“What?”
“I forgot until Peter mentioned it that in the final each couple is supposed to do two dances. We’d been allocated a contemporary.”
“What’s that?”
“A freestyle kind of dance, where you can basically pick your own music and moves, which means you can do the ones that showcase your strengths.”
Like his lifts. “That sounds fun. So, what’s the other one?”
“The tango.”
No way. “Is that the really sexy one?”
She nodded.
Man. Now he really wanted the votes so they could get through.
“The producers thought a James Bond theme would be fun, which apparently means amping up the appeal for the viewer.”
“I like James Bond. Even though the dude always seemed to go through too many women.”
“Yeah, well, I think they were wanting me as your Bond girl, which would’ve meant some moves where my mom might’ve had to cover my dad’s eyes.”
“He doesn’t like the sexy stuff, huh?”
“I think he struggles seeing his little girl do stuff like that. Ballet wasn’t the same as ballroom, in that regard.” She sighed. “I have to admit, it’s kind of weird being a Christian on this kind of show and trying to be sexy without being too sexy if you know what I mean.”
Oh, he knew what she meant. Which was why he hadn’t coped with her hand on his hip. If they got any sexier next week he might combust on stage. Then the votes would come in. Or there’d be calls to ban him from dancing ever again.
“Let’s just wait and see what happens with this last dance.”
But he knew Miranda, the country singer, would get through. He’d seen them during rehearsals, during their show-and-tell performance, and he knew they’d be okay. Their quickstep to a Supremes song was fun, although he was really glad to not have to do such a high energy dance again. He probably did need to be careful not to lose much more weight.
He joined the other couples, watching Miranda do her moves, knowing she had a jump that was pretty spectacular, that they’d nailed in every rehearsal. His heart was tight with regret at his failures, and he peeked at Bailey again. Was there some way he and she could keep dancing? Doing this show had opened his eyes to so many things, and he didn’t want to leave yet. Lord? Is there any way—?
“Oh!”
A collective gasp filled the room, and his gaze jerked back to the floor, where Miranda had just fallen with a resounding smack.
“Ow.” He winced, felt Bailey’s shudder next to him.
At least he’d never dropped her—and he wasn’t even the professional.
The singer was peeled off the floor by her partner, Tim, but the blood made it obvious the dance had to end, and they waited, hoping, praying she’d be okay.
“You guys might still have a chance,” Coco murmured from beside them. “Although Miranda may get a big sympathy vote.”
Was it wrong to hope she didn’t?
They waited as the medics checked Miranda, then pronounced her okay, which drew a big sigh of relief from the studio audience and within the green room. Then the judges’ scores were read out, and sure enough, Miranda and Tim had scored three points more than Luc. He sighed. He had no idea whether the judges’ votes were worth that much of a difference compared to the public vote, but it would be interesting to see.
The voting lines were opened, and they had a quick touch-up of makeup and Bailey got an emergency re-stitch of her costume, while the production assistants raced around. Then they were called to the stage, the four couples remaining, and he gripped Bailey’s hand.
“Our first couple safe tonight, and through to next week’s final is Jason and his partner Coco.”
No surprises there. He joined the applause for the couple who truly were the best tonight. He fully expected them to win the whole thing.
“Our next couple safe from elimination is… Fiona and Dominic.”
That was hardly surprising. The actress was also an influencer with a rabid support base.
“Which leaves our bottom two couples: Luc and Bailey, and Miranda and Tim, who suffered that very unfortunate slip in the last few moments of their routine. Can I have both couples join me down here please.”
Luc held Bailey’s hand and carefully drew her to stand beside Jenna.
“Luc and Miranda, can I say it’s been a real pleasure to have you both join us, and I’m very sorry that tonight we have to say goodbye to one of you.” There was a pause, and Jenna looked at her notes, glanced at Luc then at Miranda, then nodded, as the deep tones of the drumroll filled the room. “And now, with the tightest margin we’ve had in years, the scores have been tallied, the votes have been added in, and I’m very sorry to say, the couple that is leaving us tonight… is…”
Luc hung his head. How he wished…
“—Miranda and Tim!”
Huh?
The crowd erupted. Then Bailey was hugging him, jumping into his arms as she screamed. “We made it!”
“What?”
“We’re through to the final!”
