Winning Moves (Stepping Up 3)

She lifted her head, trailing her fingers over his cheek, feeling the anguish of her memories. “I should have come to Europe. We wanted to go to Europe.”

He covered her hand with his and brought it to his lap. “We still can. We have the rest of our lives.”

“I should have gone then.”

“And I should have been confident enough in myself as a director to ask for a few days to think about the Europe project. I could have flown to you and talked to you in person. I should have made sure we decided our next move together.”

“I guess we both have a lot of regrets. Ellie is going to have them, too, and I don’t know how to help her.”

“Be there for her. Give her someone to talk to who understands her situation. Not everyone does but you do. I’m not sure there’s much else you, or I, can do for her.”

“I’m scared that I’ll tell her the wrong things and I’ll be to blame for something else that goes wrong.”

“Tell her that,” he said. “Tell her you can share your experiences, but she has to make her own choices.” He gently cupped her face. “Just please remember that we aren’t them. We’ve been there, yes, but we’re here now, together, and we can choose to be better and stronger than our past. I need you to promise me that when I get on that plane, you won’t forget that. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to get on that flight.”

“I’m okay,” she said. “I’ll be okay with this, Jason. We’re okay.”

“Kat!” came Ellie’s shout from the room.

Jason and Kat were both on their feet in an instant. They rushed into the room and Kat brought a smiling Ellie into focus. “I have an idea!” Ellie declared.

Kat and Jason both let out a breath and joined Ellie by her bed. “Good gosh, woman,” Kat chided. “Don’t yell like that and scare me or I might need a bed rolled in here for me.”

Ellie grinned. “Sorry about that. I just got really excited. I was talking to David and I was fretting that the studio would have guest judges fill in for me, and they’d all be pining for my job.”

“You mean my job,” Jason corrected. “I’m leaving the show.”

She waved that off. “We’ll see about that. Anyway. I said there was only one person that I not only thought would be a great judge, but that I knew didn’t want my job. And that person is Kat.”

“Me?” Kat repeated, stunned by the announcement. “I’m not a television personality.”

“Welcome to my world,” Jason said. “Neither am I, but I’ve made it work. I love the idea.”

“We could change roles until the local filming begins for Stepping Up, Kat,” Ellie added eagerly, sounding more excited by the second. “David is going to try to arrange to be here for the next six weeks, so he can help out, too.”

Kat didn’t know what to say. “I…no. That won’t work.”

“Why not?” Ellie asked as Jason arched a brow in question.

“Because…it won’t work.” Because she needed to know that she and Jason could survive this. He needed to know that, too. She needed to overcome this one last fear to say “I do” a second time. Distance had destroyed them once before. If it could do it again, it was best they found out now.

* * *

JASON PULLED KAT’S BMW into her garage right at four in the morning. He was bone tired and his flight left at three that afternoon, but sleep was the last thing on his mind. He glanced at Kat, who was curled on the seat with her eyes shut, only he wasn’t sure she was sleeping. Or if she was, he was pretty sure it was to avoid talking. She hadn’t made eye contact with him since Ellie had suggested she become a guest judge.

On their walk to the garage to get Kat’s car, he’d gotten a call. By the time he got off the phone, Kat had snuggled into the seat, and was sleeping with her hand curled under her cheek. Later, he hit the remote to Kat’s garage, watching the door rise, and thinking about car shopping with her a few days before.

She’d been adorably excited while they’d shopped. Even more excited when she’d been able to drive the new car off the lot. He pulled into the garage, a smile tugging at his lips as he thought of their celebration, and of her climbing into his lap in this very parking spot.

He put the car in Park and hit the remote to shut the garage. The door ground its way to a close, and still Kat didn’t move. He sat there, not moving, just thinking. He’d paid for her car in cash, though she didn’t know it. She thought it was financed. And it was, for all of a few hours.