Winning Moves (Stepping Up 3)

“You need to buy a car,” he commented. “A rental will get expensive. I can go with you if you want.”

She crossed her arms in front of her. “I expected to have time to shop.”

“I’ll get the car paid for by the studio until you can get to a dealership.”

“I don’t care about the car.”

He pressed his hand to the roof beside her head, and studied her, trying to understand her. “You know there is absolutely nothing going on between me and Heather, right? I want you, Kat.”

“I know. And I want you, too, and that’s the problem.”

“You’re going to have to explain to me exactly why that’s a problem, because it sounds like exactly what I want to hear.”

“I don’t want to want you. I don’t want to feel the pinch in my chest I felt when you were talking to Heather—and I’m not talking about jealousy, Jason. I’m talking about the sense of being in a world that’s yours, and I’m a visitor with a temporary pass. Another hot bedroom romp and another goodbye sure to follow. And that’s what’s coming. Before this is over, that’s what will happen. A part of me says let’s just go get a damn room and work this out of our systems now so we can focus on work.”

“Let’s go, Kat. I’m happy to take that challenge and prove to you that just won’t happen.”

“You don’t know that,” she said. “We haven’t had more than one night together in years.”

“I’m all for fixing that, starting now.”

She stared at him for a long moment. “I’m leaving,” she announced and then tried to duck under his arm.

He stopped her from getting past him. “If you’re so confident you can work me out of your system, then why leave now?”

“I didn’t say we could do it in one night and I haven’t slept anyway. If I’m going to do something crazy like hop in bed with you again, I’m going to be awake for it.”

He laughed. “All right then. I’ll let you go—for tonight.” He moved off the car. “And for the record, Kat. You have had a place in my life since I first met you. I’m hoping I can convince you I deserve one in yours.”

He turned and headed back to the hotel, not giving her a chance to tell him all the reasons it wasn’t possible. He knew he was wasting his breath telling Kat they could make things work. He was going to show her, which meant doing far more than getting her into bed, though he was looking forward to that moment. It had to be the right moment though, and it had to be her decision.

He stopped inside the building and watched her pull away, swearing to himself that he wasn’t going to watch her walk away again. Promising himself no matter how much he wanted to push, no matter how much he’d happily get that room and prove she couldn’t work him out of her system, he was going to take this at her pace. He was going to prove to her he was here to stay.

5

IT WAS FRIDAY night, a week after Kat had stood in the parking garage and forced herself to get into the car, rather than wrap her arms around Jason and kiss him. A long week too, filled with confusing emotions, with wanting, needing and…rehearsals.

Kat stood in a private studio inside the Wind Walker Hotel overseeing fifteen dancers, six of whom were performing. While she was happy with the execution of the routine, she was unhappy with the sideline action. Tabitha, a pretty blonde and one of the stars from season one of Stepping Up, was leaning against the wall, watching her understudy, Marissa, perform. There was hatred on Tabitha’s face, and her general nasty attitude throughout the several hours of rehearsals toward Marissa wasn’t sitting well with Kat. It was a behavior she’d come to know over the years, a signal that the dancer delivering such nastiness saw his or her target as a threat.

Tabitha leaned in close to Jensen, her boyfriend and the dancer who’d taken home the grand prize from season one of the show, and whispered something in his ear that made him look Marissa up and down. They laughed, and Kat ground her teeth. She wasn’t going to handle this in front of the group for Marissa’s sake. Kat could already tell how the situation intimidated the young dancer. Kat didn’t care how secure Tabitha and Jensen felt, based on their contracts. She was going to take action.

“That’s a wrap for tonight,” Kat said, turning off the music. “This group will be with Heather in the script room tomorrow morning. Six o’clock sharp.” Everyone seemed to relax all at once and murmurs filled the room as they did a mass exodus.