Romance: Dance with Me (California Belly Dance Romance Book 2) (10 page)

He did it again, and she had to turn away so she wouldn’t erupt with laughter. When she’d recovered enough to speak, she said, “All right. I need to slow down and put more
uh-uh-uh
into the dance. I’ll make a note.”

The sound of the front door opening downstairs stopped her. A woman called out, “Hello, anyone home? Taz, are you home?”

His eyes widened in surprise, or was it fear?

“Who is it?” Melanie asked in a whisper.

The color disappeared from his face. “My sister.”

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16

“Hurry!” Taz said, snapping into action. “Get your stuff out of the guest room and into my room. Throw your things in drawers or hang it up, I don’t care. Just make it look like you live here.”

Melanie froze.

“I’ll go down and stall her,” he said. “Come down as soon as you can. Go! Now!”

The panic in his eyes shocked her out of her paralysis. She didn’t say anything but did as he said. She went to the guest room, grabbed her suitcase from beside the bed, and rolled it to his room. Downstairs, she heard him greet his sister.

“Look at you!” came the woman’s high-pitched reply. “Are you surprised? I knew you would be.”

His answer was lost in a mumble.

“Where is she?”

Melanie strained to listen as she worked.

“I have to meet this mystery woman of yours.”

Oh no!
The voices grew closer. Were they on the stairs? In the hall? Melanie stared at the pile of clothes she had dumped out of her suitcase onto the bed.

“Have you done anything with Daddy’s den? Oh! A music room. Very nice. What about Mommy’s dance room? Of course not. Where are you hiding her, this new lady of yours?”

“Her name is Melanie. I told you that, and I’m pretty sure she’s sleeping. We shouldn’t disturb her.”

“Don’t be such a worrywart. She won’t mind. We’re practically family, right?”

The bedroom door swung open to reveal a slender woman with smooth, porcelain skin and cascading chocolate-brown hair. She wore an ivory silk blouse with a wide, leather belt that accentuated her narrow waist and hips. The hem of a pair of cleanly tailored pants brushed the tops of her wedge sandals, and a bib of gold chains wrapped her collar. Every inch of her screamed sophistication. Very East Coast. Very New York.

As surprised as Melanie was to see her intruders, it was nothing compared to the surprise on Gina’s face when Melanie lifted herself from the bed covers and pretended to yawn.

“Oh, hello.” She squinted and rubbed imaginary sleep from her eyes. She tugged up the collar of the white velour robe she’d found hanging on the back of the bedroom door. “Taz, honey, I’m sorry. Did I oversleep?”

Taz pushed into the room. “Melanie, uh, this is Gina, my sister. She wanted to surprise us.”

“Surprise!” Gina declared with a broad smile and threw her arms out wide.

“She, uh, wanted to say hello,” Taz said.

“I would have been here hours ago, but my connecting flight was delayed in Denver.”

Melanie shot Taz a wide-eyed look. At least they’d dodged
that
disaster.

If Gina noticed, it didn’t show. “If it had been Chicago,” she added, “it would have been fine. But Denver? What can anyone do for five hours in Denver? Then it was impossible to find a decent car service. I had to rent something, and you know how much I hate to drive in LA.

“We’ll let you get back to your nap. Right, Gina?” He put his hands on his sister’s shoulders and steered her back to the door.

“Right,” Gina said reluctantly. “I guess we’ll see you downstairs.”

She let Taz push her back toward the hall, and Melanie faked another yawn. She caught Taz’s eye on the way out and winked. He smiled.

A few moments later, she heard a soft knock on the door before it opened. She dropped the suitcase she had stuffed down beside the bed, out of view.

“Oh, it’s you. Is the coast clear?”

Taz shut the door and shook his head in disbelief. “That was incredible.”

She posed and bowed. “Did you enjoy this evening’s performance?”

“I have never seen Gina speechless before. It was great. It was better than great. She’s really going to hate you.”

The comment should have made her happy. That was the point, right? “Happy to oblige,” she said. “It’s why I’m here. Where is she now?”

He jutted his chin toward the door. “Down in the kitchen, getting reacquainted with Spike. I think she’s pissed the dog doesn’t seem to remember her. It’s kind of hilarious.”

“You’re harsh,” Melanie said.

He rolled his eyes. “Believe me, it’s nothing close to what she dishes out. You’ll see.”

“Anyway, she won’t come back up any time soon, so I think you’re safe for now. Come down when you’re ready. Actually, she’s probably hungry from her flight and will want something to eat.”

Melanie was still comfortably full from their early dinner. “What about your soup? I’ll bet they didn’t serve anything that good on her flight.”

“She doesn’t eat leftovers, and I’m really not in the mood to put something together. I’ll just take her out.”

“Or I could make something,” Melanie offered. Wait, what? She didn’t cook. Unless you counted mac and cheese out of a box.

He shook his head. “It’s nice of you to offer, but we’re trying to make a bad impression, remember?”

“Right. Bad impression. So what should I wear?”

“Whatever you want or nothing at all. That’d suit me just fine.” He smirked.

She pulled a wad of clothing from the pile she had stuffed beneath the sheets and hurled it at him.

He grabbed it in mid-air and let the two tank tops and pair of yoga pants fall to the ground. Still in his hand was her laciest black bra. He lifted it and gave it an approving look. “Yeah, now this is what I’m talking about.” He tossed it back on the bed. “Definitely wear that.”

“Go!” She pointed to the door and gave him her sternest, most reprimanding look.

He laughed. “See you downstairs, sweetheart,” he said, sarcasm dripping from the word, and he shut the door behind him.

She dropped back against the pillows and stared at the white, coffered ceiling. What in the world had she gotten herself into?

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17

“We’ll follow you to the restaurant,” Taz told Gina as he left the house with Melanie in tow.

Gina shook her head. “I rented an Escalade. There’s plenty of room for all of us.”

Taz stared at the white behemoth parked in the driveway. He shook his head. It was just like her to show up in a monstrosity like that.

“Couldn’t you get anything bigger?”

“Keep your sarcasm to yourself,” Gina shot back. “You know I hate that tiny toy car you drive.”

“A Porsche Carrera is hardly a toy.”

Gina twirled her finger in the air. “Fine. It’s a flashy car. I get it. Does that mean Garrett is paying you what you’re worth, or are you just driving around in what was left of Mommy and Daddy’s money?”

It didn’t take long for her to revisit that old sore spot.

“I paid for that car myself, and you know it.” It might be the only thing of value he’d been able to buy on his own, but damn it, he’d done it. The car was his and his alone. Still, the insinuation burned within him.

He looked back at Melanie, whose gaze was trained on the gray cobblestones in front of her. She was probably thanking heaven she was an only child all over again. He held back till she caught up to him. “You okay?”

Her head shot up. “Yeah, of course,” she said then lowered her voice to a whisper. “Is she always like this?”

“Pretty much,” he whispered back.

At the vehicle, he opened the passenger door and held it for Melanie to get in. When he turned to let himself into the driver’s seat, Gina was already there.

“You don’t think I’m handing the keys over to you, do you?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he growled and made his way around to the front passenger seat. “Let’s just have a nice dinner, all right?”

Gina smoothed her curls back over her shoulder when she settled in behind the wheel. “Of course we’re going to have a nice dinner. Why wouldn’t we have a nice dinner?” She looked for Melanie in the rear-view mirror. “I forgot how touchy he can be, but I’m sure I’m not telling you anything new. You live with it every day.”

Great. Now she was recruiting Melanie to join her offensive. Just what he needed: two women on his case.

“Not really,” Melanie said. “Taz is one of the most easygoing guys I know.”

He glanced up and caught Melanie’s eye. She smiled a quick flash of a smile, like a secret just between them.

He smiled back. She certainly didn’t seem rattled by Gina. Maybe his sister had finally met her match.

He settled into his seat. If she could keep this up, this whole thing might just work. Who knows? The way she had looked all rumpled in his bed, covered in his blankets… it had been all he could do to keep his mind on the situation and off the image of her in that black, lacy bra. No. He couldn’t think about that. He had to keep his cool and keep his head, or Gina would be on to him. She’d never give him any peace.

“You aren’t angry that I got here a few days early, are you?” Gina said, guiding the Escalade out of the driveway. “But when I realized the Pandemonium Ball was this weekend, I had to come. Actually, I should be angry at you for not reminding me. You know how much I love that event. All the glitz and glamour. All those delicious costumes.”

“That’s why you’re here?” he said. “I’m sure it’s sold out by now. You should have checked before you flew out.”

The lecture didn’t faze Gina. “It’s sold out for people who don’t have connections. I have connections.”

He shifted to look at her squarely. “You have connections?”

She shrugged. “Of course I do. Well,
a
connection. My brother is the star drummer with the Belly Dance Divas, and I hear he’s performing. I’m sure he can get me in.”

He dropped back in the seat. “So that’s your answer? That I’ll get you in? Sorry, Gina. It’s not gonna happen. I get one comp ticket, and I’ve already given it to Melanie.”

“Oh, c’mon, Taz,” Gina said, picking up speed when they reached Coast Highway. “I know you’ve got some kind of bromance going with Garrett. I’m sure you can get him to give you one more ticket.”

He rubbed his eyes. She hadn’t even been here an hour, and they were right back to their old patterns. Her bossing him around, and him taking it. Unless he put a stop to it. “No, Gina,” he said, his fingertips gripping into the leather armrest. “I’m not begging for another pass for you. If you want to go so badly, you’ll have to find your own way.”

“I see,” Gina said in the flat, cool tone that meant she was not giving up. Not yet. But she didn’t say anything until she pulled up to the valet stand in front of the restaurant, and then it was only to the young man who took her keys.

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18

Melanie walked with Taz as his sister led the way to La Vista’s entrance. But if Melanie thought the drama was over for the evening, she was sorely mistaken.

The first place the hostess put them was at a table along the kitchen wall. If you didn’t mind looking past a few more tables, it had a nice view of the Pacific and the restaurant’s neatly tended rose garden.

That wasn’t good enough for Gina Roman. The woman pointed to an empty one beside a window.

“I prefer that one,” she said.

The hostess—impossibly tall, impossibly thin, and impossibly tan—smiled sweetly. “That one is reserved.”

“This one is fine,” Taz whispered through clenched teeth. He had already shaken off his jacket and was placing it across the back of his chair.

“No,” Gina shot back. “It’s not fine. Why should we have to sit hidden in the corner when there is a perfectly good table right there that isn’t being used?”

The hostess’s perma-smile vanished.

Melanie looked at Taz.

Taz turned to Gina. “She told you why,” he grumbled. “It’s
reserved
.”

“I just don’t understand. We’re here now. We might even be finished by the time that party arrives.” She turned a saccharine smile to the hostess. “I know. Why don’t you fetch the manager? I’m sure he can sort this out.”

The hostess seemed only too eager to oblige. She nodded and walked away so quickly Melanie thought she might break into a run. Not that she blamed her. She’d run too, if she could.

“Why do you always have to make a scene?” Taz complained. “Can’t we just have a decent meal without all your drama for once?”

“What drama, Tazarian?” his sister replied coolly. “I’m simply not going to be a doormat. But, of course, I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Hey, did you see that?” Melanie pointed out the window to the surf. “I think I just saw a dolphin playing in the waves.” Honestly, it was too dark for her to see anything of the kind, but somebody had to steer this train away from the brick wall. It was the only thing that came to mind.