Follow My Lead (Stepping Up 2)

He hit the attendant button. “Then I better get busy.” Hedowned her drink.

She laughed. “I thought you weren’t going to get me drunk andtake advantage of me?”

“That’s exactly why I need to get you drunk,” he assured her.“So you’ll be safe. But just in case you’re wondering, I’m okay with you getting me drunk and taking advantage of me.”

She laughed again but right at that moment, the plane joltedback and forth. Her heart lurched and she grabbed his leg. “Easy,” he murmured,his hand closing over hers. “Just the heat—remember?” He eased closer so thattheir knees were touching. “You’re perfectly safe right now.”

Heat. Oh, yes. There was heat—plenty of heat screaming a paththrough her body, making every nerve ending she had tingle with awareness.

“Hi,” the flight attendant said.

Blake glanced at Darla. “Another drink?”

“Only if I eat first.”

“We’re actually about to serve brunch,” the attendant said, andproceeded to give them their meal choices.

Once they’d ordered, Blake turned back to Darla, still holdingher hand. She stared down at his. He had big, strong hands. Hands that made herthink of him touching her.

“Now where were we?” he asked, drawing her gaze. “Oh, yes.Talking about you getting me drunk and taking advantage of me. But since I’mbarely above getting beaten with your bag, I’m pretty sure that’s not going tohappen. So why don’t you tell me how your show got started?”

The plane shook and she inhaled, quickly diving into her replyto keep herself from diving for the window shade instead. “I was at theUniversity of Colorado with my sights set on a journalism degree. I took a dramaclass thinking it would be a fun, easy elective that would allow me time for thecollege paper. The next thing I knew I was writing scripts and producing aschool play. Long story short, I ended up working for a casting director in NewYork and met with a producer looking for a new morning-show host.”

“And the producer decided it should be you.”

“Yes, but I said no at first. I was terrified to be in front ofthe camera. I still am half the time. I have silly things happen, like when Ispilled water all over Miss Universe, who’d come on the show to support achildren’s charity.” She cringed. “I suppose if they didn’t fire me over that Ishouldn’t have thought they’d fire me over my broken shoe. I just keep worryingthey’ll realize I’m not meant to be on camera.”

“Those things make your audience love you, you know,” he saidsoftly. “It’s part of that country-girl-gone-big-city charm.”

She felt her cheeks flush red. “Thank you. But seriously, myshow is less than a year old. It’s hard to feel like I belong here. It’s alljust so…surreal.”

“Well, you do, and clearly the powers that be for Stepping Up see that, too.”

“Yeah, well, did I mention that I was the assistant castingdirector who found Rick the job as host for Stepping Up? And yes, I mean Rick—as in the guest who used my broken shoe asfodder on your show.”

His eyes went wide. “You’re freaking kidding me.”

“Nope,” she said. “I got him the job, and still he used me.That’s what really got to me about the whole thing, I think.”

“Funny,” he said. “I kind of thought it had something to dowith you maybe thinking that we had a connection that you then questioned. Iknow I thought we had a connection.”

She inhaled, taken off guard. She had. God, had she ever. Sheliked him. Too much. She still did.

“Food’s here,” the attendant said, sparing her from areply.

Darla sat up, quick to break eye contact with Blake, not surewhat she was feeling right now. Alcohol, an empty stomach and an airplane. Shewas not in a position to be making decisions about men, especially this one.

It wasn’t as if her track record was stellar even on her bestday, and this wasn’t one of them. She’d dated one player after another sincemoving to New York, even before her show, until she was so afraid of becomingjaded, she’d simply stopped dating. There was just something about Blake,something that made her want to try again, and that scared her because it hadhurt when she’d thought he’d used her for ratings. Hurt more than it shouldhave, which told her that he could possibly break her heart. Which was why shehad to get control of the situation, and of herself.

So as soon as she and Blake had plates in front of them, shequickly picked up the conversation in comfortable territory. “Back to Stepping Up,” she said. “I not only helped them findRick, I also did some pre-screening of the dancers for the first season,including three that made the top ten. That’s how this came about, how I got thejob offer to be a judge.”

“And now you’re going to be working with Rick.”

“Yeah,” she said. “Now I get to work with that jerk.”

He laughed. “I agree. He’s a jerk. And I told him so after myshow.”