“Good morning.” Donna joined Jordy off-camera. “I’ll take over from here.”
Donna’s presence had the effect of a bucket of ice water. A cold sweat broke out over Gina’s body, and her muscles stiffened. Again, she wished she could complete the interview far away from Stone. Would he know that he needed to be more careful around Donna? She should have warned him. The woman could smell weakness, and she had a sixth sense for drama. If Donna sniffed out even an inkling of what had happened between them the night before, Gina was ruined.
Luckily, Donna kept most of the questions focused on their upcoming paso doble, which was easy to talk about. The paso was one of Gina’s favorite dances to choreograph forThe Dance Off,and Stone had the potential to deliver a killer performance.
So long as he stopped looking at her the way he had when he entered the room. If he kept that up, she was going to burst into flames before they even filmed episode four. And that would be really hard to hide from Donna.
“Where did you get the idea for your dance?” Donna asked.
“Honestly?” Gina grinned at Stone, recalling his confession about the bear. “The idea came to me after meeting Stone in Alaska.”
“Stone, what do you think about the choreography and the concept?”
He shrugged. “I trust Gina’s vision. She’s the expert. I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a dancer, but we’ve been here…” He cocked his head and met Gina’s eyes as he counted on his fingers. “Five weeks now? And with every dance, she manages to not only teach it to me, but to get me to show emotion. Gina deserves all the credit, and the screw-up last week was totally my fault.”
Donna jumped on that. “Sounds like you have something to prove next week.”
Stone nodded. “Absolutely. I messed up. I have to show what I can do, show the fans we’re living up to their expectations, and I have to do right by Gina.”
Gina’s cheeks heated at his praise. She couldn’t even look at him for fear of a full-out blush. He’d been so dismissive of her workwhen they started. Now, it seemed like he understood and appreciated what she did.
Donna rounded on Gina. “It sounds like it’s going to be a sexy dance.”
Always pushing the showmance. For this dance, though, Gina could throw Donna a bone.
“It will be,” she said. “A bullfight is about dominance, power, and control. In ballroom dance, if it’s between a man and a woman, the male partner usually leads, but in the paso doble, the female dancer gets to have her say. It becomes a sexual dance, the back and forth between invitation and attack as both vie for control. I love this dance—the passion, the power, and the raw sexual dynamics at play. I think the viewers will be very happy with what we bring to the dance floor.”
Donna seemed satisfied by their answers. She consulted with Jordy for a minute, then headed for the door. “Keep up the good work.”
Once she was gone, Stone held out a hand to Gina.
“Ready to dance?” His mild smile was at odds with the fire in his gaze.
Those damn butterflies woke up and did the jitterbug in her belly.
“Sure.” Her answer came out breathy, and she prayed the mic didn’t catch the nuance. She took Stone’s hand and let him lead her to the center of the floor.
How she’d found the strength to let this man leave her apartment last night, she’d never know. Next time, she wouldn’t be so strong.
Which meant there could never be a next time.
Gina clutched Stone’s hand all through the commercial break. They were still breathing hard from delivering a paso doble that felt like fire and sex. Stone had never been more forceful and aggressive in his dancing. He’d mastered the choreography—embodying the role of the “Red-Hooded Woodsman,” as Gina had named him—and conquered Gina’s wolf with every ounce of passion and dominance the paso required.
In addition to the red hood, Stone wore black “leather” pants that made his ass look fantastic, and a red and white lace-up vest that left his muscular arms bare. It was her favorite of all the costumes he’d worn. He looked like an epic fantasy hero brought to life.
Gina was dressed as a sexy wolf, with feral makeup, fake fangs, claws that made it difficult to use her phone, and a furry hood with wolf ears. The rest of her costume consisted of a sparkly gray bra, andThe Dance Off’s typical paso doble bottoms—hot pants with a long, flared skirt attached, to mimic the matador’s cape. Gina had asked the wardrobe department to line her skirt with red, to represent Red Riding Hood’s cloak.
Stone gave her fingers a squeeze, and sent her the same friendly smile and heated gaze he’d been giving her all week. It didn’t make her uncomfortable. She liked knowing he was still interested. But he was too tempting. All their mixed-up emotions and unconsummated attraction had been channeled into the dance. Now that it was over, she was exhausted, and unbelievably turned on.
In her free hand, she held a prop axe. It was reminiscent of their first meeting, so she’d included it in the dance at the beginning and the end. Now, she tapped it against her thigh as they waited.
Lori came over to hug her. On her other side, Jackson gave Stone an encouraging pat on the back.
“Gina. Girl. That choreography?” Lori gave a slow clap. “Brava.”
Natasha appeared behind them and echoed Lori’s sentiments, followed by Alan, Farrah, and Kevin.
A stage manager rushed over to shoo them all away, and Reggie appeared to speak into the camera.
