Fade to Red Read Online Free PDF

ring.
    “You ready to work like a madman?” was the first thing out of Nate’s mouth.
    “You know I am.” Beckham laughed. “I just need to mention something…”
    “What’s up?”
    “Well, there’s this dancer coming on the tour. She … she might be enough to make me get off my sabbatical.”
    “What’s her name? I’ll make sure we keep her as far from you as possible offstage.”
    Beckham stretched one arm over his head and paused for a minute too long.
    “You still there, buddy?”
    Beckham squeezed his eyes shut and ran a hand slowly over his face. “You know what? I don’t want to call any attention to her. I’ll be fine. Hey—got another call coming in … I’ll touch base with you tonight.”
    “Beck, just tell me her-”
    Beckham clicked his phone off and ignored the guilt rising in his chest. You got this. You’re gonna be too busy to even think straight, much less to get in trouble with Roxie Taylor.
    He ran an extra two miles and felt slightly less conflicted afterward.
     
    Beckham didn’t feel like going home yet. He’d decided to put his house on the market as soon as he got back from the tour. When he was in town he avoided going home until he was just too tired to stay out anymore. Not a good sign. The walls seemed to close in on him there.
    He had a meeting with Anthony to discuss the next morning’s rehearsals and pulled into their favorite sushi place with five minutes to spare. Anthony was sitting at their usual table, enjoying a drink. When he saw Beckham walking toward him, he guzzled the drink and looked like he wished he could hide the evidence.
    “You can drink around me, Anthony.” Beckham laughed. “How many times am I gonna have to say it before you believe me?”
    Anthony flipped back the strip of blue hair hanging in his eyes. “I’m just looking out for you, hon. I don’t want to make it worse for you. You’re early.” He stood and gave Beckham a huge hug.
    Anthony was a frontal hugger. Beckham wasn’t really, but he’d given up avoiding them. He slapped Anthony awkwardly on the back as they both sat down.
    “I put in an order already—we can let our waiter know if you want to try something new,” Anthony said briskly. He flipped open his iPad and turned it so Beckham could see the schedule. “I’ve fixed it since we last spoke. I’ve moved up “Shadows” and pushed back learning the routine for “Right Here”—I think it will work out better.”
    Beckham looked over the song list for the week and swiped the calendar to see the next week. He nodded. “I like that. I think it will be good to get an easy song underway and then focus on the harder ones … looks good.”
    “I’ve also added a section you haven’t seen yet to “Woman” and a tiny thing to “Driven” … I hope Roxie Taylor is ready to work hard.” Anthony grinned.
    “You’re adding to her list? She’s already dancing a lot .” Beckham once again squelched down any alarm and nodded. “I think she can probably handle it, from what we saw anyway. I guess if she’s not up to all of it, we can switch her out for Vanessa.”
    “I hope she’ll be up for it. I’m counting on her to knock my socks off like she did at tryouts.”
    Beckham was certain she would knock his socks off, even if she wasn’t quite up for all that Anthony had planned for her.
    “I think we’ll have time to be on our game before Ian comes to rehearsals, too, which is good.” Anthony got dreamy-eyed every time he mentioned Ian.
    “You might have to tone down the lust a notch with Ian. He’s a very happily married man,” Beckham teased.
    Anthony feigned shock. “Moi? Lust over Ian Sterling? Damn. Impossible to tone down. That man’s hot enough to turn anybody.”
    Beckham shook his head and laughed. “He’s safe with me.”
    “You say that now…”
    Beckham shot his straw paper into Anthony’s nose, which shut him up. The sushi came and it looked like enough for at least four people. They