Strangely, this question was the one that finally drained the sexual tension out of our conversation.
"Yes, good question." Cole took a stiff step back, and his green eyes iced over again. "Here's exactly what you will tell them."
* * *
"What did you do?"Rick demanded for the second time that morning. This time, though, it was in response to me showing up with Nora's original wedding ring on my hand.
Rick wasn't the world's most attentive boss. But apparently, he could spot an engagement ring from across a sixty-foot stage.
"Gossip break!" he screamed, just as Pru and the other topless dancers started descending the stage-center grand staircase in perfect sync for the closing "Viva, Las Vegas!" reprise number with a Happy Lunar New Year message scrolling across the back video wall.
The next thing I knew, the entire thirty-girl cast and quite a few of the stagehands had gathered in front of me for story time. And as much as the Benton Girls liked to complain about having to do anything other than perform in their heavy headpieces and feathered backpacks, no one said a single word about the unexpected holdup as I stuttered through Cole Benton's completely fabricated story about how we met and fell in whirlwind love.
My cheeks were on fire by the time I was through. The truth was, I was a born dancer. Acting had never been one of my strong suits, and I held my breath, wondering if they would believe me.
But after a moment of shocked silence, Rick was the first to speak. "No wonder you've been looking so tired lately. You were running around with Triple Ice this entire time behind my back?"
No, I wasn't that great of an actress. But to my credit, I did manage not to let out a huge sigh of relief when he said that.
"I wanted to tell you," I answered, lacing my words with all the apology I felt for deceiving him and the rest of my fellow dancers. "But obviously, considering our positions, I had to keep it under the radar. And that's, um..."
I took a deep breath and made myself finish. "And that's why I have to resign from my position with the revue, effective today."
A soft cry went up from my fellow Benton Girls, and I gave them all another apologetic wince—well, most of them. I didn't dare look in Pru's direction. I could almost feel her wide-eyed gaze on me, practically screaming, "Wait. WHAT?!"
Dara, however, didn't seem nearly as upset or surprised as the other dancers.
"So you were dating Cole this entire time, and none of us knew?" She gave me a skeptical up-and-down look, her voice tinged with something that sounded like suspicion or jealousy. Knowing Dara, it was probably both. "Not even your best friend, Pru?"
Uh-oh.My stomach threatened to crater. Getting pushback hadn't been part of the script Cole had given me. I scoured my tiny reservoir of improv skills for a reasonable reply.
"Oh, I knew!" Proving herself the best friend ever, Pru stepped forward before I could burn alive in awkward silence. "I know you were probably too busy trying to get him to look at you. But I could see the way Cole Benton was eyeballing my bestie, even though he was supposed to be there to pick up his grandma. I wasn't even a little bit surprised when he asked her out. And hey, it's Sunny, so I'm not shocked that he proposed in under two months. I'm just happy I don't have to keep on pretending I don't know about them. That was a tough assignment."
Wow. Nora should have picked Pru as her dying wish. She was so much better at this lying stuff than me.
"Thank you, Pru," I said with a somber nod. "I know it must've been so hard to keep that secret."
Pru just flared her eyes back at me in a best-friend look that could easily be translated as,You better call my ass and tell me what's really going on as soon as you're free of all these prying eyes.
And on that note...
"Well, I better get going," I told the rest of them awkwardly. "I'll just let you get back to it."
"Seriously?" Rick protested. "You're just leaving me in the lurch? I have no idea how I'll ever replace you. I mean, who's going to calm down the dancers enough to go on stage after I finish screaming at them?"
"I can do that, along with her solo," Dara volunteered, taking a bold step forward. “I can do whatever Sunny does from now on."
"No, Dara, youcannot," Rick informed her without even bothering to look her way. He pushed on before she could protest. "I've got a doozy of a rant I've been writing out in my head for weeks, and I'm pretty sure there's going to be tears from some of the newbies. But how am I supposed to let loose on these greenies for not cutting it if there's no one to handle backstage mama duties when I'm done?"
"Maybe you could not yell at everybody?" I suggested carefully. "Try validation and encouragement instead?"
Rick just stared at me like I was recommending he self-immolate mid-show.
And I gave in with an, "Okay, well, I think Pru's ready to take over as the backstage nurturer. I really do."
This time Pru didn't play along. "Da hell you say?"
"She better be!" Rick declared before she could finish protesting. "Okay, girls, get back in position. Take the final number from the top while I walk Sunny out. Then I'll be back to scream at you."
