Love is a Dance Step (Rockstars Anonymous)

by Michelle MacQueen

  The sad thing was she knew Nolan was right. She couldn’t sell a love story with Nolan, she couldn’t dance with passion. There’d only been one time before… one person she’d danced with when she’d felt what Nolan was talking about.

  And he’d barely spoken to her all week.

  She kicked her legs out straight, stretching her calves. “It’s not your fault I suck at this. You know that, right?”

  Nolan swiveled his head to look at her. “You don’t suck. Lola, you’ve been on this tour for a week and danced on stage during three concerts now. Your dancing is good, great even, and you somehow know each dance. It’s just the partner stuff that’s taking time. But we’ll get there.” He stuck his pinky out. “I swear.”

  She laughed. “You want me to pinky swear with you right now?”

  “How else do people making binding pacts?” He grinned.

  She hooked her pinky with his, glad she had at least one friend on this tour. “Now, stop slacking. I want to be ready for this after the Charleston concert.” They’d arrived in Charleston in the early hours of the morning and had two days before the concert, a mini break after the last week.

  And Lola would spend every moment she could practicing.

  “This isn’t working,” Lola huffed as she lost her footing and stumbled away from Nolan. “At all.”

  “You’re right.” Nolan slapped a hand on the wall.

  “It’s because you aren’t good enough.” Brooke’s voice came from the doorway. “But I could have told Drew that after your atrocious audition.”

  “Brooke,” Nolan warned.

  “What? Is anything I’m saying wrong? Sure, Lola has surprised us all by picking up the dances quickly and not screwing up on stage, but don’t for a moment think that means she’ll ever take the lead from me.”

  Lola crossed her arms, or more like hugged them across her chest to protect herself. She didn’t know if Brooke’s words hurt because they were mean or because they were true. “He didn’t want you.” The words popped out before she could call them back.

  Brooke’s eyes blazed as she looked to Lola.

  “He held auditions looking for any dancer to dance with him that wasn’t you.”

  Brooke stepped toward her. “Who do you think you are? You’re nothing more than a kid in over her head. You think Drew sees you? He doesn’t see any of us, least of all some inexperienced and unqualified dancer. You’re nothing to this tour, and when it ends, you’ll crawl back to your quaint town, never to be heard from again.”

  “Brooke!” A new voice entered the room, one Lola didn’t recognize.

  Brooke turned on her heel. “Melanie, I… I—”

  “I know what you were doing.” A woman with perfectly crafted makeup and her white blonde hair pulled into a low pony tail stepped into the room, her red lips pulled to the side in distaste. “We expect more than bullying from our lead dancers. You’re supposed to set an example for the others. Drew may have to rethink your position.”

  “No.” Brooke’s face reddened. “I’m sorry. Please don’t.”

  Piper walked in after the other woman and surveyed the scene before her. “Nolan, we need a few dancers to accompany Drew to the press event this afternoon. Go get changed and meet him in the lobby in thirty minutes.”

  Nolan looked between the girls, relief in his eyes. Lola wished she could go with him and get herself out of this situation. He met her eyes one final time before hightailing it out of there.

  “Brooke, you may leave.” There was no room for argument in Piper’s voice.

  Brooke ducked her head and practically sprinted from the room, leaving Lola to face Piper and the unknown woman.

  The woman ran a hand down her tailored, dark blue jacket and fiddled with a silver button. “Well, that was unpleasant.”

  Piper sighed. “That could describe every interaction with Brooke.” She clapped a hand over her mouth. “I definitely wasn’t supposed to say that.”

  To Lola’s surprise, the other woman laughed. “Don’t hold back on my account, Pipes.” Pipes. So, they were friends.

  Piper’s lips curved into a smile before she turned to Lola. “Mel, this is Lola, our newest dancer.”

  The woman rushed forward and held out a hand. “It’s wonderful to meet you.”

  Lola gripped her hand. “Um, who are you?”

  Piper bit back a grin. “This is Melanie Snyder. She’s the label’s head publicist, handling the difficult cases like Drew.”

  Melanie laughed. “Drew definitely isn’t easy, but he’s a heck of a lot simpler than Noah.”

  “Noah.” Piper groaned. “The scandal king.”

  Lola had read many articles about the British bad boy. She knew little about him other than what the tabloids said, but from Piper and Melanie’s smiles, she could tell there was affection there.

  “Anyway.” Melanie’s smile held a kindness. “Drew won’t tell me anything about you, Lola, but on our tours, we like to be a bit of a family.”

  Lola tried her hardest not to laugh at that. The dancers, and even Drew, had definitely not welcomed her like a family would.

  Melanie continued. “So, I told Piper to introduce us. I’ll only be with the tour for the next week or so before I have to get back to L.A. for the release of Dax Nelson’s newest single. Piper and Noah tell me you’re from Drew’s hometown.”

  She swallowed. “His brother is my best friend.” A best friend she hadn’t talked to since she left other than a simple text. His ‘I love you’ was still strong in her mind.

  Melanie’s smile widened. “That’s wonderful. I know Drew is close with his family, so you must know him well.”

  “Um, not really. I haven’t seen him much since I was a kid.”

  “Fascinating. Tell me, how long until we can replace Brooke with you?”

  Lola choked on a laugh. “I don’t know. Nolan doesn’t seem to think I’m ready, and I’m starting to wonder if I ever will be.” The confession poured out of her. “We aren’t… connecting.”

  “From what Piper says, you’re a great dancer.”

  Lola looked to Piper in question. The assistant had barely spoken to her since she joined the tour. Lola hadn’t thought Piper liked her. “I don’t know about that.”

  “You are.” Piper rubbed the back of her neck. “I know what you overheard at auditions, but you’ve proven me wrong with how quickly you’ve stepped in here. Look, Lola, Drew doesn’t want to keep dancing with Brooke. We need to get you ready.”

  “What if I can’t do it?”

  Melanie waved a hand. “Of course you can do it. If it’s a connection problem, maybe you just aren’t comfortable with Nolan. We can try a different partner to see if it helps. If it does, we’ll get Drew to assign you a new partner to practice with.”

  “Should I grab David?”

  Lola tried to imagine which dancer she spoke of but came up empty.

  Melanie shook her head. “Get Noah.”

  “Didn’t he go with Drew?”

  “No. I tried to make him, but he pretended to be sick. You know how much he hates press events. He’ll do anything to get out of them.”

  Lola couldn’t breathe. They wanted her to dance with Noah Clarke? Did he even dance? He tended to roam the stage during his concerts but not really dance. Before she could protest, Piper left.

  Melanie pulled a chair from the corner of the room and sat down. “Don’t tell anyone, but Noah has taken dance classes most of his life.” One corner of her mouth pulled up into a grin. “Dancing doesn’t fit his brand, but he’s actually pretty good.”

  Lola couldn’t help but like the publicist. “You know them pretty well, don’t you?”

  “There’s a circle of rock stars who’ve been my life for the last five years. Drew, Noah, Jo, Ben Evans, and Dax Nelson. Those boys—and girl—are my family. I will do anything to help them succeed, and Piper tells me that you are the person who should be dancing with Drew.”

  “Really?” Lola sat on the floo
r facing Melanie. “She said that?”

  “Well, she said Drew believed you were the person who should be dancing with him. Apparently, he was quite adamant at the auditions. And she trusts his judgement. As do we all. Drew has always taken more charge of his image than any of my other clients. I let him make his own decisions because he makes good ones. Don’t be fooled by the doofus charm. He is a genius who knows exactly what his fans want.”

  And what they wanted was her? Or someone who connected with Drew? Her mind drifted to their one and only dance together. Those few minutes shook the earth underneath her feet and set her off on a different path.

  Piper returned, dragging a sleep-disheveled Noah behind her. His black hair was pushed to one side, and for once, no eyeliner circled his green eyes.

  “Mel,” he whined. “Piper is being mean to me.”

  Melanie stood and crossed the room to Noah. “If she was being mean, it’s probably because you weren’t listening to her.”

  “I already told you I couldn’t do the press event because I’m sick.”

  She pressed a palm to his cheek. “You aren’t sick, Noah. You’re just a baby who hides from the press and sends the pregnant woman in his place.”

  Pregnant… Lola’s eyes widened. Jo Jackson was pregnant? How did the entire world not know yet? She pushed that thought away to focus on the matter at hand. Dancing.

  Noah sighed. “Fine, I’m not sick. But seriously, Mel, you should know by now not to have me meet with reporters. They’ll only create some scandal.”

  “They don’t create the scandals, they report them. You’re the one who creates them.” She gave him an indulgent smile.

  “Potato, potahto.” He yawned. “You remember what happened last time?”

  Piper snorted. “You mean when you were caught kissing a reporter in an alcove? A reporter you’d just met.”

  Noah shrugged. “I’m tired, and you interrupted my nap. Why am I here?” His eyes finally found Lola, and he smiled. “Oh, hello.” He froze. “Oh wait, no. I’m not going to dance. Find another partner for Drew’s golden girl. I’m going back to bed.” He turned and marched back toward the door.

  Melanie blocked him from leaving. “There’s still time to get you to the press event. It’s either that or this.”

  Noah sighed. “Fine.”

  She patted his cheek. “Good boy. I’m heading out to meet Drew at the event. You stay here with Piper and Lola. They’re in charge of you, Noah.”

  “I don’t need a bloody keeper.”

  “Yes, you do.” She turned, ignoring the rest of his protests and sauntered away.

  Noah’s shoulders dropped as he faced Lola. “What do you need from me?”

  “Oh… uh… I’m not really sure.”

  Piper plopped down in Melanie’s vacated chair. “Noah, you don’t know Drew’s dances, so we’re just going to focus on Lola’s comfort levels. I’ll play a song, and you two just dance. You’re both good enough to wing it.”

  Wing it. With someone Lola barely knew. Sure, easy.

  19

  Drew

  On tour, each day bled into the next, each concert differentiating little from the one before. The days and weeks and months flew by as if they’d never existed at all.

  Yet, the last week seemed frozen in place, like each minute stretched far too long.

  Drew didn’t know if it was dancing with Brooke or forcing himself to stay away from Lola, maybe both or neither.

  At the press event the day before, he’d answered all the usual questions and then some. When they asked about Leah, he could barely speak. And this morning, he’d woken to a text from Nora with a link to a blog post written about the rock star who cried over his dancing partner’s injury.

  He’d laughed at the headline, knowing it would only endear him more to his fans.

  He sat in his dressing room, waiting to go on stage. When his phone rang, he answered it immediately.

  “Drew!” Nora’s chipper voice calmed him. “We weren’t sure if you’d answer right before a concert, but I couldn’t call you until now.”

  “We?”

  “Lizzy is here with me.”

  “Drew, I miss you.” Lizzy’s voice was enough to do him in.

  “I miss you too, buddy.”

  There was a scuffle on the other end, and he assumed it was Nora taking back the phone. “So, is it true?”

  “Is what true?”

  She sighed. “You only read the headline of the post I sent, didn’t you?”

  “Maybe.”

  A groan echoed through the phone. “Somehow, Lola has been identified as the new dancer on your team, but there’s speculation about why she isn’t dancing with you.”

  This wasn’t good. “What speculation?”

  “That you chose her for reasons other than dancing. The blog somehow got ahold of a video of her audition.”

  He shot to his feet. “What other reasons?”

  Nora didn’t answer for a long moment. “Read the post, bro. I’m sure more outlets will pick up the rumor soon.”

  A knock sounded on his door before Piper walked in. “You ready?”

  “I’ve gotta go, Nora.”

  “Kill it out there, okay?”

  He laughed. “You’ve got it.”

  As he hung up, he shoved the post to the back of his mind. There’d be time to deal with it later.

  Piper scanned him from head to toe before taking note of the half-eaten sandwich on the dressing table. She crossed her arms, hugging her clipboard to her chest. “You ate?”

  “Don’t start, Pipes.” He brushed past her.

  “But you know what that does to you before a concert.”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  She let it drop and followed him to where the dancers congregated. He’d already done his stretching on his own, so he joined Brooke, only giving her a brief glance.

  “Hey, Drew.” She offered him a shy smile even though there wasn’t a shy bone in her body.

  If it was up to Drew, he wouldn’t have to walk out on that stage with her at all. Piper and Melanie alerted him to some issues with the dancers, something about Brooke’s attitude. He tried not to get involved in their problems until they affected the tour, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t see right through her.

  He gave her a nod before focusing on the curtain blocking them from the stage. The crowd’s cheers echoed through him, filling the emptiness as they always had. He’d never needed anyone other than his family and the fans, not until Rockstars Anonymous was formed. And he wouldn’t let himself start needing people now.

  A singing career was a solitary pursuit, so as he stepped out onto the stage with Brooke by his side, as he looked to the rafters of the full concert hall, he let the rest of the world fade away.

  Just like most concert nights, Drew wasted no time in getting back to his room and crashing on his bed while some of the crew and dancers went out.

  Yet, he couldn’t sleep. He couldn’t shake the need to know what Nora had been talking about. He sat on the corner of his bed in the large suite overlooking Charleston. Fumbling his phone from the table next to the bed, he pulled up Nora’s text and tapped the link.

  Rockstar Drew Stone cries over fallen dancer.

  He shook his head. He hadn’t cried, he’d just said he didn’t want to talk about it.

  His eyes scanned the rest of the article, freezing on a single paragraph.

  Gulf City resident, Lola Ramirez, won the job over many more qualified dancers. We’ve uncovered a video of her audition where one can clearly see she was chosen for reasons other than her dancing. Insiders claim Lola has ties to Drew’s family and maybe even Drew himself. Are they an item? Possibly. The self-proclaimed bachelor has apparently met his match and convinced her she is good enough to dance with professionals. But, Mr. Stone, your fans will be the judge of that.

  Drew’s fingers clenched around the phone as he read it again. He’d been the recipient of more than a few rumors circulat
ed by blogs claiming to be legitimate news sources when, in fact, they were nothing more than tabloids.

  “Lola.” He stood, realizing as used to this as he was, it wasn’t normal. Had she read it? He’d done his best to stay away from her, to keep anyone from insinuating things that weren’t true. He had to find her. Shrugging on a shirt, he looked down at his worn jeans with a shrug and slipped into his shoes. He didn’t care that he hadn’t yet showered after the concert or that adrenaline still buzzed in his veins.

  Out in the hall, he passed Brooke and a few other dancers as they hurried to the elevators, dressed up for their night out. With barely a nod, he kept going. This was the opposite of staying away from Lola, but he needed to make sure she knew none of that post was true. If Nora sent it to him, she probably sent it to Lola too.

  He stopped outside her door and lifted a hand, hesitating before knocking.

  Laughter came through the door moments before it swung open to reveal Noah.

  Drew froze, eyeing his friend with suspicion he had no right to feel.

  A grin slid across Noah’s face before he opened the door wider. “You coming in?”

  Knowing he couldn’t say no at this point, Drew stepped inside and shut the door. When he rounded the corner, he found Nolan sprawled out on one of the beds as he flipped through channels.

  “Lo,” Nolan called. “There’s nothing good on TV.”

  Lola appeared from the bathroom, wet hair pulled away from her face. She wore a simple pair of cotton pants and a baggy t-shirt. “Then, we’ll watch something bad.”

  “We have a guest.” Noah’s words had Lola’s eyes widening as she saw Drew for the first time. Noah clapped him on his shoulder. “We’re having a movie night. Want to join?”

  So, Noah was friends with Lola now? And Nolan called her Lo?

  The door opened again, and Piper appeared, holding up a giant box of Milk Duds. “I have snacks!”

  Nolan groaned. “Did you bring anything that isn’t just sugar?”

  “Nolan.” Lola laughed. “Calories don’t count during movie night. Everyone knows that.”