Page 16 of Dancing With Temptation

8

Roxie

“What’s this charity event for?” Kitty asked as Roxie pulled into a parking space at the resort Dylan James now owned.

He was going to have a bigger empire than the Thompsons if he kept it up at this rate, Roxie thought to herself before she opened the door and got out. “It’s for a new shelter, but I think this one might be out in California or somewhere. You remember those really bad fires out there last year? A lot of people lost their homes and some woman out there has a mansion going moldy, so she’s decided to turn it into a place for those in need following natural disasters.”

“Oh, sounds like a good cause then.” Kitty got out, grabbed her bag, and closed her door while she spoke. “Thanks for inviting me to perform tonight. I appreciate the chance.”

“You’re ready so it’s my pleasure.” Roxie took Kitty’s elbow as they headed for an elevator. “Let’s find Emily and we’ll get you set up.”

“Why didn’t Lincoln come with you again?” Kitty asked and Roxie shrugged.

“He’s not my boyfriend or anything, you know? He said he was coming but he’d be here later than I needed to be so, yeah, he’s coming anyway.” Roxie hadn’t exactly told Kitty about her arrangement with Lincoln, or anybody else for that matter, but Kitty was observant and caught on to how often Lincoln texted her when they were apart.

An hour passed while Roxie followed Emily around the poolside bar and the stage set up in front of the pool. Emily was nervous, but she always was at these things.

“How’s it going with you and Lincoln?” Emily asked blithely as if she hadn’t just picked up a glass with a death-grip that should have shattered the delicate vessel.

“It’s fine,” Roxie answered, looking at Emily closely. “Why?”

“I was just curious. I know he’s very intrigued by you.” Emily flitted away to take up a position at the back of the bar and nodded. “We’ll be able to see Kitty fine from back here.”

Roxie let Emily’s curiosity go, knowing if she didn’t answer something else would grab her attention. Emily wasn’t an airhead or dim, by any stretch of the imagination, she was just overworked from having her irons in too many fires at once. She had a family of her own to take care of, a husband, and life with them. Mixing all these charity events into it just made the poor woman overworked, even if she was still beautiful while she did it all.

“Great, I’m going to go check on Kitty, okay? The guests are starting to arrive, and I want to make sure she’s not freaking out back there.” Roxie swung around, enjoying the swing of the black poplin floral Oscar De La Renta dress she’d borrowed from Wendy. It was a classy dress and perfectly suited to a warm evening outside.

Only, she didn’t get to giggle as she was about to because the giggle died in her throat. Lincoln had just walked out to the pool area with a very famous woman on his arm. A woman that Roxie recognized because she was in a very popular television series about sex and magical dragons. Naomi Thorne made hot sex even hotter, and there was a popular saying that Naomi was so hot that fire couldn’t burn her, but her sexy co-stars might with those sex scenes.

The woman had been a model before she became an actress and as Roxie faced her in real life, she could see why the woman had been a model. She really was beautiful, even with a bare minimum of makeup. Roxie frowned, looking down at her borrowed dress and compared it to the red silk sheath that encased Naomi’s body. The red dress enhanced every single one of Naomi’s curves and somehow made Roxie look childish in her stylish, tasteful, but not very sexy poplin dress.

Roxie felt anxious as she watched Lincoln take Naomi around and introduce her. She shouldn’t be worrying about who Lincoln showed up with, and why he hadn’t told her he was bringing a date. Instead, she should be focusing on Kitty. This gig could really be a break for the other woman. She could start doing shows and events on her own if she performed well tonight. That’s what was making her anxious, Roxie decided as she finally dragged her eyes away from Lincoln and the beautiful, very blonde Naomi.

Tonight could mean Kitty got out of the Pussy Shack, a place they all hated because of the name, plus the million other reasons. Yeah, Kitty had the other job as an instructor, but Roxie knew she didn’t want to do that for the rest of her life. She wanted to provide a good life for her kids and hold her head up high. Tonight’s performance could be the start of that for Kitty.

Roxie couldn’t stop herself from looking around for Lincoln one last time with a glare. Oh shit, he was headed towards her, Roxie saw with wide-eyed horror. Fuck, run away, run away raced through her brain but her feet wouldn’t move. Which was unfortunate because beautiful Naomi Thorne might be, but agile she was not.

Naomi managed to trip over thin air, spilled the glass of champagne she was sipping all over the borrowed dress Roxie wore, and stared at Roxie in horror. “I’m so sorry!”

“Lincoln Christopher Young!” Roxie shouted, furious at him for some reason. Okay, if she was going to be furious it should be with the woman that had just spilled her drink over her, but instead, her brain decided to focus on Link. “How could you?”

Emily, who’d been behind Naomi, rushed up to Roxie just as Naomi’s hands reached out for Roxie’s dress. Both women were fluttering around her like birds trying to wipe away the liquid, but Roxie only had eyes for Lincoln. Fuck, was he really that stupid? The confused look on his face said he was—it seemed he had no idea why she was staring at him with daggers in her eyes.

“Just, oh don’t worry about it, I have to change to perform later anyway.” Roxie walked away from the trio but Emily followed.

“How is it you know Lincoln’s middle name? Did you make that up? I don’t think anybody knows his middle name, not even Google.”

“I saw it on a form at work,” Roxie replied, hoping that was plausible. “I think.”

“Okay. I’ll let you get organized and see you later, okay?”

“Fine, honey, enjoy the show.” Roxie kissed Emily’s cheek and went into the changing area where Kitty was applying makeup and getting into her costume. She had a long, virginal-looking white nightgown over a pair of white leather booty shorts and a white leather corset. She looked amazing and Roxie told her that as she walked in.

“Thanks. How is it outside?” Kitty asked, not looking away from the lit mirror she sat in front of.

“Fine. Full of assholes as usual, but fine.” Roxie replied, although there was only one real asshole that she’d seen. Lincoln.

Why had he brought another woman to the event? How could he do that to her?