Chapter 2
    Darien couldn't keep the smile off her face as she drove to Ainsley's middle school.  She had been in a strange place for the past few years and divorcing Nick was the first step in trying to find herself again.  She wasn't sure how it happened, but she had fallen out of love with her husband and in the process had lost track of herself also.  Darien had woken up one morning and looked in the mirror and was shocked when she realized she didn't know the person staring back at her.  That day she had begun to make changes in her life.  Could bringing dance back be yet another change that needed to be made?  She wasn't sure, but she would definitely be thinking about it.  She grabbed her phone when it rang and prayed it wasn't Nick again.  He was taken completely by surprise when she had asked for a divorce.  She was pleasantly surprised when she saw it was Rochelle Mclean, her best friend.
   
    "Hey, Ro."  She greeted.

    "Did you get Ainsley enrolled in the dance class?"  Rochelle jumped right to the point.  She had been the one to tell Darien about Millenium Studios.

    "I just left there actually."  Darien answered.

    "Did you meet Kenny?  What did you think about him?"  Rochelle asked.

    "He was dancing when I got there.  Damn, Ro, that man can move."  Darien glanced in her mirror as she switched lanes.  "He's very talented."

    "And extremely hot."  Rochelle added.  Even after being married to AJ for forever, she couldn't stop looking around.     

    "He's attractive."  Darien laughed.  "Is Jay with you?"

    "Yeah, he's sitting here.  He says hi."     

    "Tell him hi.  Nick's not there, is he?"  Darien wondered.  The Backstreet Boys were on tour in Canada.  This was Darien's first tour that she was missing out on and she couldn't be happier.  It was hell to move your entire life onto a bus or hotel room or airplane for months and sometimes years at a time.

    "No.  He's in the gym with Howie."  Rochelle stood up and walked away from AJ.  Ever since the divorce, things had been tense between everyone when it came to Darien.  They had all been friends for years and now it was like they had to pick sides.  Rochelle already told AJ that she had chosen Dare's side and a huge fight ensued.

    "Good."  Darien nodded.  "He talked me into dancing with him, Ro."

    "What?"  Rochelle exclaimed loudly.  "You danced together?  Like sexy dancing?"

    "Like way sexy dancing.  And then he offered me a job."

    "You accepted it, right?"  Rochelle said, sinking down onto a couch.

    "I told him I had to think about it.  I haven't danced in years." 

    "Which is why you have to take it.  This is what's been missing in your life, Dare.  You gave up your passion to be a wife and mother.  It's time to get it back."  Rochelle raised a very good point.

    "He's coming to my house tonight to meet Ainsley."  Darien divulged.  "Do you think that's a good idea?"

    "I'm the wrong person to ask, Dare.  I want you to meet someone else and be happy.  It's time you lived for you instead of everyone else."  Rochelle raked a hand through her long hair.  Currently it was black with hot pink highlights.  "I would take it slow though.  Look what happened when you rushed into it last time?  You and Nick weren't even together six months before you were married and pregnant."

    "I know.  That's what I'm scared of.  He might not even be interested in me, Ro.  Maybe this is all in my head.  I am quite a bit older than him."  Darien's nerves were starting to get to her.

    "You're like four years older than him.  It's not like you're a cougar.  Was he into your dance or was he just going through the motions?"  Ro questioned.

    "He was into it.  I could tell that."  Darien got in the pick up line at the middle school and put the truck in park.  "He might be seeing someone."

    "He's not."  Rochelle said.

    "How do you know?" 

    "I asked him the last time I had Ava in there.  Duh.  I wouldn't have sent you there if he was married or something."  Rochelle laughed.

    "You are too much, Ro."  Darien shook her head.  "Thank you though.  I haven't felt like this in years."

    "It's because you danced, Dare.  That was too much a part of you to just shove it to the side.  It's ingrained in your soul like singing is in Nick's.  That's why he doesn't understand the choices you're making.  He never had to give up his dream.  You did.  You lost that part of yourself.  Now get it back."  Rochelle looked up when Nick and Howie stepped into the dressing room.  "I've got to go.  Text me tonight.  I want all the dirty details."

    "Ok, bye."  She ended the call and jumped when it beeped again with a new text message from an unknown number.  I had an amazing time dancing with u 2day. hope we can do it again soon. k.  Darien grinned and read it again.  She wasn't sure what to reply back and was saved when the pick up line began moving.  She put the Armada in gear and inched through the line.  Eventually she reached the school and smiled when she saw her daughter bounce out of the gym.  She had earbuds in and her ipod was blasting a tune only she could hear.  She grooved to it as she walked to the Armada.

    "Hey, Mama."  She greeted when she climbed into the front seat.  She took the earbuds out and smiled at her mother. 

    "Hey, kid."  Darien turned away from the school and headed home.  "How was your day?"

    "Being the new kid sucks."  Ainsley tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder and stared at her mother with Nick Carter's baby blue eyes.  "Some girls want me to join the cheerleading squad."

    "Do you want to?"  Darien asked. 

    "I don't know if I'll have time.  Have you found a dance studio here yet?"  Ainsley pulled her phone out when it beeped.

    "I did, actually.  The instructor's coming over to the house tonight to meet you."  Darien explained. 

    "That's odd.  Why would she do that?"  Ainsley wondered.  "No one's ever come to the house before."

    "It's not a she.  His names Kenny Wormald."  Darien said.

    "The guy from Footloose?"  Ainsley asked, her face creased in puzzlement.

    "That was Kevin Bacon.  Kenny's not that old."  Darien shook her head.

    "No, Mama.  They made a new one.  Remember?  We watched it together at the theater when Daddy was recording."  Ainsley touched her phone a few times and held it up to her mother.  A video was playing of Kenny line dancing in a bar.  Darien stopped at a red light and took the phone from her daughter.  Sure enough, there he was.  Looking just as good as she remembered.  Just seeing him on the tiny phone screen made her pulse race.

    "I remember now."  She calmly said and handed the phone back to Ainsley.  She didn't want her daughter to know how this man affected her. 

    "This is cool.  He's a really good dancer."  Ainsley began looking at other videos of him dancing.  Darien tried to peek at the phone while she was driving and finally pulled into their garage.  Ainsley was still babbling about how excited she was to learn from him and all Darien could think about was getting to her laptop. 

    "I've got to do a few things in my room.  Get your homework done and then work on your room."  Darien instructed as she raced to her own bedroom.  Her laptop was sitting on some boxes which fell over when Darien jerked it towards her.  She immediately brought youtube up and immersed herself in Kenny Wormald for an hour.  She had no idea how much he had done.  How many movies and videos he had been in.  How many routines he had choreographed.  He was seriously talented.  She wasn't sure she could pass up the opportunity to dance with him now.  Not to mention he was seriously sexy and the way he moved did things to her insides she hadn't felt in a decade.

    "Mama?"  Ainsley knocked on the bedroom door and poked her head inside.  She was surprised to see her mother sitting on the floor next to her unmade bed with the laptop on her knees.  "Daddy's on a video call and he wants to talk to you."

    "I'll be down in a minute."  Darien pushed the laptop to the side and stiffly stood up.  She grabbed her phone and pulled up the text message Kenny had sent her earlier that she had yet to respond to.  She hit reply and began typing.  She tossed the phone on the bed and went downstairs to argue with her ex again.



    Kenny had been checking his phone like a fool since she had left, hoping for a return text.  Right as he was beginning to start a master dance class, his phone vibrated in his pocket.  He pulled it from the pocket of his baggy gray sweatpants and grinned when he saw it was her.   I had a good time 2.  u started a fire in me.  i can't stop thinking about dancing now.  thank you.  d.  Kenny's heart raced when he read the text.  He could think of a different fire he wanted to start in her.  He put the phone down next to the stereo and called his class to order.  These girls were all older, in their late teens and early twenties and working on a routine he had choreographed along with his friend and co worker Misha Gabriel. 

    "You ready, K?"  Misha asked.  At Kenny's nod, he hit play on the music and joined his friend to show the girls the dance again before they started to break it down.  Kenny went through the motions, but he couldn't stop thinking about the impromptu dance he had done that afternoon.  The whole class Darien was on his mind.  He had to bring himself back to the moment several times.

    "Sorry, Misha.  My mind is elsewhere."  Kenny apologized again when he repeated the same twice.

    "I can tell.  Just keep it together for a while longer."  Misha chastised and went back to the group he was working with.  Finally the class was over and Kenny could stop pretending his mind wasn't with someone else.  He grabbed his phone and smiled when he saw another text from her.  Have u eaten 2nite?  He replied no and put the phone in his pocket. 

    "You want to talk about it?"  Misha asked as he followed Kenny into the office.

    "Talk about what?"  Kenny sat at the desk and looked at the schedule for tomorrow. 

    "What was going on with you tonight.  I haven't seen you that distracted since you and Ashley split up all those years ago."  Misha leaned back in his chair and propped his feet on the corner of the desk.  "Are you heartbroken again because I don't know if I can go through that again, K."

    "I'm not heartbroken."  Kenny laughed.  "The complete opposite actually.  I met someone today."

    "Kenny, you better be getting ready to say you went out and fell for your waitress at lunch or you got a ticket from a sexy cop because I know you are not getting ready to say that you fell for a parent."

    "It's not like that, Misha."  Kenny shook his head and pulled a backwards ballcap on.

    "Oh my God, it is like that."  Misha tossed his own hat in the corner and buried his hands in his hair.  "Can I please bring up the events of last years drama when I hooked up with a hot mom?"

    "She's not married, dude.  It's cool."  Kenny sighed and stared at Misha.  His friend was extremely paranoid after his affair last year had ended in disaster for both himself and the studio.

    "I got the shit kicked out of me and this studio barely survived my mistake.  You're way more integral here.  Do you think we'll all survive yours?"  Misha asked, leaning up in his chair.

    "She's divorced.  And anyway, she's more than just a parent.  I offered her a job."  Kenny unlocked his wallet and keys from a desk drawer and shoved them in his pocket.

    "A job doing what?  Wiping your sweat?  What's a parent gonna do around here?"  Misha groaned.

    "She's a dancer.  You might have heard of her.  Darien Bradshaw.  Well, it's Carter now but she danced as Darien Bradshaw."  Kenny stood up and laughed at Misha's stricken face. 

    "Oh hell no, Kenny.  You can not hire Nick Carter's fucking wife." 

    "Ex wife Misha.  And it's cool.  It'll be fine.  Wait till you see her dance.  She's amazing."  Kenny started walking out of the office.

    "Where are you going, K?  We're not done here."  Misha followed his friend.

    "I'm going to her house so we are done."  Kenny turned around and looked at Misha.  "Look, bro.  I don't know where this is going.  Maybe nowhere.  She might turn the job down.  But her daughter is a huge talent and we want her to train here.  It'll be good for us.  Go and google her and tell me if you want me to back off completely.  She's been training with Fatima since she was two." 

    "What's the kids name?"  Misha asked, shaking his head.

    "Ainsley Carter.  Prepare to be amazed."  Kenny laughed as he walked out of the studio.  He climbed into his Honda S2000 and fired it up.  This car had been his treat to himself after he had made Footloose.  He typed Darien's address into his GPS before sending her a quick text to let her know he was on his way.  He turned music on and roared out of the parking lot and into town.  He hadn't been this excited to see a woman since he was a teenager.  Feeling this way was crazy, especially when he was feeling this way about Darien Carter.  She was a superstar's ex wife while he was just a dancer.  His movie career had fizzled and he had gone back to what he loved afterwards.  Dancing was his passion, his fire, his dream.  It was what he had excelled at since he was a child.  Luckily he had a knack for teaching and was able to make a very lucrative career out of it. 

    Nick Carter, on the other hand, had had many ups and downs throughout his long career and was currently on a long up.  Kenny wasn't ashamed to admit that he listened to the Backstreet Boys music.  Anything that had a good beat he could dance to was his genre and BSB has just put out an amazing album with some dance tracks and other slow tracks.  They were in the headlines again after being together for 20 years.  Kenny could respect that, working hard to make your dream come true and then riding the train as long as you could.  He hadn't given up on acting, but he knew that he was getting older and dancing movie stars were generally young. 

    The GPS signalled him to turn and he was pleasantly surprised when he pulled up in front of a completely normal suburban house.  He had half expected her to live in a Hollywood monstrosity.  After parking the car, he walked up the sidewalk and rang the doorbell nervously.