Author's Note: So they booted off Marlee Matlin the other night, and I'm depressed. Guess I gotta go for Shannon Elizabeth and Mario now. Someone's gotta knock Kristi Yamaguchi out of the top...It just occured to me if you don't watch Dancing With The Stars, this means nothing to you. Sorry

On with the story!

CHAPTER TWO

Lindsay finished pulling her hair back into a tight ballerina bun and smoothed down her tanktop and short black skirt. She was nervous. Suddenly college seemed like more than ten years ago, and her feet seemed a long way from remembering any of the steps. She looked at herself in the mirror. Who was I kidding? Just remember, Monroe, it's only for one competition. You just have to be on the floor. You don't have to win anything.

As long as Danny stays away from the moves he pulls when we go out, we should be okay...I think.

The door opened, and Annalise glided in, closely followed by her partner, Xander Reyes. Annalise wore a long skirt with a slit up one side and a longsleeved black T-shirt with a pair of heels. Xander was dressed in a pair of black pants and a black wifebeater. "Good morning, Lindsay!" Annalise greeted her. "You look wonderful."

"Yeah, I look the part," Lindsay said. "I definitely don't feel it, though."

"Don't worry, Xander and I are great teachers," Annalise said with a glance at Xander.

Xander nodded. "We're a man down, though. Where's your partner?"

Surfing YouTube for dance lessons, Lindsay bet. "He should be here soon. He's never been one for being on time."

"Someone said nine a.m.," Danny's voice called from the doorway. "My watch says 8:58."

Lindsay caught a glimpse of him in the mirror, but had to turn around. She gasped. "Oh, Danny!"

Danny shrugged his shoulders. "What?" he demanded.

Even Annalise and Xander were looking at him funny.

He looked down at his jeans and tennis shoes. "What?" he demanded again.

Annalise turned to Xander. "I'm going to start working with Lindsay. Please take him somewhere and get him some proper dancing attire."

Danny's jaw dropped. "What's wrong with jeans?"

"You can't move well in them," Lindsay explained. "Annalise is right, you need a wardrobe change."

Danny looked at Xander, who was grabbing a wallet. "What does she mean by 'wardrobe change'?" he asked him.

Xander muttered something to him as he led him out the door.

From the hallway, Lindsay heard Danny swear. "Hell no! I'm not wearin' tights!"

Lindsay heard Annalise sigh. "This is going to be difficult." She looked at Lindsay. "He's never danced, has he?"

"Does the Macarena count?" Lindsay asked hopefully.

"Now, there are four dances in the competition tomorrow. You and Danny will be on the floor for the cha-cha, the samba, and the rhumba. We're going to start with the cha-cha."

Lindsay took a breath. "I remember this one, a little," she said. "A step, step, cha-cha-cha, right?"

"Good!" Annalise praised her. "Just remember that."

The door to the studio opened again, and Xander and Danny returned. Xander was looking a bit harried, but Danny...well, Lindsay had to admit, Danny looked good! He was wearing a pair of black pants and a pair of black dancing shoes. Xander had found him a tight green T-shirt to wear. And he wasn't wearing his glasses.

"Much better!" Annalise praised. "Now, Xander and I will show you the cha-cha, and then we'll teach you."

Danny came to stand by Lindsay as Annalise went over to the CD player. "What d'ya think, Montana?" he asked her.

"It's a step in the right direction," Lindsay admitted. "But you've got a few more steps to learn."

"I'm startin' to feel it," Danny replied. But as he watched Xander and Annalise spin, turn, dip, and cha-cha across the hardwood, that feeling went away in a hurry.

What did I get myself in to?

Twenty minutes later, he was dying. His face was beet red, and he was in shape! He played basketball and handball, but dancing was something entirely different. Posture, heels, toes, arms, fingers, eyes, neck, legs, torso, if any one of those elements was out of whack, Annalise stopped them and made them do it again.

Lindsay noticed Danny was getting the steps, amazingly enough, it was just all the little stuff. He was a natural athlete, so patterns were easy enough to drill into him, it was just all the little stuff. Even Lindsay was having a hard time.

"Argh!" Danny yelled after Annalise stopped the music for what seemed like the twentieth time. He threw his hands into the air and stormed out of the studio.

"I'm sorry," Lindsay apologized. "I'll go get him."

"You two have improved a lot," Annalise said. "You're almost ready to put it to music." But Lindsay had had years of watching people to see if they were lying, and Annalise didn't quite mean her compliment.

"Yeah, and that's one dance of four," Lindsay replied.

"Three," Annalise amended for her. "You're doing fine. Xander and I didn't catch on right away, either."

"She's right. I've dropped her more than my fair share," Xander admitted. "It's harder though, because you have to learn more than a few years' worth in two days."

"Danny is a natural dancer. There's a natural grace about him," Annalise admitted.

Lindsay had to keep from snorting. Grace? Danny? Is she kidding? But one look at the professional's face, and realized she wasn't kidding. Okay, so what can Annalise see that I can't?

"I think the rest of the afternoon will be spent on the rhumba. It's slower," Annalise said. "Maybe Danny can keep up with it."

"The rhumba?" Lindsay asked.

"It's a very sensual dance. It's like you're gettin' it on right there on the dance floor," Xander explained.

Lindsay's jaw dropped. She and Danny had been together a little over a month. She suddenly had a flash-one night on his pool table...and then suddenly the image changed, and they were on the pool table, but Danny was in his dance pants and shoes and she was in a skimpy fringed number. You've got to be kidding me.

She could about imagine Danny's expression.