“That wasamazing,Stone.”
Damn, her sequin-clad body felt good pressed against him. Since she was close, and since he was still breathing hard, he stroked a hand down her arm in reply.
She tensed and abruptly pulled away.
Ooo-kay. Her reactions were hard to track, but it was better that they keep it professional.
Gina stepped aside, and others moved in to praise him, including—oh shit, that wasRick Carruthers.
Stone blinked, starstruck, as Rick Carruthers patted him on the shoulder.
“Sweet moves,” the other man said. “I couldn’t do that even when I was your age.” Rick’s full head of hair had gone gray, but he still had the same charming smile and blue eyes that graced the covers of the CDs Stone and his siblings had listened to when they were younger.
“Um, thanks,” Stone managed to mutter.
“I’m Rick.” The older man stuck out his hand.
“Stone Nielson.” Sweat broke out on Stone’s brow. He was shaking hands withRick Carruthers. His brothers were going to flip. “I, uh, I’m kind of a fan.”
“Oh yeah?” Rick grinned. “Glad to hear. Although I can tell you’re going to be some stiff competition for me. What’s your first dance?”
“Fox… something.”
Rick chuckled. “Cool, cool. We’re doing the jive. It’ll be interesting to see how these old knees hold up.” He clapped a hand on Stone’s shoulder again. “See you on the dance floor, Stone.”
As Rick moved away and the crowd dispersed, someone else approached him. Stone knew it was Gina even before he glanced down at her.
“Welcome toThe Dance Off,” she said in a low voice. “It’s pretty surreal, isn’t it?”
Stone shook his head in awe, watching Rick join his partner before leaving the set. Off to the side stood a short woman, her brown hair cut into a blunt bob, her lined face as familiar to him as his own mother’s. “Oh my god. Is that Twyla Rhodes?”
Gina leaned against him as she checked out the middle-agedactress, teasing his senses with her warmth and her scent. “Yes, that’s her.”
“My siblings and I watched the Elf Chronicles movies all the time when we were kids.”
Gina pulled him down to whisper in his ear. “I heard she’s the one who was a diva about her costume. Apparently, she thought it was too modest and wanted to show more skin.”
His body tightened at Gina’s nearness. “Do you ever get used to it?”
“To what?”
“Brushing elbows with celebrities.”
A smirk played on her lips as she gazed up at him. “Need I remind you that you’re a celebrity, too?”
His face heated. “I don’t feel like one.”
He wasn’t famous for being talented, like Rick, or even Gina. Looking at Twyla, who was iconic for her portrayal of an elf queen more than thirty years ago, he couldn’t help but wonder what the hell he was doing here. He was a regular guy. He hunted and built stuff with his hands, and someone had come along and wanted to film him doing those things. For that, he was here, with the opportunity to earn a ton of money and attention.
The money. He had to remember why he was mixed up in all this. Money for his mother and his family, who waited for him back in Alaska. Nothing else. Not fame, not mingling, and definitely not a fling with his partner.
“People are people.” Gina shrugged, pulling him from his thoughts. “You’ll see that soon enough. Behind the scenes, it’s hard to keep up the celebrity facade.” She touched his arm lightly. “Let’s go. It’s our turn to film.”
As they took their places on the set, Donna entered the space and whispered something to the director.
Stone had once come face-to-face with a cougar while hiking in Canada. Its green-gold eyes had fixed on him with an intensity that sent chills down his spine and screamedpredator.Its whiskers shivered as it assessed him, and he never forgot the slinkingfeline curves of its spine and tail, and the speed at which it retreated when he shouted and fired a shot, scaring it off.
Donna reminded him of that mountain lion. Despite her wide smile, she had a hard look in her eyes. The times she’d interviewed him during rehearsal, the sharpness of her demeanor and questions had made him anxious to get away.
