Kara lurked in the back row of the grand old theater as students filed in. It was the first afternoon of a new session of summer improv, but inside, shadows clung to the corners and wings, casting the nearly one-hundred-year-old theater in a somber, reverent mood.

As more students filed in, filling the first three rows sporadically, Kara checked her email for what she promised herself would be the last time that afternoon.

She’d been waiting for news for what felt like an eternity, but really it had only been a semester. In the middle of last school year, she found out that her beloved community theater would be put up for sale—and the owner was motivated to sell. Too motivated for Kara’s tastes, since her long-held dream was to buy this space and open her own school for the arts. Maybe she’d held the dream too close to her heart, because the past six months had been a crush of grant applications and community pleading. Foster the Arts and Save Our Theater had been practically the only words on her lips since January.

And this week the grant decision was due to arrive.

The little circle spun in the middle of her screen as the app checked for new mail for the billionth time that day. Her belly clenched as her inbox refreshed. No new emails. Christ on a stick. She pocketed her phone with a sigh. The email should have arrived Monday, and now it was Wednesday. Every minute she had to wait for this decision was another minute when someone else might buy the theater and ruin her dream.

Because this was it. This was all she had. Acting, directing, teaching. She was born only to do this.

“Just keep filling in the seats.” Kara’s assistant Lexie waved people in as they hesitated near the door or got lost in conversation. “We’ll be starting in about five minutes.”

Kara watched the filling rows without really seeing them. What would she do if she didn’t get the grant? There was no way she could afford this theater on her meager high school drama teacher paycheck. Hell, these improv classes were the only way she could really live comfortably, afford the occasional night out. And only because she’d worked so hard to grow them and really make the improv classes popular in their Seattle suburb.

She blinked hard, trying to get a head count from her distant vantage point. She liked to keep her distance at the start of a new class, have a chance to observe without being observed, like an actor peering from the wings on the opening night of a new play. It gave her perspective. A chance to let her persona settle into place before she burst onto the stage, the bright and bubbly Ms. Alerby the community had come to expect.

Her hand gravitated toward the phone in the back pocket of her denim shorts. Before she realized it, she was checking her email again.

This time, the circle spun for a bit longer than before. Or maybe she just stared more intently at it, forcing time to slow. Her phone buzzed with a new email.

“RE: SEEKING GRANT FOR COMMUNITY THEATER”

Her breath caught in her throat, the conversation and chatter of the theater dulling to a whisper as she stared at the new arrival. It was here. Finally. She paused before swiping it open, mind circling back to revisit every doubt and worry she’d nursed for the past six months. They’ve got to approve it. You’ve got it. I know I got this.

She bit her lip and opened it, rereading the opening line almost five times before digesting anything.

And then she read it again. Just to be sure that she had understood it correctly.

“Dear Ms. Alerby, we regret to inform you that your grant was not selected for…”

Her mouth parted, her gaze drifting away while the email shone up at her. It couldn’t be right. She checked the text again—“While carefully crafted, your proposal was not the strongest that reached our table…”—and the truth shuddered through her, leaving a sick, hot wake behind it.

Her ears rang, and she stuffed the phone in her back pocket. Class would start in just a few minutes. She had to shake this off. She’d pore over the email later, beat herself up for losing this opportunity, and begin the mourning process.

Lexie was looking at her from the front of the auditorium, worry knit into her brow. Maybe she’d seen her staring aghast at her phone. And then Kara noticed Mr. Hofstadt, the theater manager, beside her, squeezing her shoulder, sending a smile her way before excusing himself from the side doors. Kara’s stomach wrenched again. Why had he stopped by? Could this possibly be more bad news? Maybe he’d come to tell her that her improv classes would be cancelled immediately, due to the theater selling to someone else.

Lexie strode up the middle aisle, her clipboard clutched to her chest. Her dark tresses looked shiny, pulled back into a smooth ponytail, as she walked toward Kara at the back of the theater.

“What was that about?” Kara whispered, even though she didn’t have to.

“Why are you whispering?” Lexie whispered back.

Sometimes, it felt like speaking in a regular volume would make something real. And this news was not something she wanted to be real. “Because I feel like it. What did he say?”

Lexie nibbled on her bottom lip. “Mr. Hofstadt said that he spoke with the property owner.”

Kara stilled, immediately reaching out for Lexie’s wrist. She’d almost forgotten, in the whirlwind of waiting for the overdue grant response, that she’d been expecting a reply from the property owner about her request to postpone the sale.

“Tell me he’s going to throw me a bone,” Kara whispered.

Lexie shook her head, and Kara’s stomach clattered to the ground. “Mr. Hofstadt can’t get a word out of him. Mr. Walton won’t share any information about the theater, and every time Mr. Hofstadt tries, he gets shut down. The owner just doesn’t want to negotiate anything that isn’t an immediate sale.”

Kara clenched Lexie’s wrist a bit tighter before letting go, shifting her gaze to the few rows of heads looking toward the stage. Despair circled inside her, but class needed to start, and this wasn’t the time to lament. No, that would come later, with a bottle of wine and lots of screaming into her pillow.

Your dream is about to be flushed down the toilet.

She cleared her throat, sending a pointed look to Lexie. In a normal voice, she said, “We should start the class. Go close the door, and I’ll start introductions.” This could be the last class you ever teach inside this place.

Lexie nodded, still nibbling nervously at her lip. “Also, I wanted to tell you that we had a walk-in.”

“That’s fine.” Kara waved her hand dismissively.

“He paid for the whole class, even though he said he’ll just be able to attend today.”

Kara creased her brow. “Weird. But I’ll take his money if he insists.”

Lexie scanned the front of the house, then pointed toward someone on the left side of the theater. “There he is. See him?”

Kara struggled to follow Lexie’s finger, but couldn’t discern which head his might be.

“He’s mega-gorgeous,” Lexie added, dropping her hand. “You won’t miss him.”

Kara nodded tersely. Probably another early-twenties Hollywood hopeful who was too attractive for his own good. She got enough of them as it was. But she knew better than to fall for their fawn-over-me charm. “Grab the doors.”

Lexie ran toward the side doors, and Kara counted to ten before beginning a slow walk down the center aisle. She absorbed the clamor of voices, the echoes off the elaborately arched and decorated walls. As she reached the first row of students, her voice cut through the chatter.

“Hello, students!” The forced brightness of her greeting rang false to her, but she knew it carried perfectly. No one would suspect the dark clouds inside her right now. “Welcome to the first day of summer improv.”

Her students turned, almost thirty faces in various shades of curiosity, anxiety, or excitement. Improv classes attracted as many introverts as they did extroverts, and while everyone who signed up always did so of their own free will, nerves usually abounded. Especially once the welcome games began.

Kara introduced herself and Lexie and then got down to business. “We’ll be here for six weeks, two days a week, with ample homework and plenty of comfort zone–destroying games ahead of us.” The class tittered nervously. She swept her gaze across the students as she spoke, trying to get familiar with the new faces.

“If you’ve ever wanted to get more comfortable speaking in front of a crowd, ace your next audition for a play, or just generally learn how to respond quickly to basically anything that anyone could ever throw your way, you’ve come to the right place.” Kara offered a reassuring smile, her skin prickling when she noticed someone in the farthest seat, close to the door, with their head down. Probably buried in their phone already.

She headed that way as she made a slow stroll in front of the stage, glancing discreetly at the offending student. It wasn’t often she got disrespectful students in the summer classes. High school was another story. Her exasperated-teacher hackles had already risen.

“To begin, let’s do introductions.” Kara watched the student, clearly a grown man, his tousled, dark-blond hair shrouding his face as he bent over his phone. He cut a boxy profile, strong square shoulders under an expensive-looking button-down shirt. “This is both practical and a memory test.” She grinned devilishly as she explained the game in which every student introduced themselves by alliterating their name with a descriptive word, making a gesture, and repeating the introduction of the person that came before them.

“I’ll go first. I’m Kooky Kara.” She tipped an imaginary hat, then pointed to the farthest student on the opposite side. “Now you.”

The students went one by one, some announcing themselves quietly, others with laughter. Slowly, the mood in the theater relaxed. When the introductions reached the inattentive student nearest the door, he was still buried in his phone. His turn to introduce himself was met with silence.

Kara cleared her throat. “Excuse me?”

The man snapped his head up, sky blue eyes searing through her. He had the face of a Gucci model, pure angles and square jaw. This had to be Mr. Gorgeous Lexie had pointed out. Confusion clung to his face as he looked around as though he’d just noticed he was here. “Yes?”

“Have you been paying attention?” Her annoyance was through the roof now. This was not a good way to start off the session for him. But Lexie had said this was his one and only class. Kara could only hope.

“Excuse me. I had a bit of an emergency back home.” A soft British accent shone through his baritone, softening the edge of Kara’s annoyance.

“We’re introducing ourselves,” she said firmly. Don’t be swayed by the accent. But British accents were so hot.

“Ah, yes. Kooky Kara.” He offered a grin, one that made her heart skip a beat. So he had heard something. “Massive apologies. I’m Gregarious Gregor.” He sent an exaggerated wink her way. She fought to keep her face stony.

“Very good,” she said, overlooking the fact that he had entirely missed repeating the name of the student before him. If he was going to be the problem student, she’d take what she could get. “Now that we all know who we are…let’s just dive in head first, shall we?”

Almost immediately, Gregor buried himself in his phone again. And maybe she was peeking at him a bit more than needed. But Lexie had been right. The man was hot. It was hard to look away. He should have called himself Gorgeous Gregor.

“I’d like to start with a scene.” Kara surveyed the class, feigning interest in selecting a student at random. “Would anyone like to do a scene with me?”

A few tentative hands raised, but she wouldn’t call on them. She already had her scene buddy selected. “Gregarious Gregor? Would you like to live up to your name?”

His head shot up again, confusion swirling in those light eyes. “Of course.”

“Come up here. You’ll be the first volunteer.” On the inside, she cackled evilly. This guy would learn a thing or two about showing up to her classes and not paying attention.

Gregor cleared his throat, seat creaking beneath him as he stood. He walked toward the front and followed her up the side stairs onto the stage, where she got the full scope of his lean physique. He was easily a head taller than she, lean and sturdy beneath his impeccable clothing. Her heart raced as she faced him, in a way it hadn’t done in years.

“Now. Let’s begin a scene. Any scene you want. Just start, and I’ll keep up.” She sent a reassuring smile toward the class. Almost thirty sets of wide eyes watched the two of them on stage.

“Right.” Gregor pinched his lips together, gaze tracking up and down her body. Did he like what he saw? Kara tried to erase the thought. She shouldn’t care. She needed to clear her mind.

“She speaks!” Gregor suddenly said, his voice carrying bright and clear. “This winged messenger of improvisation!”

Kara smirked. Riffing off of Romeo and Juliet…not bad. “Oh, Gregor, Gregor, wherefore art thou Gregor? Deny my attention and refuse thy lessons?”

“I take thee at thy word,” Gregor responded smoothly, stepping closer. The sincerity in his performance made her breath catch. “Call me but Brad Pitt and I’ll be new baptized.”

The class snickered below them. Kara affected a haughty saunter, strolling past him.

“My ears have not yet drunk a hundred words of your tongue’s utterings, yet I know what awaits, Gregarious Gregor.”

“But do you, Kooky Kara?” Gregor stepped in her path, wrapping an arm around her waist. “By yonder blessed moon I vow…”

“To what?” she countered, the feel of his fingers pressed into her waist distracting her from the scene.

He dipped her backwards, and she relented, leaning on his strong grip to guide her arching back. “To pay attention to every single word you say until this class is over.”