Gina bit down on her bottom lip and tried not to cry.
“I loved the dance,” Meli went on. “You balanced the content and the third partner masterfully. Stone, I never would have thought you’d be able to pull off a samba, but you killed it.”
“I had great teachers,” Stone said into Juan Carlos’s mic.
Juan Carlos said something, but Gina didn’t hear it.
Meli was proud of her.
In the Sparkle Parlor, Reggie pressed her to say more about meeting Meli, but Gina trotted out “I’m still in shock” and Reggie let it drop. They got their score—ninety-five percent average, including perfect scores from Meli and Dimitri—and praised Natasha for her help during the week, before running off to change for the team dance.
Gina was flying so high, she didn’t even interfere when Laurenfelt Stone up outside the wardrobe room. Kevin stepped in and made an easy joke, which allowed Stone the opportunity to get away.
“The woman has hands like an octopus,” Stone complained once a stage manager had ferried Lauren and Kevin away. “They’re everywhere.”
“I met Meli.” Gina couldn’t shift gears enough to be jealous. “I feel like I’m dreaming.”
“Gina!” Jordy came running over, baseball cap askew. He sounded frantic. “Heads up. Donna included the tabloid shots of you two at the hotel in the behind-the-scenes package.”
“What?”Gina froze, her mouth hanging open. “She said she wouldn’t.”
“You know Donna.”
Fucking. Donna.
Gina sucked in a breath, but couldn’t seem to let it out again except in short gasps. Stone patted her back, and she coughed.
“Um, thanks for letting me know, Jordy.”
“Why weren’t either of us asked to comment on it?” Stone narrowed his eyes at Jordy, who shrugged.
“My guess is it was a last-minute decision to add it in, maybe once she knew Meli would be here.” The field producer threw up his hands. “I don’t know. It’s not the kind of thing we usually include. I tried to fight her on it, but she pulled rank. I figured I should let you know so you don’t blow the dance.”
“Thanks, Jordy.” When he ran off, Gina turned to Stone. “Fuck.”
He rubbed her arms through the stretchy black fabric of her costume. “Is it that bad? All they have are some photos of us in a parking lot.”
“Yes, it’s bad. I don’t need everyone thinking we’re sleeping together.”
He blinked. “Weare.”
“My family doesn’t know that,” she snapped, getting riled up. “My coworkers don’t need to know. Neither do the millions of people who watch this show. Plenty of them don’t keep up withthe gossip, but plenty do, and some of them might look down on me for it and not vote.”
Stone pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is so complicated.”
“Iknow.It’s why I don’t fuck my coworkers.”
He reared back like she’d slapped him. Her stomach plummeted at the look of shocked hurt on his face.
“Oh god. I’m sorry.” She threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tight, not surprised that he remained stiff. “I didn’t—I’m not mad at you. And you don’t deserve to have me snapping at you. I’m sorry, Stone.”
After what seemed like an eternity, his arms came up and he returned the hug.
“If anything, they’re going to show it after the clip of us falling,” Stone said in a quiet voice. “They’ve got lots of footage of me saying how scared I was that I had dropped you. When Reggie and Juan Carlos ask us about it later, we’ll say you were checking on me.”
“That’s how I told Donna to spin it after it happened.”
He leaned back to frown at her. “You did? When?”
