“I’m here to help out,” her sister said before she could even say good morning or ask why she was there. “I had a message from the studio late last night asking if I could do makeup for the shoot. So here I am! How about if we go to the locker rooms so I can do your makeup for you while you get changed? I was thinking of doing something similar to the way you looked the other night at the tree ceremony. You looked amazing, and it would look perfect on-screen.”
“Paige always looks amazing,” Christian said with a smile. “Just the way she does right now.”
“Thank you for saying that,” she said to him, before turning to her sister. “Thank you for offering to do my makeup, but I’d rather practice today with everything the same as it’s been.”
As she went to get changed, Morgan followed her. “Are you sure?”
“Completely sure. But it really was nice of you to come.”
“Well, even if you don’t need me to make you up, I’m happy to help out with answering any questions the crew might have while you’re practicing and directing them to the nearest coffee shop. Besides, my day is already made just from seeing you and Christian together again. Did you and he…?”
“No!”
“I’m not blind, you know.”
Paige started to pull on her dance clothes. “I know, but it’s just… it’s complicated.”
“Things are always complicated,” Morgan pointed out. “But lots of times they work out, too. Just look at me and Brian.”
Paige wished it were that simple. After all, her sister had been in love with Brian since they’d been kids. Of course they could overcome anything that came their way. “I just can’t think about anything but dancing today. I’ve got to make sure Christian looks good dancing on camera so that everyone will see how well he’s going to do in the movie.”
“Just promise me you won’t get so involved in the dancing that you forget about everything else.”
Knowing her sister wouldn’t leave it alone until she agreed, Paige said, “I promise.”
“Good,” Morgan said with a wide smile. “Now, I’ll go and say hello to the film crew since they pulled up just behind you and Christian. I’m sure they’ll probably want to interview both of you, so I’ll help them find a good place to set up their equipment that won’t be in your way while you’re dancing.”
By the time Paige finished getting changed and headed into the studio, sure enough, the practice space was packed with equipment from both the film crews and the photographers. Christian was speaking with a woman in her fifties who Paige immediately guessed was the choreographer from nothing more than the smooth, delicate grace of her gestures. Plus, she’d tied back her gray-streaked auburn hair in the same style Paige always did. Although, today, Paige had left her hair loose.
“Paige, come meet our choreographer, Lynn.”
She shook the other woman’s hand, and as she did so, she could see some of the same spark in the woman’s eyes that Grams had.
“It’s lovely to meet you. I was so glad when I heard that Christian was taking lessons before we start official rehearsals. It will be great to see how far you’ve been able to get this week.”
Paige could hear the excuse the choreographer was offering her: that a week was obviously too short a time to be able to do much in terms of training. It was kind, but she knew Christian didn’t need excuses...and she had also decided that there was no way she was going to let her own fears of dancing in front of the cameras and choreographer get in the way of the job Christian had put his faith in her to do.
“Lynn, it is really a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard so many great things about you over the years that it’s great to put a face to a name.” With a smile for Christian, she said, “Are you ready to get warmed up?”
A short while later, when they were both feeling loose and ready to dance, Paige cued up the music. Christian moved smoothly out into the middle of the floor, offering her his hand. Paige smiled at him, took his hand, and they began to go through the steps they’d been working on. If the camera crews thought they would just go through a couple of pieces for their benefit, they were wrong. Paige wasn’t about to cheat Christian’s practice time, no matter who was here. Fortunately, she already knew how good his dancing was going to look through the camera lens. Because it had turned out that Christian Greer was a natural.
As he danced close to her, she was pleased by the way he brilliantly used his acting ability and charisma to make up for any technique that was still a little rough. But more than that, she was glad to feel how strong the connection between them was as they danced. Two days ago, when Grams had walked in during their practice session, that connection had seemed so broken and stilted. But today, they were moving in perfect sync as Christian led her around the floor.
“That was great,” Paige said as they finished. “Let’s try the second half again.”
“My shoulders?” Christian guessed.
“Your posture’s good,” Paige assured him. “I just want to get those last couple of turns a little crisper.”
So they kept dancing, and as they did, it was surprisingly easy to forget the whirring cameras, bright lights, and assistants taking notes and sending text messages. Instead, it felt like it was just the two of them...and that dancing with Christian was the only thing that mattered.
Finally, they broke apart for a rest, and the others in the room took that as a cue to move in, with Morgan leading the way.
“That was amazing, Paige.” Morgan gave her a quick hug, before adding, “The crew would like to get a couple of interviews during the break. Will that work for you?”
“Sure. It would be good for Christian to get off his feet for a bit since he’s been working so hard this morning. I’ll just make myself scarce in the office.”
Morgan smiled at her. “They’d like to interview you, too, actually.” And that was how Paige suddenly found herself in front of a camera being asked what it was like to work with such a famous, gorgeous actor.
“It’s kind of hard to remember sometimes that he’s a star when he’s a few inches away, dancing with me,” she explained. “Honestly, we’re just trying to get the job done, and he’s been working very, very hard.”
After a few easy dance questions, the interviewer asked, “What would you say to all the women who think that you’ve got a dream job, getting to dance with Christian Greer?”
Oh God,
she thought. What if her answer accidentally gave away her feelings for him to the entire world?
Fortunately, right then, Christian interrupted them. “Paige, one of the crews has asked if we can do an interview with you dancing in the background.”
She tried to swallow down her panic at dancing in front of the cameras without him. “Are you sure that wouldn’t look a bit odd?”
“Are you kidding?” He looked truly surprised by her question. “It would be amazing. Will you do it? Please?”
How could Paige deny him anything when he asked her so sweetly?
After she nodded, he said, “Great, thank you. I’ll get the music started.” A few moments later, the music from
They All Laughed
began. “Just dance it the way you did the other night.”
With the cameras already rolling, there was no time to protest, so she simply danced the version with her choreography, moving seamlessly from the traditional steps to modern jazz. Feeling Christian’s eyes on her the whole time, even as he was being interviewed, she was shocked by how easy it was to focus only on him and not worry about anyone else. And then, suddenly, he moved away from the cameras. Paige had been dancing Astaire’s part for the first section, but he moved smoothly in to take the lead.
Oh my.
It was
so
wonderful to dance with him, like all of her fantasies and dreams were finally coming true, every time he held her in his arms.
Finally, he expertly spun her to a stop. Paige stood, breathing hard and looking into his eyes as he stared into hers. For a moment, she thought he might kiss her, but he seemed to remember the film crews just in time.
“So,” Christian said as he turned to the crowd filming them, “did you get everything you need?”
Just looking at the faces of the crew, Paige knew that they had. Even so, there were still more interview questions for Christian to answer. Clearly, this wasn’t going to be a normal day of practice, after all.
Paige moved to the wall to wait for them to finish, grabbing her bottle of water and throwing a towel around her shoulders. Lynn, the choreographer, joined her.
“You’ve made my job a whole lot easier,” Lynn said. “Thank you.”
“It’s been my pleasure. But you should know that Christian has worked very hard.”
“I’m sure he has, but you still got more out of him in a week than most people would have in a month. And then there’s that incredible version of
They All Laughed
. Is that your choreography?”
“It’s just something I was playing around with.”
“It’s good. Really good. In fact, we’ve been talking about updating the dance styles for the movie. We could use some of that choreography.”
“I’m sure you must have plenty of ideas,” Paige said politely, but inside the thought that Lynn might actually want to use her work was very flattering.
“Trust me, Paige, I’m one of the toughest critics around. So when I see something that blows me away, I’m not about to let it go. Plus, you clearly have a great connection with Christian. It would be great to have you around for the shoot. You don’t have to give me an answer now. I’ll just have my agent talk to your agent.”
It was the most amazing opportunity of her life, but somehow all Paige could manage was, “I don’t have an agent.”
“How about your sister’s agent then? I’m sure he’d take you on. And since you
do
have such a good connection with Christian,” the choreographer continued, “perhaps you could do me a huge favor? There’s a charity dance that he’s booked to take part in on New Year’s Eve. In the absence of his co-star, I was going to fill in, but the two of you are magic together.” Lynn looked her straight in the eye as she added, “As close to the magic of Fred and Ginger that I’ve seen.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
As soon as Christian finished his final interview, he pulled Paige back onto the dance floor. “I’m so glad I almost have you to myself again,” he whispered in her ear, sending thrill bumps all across her body. After he whirled and spun her until her heart was fluttering like crazy, he drew her close again and said, “You were amazing today in front of the cameras. Were you okay with it?”
“Actually,” she admitted, “I forgot about the cameras pretty fast.”
He studied her face for a moment. “But that’s not why you look so happy is it?”
All but bursting to tell him the news, she said, “Lynn wants to use some of my choreography in the film!”
Christian looked down at her with an intensity that made Paige’s heart thrum in her chest. Pressed so tightly to him, she was sure that he must be able to feel it.
“Did you say yes?” When she nodded, he said, “That’s incredible, Paige. I’m so happy for you. And not at all surprised.”
“I am,” she said honestly, “but not just because of that. Lynn also asked if I would dance at a charity dinner at New Year’s with you, too.”
His face lit up even more upon hearing that. “There’s no one I’d rather dance with. I know you’ve always preferred being backstage and helping others shine, but you’re the most beautiful dancer I’ve ever seen. And you just said it yourself, how quickly you forgot about the cameras today. I’ll bet you’ll forget about the audience at the charity gala even faster.”
Her nerves were still there, but his very sweet and comforting words helped push them down...for the time being, anyway. Enough that she was able to tease, “Just wait until you meet your co-star. One dance with her, and you’ll forget all about your lessons with me.”
“I don’t care if she wins the championship a dozen times. It’s not just about the dancing, Paige. You
know
it’s not. And I would
never
forget about you.”
The next thing she knew, Christian had put his hands on either side of her face, and he was kissing her.
In front of a room full of people!
She knew they had already turned the cameras off and were just finishing packing up their equipment into the vans, but even so, for him to kiss her in public… Paige should have been as terrified by that thought as she was by the idea of dancing with him in public on New Year’s!
Amazingly, though, she could feel herself getting swept up in the passion of the kiss instead.
Her life felt as perfect as it had ever been. Christian had progressed perfectly with the dancing that he had come to Walker Island to learn. She’d just been offered an amazing opportunity as a choreographer,
and
Christian was kissing her.
Feeling as if she was living in a dream—and not wanting to ever wake up from it—she resolutely refused to dwell on the public performance coming up in a few days. Or the fact that Christian practically lived twenty-four/seven in the spotlight when he wasn’t hiding out for a week on a small island in the Pacific Northwest learning to dance.
After saying good-bye to the interviewers, film crews, and photographers, they laughed and danced, taking the steps that they’d worked on and turning them into something lighter as they moved together. She wanted to savor every moment of being with Christian like this, but she knew she ought to call a halt to practice.
“What should we do for dinner?” she asked. “Grab Chinese again?”
Christian continued to hold her close. “I was thinking of something a little fancier tonight. How would you like to join me at one of the restaurants down on the waterfront?”
“I’d love to, but I’m sure they’ll all be booked solid by now.”
“Trust me,” he said with a smile. “I’ll find a spot for us.”
“If we’re going somewhere like that, then I should go home to change.” The last thing she wanted was to embarrass him by looking like something the cat dragged in.
He kissed her again before saying, “It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing. You’re always the most beautiful woman in the room.”
Even so, Paige headed to the studio’s locker rooms to shower and put on her street clothes. She’d just finished dressing when Morgan burst in and threw her arms around her.