#SneakPeek of DANCE WITH ME #excerpt 1

DANCE WITH ME releases next week, and I’m getting pretty excited. In fact, I can’t wait a whole week to share it with you. Let’s take a little peek now, shall we?

 

CHAPTER ONE:

The man in a vintage tuxedo gazed down at the belly dancer with bedroom eyes and crooned as she pressed her shimmies against him. A warm flush came over Melanie, as though she were intruding on a private moment, not one played out for a movie camera more than sixty years ago.

“Aren’t those black-and-white films great?”

Melanie spun away from the television at the sound of her friend’s voice and nearly knocked a box of hip scarves off the glass display case. She adjusted it back in place and composed herself.

“Sorry.” Abby snickered. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“You didn’t,” Melanie grumbled, returning to her task of folding the scarves into tidy squares and stacking them beside the cash register. “I thought you were in the dance room, helping Janaya with the class.”

“She wants to try teaching on her own.” Abby grabbed a bag of chandelier earrings that needed to be organized.

Melanie’s eyes widened. “It’s only her second week. Is she ready?”

Abby shrugged and continued hanging the dangling earrings on the revolving floor stand. “We won’t know till she tries. Honestly, I’m happy for the break. I feel guilty leaving you up here to work on the boutique by yourself. You should at least let me pay you.”

“No way. After all the free studio time you’ve given me, it’s the least I can do. Besides, the less time I have to spend at my mom’s place, the better.”

“So what’s that like, living with your mom again?”

“Hell.” Behind her the musical number on the screen came to an end, leaving a silence in the shop that made her uneasy. She turned and clicked off the television, happy to do anything but meet the questions she knew she’d find in her friend’s expression, if she dared to look.

“What happened between you and Chet anyway?”

There it was, the question she’d been avoiding all week.

“You know, the usual,” she mumbled and grabbed another wad of chiffon and jingly beads from the box. As she folded the chiffon with laser-sharp focus, her arms prickled from Abby’s glare. She peeked upward.

Abby was not only staring, but her lips were tucked in that stubborn expression that said she was not going to let the topic go.

 

Check back tomorrow for another peek 🙂

And there’s still time to get the special pre-order price: Just 99 cents!

Get it here: