Follow My Lead (Stepping Up 2)

“Why are you skulking around in the dark?”

He crossed the small space to sit beside her, leaning in and kissing her, a warm caress of his mouth over hers. His hand smoothed her rumpled hair. “Because you have exactly fifteen minutes until your alarm goes off, cranky, and I wasn’t going to wake you for another seven so we could talk. I’d planned to have coffee in hand when I woke you, but it’s not quite ready.”

Her stomach rolled. “Talk?”

“Can I turn on the light?”

“If you don’t mind seeing me look like I just stuck my finger in the light socket, then go for it.”

He reached over and flipped the switch on the brown crystal lamp that had been her grandmother’s. A dim glow lit the room. Self-consciously, she brushed at her hair, not sure why she cared. If this talk was what she suspected, it didn’t matter how she looked anyway.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, settling down fully beside her. He was beautiful, she thought, with all that dark stubble shadowing his jaw, his hair tousled. This was a different Blake than the Mr. GQ the cameras saw. This was the Blake she’d come to know last night, the casual, sexy, wonderful man who loved his family, loved his life.

“I’m a wreck,” she blurted, and it wasn’t a counter to his compliment. She wasn’t talking about her looks. He was in his thirties, a bachelor who’d never been engaged, per his prior night’s confession. She had a feeling she was about to find out that was because he had a commitment phobia that matched her phobia of flying.

“You’re not a wreck,” he assured her, curling his hand around hers. “I wanted to talk to you about this before now, but time got away from me. Last night—”

“Was a mistake,” she supplied, the words exploding from her lips. “I get that. I understand. You don’t owe me—”

“Whoa!” he said, leaning back as if slapped. “What just happened? How did last night become a mistake? Because it sure as hell wasn’t for me.”

“It wasn’t?” she asked, confused, a tiny light of hope forming in her. “But I thought you…”

He arched a brow. “You thought I what?”

“That you were about to say that.”

He was still, his jaw set, hard. “Is that what you hoped I’d say?”

“No,” she said honestly, unwilling to talk in circles. She wanted to know where they stood. She couldn’t take any more uncertainty in her life right now. “You were just up and dressed and—”

He bent his head and kissed her, a tender swipe of his tongue against hers that sent a shiver of desire down her spine. “Do I seem like I think last night, or this morning, or anytime in the future for us, is a mistake?”

No. He didn’t. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, brushing her hand over his jaw. “Last night happened and now I fly out of town and it’s just confusing.”

He inched back to look into her eyes. “Relationship, Darla. We talked about us being at that place before I even decided to stay the night.”

He’s worth taking a risk for, the voice in her head reminded her. “Yes,” she agreed. “Relationship.”

“Good,” he said, pressing his lips to her forehead, his fingers brushing a wild strand of her hair behind her ear. “Which brings me back to where I was a few seconds ago. Last night, when I was hailing cabs for the group to leave the restaurant, Meagan told me that she knows we have something going on, and she’s fine with it, with one condition.”

“A condition,” Darla repeated, her stomach knotting up all over again. She had conditions left and right, and conditions from Meagan were big, because, friend or not, Meagan was her boss.

“This new advertising campaign is being built on the two of us being ratings enemies. The studio is spending a fortune on it and they expect people to be intrigued by our dynamics. Some will watch to see us do battle. Others will hope we end up right where we have. The good news is that us being seen together isn’t an issue. It feeds speculation. Being seen together in a way that makes our real relationship obvious is trouble, though, for the show—and trouble for us. We can’t let the cast or crew know we’re together. It’s too risky. People sell things to the tabloids.”

Darla wasn’t surprised that Meagan supported their relationship after their talk in Denver, nor was she surprised about the concerns. “She’s trying to protect the show. I understand that.”

“I understand, as well, because she really did dive in headfirst into making us a ratings grabber for the season. Ultimately, it’s exposure for us both. We have to show gratitude for it by making it work. When this season ends, however, we’ll have to make it clear we’re going public with our feelings.”