Roxie hugged her tight and resisted all the what ifs that were parading around in her head. For all of Chloe’s optimism, Roxie had always made sure to cover the logical, or even worst-case scenario train of thought … someone had to do it. She guessed it was from being the oldest of three kids. Chloe was four years younger than Roxie. She was the baby, most popular of everything, homecoming queen. Joey was between the girls and the boy her parents had always wanted. They thought he could do no wrong. He was actually pretty great, too, given how spoiled he’d been. Roxie was only good at one thing: dancing. Until her pregnancy topsy-turvied her world and she’d had to make the decision to be a good mother, too.
She had to force herself go to bed. Well, Chloe actually did, reminding her that she’d wreck her first day at work if she was too tired. Surprisingly, she slept and woke up almost looking forward to the day. Almost, with a large side of terror.
Instead of the typical dance studio, rehearsals were held in a large warehouse that had been gutted and fit to the tour’s specifications. There were portable stages that had been made for the tour and then a separate room for warm-ups. The details had all been emailed the week before, and Roxie was shocked that it looked even better than she’d expected. The only other person in the room was one of the other dancers. He walked over and held his hand out.
“Justin Rodriquez,” he said. “Haven’t seen you on the circuit before.”
“I’m new,” she said, shaking his hand. “Roxie.”
He checked her out. Straight, Roxie filed away. She tugged on her long T-shirt and thought about putting her sweatshirt back on, but someone else came in, distracting them both with her high-pitched squeal.
“Hi!” She went straight for Roxie. “I’m Vanessa! So excited you’re here! I knew you’d make it!” A walking exclamation point. When she reached Roxie, she hugged her. “Remember me?”
Roxie nodded and grinned. Vanessa had been very helpful the day of auditions. She’d been on tour with Beckham before and loved sharing all the information with anyone who would listen. She was so nice, though, it was hard to not like her.
“Roxie, right?” she asked as she pulled away.
Roxie cleared her throat. “Yeah,” she croaked out. “Good to see you.”
“And can you believe Ian Sterling will be on this tour too? How cool is that? I couldn’t believe it when I heard!” Vanessa kept going.
“Yeah! So cool,” Roxie added weakly. She couldn’t believe it about Ian Sterling either—when they’d heard the news, she and Chloe had danced around the house for a solid fifteen minutes. She just wasn’t very good with meeting new people.
“Justin…” Vanessa said in a voice a hundred times cooler than the one she’d used with Roxie.
Justin leaned over to hug her and where her hug for Roxie had been bear-like, she stood limp as he wrapped his arms around her.
“Oh come on, Nessa, don’t be like that,” he crooned.
Vanessa rolled her eyes. “Let go of me, Justin.”
Ew, ouch. Icicles dripped off her words now. Roxie decided she really liked this girl.
They could hear commotion outside the room. Roxie recognized Anthony’s voice. He came in with the other three dancers.
“Oh lookie, we have everybody,” he said with a clap. “Does everyone know everyone?” He quickly introduced Brooke, Brad and Shelton and greeted Roxie, Justin and Vanessa. “Okay! Everyone ready?” He walked over to the stereo and turned it on.
Beckham was nowhere in sight and Roxie was so relieved she felt a rush of adrenalin.
“I’m not gonna waste time talking about what we’re gonna be doing over the next couple of months. It will be too overwhelming if I do. I’ll only say that I’m gonna work your asses off and you better deliver.” He raised an eyebrow and looked each one of them in the eye. “Line up, we’ll start with a couple warm-ups and then get to work.”
For the next three hours they moved without stopping. Anthony yelled a lot, but the guy was such a good dancer that everyone wanted to work hard to please him. They hadn’t done a full routine yet, just some exercises and dances that helped them learn to move together as a group.
When they broke for lunch, Roxie called to check on Leo. She’d planned on going to see him for lunch, but it had been catered in, and she thought it would look rude for her to bail on the first day.
“Whatcha doin’?” she asked when he said hello.
“Auntie and I are at the park!” he yelled.
Roxie held the phone away from her ear and grinned. “Oh good! Well, have so much fun! I’ll see you tonight at dinnertime, okay?”
“Love you, Mom!” He hung up before she could say it back.
She found everyone at a big round table, piled her plate and sat between Brooke and Brad.
“Eat much?” Brad said when he saw her plate.
She shrugged. “I burn it fast. Starve much?” She stared at his plate.
“It’s hard work to look this good,” Brad said, lifting his shirt and doing a stomach roll.
Roxie smirked. “Define good.”
Justin laughed. “Oh! Zing!”
Brad looked wounded for a minute and then started laughing too. “I know I shouldn’t, but I like you.” He moaned. “I always like the mean ones.”
Everyone laughed, including Roxie. She leaned her shoulder into his. “Maybe we can have Anthony work it in the program.” She lifted her shirt and rolled her stomach so fast, they all yelled.
That’s when Beckham decided to show up.
Beckham couldn’t take his eyes off of Roxie. Her bare stomach rippled as she did things superior to any belly dancer. Brad was trying to keep up with her, but Beckham barely saw him. His eyes landed on her chiseled stomach and couldn’t budge. And her laugh. God. She made his chest and stomach clench, along with other body parts.
He walked over to the table and laughed along with everyone else. When they noticed him standing there, it went silent, fast. Shit. It was enough to get a complex. He put on a cocky smile and nodded at Roxie.
“Do that wearing a bikini, and you’re hired!” he said with a laugh.
Fuck! Why the hell did that come out of his mouth? His first time speaking to her and he acted like a creeper? Everyone laughed. Except Roxie. She went completely still and her red cupid’s bow lips tightened into a scowl. She pulled down her shirt and pushed back from the table. The other dancers were too busy staring at Beckham to even notice Roxie walking out of the room.
“Excuse me,” he said to the table and got out of there.
He looked both ways and saw her at the end of the hall to the right, either headed for the restroom or the practice room.
“Roxie! Wait up!”
She turned around and looked tempted to keep walking.
He jogged up to her and put a hand on her arm. She quickly pulled away. For a moment, he couldn’t even think straight. Wow, she was hostile.
“I’m really sorry. I don’t know why I said that. It just … was stupid.” He paused, not sure what else to say, since she wasn’t saying anything. “Roxie, right?”
She looked everywhere but in his eyes. He blinked and inched closer, thinking he saw tears in her eyes. Shit—had he really upset her that much?
“Look, please. Forgive me. What can I do to make it up to you?” he asked when she still wasn’t speaking. “Dinner?”
She snorted. “That’s how you fix everything, isn’t it? You think you can say anything and everyone just bends. ‘Oh Beckham Woods, you’re so hilarious! Everything you say and do is so fabulous! Let me just bask in your presence!’ Uh, no, thank you very much to dinner.” She slapped her hand over her mouth and stared at him.