Chapter 15
Rayne leaned forward and peered into the dressing room mirror, trying to alleviate his nervousness by searching for any slight flaw in his appearance to fix. He was wearing the tuxedo he’d brought with him to wear at the reception for the playhouse, only this time he was wearing a hunter green bowtie and vest that Emilio had provided for him.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” he muttered at his reflection. Even when he was a theater kid, he’d remained behind the scenes. He preferred working on set design to being onstage himself, but now he was about to get up in front of the Christmas Eve crowd at the playhouse and dance a waltz. At least Emilio was leading, and after a week of daily practice, Rayne wasn’t worried about tripping over his own feet. Well, notasworried.
Once he was satisfied that he looked presentable, he exited the dressing room to wait in the wings with Emilio. The waltz was the final dance of the show, and so they had to wait for the last of the choral performances before they could take the stage.
“You look wonderful.” Emilio greeted him with a kiss on the cheek and then wrapped an arm around his waist. There was an air of suppressed excitement about Emilio lately, as though he was almost vibrating with energy. Of course, it wasn’t unusual for that to happen before a show, as Rayne well remembered, but this seemed to be a bit more than normal.
“Are you so wound up because this is the last show?” Rayne gave Emilio a playful hip bump.
“Wound up? Me?” Emilio widened his eyes, giving Rayne a look that would have been perfectly innocent, had there not been a wicked gleam in the brown depths. “Well, the last show, and I get to dance with you. It’s exciting.”
“Uh huh.” Rayne slanted a sidelong look at him, not quite buying that explanation. “Are you planning to take off any time between Christmas and New Year’s? I was hoping we’d have some time to celebrate my good news.”
Now Emilio looked curious. “You’ve had good news? Care to share?”
“My realtor called this morning,” Rayne said, his smile turning soft and warm as he looked at Emilio. Hopefully his news would help bolster Emilio’s trust since it would prove he intended to cut ties with Atlanta. “Someone’s already put in an offer on my townhouse.”
Emilio grinned, obviously pleased. “That really is good news!” He leaned in to kiss Rayne tenderly and then pulled back. “I have an idea about where you can live. I’ll tell you about it after the show.”
Rayne hoped the idea involved an invitation to move in together, but he didn’t want to push in case Emilio wasn’t ready for that. “I’ll be interested in hearing it. My only plan right now is to see if I can extend my lease on the rental house.”
Before Emilio could reply, someone came up on Rayne’s other side. Ann Stevens had been the stage manager at the playhouse for decades, and she smiled at Rayne and then spoke in a low voice. “I just wanted to tell you one more time how wonderful the renovations have been. It’s made things so much easier for all of us.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” Rayne said, returning the smile. Her praise was enough to make him forget how nervous he was—well, almost forget.
“It’s timely, too.” She reached out to give his arm a squeeze. “I’m thinking about retiring, and the playhouse will need a new stage manager. I hope you might consider taking it on, at least part-time.”
Rayne glanced at Emilio to gauge his reaction to her suggestion. “I’ll give it some serious thought.”
“Sounds like a good idea to me,” Emilio said. “You always did love the theater.”
“I did,” Rayne said, feeling a little surge of excitement at the thought of being involved with the theater again, especially if the theater in question was this playhouse. “I still do. Let’s get together after the holidays and talk specifics,” he said, turning his attention back to Ann. He needed more information before he could make a decision, but he was already quite tempted.
“Of course. I need to check the other side of the stage. Break a leg, boys.” With that, Ann left them, and Emilio leaned close.
“It would be great to work together again in the theater,” he said, a small, intimate smile curving his lips. “Especially if we get to have the backstage to ourselves sometimes.”
Rayne slid his hand down Emilio’s back to give his ass a playful grope. “I can think of a few memories we could recreate.”
Emilio wriggled against Rayne’s hand. “Oh, yes. So can I.”
The chorus segment ended, and then Emilio took Rayne’s hand as the stage lights went down. “Showtime,” he murmured and then kissed Rayne again, soft and quick. “For luck.”
Rayne didn’t have time to think or be nervous because Emilio pulled him out onto the stage and took Rayne in the close hold position. Emilio had made a couple of changes to the choreography to better suit the fact they were close in height, but otherwise the dance was the same one he’d been performing with Angela Ramsay. The music started, the lights came up, and Emilio led Rayne into the dance, smiling at Rayne with an expression of pure joy. Rayne wasn’t sure if Emilio’s happiness stemmed from the dance itself or that they were dancing together. Perhaps it was a mix of both. Whatever the reason, Rayne was glad to see him so happy.
Focusing on Emilio and the music helped Rayne ignore his nerves—and the audience. Emilio provided a strong lead, and Rayne let himself get lost in the smooth rhythm of the steps, enjoying the chance to dance with Emilio once more. They really did move well together, flowing to the romantic music while the lights rose and fell on the stage around them. The dance seemed to somehow capture part of the magic of Christmas, weaving a spell that was both nostalgic and yet exciting and new around them both. There was an aching tenderness in Emilio’s expression, and it was almost as though the years fell away and they were teenagers again, young and eager and so full of life it was almost painful.
After so much anticipation, the dance drew toward the end almost too quickly. Rayne knew from having watched the performance that the dance ended in a fade to black, with the two dancers silhouetted against a snowscape that was projected from the rear onto a screen. But all Rayne could see was the way Emilio was looking at him. For the first time since he’d been back, he was almost certain he saw love in Emilio’s eyes.
There was applause swelling around them, but Rayne heard Emilio’s voice, pitched low and soft. “Want to skip the cast party and go to my house?”
“I’d love to,” Rayne said.
“Then let’s take our bows and get out of here.” With that, Emilio turned them toward the audience, and they acknowledged the approval of the crowd. Then Emilio pulled him off toward the wings. “Do you need to change? Or can we grab stuff and get out before the parking lot is a mess?”
“Let’s change at your house,” Rayne said, clasping Emilio’s hand and tugging him toward the dressing room. “I’m ready to celebrate our successful debut.”
