“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.”