Romance: Dance with Me (California Belly Dance Romance Book 2) by DeAnna Cameron Page A

hips.
    Now, there are male belly dancers. There are even some good male belly dancers, but Taz Roman was not one of them. She bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
    He feigned a hurt look. “Hey, what’s wrong with my uh-uh-uh ?”
    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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    “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