Watch Me (Stepping Up 1)

“It’s the curse!” Tabitha shouted. “It’s the curse.”

Screams erupted from the dancers. Sam and Meagan shared an exasperated look before, together, they went into damage control.

The studio wanted footage that fed the curse, and now, they were sure getting it, but not because he, or Meagan, were trying to deliver it. He and Meagan were just trying to survive and doing so together. Oh yeah, staying hands-off with Meagan was going to be about as easy as calming this group down. And that, it appeared, was damn near impossible.

* * *

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, EMS was gone and Sam and Meagan had agreed that Tabitha should go to the hospital, with one of Sam’s men escorting her to avoid the tabloid photographers.

His man, Josh, had just learned he would be that lucky man. “Josh’s an ex-SEAL,” he explained to Meagan. “If he can’t handle Tabitha, nobody can.”

Meagan snorted. “Neither of you know Tabitha or you might reconsider that statement. I can’t possibly let you take on this job by yourself. Believe me, you’ll want backup.” Before Sam could object, Meagan flagged Kiki over, and Sam didn’t miss the flash of interest across Josh’s face.

Sam leaned close to Josh. “I hear she killed her last lover.”

Josh, who had a way with the women, said, “I can think of worse ways to die.”

Kiki joined them, looking irritated at having been summoned. “I need you to please go with Tabitha to the hospital,” Meagan said and pointed at Josh. “This is Josh Strong, one of Sam’s men. He’ll go along with you for security reasons.”

Kiki looked disgusted. “Why is this my job?”

Sam arched a brow at Kiki’s blatant disrespect toward Meagan. It heightened his worries about Kiki, but Meagan responded with remarkable composure. “Because I need to review property options for the show with Sam, and I can’t risk any exposure, tabloid or otherwise, that might hurt us. In other words, I need you, my next-in-charge, who has pull and power. Josh here will offer muscle if you run into trouble. You deal with Tabitha and her injury.”

“Shouldn’t I be included in the property search?” Kiki asked, sounding a bit like a spoiled brat afraid of getting one less cookie from the jar, and not at all concerned about Tabitha.

“When I know where we stand, you will be,” Meagan assured her. “But right now, I need you to attend to Tabitha. Go, please.”

Kiki frowned and eyed Josh, motioning to her left. “This way.”

“Nothing like having a studio exec’s niece forced on you,” Sam said, imagining that Kiki resented having to work under Meagan.

Meagan turned to him. “How’d you know that?”

“I make it a point to know things,” he said. “And I’d watch my back with her. If a curse exists, it’s probably down to her. The last three shows she’s been on failed.”

“Yeah, I know,” Meagan said. “I’ve heard all kinds of rumors about her that I’ve tried to tune out. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt because I know how gossip grows. And really, it doesn’t matter anyway. She’s a mandatory part of this show, per my contract with the studio.”

Sam wasn’t going to tell Meagan everything he knew about Kiki, but he did want to alert her to keep up her guard. “I understand your position, but there is some truth to what you’ve probably heard. For instance, she did sleep with that producer who ended up fired.”

She laughed. “Well, I won’t be an easy target in that department, at least. She can’t get me into bed to manipulate me. You might want to warn your man, Josh, though.”

“I plan to.”

She nodded. “Good, because I’d hate to see him hurt when he’s just trying to keep us all safe. All I can say is thank God my director is an angel, so I have someone I can truly trust. She was picked for me, too, and she’s marvelous.”

Meagan could trust him, as well, but he knew she wasn’t ready to embrace that concept. Not now. But he intended to change that.

Fifteen minutes later, the contestants had returned to their rooms, and he’d ordered three more security personnel to keep them that way. The crew, who’d been put up in the hotel for ease of filming, headed to the lobby bar to “analyze” the day’s events over drinks and food.

Derek lingered with Sam and Meagan. “What about you two? Surely you both need a good, stiff drink or two, after that disaster. And here I thought football players were rowdy. Those kids are crazy.”

“You can’t say I didn’t warn you before you took the job,” Meagan reminded him.

Derek scrubbed his jaw. “Yeah, yeah. I thought you were exaggerating.” He gave her a pointed look. “You weren’t.”