The Merger

Chapter 15

Talia Nassar

"The crowd tonight is amazing!" I say to the girls before taking a big swig of water in the spacious dressing room. Performers are everywhere, laughing, chatting loudly, and being carried by the high of their performances.

The dance routine was one of the best performances we've ever done. The excitement and energy in the air polished off every hit of every beat.

Yet I don't have too much time to celebrate. The reverberation from Ana's voice reaches the room indicating I need to be back there any second now to do the final performance.

I've only stepped in for Ana once or twice before and hope she picks someone who could have fun with it. The last time I did this dance the guy almost peed his pants from how terrified he was.

After quickly changing into my black long-sleeve bodysuit with mesh paneling cutouts and strapping on my heels, I hurry through the back of the theater hallway. The sound of a man's voice reaches my ears, indicating Ana picked someone.

I giggle to myself thinking about some of the moves I need to do. I wonder who the lucky guy is.

I make my way to the side of the stage and as soon as my gaze lands on the back of the man's head, my pulse ticks up a notch. He's seated on a chair with his back toward me... and looks too familiar.

Before I can even process who the man is, Ana calls the audience to give it up for me. The spotlights change to a reddish-purple hue and Ana scurries off the stage. The opening of Taylor Swift's Vigilante Shit begins to stream through the speakers, filling up the space and prompting me to move into the audience's view of the stage.

The crowd cheers loudly as I seductively walk toward the broad-shouldered man in the chair. Those broad shoulders look so much like - I freeze, my pulse skyrocketing through the roof. The man turns his head toward the audience and his profile becomes visible.

What the...? There's no way!

I move swiftly to be in front of Lucas, not even bothering to keep up the routine. My jaw falls to the floor.

Lucas, in flesh and blood, is grinning from ear to ear seated on the chair in front of me. The very same spot where I'm supposed to be waving my ass and boobs around in the air in a few seconds.

My mind moves rapidly trying to process what's going on. How did he find out about this? Did he see my dance earlier? What the hell is he doing?

The music stops. I'm frozen. For a moment everything is dead silent, and all I can hear is my pulse in my eardrums.

Lucas draws his brows together briefly. Yet a moment later, his features morph into a challenging glint.

Fuck, he's good.

I shift my gaze around to the waiting crowd and then meet Ana's concerned look in the corner. She glances back at Lucas and a smile tugs at her lips. I look at Lucas and all I see is smug.

You want to play? Then let's play.

"Sorry, everyone!" I shout out to the audience. "I know this guy and it tripped me up!" My performance smile is back on, and the audience reacts with cheers. "We're going to take it from the top," I continue, and the audience cheers even louder.

Lucas can't seem to contain his boyish grin as he sits there comfortably in his seat. I lean down, my lips reaching the shell of his ear, and whisper, "Turn your chair around and face me."

Lucas' hands tremble on his lap. I back away and move to the starting position. When I turn around to face him again, he's seated facing me and rubbing his hands together.