Page 42 of Unexpected Storms

I dried my hair and told myself that I needed to focus on getting the dance down without breaking anything, and then I could worry about my future love life.

At the hotel, I found Victor, who hugged me tightly. “I think you are going to be pleasantly surprised by your dance partners.”

“Why do you say that?” I asked as I pulled back.

“Clara told me that they have done fantastic in the last two days. Better than she ever expected.”

I sighed. “So, I’m the only one that is going to look stupid then, is that what you are saying?”

He laughed and took hold of my face. “You will look anything but stupid, Ali. You have taken to this routine as if it were designed specifically for you.”

I stared at him sideways. “Why are you trying to butter me up?”

He laughed. “I’m not buttering you up. After you do a few run-throughs today, you’ll get to see it on screen, and you will see that you are better than you thought.”

“Yeah, we’ll see about that.”

While I had done almost the whole dance at one time, today was the first time I had gone from start to finish without pausing. It was exhausting, but also a little exhilarating as people worked on the lighting around us. Victor and I did it three times before Holly pulled me over to a bank of computer monitors and let me watch it.

I was amazed at what I saw. “Holy cow, I actually do look good.”

Victor threw his arm around me. “I told you. You’re better than you think you are.”

I had Holly pause it a few times, and we talked over a couple of moves. I could see where I was slightly stilted and where I needed to add a bit more of a flourish to flirt more openly. After we watched it three times, I went back out, and Victor and I danced two more times.

“How do you feel about it?” Tarin asked on camera.

“About as good as I can. I know the steps, and now I just have to trust the men that I will be dancing with will know them too and not drop me.”

“I don’t think you’ll have a problem with that.” They cut and I was rushed out to make room for my male partner number one. How much I wished I could have peeked into the room to watch him, but I was forced to leave.

As I took a taxi to the restaurant, I found myself smiling. I couldn’t believe that I looked as good as I did. I was no Clara, that’s for sure, but I appeared to know what I was doing, and I looked smooth and sexy while doing it. Now I only had to do it two more times—and make a decision that could be life-altering. No pressure there.

Chapter Fifteen

Harvey

Icouldn’t sit still, so I paced the room. I was in a suite upstairs at the hotel, and I wandered back and forth between the bedroom, bathroom, and the sitting room. Two production staff were seated in the living room area, probably to keep me from jetting out of here.

How many contestants had tried to do that at the last minute—or would I be the first? A knock sounded on the door, and I wandered back into the bedroom area, assuming it was more production staff when I heard my name called and stuck my head around the doorjamb.

Greg was grinning over Maggie’s head as they entered, and behind them were Alex and Lexi, Trevor and Davina, Mike, Alice, Wyatt, Joe, and Jake.

“Damn, the gang’s all here.” I joined the group and collected hugs and back slaps. When I turned, Lexi was studying me carefully.

I raised a brow toward her as I waited for whatever comment was about to come out of her mouth. “They did a nice job on your eyes.”

I chuckled. “You think she will like me without all this makeup on?”

“Oh, please!” Maggie said. “She is going to like you any way you come.”

There were a few twitters around the group, and Alice and Lexi rolled their eyes. “You guys are such little boys sometimes,” Maggie said, then turned to me. “Are you ready to go out there and knock her dead?”

“Jesus, Maggie, don’t say that. I might drop her on her head and kill her.”

She smacked my arm. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

“It could happen.”

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