Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
S he didn’t need to win. But she also kind of did. Because winning would mean a guaranteed invitation to next year’s show, even if she wasn’t sure what all the ramifications of that would mean. Coco had won once before, and said it wasn’t the weekly earnings the pros made, but the endorsement opportunities that opened up. Something she’d never had to think about before, back when she was a ballet corps member, or running a little studio in Winnipeg. What would the bank manager say now?
Sweat slicked her palms, and she subtly wiped them on her skirt as she peered out into the audience, spotting Luc’s parents sitting next to hers, while Mike and Bree, Poppy and Franklin James, and Franklin’s new wife Hannah, and a few of Luc’s other friends, sat nearby. Her big smile widened. What would happen if they did win? Would Luc kiss her again? Anticipation made her heart shimmy.
Luc’s arm slid around her waist as she wondered again what would happen when they returned to Winnipeg. He’d already mentioned he needed to head straight into prepping for next month’s training camp, then he’d start his preseason games at the end of September. The schedule had been released, and she knew he’d be super busy, what with his commitments to work, especially when he was officially announced as their new captain. Was this a short-lived bubble of fun thanks to forced proximity, or would they be able to sustain a real relationship?
Jenna took to the stage again. “Wow, wasn’t it great to see all of this year’s couples dancing one last time? Let’s give it up for all of this year’s contestants.”
A wave of applause and cheering filled the room.
“And now, the votes have been tallied and we’re about to see who is crowned this year’s winner of Dance Off Canada . Tonight’s performances have seen a record number of votes which, remember, makes up half of the points when added to the judges’ scores. And now, and this is in particular order, can we get a drumroll as we get ready to find out who has come third in this year’s Dance Off Canada competition.”
The booming drums filled the room, as she clutched Luc’s hand.
“And in third place, let’s give it up for… Fiona and Dominic.”
What? Bailey smile-commiserated, her chest growing so tight she might have another wardrobe malfunction. They were still in with a shot at the mirror ball.
She glanced up at Luc. “I’m so proud of you, whatever happens.”
He leaned down, and kissed her forehead. “You’re my winner, no matter what.”
Aww. She wrapped both arms around his waist, and he tucked his chin over her head, as Jenna was passed the envelope.
“And now, in the closest scores we’ve ever seen, your winner for Dance Off Canada is…”
The drumroll grew louder, and seemed to stretch abnormally long, while her breathing slowed until she could hear an echo in each drumbeat.
“…Jason and Coco! Which means Luc and Bailey are runners-up. Congratulations, guys!”
Bailey turned to Coco, kissing both her cheeks before doing the same to Jason, then turning to Luc and hugging him. He picked her up, nuzzling his face in her neck as she shut her eyes and clung to him. He’d never let her fall. And regardless of what happened in their future, she sensed he never would.
The cheering continued behind them, and she knew she had to compose herself and look happy for the crowds at home. And she was. But the competitive spirit inside that had fueled her need to succeed sang a small song of disappointment. Still, it was best to not look that way at least.
She smiled, leaning against Luc’s chest as he wrapped both arms around her, as Jason and Coco squealed and gold confetti dropped from the rafters. She peered up, and Luc gazed down at her, his hand catching hers. Then, in a move that would’ve shocked the week one version of Luc, he was tugging her to the dance floor to join the other couples who were dancing, and they were sashaying around the room, laughing. It really didn’t matter that they’d lost. They’d actually won. She’d pushed past so many of her insecurities, as had Luc, and dance was the winner.
Luc spun her, and then she was dancing with Marco, who complimented her, then, in a scene that could’ve come straight from her favorite movie, the floor was soon filled with other special guests, and she was hugged by the other contestants, then her parents, then Luc’s parents.
“Oh, Lucas.” His mom pulled him down and kissed both his cheeks. “That dance you dedicated to me was so beautiful. And Bailey.” She clasped her tight. “I don’t know what to say except thank you.”
“You’re more than welcome.”
Luc blew his mom a kiss, just as he had after the contemporary performance, and they were engulfed by Poppy and his friends.
“I can’t believe it!” Poppy screamed over the noise. “You came second! That’s incredible.”
“Nice job, you two. Loved the meaning of your first dance, and you definitely brought the Bond themes for the second.” Franklin introduced Hannah to Bailey. “Remember how this man complained about dancing at our wedding, hon? This all feels so hard to believe.”
Hannah nodded. “I loved everything about that. I wish I’d known you before, Bailey, so we could’ve gained some tips before our wedding back in June.”
“It’s never too late to start.”
“Obviously,” a dark blond man said, whom she’d never met in person before but recognized from a long-ago video call. He drew forward a tattooed magenta-haired woman. “I’m Ryan, this is Sylvie. I can’t thank you enough for making a liar out of Luc.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Mike Vaughan nodded. “For as long as I’ve known the man he’s been allergic to anything that has any degree of romance. Then you come along and boom, he’s a changed man.”
“Kissing her on national TV!” Ryan high-fived Mike, as Franklin laughed.
Sylvie smiled. “If you two are a couple then brace yourself. This crew is wild.”
“And she doesn’t know the half of it.” Another guy, she half-recognized from the video call from ages ago, shook her hand. “I’m Chris, remember? Thanks for putting a smile on Luc’s dial. The whole crew thanks you.”
“You’re, um, welcome?”
He laughed, and slapped Luc on the back, as she was swallowed up by the “crew”.
This crew. His Bible study friends. But did Luc’s kiss mean they really were a couple publicly now? She’d love to get a chance to ask him privately, instead of wondering herself as others wondered aloud.
“Hey, congratulations, honey.” Her mom again. “You were amazing. And Luc—where is he?” She peered around, then waved as Luc drew near. “Oh, Luc, congratulations. I was just saying how you did so well.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Donovan.” He nodded to her dad. “Sir.”
Her father’s smile was small, and she had a horrible suspicion he hadn’t liked the dances she’d done. Or Luc’s kiss. But there was no time to wonder further, as they were forced to attend interviews, with more reporters shoving microphones in their faces.
“Luc and Bailey. Congratulations.” The reporter from ET again. “What a wonderful couple of dances to end your time on the show. Ooh la la! Now Luc, the question everyone at home is dying to know, can you tell us more about that final moment—that kiss!—was it planned?”
An excellent question. Bailey turned to face him.
Luc shrugged, smiled. “Let’s just say that I’m an artist. I was in the moment, so I kissed her.”
So he hadn’t planned it. Okay.
“From everything we’ve seen in those packages and in those dances, you two share an incredible chemistry, and can’t seem to keep your hands off each other. Is there truth to the rumors you two are a couple now?”
“We, ah,” he glanced at her. “Maybe. You’ll have to see.”
“You two would make such a cute couple.”
“Thanks.”
“Bailey, did you have anything you’d like to say? You’ve certainly had a memorable first season. Are you hoping for more?”
“That depends on so many factors. It would be nice to have the opportunity to do something like this again, but I don’t know if I could have a better partner.”
“Oh, you two are so cute! Now Luc, now the show has finished, how would you sum up your experience?”
Luc turned to Bailey. “So much fun. I’m so incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity, to have met this woman. She’s the best, and after spending the last six weeks together, I don’t know how I’ll cope not being with her every day.”
“Well, you’re both from Winnipeg, so I’m sure you can make that work out. A little easier than if one of you was based here in Toronto, right?”
So true. But what would that mean if she was asked to do a second season?
* * *
The wrap party went on for longer than some Cup winner celebrations, or so Chris and Diana Thomas said. There might be a lot in this dance world Luc still didn’t know about, but dancers sure could throw good parties. But maybe that was because of the company with his friends and family around.
“You were robbed, man.” Chris slung an arm around his shoulders. “Robbed. You were the best couple out there tonight. Even the judges agreed.”
Half a point. Not that it mattered. He felt like a winner even if the public had voted for the actor.
“They were on fire,” Ryan said. “But you were on fire more.”
Luc shrugged. “It was all Bailey.”
He glanced around, but couldn’t see her, the space too full of heaving bodies.
“She’s pretty cute.” Ryan wrapped an arm around Sylvie.
“Like a peppy cheerleader,” Sylvie added. “But a sexy one.”
Yeah, that. “It wasn’t too much, was it? Everyone keeps going on about it, but I didn’t think the routines were too spicy compared to the other couples.”
“Look, I think most people understand it’s an entertainment show, that what you’re doing is not necessarily who you are. Like, you’re not strutting around thinking you’re James Bond, are you?”
“You clearly don’t know the man very well, Sylvie,” Ryan said. “He does that all the time.”
Luc sighed and shook his head. “I think I liked you more when you had less to say.”
Ryan laughed. “See? It’s obviously getting under his skin.”
He needed to steer this conversation back to where he’d get answers. “So that’s a no, then?”
“To being too sexy? You were fine,” Ryan assured.
But judging from Bailey’s dad’s expression as he drew into view, he might not agree. “Luc.”
“Sir.” He introduced Wayne Donovan to his friends, who seemed to sense the awkwardness here, and soon exited, apart from Ryan, who hooked an eyebrow as if asking if Luc wanted him to stay. Luc shook his head. Whatever Wayne wanted to say was likely something the others definitely didn’t need to hear.
“Have you got a moment, Luc?”
“Sure.”
Bailey’s dad motioned him to a quieter corner. Luc glanced around for Bailey but she remained unseen. Nerves rippled along his veins. What would Wayne say about the fact that Luc had kissed his daughter on national TV? “I, er, hope you enjoyed the show, sir.”
Judging from that narrowing of eyes, the man definitely hadn’t liked all he’d seen.
“You know that’s what this is, right?” Wayne said.
“I’m sorry. I don’t follow.”
“It’s a show . It’s not real.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“You and her. You’ve spent so much time together doing this dancing show, but you haven’t been in the real world. Now you’re going to be in the real world and you’re going to see that this was nothing more than two people spending too much time too close together.”
“Sir, I disa—”
“Let me finish.” Wayne sighed. “I know Bailey far better than you, and I know she puts her heart and soul into everything she does. I can’t say this to her, but I can to you and will admit I’m disappointed that she chose to wear some of those costumes, and did some of those moves.” He shook his head. “My wife tells me that it’s only a performance, that it’s not real, and both her and Bailey have assured me that you did not manhandle my daughter last week, despite what the cameras, and various friends of mine, said.”
“Of course not, sir.” Wow. Sounded like the man needed new friends. “I missed the hold, and caught the top of her dress, but that was all. I didn’t touch, er, anything else. I promise.”
“It didn’t look like that.”
“Well, sir, like you said. It’s a show, not everything you see is real.”
“I would hope not. Especially not when you were almost lying on top of her in that first dance tonight, then kissing her at the end of the second like you thought it was real.”
Luc pinched his lips together.
“So, is what we saw real?” Wayne pressed. “Let me tell you that you may think it is, but I don’t think it’ll last. She’s twenty-four, Luc.”
“Twenty-four?”
“You’re what, thirty-one?”
“Next year,” he mumbled.
“You might think I’m overprotective, but if you knew what had happened to my girls, you would be too.”
“Your girls?”
“Bailey’s sister. She married someone like you, and he beat her, and he’s now in jail.”
Whoa. Why hadn’t Bailey ever mentioned that? Maybe he and her weren’t as close as he’d thought.
“Perhaps that has made me overprotective,” Wayne continued, “but I worry about my girls, and don’t want them getting involved with people who will hurt them.”
“Sir, I know it’s easy to look at my ink and think I’m something that I’m not, but I assure you I’m a good guy.”
“Well, you would say that.”
“No, I am. I’m a Christian. I can give you my pastor’s phone number, and you can check with the guys I do Bible study with. There’s quite a few of them here tonight. And I want you to know that I’d never disrespect your daughter.”
“Those maneuvers on the dance floor suggested quite the opposite.”
Now probably wasn’t the time to say Bailey was the one who’d choreographed them. “I plan to keep seeing her once this is done,” Luc said. “I’m sorry if you disapprove, and I don’t want to do anything that upsets her relationship with you, but I care for her a lot.” Cared for? That was such a lame expression for the depth of his feelings, feelings that he thought ran awfully close to love. “She might be only twenty-four, but she is an adult. And she’s been making adult decisions—”
Wayne sniffed. Okay, that probably wasn’t the best way he could’ve expressed that.
“—and she’s been working so hard. And you know she’s doing all of this because she’s trying to save her business.”
“She is?” Wayne’s forehead wrinkled. “Why, what’s happened?”
Luc clasped the back of his head. It seemed Bailey was perhaps a little too good at keeping secrets. Which made him wonder what else she wasn’t telling him. Still, her father should know the reason she’d done the show. Maybe he was speaking out of turn, but, “I really think you should talk with her. But let’s just say whoever advised her about the financial operations of her studio didn’t do a great job. She’s been losing money, and had to take this gig to pay her debts.”
Wayne’s eyes narrowed, and Luc suddenly had a sinking feeling about just who had advised her. “Sir, my father runs a small business advisory company and—”
“So you think that gives you license to advise everyone else, do you?” Wayne crossed his arms.
Uh-oh. Looked like Luc had just scored an own goal. “You should probably talk to her about this.”
“Are you now trying to tell me she’s acting like this for the money, and not for you?”
His heart stabbed. What if she was? What if her father was right and she was only caught up in the emotions of the moment? Hadn’t she admitted she’d done that before? What if, once out in the real world, she realized she didn’t want this at all?
Luc swallowed. Cleared his throat. “I can’t answer that. Again, that’s something you should talk to her about.”
“You don’t know her, Luc. You might think you do, but you’ve been in this bubble and have no real clue. And you might think you have feelings for her, but I suspect we both know those feelings won’t last. And you’ll break her heart, and her mother and I will have to pick up the pieces, just like we had to do with her sister.”
Luc shook his head. “I won’t hurt her.”
“You say that now, but I know you will.”
“Dad?”
Luc turned, pushing past his frustration to find a smile for Bailey as she tucked herself close to his side.
“What are you two doing talking over here? Come on, everybody is enjoying themselves and you both look so serious.”
“Sorry, Bails.” He was sorely tempted to kiss her again, right in front of her dad, just to stake his claim. But that wasn’t fair or right or kind, so he let her lead him back to the crowd, offering a nod to Wayne. “Thanks for the chat, sir.”
“I’ll be watching you, Luc.”
His stomach dipped. And no doubt hoping he’d fail.
Before he could get swept into other people’s conversations, he had to have an important one with her, so he drew her aside and pivoted to face her.
“Is everything okay with you and my dad?”
“Yeah.” It would be. He hoped. He’d pray. “How about you? How are you doing? Is this crazy enough for you yet?”
“It’s so amazing. The whole night has been amazing. I’m sure I’ll be tired as anything tomorrow, but at least we can sleep on the plane, right?”
He nodded. They’d fly back tomorrow afternoon, then the real fun would begin. Him with prepping for hockey, her back to her studio. And they’d see if Wayne was right and whether this was a bubble or was something real. His heart tensed. “Bails, about before, I just wanted to make sure you were okay about that kiss.”
The sunshine in her face faded, and she nibbled her lip. “It took me by surprise, that’s all.”
“So you didn’t mind?” He had to know. Especially after her dad had sown seeds of doubt about whether this could work.
“I don’t mind if… if this means we really are a couple now.”
“Of course we’re a couple.”
“Really?”
“One hundred percent.”
Joy lit her face, and she jumped into his arms, and he automatically caught her. Then she smiled and leaned close, and her eyelids drifted closed, and her mouth was on his, in an innocent fairytale kiss worthy of that pink dress she’d worn for their waltz. Then her lips firmed, tentatively exploring. He wrapped both arms around her more firmly and let her continue, then kissed her back in a way that would make her feel in no way uncertain about his feelings. Her hands dug into his hair and her lips slowly parted and he was sorely tempted to deepen things, but knew they were too new, and this was hardly the place for that kind of kissing.
He ended the kiss in a series of three pecks and caught his breath, and she leaned her forehead against his, their noses touching. No. Wayne was wrong. This was real, this would last. It had to. He was never not living without this woman in his life. Especially knowing he’d be forever missing out on the best kisses of his life.
“So Bails, does that answer your question?”
Her smile shimmered joy through his soul. “Yes.”
He had to kiss her again, then, conscious that with her in his arms like this, her gold dress with its split was probably revealing more than it needed to, he gently lowered her without breaking the kiss in a graceful move worthy of a ten.
She pulled away, sighed, and smiled up at him. “Look who’s got all the moves.”
“I’ve had a great teacher.”
Bailey laughed, and he smiled at his favorite sound. “Does this mean we’re Instagram official now?” she asked.
“Only if we post something to Instagram. Which means we better do that.”
She touched her hair which she’d taken out of its tight hold. “Do I look—?”
“Perfect? Of course you do. You look great. Come here.” He tucked her close, stuck his phone on selfie mode and snapped a few pictures of them, then asked her to choose. She did, and he sent it to her number. “Let’s post it when we’re at the airport tomorrow.”
“You mean today.” She pointed to the clock.
He glanced across the hushed room, to see all eyes on them. Judges, contestants, crew, his friends, hers, his folks and her parents.
And sure enough, Bailey’s dad was frowning at him.