J.M. Jeffries - Love Tango

Roxanne was full of surprises. She had more determination than dance talent, but he could work with that. He wouldn’t be able to turn her into a swan, but he could turn her into a competent dancer. Her personality would do the rest. He just had a feeling the audience was going to love her.

Once at the studio, he found himself walking into his brother’s office instead of heading farther down the hall to his own.

Daniel was hunched over his laptop, frowning. He looked up and his face transformed into a smile.

“What cha doin’, bro?” Nick said. He flopped into a chair.

Daniel grinned. “Greer wants to design a cake that looks like a parade float and actually moves.”

“If anyone can create that, she can. I have total confidence in her.” Greer Courtland was Daniel’s soon-to-be bride. She also designed parade floats for the Rose Parade. Daniel had been impressed by her talent and fallen in love with her while filming segments of the progress of his Rose Parade float. They were planning a January wedding because Greer wouldn’t be able to get away until after October.

“I just want to get married,” Daniel said. “I just want her to be mine forever, so everyone can see. All these details are making me crazy. I’ve spent years looking for her. I never have to date again. I have the woman of my dreams. I just want to get married.”

Nick held up his hands. “Whoa, there. What brought this on?”

Daniel scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’m ready to get on with the next phase of my life.” Daniel wasn’t the most patient man in the world. He could fake patience well, but underneath he would seethe. “Okay. I got that off my chest and can get on with my day. But that needed to be said.”

“You need to tell Greer.”

“I’m good now. I am willing to have the wedding of her dreams because it’s more important to make her happy. Dad sat down and gave me the ‘now that you’re getting married’ speech. His talk boiled down to his ‘happy wife, happy life’ metaphor.”

“That must have been uncomfortable.”

“It was more uncomfortable than the sex talk.”

“Yeah, he just gave us a condom and hoped for the best.” Nick remembered the talk clearly. He and Daniel had been fifteen and they’d received only one warning from their mother. There would be no Torres baby-daddies, she’d told them. And like their other brothers, they listened.

“I want to grab Greer and head to Vegas like Mom and Dad did.”

“And disappoint Nina,” Nick said. Their sister was the planner in the family. With Greer and her sisters busy with the floats they was currently building, she’d asked Nina to help with the wedding plans.

Daniel rubbed her temple.

“Good luck, bro,” Nick said cheerfully. “I’ll leave you to it.”

He closed the door on Daniel’s groan and headed to his office.

* * *

The morning of the announcement, Roxanne was up and out the door by 4:00 a.m. racing for the studio to have her hair and makeup done before the big announcement on Daniel Torres’s show. She grabbed her laptop and the file of her current client so she could work during the lulls. She couldn’t afford to waste one minute.

The drive from Pacific Palisades to the studio went more smoothly than normal. No accidents jammed the freeway and traffic was unusually light. She walked into the studio still yawning, a huge cup of coffee in one hand. She never skipped her morning coffee.

After her hair and makeup were finished, she joined the other contestants on the set. Nick reached for her hand and pulled her out slightly ahead of the others.

“We’re live in five,” the director held up fingers. As each one went down, he silently mouthed the number.

“This is Daniel Torres. Welcome back to The Morning Show with Daniel Torres. This morning we have the announcement of the contestants for Celebrity Dance season two, starting May 22. I want to welcome everyone.”

Daniel stood in the center of the set. He backed away and the camera panned across Roxanne and Nick, down the row of people. She knew three of the contestants already, the rest she had never met. Nick chose a broad spectrum of people. A former astronaut, a football player, a Broadway star, the head of a Fortune 500 company, a politician, along with two actresses, herself and two men she’d never heard of. She tried to memorize the names, but everything happened so fast.

Daniel approached her. “Roxanne Deveraux,” he announced her name. “Partnering with Nicholas Torres. You have a strong lineup, Nick, for the coming season.”

Nick smiled. “I give a lot of thought to who I think will do well. I look for people who are entertaining, fun and enthusiastic.” He stepped to the side and held out a hand. “Like Roxanne here.” He twirled her around.

Roxanne tried to stay upright, but one ankle collapsed and she stumbled against Nick. Mortified at her clumsiness, she was amazed when Nick caught her and dipped her. She tried not to look surprised at how smoothly he’d turned her almost tumble into what looked like an orchestrated dance move. She had to admire his ability to think so quickly even as she couldn’t stop thinking she’d made a big mistake.

Stilettos just weren’t her thing. Plus the fact she felt like André the Giant next to petite Adela Gardiner who stood five foot three.

Nick pulled her upright. “Don’t worry, I can work with this.”

She smiled for the camera and Daniel moved down to introduce the rest of the contestants. Each one did a small dance step almost flawlessly and Roxanne tried to keep her spirits from sinking. Even the football player was perfect. When Daniel said something, the football player grinned and said he’d taken ballet lessons in high school so he knew where to put his feet.

Roxanne was even more embarrassed. She tried to slide back into the shadows, but Nick kept a tight grip on her hand refusing to let her hide. She kept a grip on her emotions, refusing to think about how she was going to be humiliated. She couldn’t back out now, she’d committed and Nancy had faith in her.

Daniel finished introducing everyone and he stepped in front of the camera. “There you have it, Los Angeles. The cast of the summer season of Celebrity Dance.”

Everyone smiled. Nick whispered to Roxanne, “Stop being embarrassed. You just gave us a leg up in the competition.”

“I almost broke your foot,” she whispered back.

“You made us the underdog and you know everyone loves an underdog. So smile and look like you’re ready to grab the world.”

She widened her smile and tried to look like she wasn’t cringing inside. She could do this. She was the little train that could.

* * *

The rehearsal room was large with walls lined in mirrors.

Roxanne sat on a bench looking tired. “The waltz is so beautiful. How can it be so deadly, so lethal?” She unbuckled her shoes and rubbed her instep.

Nick knelt down in front of her and took one foot. He could feel the cramp in her instep. Slowly, he massaged the tight muscle, marveling at how soft her skin was. “Your muscles will loosen up. It’s all about muscle memory.”

She sighed. “My body is hoping for amnesia. I have sore muscles I didn’t know I had.”

Nick laughed. “You’re going to be fine.” For the past four hours he’d guided her through the steps over and over, adding little routines that changed the waltz and made it more interesting in his opinion. And holding Roxanne in his arms had sent a thousand different signals to his brain. Her scent, her touch, her nearness almost made him breathless and all he knew was that he didn’t want to let her go.

“This is our first rehearsal and I fell four times.”

Nick continued massaging her instep. “You’re getting it out of your system.”