Rouge Read Free Page A

the other girls in those back rooms.
    “And it helps immensely that you sing like an angel.”
    He groaned and squeezed me. “Come on, Hale. No more frowning. I can’t believe how amazing the show went tonight. There was just that one rough spot—”
    “Rough spot?” I pushed back. “I sang it perfectly. Even though you insist on writing outside my range.”
    He chuckled. “We’ll fix it tomorrow.”
    His hand slid to my waist, and he pulled me back to the group where Evie was retelling how she’d stepped on Mary’s hem during the opening number and ripped the back off her skirt, exposing her derriere.
    “If it’d been that sorta show, I wouldn’t’ve minded,” Mary’s harsh voice yelled back from where she was leaning beside Frank and Carla. “And I think the audience got a good laugh.”
    “Fiona did not laugh,” Roland said. “Our Mistress of the Dance was livid. You should’ve seen her backstage.”
    “I’m such a menace.” Evie draped a hand across her plain face.
    Not being pretty was a lucky break for her. As awful as she was in the productions, beauty would’ve sent her straight to the back. My worries about Teeny flashed across my mind again. Soon I’d never be able to hide her, and as yet she demonstrated zero talent onstage. She was a walking target.
    I quickly reached for another glass of champagne to calm the anxiety pulsing in my chest. One long sip almost drained my little cup, and as I lowered it, I saw the metal door slowly open and Gavin step into the night. Our owner was tall with light brown hair and green eyes. A long coat hung from his broad shoulders, and his expression was grim.
    “Dolly said Evie was up here,” he said.
    The glass slipped from my hand and shattered at my feet. His eyes flickered to mine, and he frowned. I was silent, afraid of what he might say, but Roland crossed the space between us and took hold of my wrist.
    “Here to celebrate?” he asked, standing so his body blocked mine. “Hale did a wonderful job tonight, don’t you agree?”
    Gavin grunted back. “How’s it going with Lovel?”
    My throat was tight, but I managed to answer. “Very well. Thank you.”
    He nodded then walked over to Evie, standing in front of where she sat.
    “Gavin?” Her eyes slowly rose to meet his. “Come to wish me happy birthday?” She smiled, but I heard the tremor in her voice.
    “Walk with me,” he said. “There’s been a gentleman… asking about you.”
    Roland pulled me through the exit and down the stairs. I followed him almost tripping to keep up with his fast pace.
    “Go to bed,” he said when we reached my door. “There’s nothing you can do now.”
    I stared at him, eyes wide. “Will she… tonight?”
    He paused and then stepped back toward me. He slid the backs of his fingers across my cheek and nodded slightly.
    “I’ll help her if I can,” he whispered.
    But I knew there was nothing he could do. I hiccupped a breath, and he pulled me into his arms. My fingers clutched his sleeve as tears filled my eyes, but the sound of footsteps in the passage made me release him and turn into my room. He continued down the hallway and away from my door.
    Teeny was asleep in the bed, a sliver of moonlight brightening her face from the small window above, and my earlier memory, the one I’d pushed down on the roof as I’d watched Evie smile, now flooded my mind.
    It was four years ago, and Evie was dragging me around the backstage corridors. We’d just finished our nightly show, and as always, she was too wound up to sleep. I was too afraid to leave the theater, my head full of Rosa ’s horror stories of New Orleans after dark, so Evie forced me to explore the old building with her.
    “Come with me and stop being a scared chicken,” she’d hissed, jerking my arm as we approached the left passage, down the back stairs.
    “ Rosa said never to go back here,” I argued, fear tightening my chest. Evie always managed to get me in trouble with Rosa .