Gina rolled her eyes. “Fucking Donna. She’s a meddlesome bruja.”
“She made it sound like it would get us more votes. We’re trying to win, right?”
Gina’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “Not like that. I won’t pretend to have something going on with you for votes.”
“Wedohave something going on.”
“My nieces watch this show, Stone. What kind of example would I be setting for them? What kind of reputation would I be building for myself in this industry if I’m pretending to sleep with my partner—or actually sleeping with him—for audience votes?”
She sat up, gesturing with her hands as her tone grew more agitated. “I’d be playing right into the stereotype I’m trying so hard to break—the promiscuous Latina who no one takes seriously. I won’t do that. Yes, I’ll wear sexy costumes and do sexy dances, because it’s part of the job. But there’s a fine line between beingsexyand beingsexualized.The real me comes through in the package, and balances the characters I play in the dances. I want to be known as someone who works hard and works well with others, not for crossing boundaries and compromising my integrity to win.” She stared at him for a long moment, pleading with her eyes. “Do you understand the difference?”
He nodded and brushed a hand over her hair. He hated that she had to walk such a fine line, but her argument made sense. “Perfectly.”
“Good.” She put her head back on his pecs and wiggled around. “Now, can we snuggle a bit before I have to kick you out? Natasha won’t be away all night, and I don’t want her to know you were here.”
He put his arms around her and held her close. It was enough that she’d broken her rule for him. He had no right to push for more.
As much as he might want it.
Stone waited for the taxi outside Gina’s building. He’d rather walk, the better to burn off his restlessness, but no one walked in LA.
Besides, he had rehearsal in the morning.
Gina’s words slashed at him. He was doing exactly what she’d said she wouldn’t do—compromising his integrity for money.
Well, not money exactly. For family. Still, it was close enough.
He’d always done what his family had asked of him. When they’d told him to drop everything and move to a little clearing in the Alaskan bush with nothing on it but a film crew, he had quit his job, ended his relationship, and grown out his hair and beard for the role. When the producers realized early on that Stone had a hard time playing his part, they cut back on his behind-the-scenes interviews and made him take his shirt off whenever possible. And he’d gone along with it.
He’d already told Gina about the not-bear, but he burned to tell her the rest. HowLiving Wildwas all a lie. He and his family were promoting a made-for-TV image of themselves that masked the dysfunction they never even talked about. Reed’s drug problem. Winter’s and Raven’s struggles with social anxiety. Wolf… actually, hyperactive Wolf was the best suited to living in the wilderness, and when they weren’t filming, he ran around the hotel causing chaos.
Stone just wanted his normal, quiet life back. He wanted the peace he felt when he was alone, truly alone, in Alaska. And Violet and Lark deserved a chance at a normal life, too. They were growing up in the weird, in-between world of reality TV. The fame and deception couldn’t be good for them.
It was the shit that kept Stone up at night, the shit he couldn’t talk to anyone about. By filming in a remote location around people who didn’t give a damn what they were doing, they’d managed to fly under the radar for four seasons. But it came with a cost. No real relationships outside the family. Especially for him, since he had such a hard time hiding the truth. And now, the closer he got to Gina, the more he wanted to tell her everything.
Would she even respect him afterward? And what difference would it make? At the end ofThe Dance Off,whenever that was for him, he was going back to Alaska. He had a contract to fulfill. Did he even care what she thought?
Hell yeah, he did. He cared a lot about what she thought of him. Right now, she thought enough of him to break her own rules and let him into her bed, into her body. It was a gift he didn’t take for granted.
What would she think if she knew the truth?
Didn’t matter. He couldn’t tell her, even if he wanted to. The best he could do was be himself—his true self—and avoid talking about the rest.
He hoped it would be enough.
The car pulled up to the curb and he climbed in.
At least next week was Broadway-themed. He didn’t know shit about musicals, so that was one thing he didn’t have to pretend.
How the hell was he supposed to pretend he didn’t have feelings for Gina?
At their first rehearsal, Gina had told Stone to put whatever he was feeling into the dance, and for the next two weeks, that was what he did. He and Gina grabbed time together whenever they could—away from the cameras, and when Natasha was out. When they were on camera, they channeled their crackling chemistry into the dances. It was a physical thing, a third entity dancing with them in the rehearsal room—not counting the actual physical entities of Jordy, Aaliyah, and sometimes Donna.
For Broadway Night, Gina choreographed an emotional contemporary routine with lots of lifts. Stone was shirtless for the second week in a row, clad only in gray pajama bottoms while Gina wore a tan tank top and floaty skirt. It was the simplest of their costumes, yet afforded the most ease of movement. The theme of their song was forgiveness, which struck a little too close to home.
If she ever found out the truth about him and his show, Stone hoped she’d forgive him.
Maybe she was right about emotions coming through in the dance, because it was his favorite of all the ones they’d done. Thejudges loved it and gave him his first perfect score. They praised his intensity and strength, and said they wanted to see him try a faster, livelier dance, to show his more jovial side and make up for his abysmal jive in the third episode.
