“I don’t know how you pulled it off, but I’m proud of you, Daisy.” Max rested his hand on my thigh, and I nearly leaped out of my skin. He chuckled and patted my lap. “I am curious to see how the renovations are going.”
I pressed my lips together and tried notto have a complete meltdown. He wouldn’t understand. He would lose it. He’d hit me.
When we arrived, there were a dozen or so cars parked in the back. I recognized Madame’s, along with a few of the other dancers’ vehicles. Max put his arm on my lower back and we went in through the front doors.
Voices could be heard from deeper inside the Theater. From the sound of it, they were in the auditorium. My heart began to beat wildly, and my fingers clawed at my palms. Was he here yet? What would Gatsby do when he saw Max?
Max caught me at the entrance and made me stop. He pinched my chin and made me look at him.
“Hey, you okay? Is this about her?”
I blinked. It took me a moment to realize he was talking about Skye. I’d forgotten about her completely.
“Look, you don’t have anything to worry about. She is nothing compared to you. You know what they say in circles like ours?”
“What?”
He leaned in and planted a kiss on my forehead.
“A rich man never leaves his wife for his mistress. Come on, let’s go and be professional, okay? You can do that, can’t you?” He didn’t wait for me to answer. Instead, he pushed me into the auditorium, causing the group below receiving a tour by Gatsby, my Gatsby, to look up at us.
“Hello,” Gatsby greeted us, as if we were strangers. “You must be our last straggler. Join us.”
Max beamed as he hurried down. He went straight to Gatsby and introduced himself.
“Max Stanton, entrepreneur. This is my fiancée, Daisy Lovelace, which you already know?” Max looked from me to Gatsby.
“Yes, of course. Welcome, both of you. We were just onour way to the dressing rooms. Would you dancers like to see where you’ll be dressing? The rooms are quite nice.”
My fellow dancers buzzed with excitement. Then, for a split second, I made eye contact with Gatsby, and he smirked. A moment later, it hit me why. Max was going to find out that I had a private changing room, and he would want to know why.
Chapter 30
Daisy
“Oh wow, this is gorgeous, Daisy,”Aurelia gushed. I cringed inwardly as everyone piled into my private dressing room.
“Thanks.” I turned away from them all. I couldn’t look at anyone directly.
“How did you manage this?” Cori, another dancer, asked. She stood with Skye. The matching expression on their faces said what they were thinking.
“I—”
“She’s the Prima Ballerina, is she not?” Max, of all people, pushed through the room, throwing his arm around me. “That calls for certain privileges. I think it’s well deserved.” He grinned, and when I looked up at him, he hurried to kiss me. He’d moved so fast I hadn’t had time to move. Heat flooded my face, knowing that Gatsby was in the back of the room, observing this.
“Oh, I’m sure you earned it.” Skye snickered.
Madame De La Rosa scolded her, “Enough, Skye?—”
“Actually, it’s Lilly now.”
Lilly? As in... the flower?
Like… Daisy?
“Lilly, whatever, I don’t care. You want a private room, be a stronger dancer. Let’s move on.” Madame waved for us to leave and continue the tour.
“Lilly,” I said out loud.
