We heard him easily, as we weren’t allowed to talk above a whisper during this time.

Mo smiled and walked swiftly toward her place. I followed. I was in the back line because of my height, and that was fine with me. We weren’t supposed to stand out, and we didn’t, but being in back meant I didn’t stand out even more.

Good, good, good.

I never wanted to stand out again.

I was pretty sure my modeling days had led to…

Yeah, and never would that happen again.

I took my place and listened as the band tuned up.

Then I pasted a smile on my face as the curtain rose.

How many shows had I done? I’d counted once, but that was over a year ago. I didn’t even have to think. My feet knew exactly what to do, my legs how high to kick. Our line was so in sync that we’d been compared to the Rockettes on more than one occasion. In fact, the famed chorus line had stolen one of our girls within the last two months.

I had no Rockette aspirations myself. They were too well known. I didn’t want anyone looking that closely at me.

Kick! Then shuffle ball change. Kick again, other leg this time.

I was on autopilot, and I never missed.

The show went off without a hitch, and when intermission came, I was allowed a few sips of water. Just enough to stave off dehydration. Too much, and we’d bloat, which wasn’t good for the costume. Wasn’t good for how it made us feel either, but the director was only concerned with how we looked, of course. Not how we felt.

My ankle was still a little sore from my ordeal with the grate last night, but I’d danced on much worse. This was nothing.

Our twenty-minute intermission always flew by quickly, unlike the hour pre-show and the hour and a half between shows.

In a seeming instant, I was back on stage, smile pasted on, executing high kicks once more.

Second show of the night. For some strange reason, I always had more energy for the ten o’clock show. Adrenaline, the director said. The adrenaline stayed with me until about two a.m. on show nights. Just as well, since I had dinner plans afterward tonight.

Thank goodness Mo was coming along.

Right now, Reid Wolfe was somewhere in the audience. Once more I was thankful for the bright lighting that kept us from seeing anything other than shadows in the theater. I had no doubt that if I could see faces, Reid’s would stand out.

His image was seared into my mind.

He was easily the best looking of his brothers. Rock was rugged and sexy, and Roy had that boho look you’d expect from an artist. Plus, he was almost too pretty to be real.

But Reid…