"Baby, have you seen Paul or Sandy? I tried their hotel rooms, but they weren't there," Damon asked her.

"No I haven't," Lilia answered airily. She was still reeling from the intense moment that had just passed with AJ.

Okay, Lilia, what the hell was that? Shit, if they hadn't walked in, who knows what might have happened! Involvement is not what you're after here, okay? You're here for Premiere, for Paul and everybody. Not for yourself, she screamed at herself.

"Okay, who wants to dance?" AJ asked, looking directly in Lilia's direction.

"I will, AJ!" Jacki purred, sounding a little too eager. AJ sighed, then stood up and led Jacki out onto the dance floor.

Lilia breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the two of them on the dance floor. That was too intense for her, and she couldn't really trust herself around AJ.

"Okay, Baby, what's your problem?" Damon whispered, leaning over to her.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Damon. What's new with you?" she asked lightly.

"Nice try. Look, I know I'm not Paul, but there is something up with you, and you're like my little sister, so I'm going to get it out of you. Well, I already know, but I at least want your take on it," he said, and Lilia knew that she couldn't change the subject after her failed attempt.

"What exactly do you know, Mr. Know-It-All?"

"Exactly what would have happened if we hadn't walked in just now. What's up with that?"

"Nothing. Trust me, Damon, there's nothing up with that. Just signals getting crossed. I'll take care of it later, okay? Don't you dare tell Paul about that, he may kill AJ," Lilia warned. Damon agreed.

"Hey, Lily! Dance with me!" Nick suddenly demanded.

"You forgot a vowel, my dear boy. It's Lilia, Nick-y," she corrected, putting emphasis on the 'y' she added to his name.

"Okay, point proven. C'mon, dance with me. Brian's off with his fiancee, Howie found a chick, I need companionship," Nick pleaded.

"Considering you put it before me so eloquently, how can a girl refuse?" Lilia sighed, with a hint of sarcasm. Catching her hint, Nick got down on one knee, stretching his arm out.

"My dear lady, I'd be honored if you would grace me with the...honor of this next dance," he said with a horrible British accent.

"Don't quit your day job," she whispered, as she grabbed his hand and led him into the crowd. Damon laughed as he watched the two of them trying to the other how to dance. He could hear their shouted instructions from where he was sitting.

"Don't you know anything? You'd think the owner of a dance club would know how to dance. Try this," Nick was shouting as he showed her a simple move.

"You try that again, I'll tell you exactly where you can put that move. Try this," Lilia shot back, imitating the people around them. And it continued on for the next few songs. A few minutes after they left, Howie came back, along with Brian and his fiancee, Carrie*. Damon turned his attention away from Lilia and Nick and joined in their conversation.

Soon enough, a slightly annoyed AJ came back, with Jacki in tow. He sat down and tried to ignore Jacki, who was determined to make conversation with him.

"Hey, where's Nick?" Howie asked suddenly.

"He's teaching an unwilling pupil about the finer points of club dancing," Damon informed them. He pointed them out, where they were still arguing about who could dance the best. The song ended, and a slow one came one. After looking at each other uncertainly for a split second, they followed the crowd as everyone on the dance floor paired off and began to sway to the music.

"Wouldn't those two make a good couple?" Brian commented.

"No, they wouldn't," AJ interjected, trying to hide a sudden jealous streak that had emerged while watching Nick get closer to Lilia. That was what I'm supposed to be doing tonight, he thought grumpily.

"You never know. There could be chemistry there," Damon said, knowing what it might do to AJ.

"No. There isn't any there," AJ barked at him. Exchanging looks all around the table (except for the oblivious Jacki), they silently agreed to change the subject.

* * * *

"Well, my inept pupil, it seems that even uncoordinated idiot can't mess up slow dancing," Nick whispered.

"Uncoordinated? Inept? Do you honestly mean to tell me that if you didn't have a choreographer, you'd still be the star of the dance floor?" Lilia demanded, pulling back and giving him an exasperated, I-know-you're-so-full-of-it look.

"You said it, I didn't," he said. She laughed and they resumed dancing, swaying to the soft music.

"So, what's up with you and AJ?" Nick asked curiously. Lilia bit back a scream of frustration.

"Why does everyone keep asking that?"

"It's pretty damn obvious that we walked in on something, Lily. Plus, we got the worst 'you're in deep shit' look from AJ, so something's up and now we're gonna die because of it, so I think that I deserve to know, considering that I'm losing my life because of it," Nick rambled.

"Trust me Nick, if anyone gets to know what's going on, it'll be me first. Because I don't know," Lilia answered, showing her frustration. "And don't think for a moment that I over-looked the fact that you keep refusing to add that extra letter onto my name. Lili...with an a. Lilia!"

"Lily suits you more. Anyway, what do you mean you don't know? AJ is an open guy."

"Ah! First Baby, now Lily. And I mean what I say, I don't know. All I do know is that no matter what the situation, I'm constantly feeling...well, uneasy around AJ. And now, with what almost happened, I don't know how I'm going to look him in the eye again," Lilia said, feeling like she was about to go postal.

"AJ is just a little over-bearing. You'll get used to it. Plus, if he likes you, he'll follow you to the ends of the earth until you admit it and give him an answer," Nick warned.

"That's just what I needed to hear, Nick. Thanks a lot," Lilia scoffed.

"Don't worry. If you tell him the situation is unrequited, then he'll back off. Hold up, is the situation unrequited?" Nick asked slowly, meeting Lilia's eyes.

"I don't know. I've only known the guy a week. Everything is just moving so fast, and I'm not even here looking for lo-I mean, situations that could be unrequited or not....I'm supposed to be here for Premiere, you know?" she asked.

"Lily, if you ask me, you stress way to much. There's a time and place to be buggin', but not when you're on the dance floor with such a skilled dancer like myself. Just forget about it for awhile and enjoy the music, otherwise you're going to have to find yourself another dancing instructor," he said, wrapping his arms around her, forcing her to dance or be suffocated.