Dance Around It (Strip in the City, Book 1)

03 • Good Advice

"This is about what happened in the pool, isn't it?" Mrs. Kim asked, pointing to her nipples as if to explain the comment. "I saw the whole thing online." Then she pointed at her daughter, who was already walking toward Tan and I with two steaming mugs of tea, an apologetic look on her face. "Chae-Young sent it to me last night."

I took the cup of dark red tea and sniffled, "Thank you," before taking a sip.

Tan set a delicate hand on my arm. "I know things look really bad right now, but it's going to be okay." I shook my head as the tub of hot water was filled. "Listen to me, Mare. You are the toughest bitch I've ever met. A picture of your tits isn't going to stop you from building the business you want. You need to start controlling the narrative instead of letting other people tell the story of what happened last night."

I took another sip of tea as I let that thought simmer. Everyone was saying I'd taken the news of Patrick leaving my agency poorly and acted like a spoiled little girl. Drinking too much then falling in a pool. Which wasn't what happened at all.

Chae-Young added some lavender aromatherapy to the water before I put my feet in, looking up at me with a coy smile. "I'm more interested in the guy who saved you. Who is he?"

Mrs. Kim nodded. "He's Korean too. I could tell from the pictures. I bet he's a nice boy."

Tanushree nodded in agreement. "By nice, I hope you mean nasty."

The other women chuckled. I hid my face behind my tea cup as I took another sip.

"Come on, Maren," Tanushree encouraged, "Tell us more about the super hot guy that jumped into a pool in his boxers to save you. I need to hear the story about what happened after he carried you out of the pool. Did you two exchange phone numbers? Or spit?"

"No!" I said defensively. "We did not swap numbers or spit. Oh my god, I can't believe you just said that. I'd almost drowned. He saved me. That is the end of the story."

Tanushree waggled her brows. "I can tell by the look on your face that is not the end of the story. We need details."

I rolled my eyes and leaned back in the leather chair, thinking back on the feel of his warm chest against my back and the feeling of safety I had tucked in his arms. Then there was the kind gesture of giving me his shirt and walking away without being creepy or gawking at my nipples like the rest of the internet had.

He was a nice guy, from what I could tell.

But then there was the talent application.

"Fine," I said, blowing out a breath. I took the next few minutes to explain how he'd given me his shirt so I didn't have to ride the subway back to the Upper West Side in a see-through dress, which earned smiles and awwws from my friends. Then I told them about finding West Tenney's stupidly handsome face in my slush pile.

"Oh shit," Tanushree said, setting her teacup down and looking scandalized. "You don't think he recognized you and saved you just so you'd represent him, do you?"

Chae-Young and her mother exchanged skeptical glances. "I wouldn't recognize the man I buy vegetables from if he was in a swimming pool, and I see him every week," said Mrs. Kim. "That sounds very unlikely. If he is a veteran, he was probably just doing what came naturally to him."

I shrugged, biting down on my lower lip in thought. It was hard to trust that anyone had honorable intentions when so many people around me—even my own mother—didn't.

Could West Tenney be different from the countless cutthroat Broadway hopefuls like Patrick vying for a place at the top?

I went back to my mother's advice not to look for a gem on the streets.