Follow My Lead (7 page)

“Darla!” Meagan called, waving her forward. Her light brown hair fell haphazardly from a pile on top of her head, her jeans and T-shirt were casual and comfortable. The big burly blond man next to Meagan stood, as well, and Darla assumed him to be Meagan’s new husband. Evidently, he’d used his role as head of studio security to ensure he was the man watching over his wife and her show. Darla found this endearing and romantic.

Seeing Meagan again dissolved what was left of Darla’s nerves. Meagan wasn’t a big bad studio person. She might be Darla’s new boss, but she was also one of the nicest people she’d ever met. Someone she knew could blossom into a close friend.

Darla rushed forward, and was soon trapped in Meagan’s warm hug. “I can’t believe you’re here.” She leaned back. “Isn’t it crazy how both of our lives have changed in such a short time?” They’d met during the casting of the first season of the show and quickly bonded. Like Darla, who’d started out in casting and become a camera personality, Meagan had taken an unexpected path, from injured dancer to producer of a reality dance show.

Affection filled Darla and she paused to look at Meagan. “I can’t tell you how much it means that you made this happen for me. I’m not going to let you down.”

“I know that or you wouldn’t be here,” Meagan assured her. “I really wanted to make drinks happen so you could meet your fellow judges before the first audition. But before I introduce you to everyone, I have to warn you, Darla, last season, we didn’t have anyone but our own crew and a few local press people on hand for the auditions. We couldn’t even get a good showing for the contestants. There are people who have been camped out for a full day already. This season is already chaotic but we have plenty of talent this time.”

Darla grinned. “I’ll be the judge of that.” Auditions had gone so poorly last season that Darla had personally set up some additional New York tryouts, where a bulk of the cast had been found.

Meagan grinned back at her. “Exactly why you’re here. But consider yourself warned. It’s going to be a wild ride the next few weeks.”

“She’s not kidding,” Sam said, offering Darla his hand. “Sam Kellar. Nice to finally meet you, and good thing we did it tonight. Something tells me I’m going to be on duty around the clock from here on out.”

“So nice to finally meet you, too,” Darla said, accepting his hand. “I guess the security threat is over now?”

He scrubbed his jaw. “We had some contestants get into a fight outside the hotel.”

“Needless to say,” Meagan added, “those individuals won’t be auditioning. I don’t like trouble or scandal. I’m trying to keep this show more
American Idol
than
Jersey Shore
. After last season, I know all too well that once we start filming the reality portion of the show that’s incorporating the contestant house, it’ll be a pipe dream to avoid.”

Meagan motioned to the chair in front of Darla. “I saved you a seat so we could chat. Let’s eat, drink and drink some more—God, don’t I wish I could do that, but morning will be here soon enough.” Meagan and Sam sat down, and Darla grabbed her chair, looking across the table for the first time. That’s when her gaze froze, her eyes colliding with the wicked heat of Blake’s sexy blue stare.

“Glad you made it,” he said, a twinkle of mischief in his eyes.

“We were starting to worry you might have fallen asleep,” Meagan teased. “But Blake said you drank a pot of coffee on the plane.”

“I did,” Darla said, easing into her chair and wondering what else Blake had said exactly, and from the look on his face he not only knew it, he was enjoying it. “And since I fly horribly, Blake felt the full wrath of me on a caffeine and fear high. But then, he’s my competitor, so who better to torture but him?”

Meagan laughed and waved a finger between the two of them. “That’s right. You two have a little baggage of your own, don’t you?”

“We did,” Blake said. “But she forgave me.”

Darla crinkled her nose, wondering why she was looking at his mouth. Oh, yeah, she knew why. It had been all over her body, which was a very bad thing to think about right now. “I didn’t actually forgive you.” Okay, maybe. Almost. If they’d had just a bit longer alone.

“We made a deal, though, Darla, remember?” Blake asked.

Her mouth gaped. “What?” He wouldn’t. He couldn’t. She’d trusted him, and that meant he probably would.

“Hi, Darla. So good to see you again.”

Darla cringed at the greeting and not just because of the timing. She’d already noticed who was sitting on Blake’s left and it was all Darla could do to force her gaze from Blake to the source of the greeting. Lana Taylor was the gorgeous, twentysomething Broadway star with trademark long red hair and pale, perfect skin, who was a second season judge. She’d also acted like a mean diva to Darla’s staff during a guest spot on her show, post
Stepping Up
season one. Darla wondered if she regretted her behavior now. The world was always smaller than people thought. Then again, Lana was the mean judge on the show—mean just seemed to be a part of her character.

“Hi, Lana,” Darla said, leaving off the “nice to see you again” because Darla tried really hard to stay sincere in a business that tended toward the opposite direction. Her gaze drifted back to Blake’s, to his clean-shaven jaw. The skin of her stomach and leg tingled where that stubble had grazed her earlier, taunting her with how intimately exposed she was to this man, and this table, if he chose to betray her.

“Nice to meet you, Darla.”

Darla inhaled and greeted another judge sitting to Lana’s left. Jason Alright was a sexy thirtysomething Vegas producer who’d been a favorite of the viewers’ last season, especially with the female audience.

The fourth and final judge was Ellie Campbell, who was about Darla’s age and one of the hottest choreographers in the business. Ellie, who had pink hair tonight, was known for frequent, unique hair color choices and hip street-style clothing. She sat at the far end of the table, but quickly appeared at Darla’s side to offer a friendly introduction. Darla liked Ellie instantly and as Jason joined the conversation, she found him quite likable, as well. Everyone got along with Blake, she noticed.

A number of crew members chimed their greetings to Darla. There were some friendly, familiar faces Darla was glad to see. And she told herself this distraction was good. There was no time, or room, for Blake to fit in more about their “deal.” But she’d fit it in all right. She and Blake were going to have a good heart-to-heart, sooner rather than later.

“I’m so excited to see you again,” Lana continued after everyone settled back into their own conversations. “You went from casting to your own show. Impressive, Darla. You’re rocking showbiz.”

It was a sticky-sweet compliment lacking sincerity and laced with a chill. “And on that note,” Darla said, feeling the ball and chain of performance pressure tugging at her, she lifted her hand to flag a waiter. “Can I get a dessert menu?”

“What about dinner?” Blake asked.

She gave him a pointed look. “I have a sudden urge to go straight to the heavy stuff.”

“The camera adds ten pounds,” Lana sweetly reminded them.

“Good thing tonight will only be worth about a pound of that ten,” Darla said, accepting a menu from the waiter. “Because I fully intend to indulge.”

“I said it earlier,” Blake chimed in. “And I’ll say it again. I’m so glad I’m a man. We really don’t give a damn about a pound or ten.”

He’d changed his shirt to a dark blue collar tee with a studio logo and he wore it like he wore the room—casual and comfortable. He had this cool air of confidence about him that screamed of being comfortable in his own skin, never rattled or out of his element, and she envied him that.

“What did I say that merited an urgent request for dessert?” Lana asked, laughing. “Surely, you aren’t nervous. You have a show and an audience of your own.”

Darla could play coy and cool with Lana, but that just wasn’t her style. “I have a show and an audience,” she agreed. “But not a prime time show with millions and millions of viewers. That audience is going to expect this season to be better than the last, and with me being the newbie, I’ll be under the microscope.”

“And hearing you talk about the viewers wanting this season to be better than the last makes me want a big fat dessert, too,” Meagan said, nudging Darla’s menu closer so that she could see what was on offer. “I keep thinking that what goes up must come down and we have to get off the ride before it does. Go out gracefully, with style, and on our own terms. And with some reality show kind of twist.”

“Hearing you talk about the program ending is only making me more worried,” Darla said. “At least your job is secure.”

“Oh, please,” Meagan pleaded. “You’ll be great and everyone will love you.”

“We hope,” Darla replied. “We both know there is no certainty in this business.”

“You two are not good for each other,” Blake said, moving a finger between Meagan and Darla and then lifting his chin at Sam. “I just spent hours on a plane with Darla from New York and she freaks herself out enough. Together, it’s clear that they are dangerous to each other’s sanity.”

“And everyone around them,” Sam readily agreed.

“We need to have Darla and Lana change seats,” Blake suggested, “so there’s some distance between Darla and Meagan.”

Was he really trying to jockey for her to sit next to him? And did he really think that wasn’t obvious? Darla gave Blake an incredulous look and kicked him under the table.

“Ouch!” Lana screamed. “Someone just kicked me.” She rubbed her leg. “Who did that?”

Darla’s eyes went wide. Blake burst out laughing. Meagan looked between Darla and Blake, then to Lana, and immediately turned to her husband. “Sam,” Meagan scolded. “I told you to be careful with those big, long legs of yours.”

Oh, thank you, Meagan! But Blake barked more laughter, and the rest of the group was looking their way. Darla considered kicking him again, only she hadn’t kicked him in the first place, so for safety’s sake, she settled for a glower and a silent promise that she was going to kill him. He laughed louder. “Stop laughing!” Lana ordered Blake. “It hurts.”

“I’m so sorry, Lana,” Meagan said, squeezing Darla’s leg under the table, telling her she knew darn well who had kicked Lana. Meagan eyed her husband. “Sam. Apologize.”

“I didn’t—” Sam grunted, and Darla had a feeling Sam had just gotten pinched or kicked himself “—mean to,” Sam finished. “I didn’t mean to kick you, Lana. I’ll be more careful. Sorry about that.”

Lana scowled at poor Sam. “Remind me not to sit next to you. I’m going to have a giant bruise.”

“Yeah,” Sam said. “Sorry again.” His gaze slid curiously between Blake and Darla. “I think I want to hear about this deal—
ouch
.” He grimaced at Meagan. “Would you stop that?”

Darla’s heart leaped. She couldn’t speak and couldn’t breathe for that matter.

The deal was about to be exposed.

7

“
D
EAL?”
B
LAKE ASKED IN REPLY
to Sam, but his attention stayed on Darla a moment before flickering to the other man. “Did I say deal? I meant truce. Darla has agreed to forgive me for our past ‘incident’ for the good of the show. Rick is on his own, though. Where is he, by the way?”

“I don’t remember saying that I forgave you,” Darla said and eyed Meagan. “And yes. Where is Rick? I’m looking forward to giving him a nice warm greeting.”

“He’s doing a charity baseball game and won’t arrive until late tonight,” Meagan said and pursed her lips. “And you better behave when he arrives. You promised me you two would play nice.”

“Of course,” Darla assured her. “I just want to have a little one-on-one chat with him to make sure I don’t become the brunt of any more of his attention-grabbing schemes.”

“I already tackled that,” Meagan promised, lowering her voice. “Rick knows I’m trying to keep this a top-quality talent show, not an extension of a tabloid.”

“Which, as Meagan mentioned,” Sam added, “is a tough task once you get six young men and women in a contestant house for eight weeks. The cameras are rolling, the hormones are high, and the weekly live competitions and eliminations are always hanging in the air. But Meagan and I learned from last season. We’re determined to run things better this year.”

“Even if the studio doesn’t believe they’re better,” Meagan commented. “They love scandal because they think it equals ratings when, in reality, it’s our ability to appeal to families that gets us powerful advertisers we’d lose in the long run if we tainted our image. It amazes me that the suits are so blinded by short spikes in numbers, rather than the big picture. Yet, they’ll cut us in a heartbeat if I let their strategy dominate the show and it fails.”

“Back to the topic of Darla and Rick,” Blake said. “The press is absolutely going to try and stir up their past conflict. It’s what they do—stir the pot. So even if you talked to Rick, they’re going to bait him and Darla, and they’ll likely make stuff up if that doesn’t work.”

Meagan sighed. “I assumed as much.”

“Yeah, I know, which is why I say I interview Darla and Rick together tomorrow and address the past then, where I can control the outcome. We’ll be able to shut down all speculation and rumor because all three of us will be together.” Blake gave Darla a quick nod. “I’ll cut extra footage that you can use exclusively on your show and some on mine. Then we both win. Everyone wins.”

“It’s a good plan,” Sam agreed quickly. “We then head off at least one story the press will be chasing and maybe stop one headache.”

It
was
a good plan, Darla thought, and she actually found herself wondering if she’d wanted an excuse to see him again all along, that tonight had never been about just one night. Good grief, she was so clearly not good at handling men. “How do you feel about the idea?” Meagan asked, studying Darla.

“How do
you
feel about it?” Darla asked.

“I think it’s a good idea,” Meagan said. “If you’re okay with it.”

Darla nodded and glanced at Blake. “But I want us to talk to Rick in advance. I want to know what’s going to come out of his big mouth before he says it.”