Oh.” A stone dropped into Archer’s stomach. He didn’t think the audience would have been able to tell things were getting a touch sloppy. “I guess it has. But, you know, maybe we’re getting a bit too comfortable. We probably won’t ever look as sharp as we did the first week.”

“Hmm.” Her lower lip poked out. “For most of theguests, that will be the one and only show they’ll see, won’t it? It probably should look just as sharp.” She was being kind, but Archer felt terrible. Maybe they hadn’t just been disappointing guests—his Broadway career could hang in the balance. An amateurish resort show wasn’t going to impress any potential connections.

He was trying to muster up a response when she continued. “And is everything okay with Mateo?”

His cheeks flushed. “Er… I guess. We’re not exactly friends, but—”

She cleared her throat politely. “I meantforhim… Is he alright? He seems distant. Or, I don’t know, unhappy in some way.”

Archer didn’t know what to say to that, either.

Eileen tilted her head and smiled. “I wonder if you might want to come for tea with Mateo again? Perhaps I can help.”

“Oh…”

“I don’t mean to stick my nose in, you understand.” She patted Archer’s arm. “But I’ve been around the block a few times. I know a thing or two.”

“Thank you for the invitation. Let me ask him,” Archer said, not expecting it to go well.

It went worse.

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