Page 31 of A Certain Step (Midnights at Pemberley #1)

WILLA

S ahar looked up from her phone when Willa sauntered back in, eyes widening like a mother who knew what her kid was up to. “For two people trying to keep things a secret, you’re both shit at it.”

Willa turned to the mirror on their table. She’d fixed her hair when she left his dressing room. “You live with me. You notice the smallest changes.”

“Sweet baby child, every one of our friends would be able to tell if you suddenly walked out of Ethan’s locked door with heart eyes on full display.”

Willa leaned closer to her reflection. “What on earth are heart eyes? They look normal.”

Sahar pressed on, raising her eyebrows in a silent scold.

Willa tried to suppress a grin.

“Naomi is going to know the second she takes one look at the two of you when she’s back. She and Innila have a bet going.”

Willa gaped her. “You’re all terrible people, gambling on our relationship.”

“It’s because we love you.”

Willa sat down on her chair and reached for her face primer .

Sahar let out a laugh and turned over to face the mirror. She took her phone and asked Siri to play from a curated playlist titled “Something About Silly Love Songs.”

Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” suitably came on first.

Willa gave her a knowing look. “You’re the worst,” she joked.

“I’m the best,” Sahar countered.

They had almost finished getting ready when Greta Henderson came in. “Knock, knock.”

The women lit up and then jumped out of their seats to hug her. “Gretaaaaaa,” they both called out excitedly.

“Hi, my loves,” she said in their clasp.

One of the things Willa appreciated most about this company was that Jeff and Greta were involved long after they had to be.

They both attended multiple shows and visited frequently, making the cast and crew feel like a family.

“Dina had such amazing things to say about you, I had to come and see for myself. My sister is around here somewhere,” she said to Willa.

“Gah! Thank you. You’ve been so missed.”

Greta smiled. “Also, Dina is wondering if you’d like to take over the show’s account tomorrow. It could bring some exciting buzz since it’s a two-show day. It was supposed to be Tanya, but we could hand it over to you and highlight what it’s like when an understudy goes on for the principal role.”

“Ooh, Wills, you should. People are genuinely lovely during the takeovers. I had a blast when I did it,” Sahar noted.

Willa thought it over for a beat. Would it be too stressful on top of two performances?

It could keep her distracted. It might even be fun.

She hated social media, but she could control parts of it this way.

She probably should get it over with, too, and maybe it’d help later on.

She nodded in agreement. “Is Tanya okay with it?”

“Oh, yeah,” Greta noted. “I spoke to her earlier. ”

“Sure, yeah. I’ll do it then.”

Sahar faced Willa when Greta left the room. “This is also the best time to do it, babe. People are apparently obsessed with the way Ethan grazes your thigh.”

Willa gave her a pronounced look. That detail hadn’t been part of the comments Sahar had sent her. “And how is it any different from the way he touches Naomi?”

Sahar brought her hands forward in a nonchalance gesture. “No idea, but I overheard it when I went out to sign last night and then saw a few comments in the show’s Subreddit.”

Willa laughed. “I don’t even know what to say to that.”

“You have nice thighs, boo. Let the man appreciate them.”

“So does Naomi.”

“True, but Ethan’s not in love with her.”

Willa gave her a sidelong glance.

Sahar arched her eyebrow. “You know I’m right.”

Willa shook her head, leaving the conversation at that.

Ethan was lighter during this performance.

He moved with her far more comfortably, like on the days when she’d force him to run a choreography with her, alone in one of their living rooms or the middle of the stage during rehearsals.

Now that most of their feelings had been worked through, the nerves had converted into an effortless contentment that she was confident brought out better performances from both of them.

When it came to the kiss in “Marry Me” again, she could swear Darcy was somehow even more feverish, crushing her lips with the force of a man who was agonizingly besotted. It was a spellbinding, gorgeously heated moment with what she was sure was Ethan’s longing piercing through.

He was even beaming during their bows, his smile so big that there was no mistaking the pride and joy in his demeanor. How she wished for a sin gle moment that their cast members knew because restricting herself from leaping into his embrace was becoming a herculean task.

Yet, while she was thinking of it, the next minute, Ethan swept her in his arms, spinning her around like they were the only two people backstage. The sounds beside them muddled, and then clear laughter dissolved into howls and whistles. “You two are unreal together,” she heard Declan call out.

“Respectfully, fuck you for taking away my dance partner, Everett. I’ll get you back for this,” Miles remarked lovingly.

Ethan set Willa down, and she swung her arm around his torso without a second thought. “Two more days, and I’ll be back with you,” she replied to Miles.

Christian gestured as though tears were falling from his eyes. “Seriously, man, your voice was wild today. Whatever that gravely note was during “Marry Me” should’ve been in the original cast recording.”

Ethan choked on a swallow. “Thanks, brother.”

Willa looked at him with bursting pride; Christian was right. It wasn’t just Ethan’s body she could feel the ease in; his voice had been on another level, too, and she loved the idea that she maybe had something to do with it.

Ethan had always been the type of actor to challenge himself, bringing one hundred and ten percent to every performance even if he felt off, yet throughout the two years, she hadn’t seen something like this in him. It amazed her to no end.

Maggie Garner strode over to Willa and held her face in between her hands. “You, darling girl, are going places. You were incredible tonight.”

That did it. Willa’s eyes welled up, and her soul ascended. It wouldn’t matter where she went from here, the Maggie Garner, three-time Tony Award winner and two-time Academy Award winner, Maggie Garner to ld her she was incredible. Could her words be projected on Willa’s tombstone?

“Oh my heavens, you cannot be serious. Thank you!”

Maggie wiped the single tear falling from Willa’s eye. “I don’t give out empty compliments.” She pointed to Ethan. “He would know, he gets an earful from me every time his pitch is even a little off.”

“It happened twice, and once, my form was off, so I got a neat lecture afterward. I’m better for it,” he added with a wink.

Willa looked at him with a surprisingly shy smile.

The fact that people were taking notice of their performance together was inspiring.

What her body did while dancing, she’d never thought of in terms of her love life.

It was storytelling; it was art in a way where she detached from herself and her thoughts to break into something otherworldly for a little while.

It’s what acting was, too, playing around in someone else’s head, embodying their own unique space.

Yet, a part of Willa moved with pieces of Ethan.

It wasn’t just Elizabeth and Darcy. It was Ethan’s fingers grazing down her breastbone, his hand gripping tightly against her waist as she arched back, then swayed back against his form with a sensual thrust. It was his fingers clutching her wrist, hoisting her up to him while his other hand slithered up her thigh.

It was his lips brushing against her ear as she sang tearfully about the condition their characters were in.

She recognized that they were bringing two stories to the stage, escaping and finding themselves somewhere in the middle where their relationship ignited into a spectacle for people to witness.