Jordan, Olivia - Taletha's Salsa Sweethearts [Studio Seductions 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

In an instant, Morris and Adam were helping her to her feet, soaping her up, rubbing her clean.

“Now I really want to go back to bed,” she murmured, as they turned off the water and wrapped her in soft towels.

“Unfortunately, we have a big day ahead of us. But look on the bright side. There’s no way it can possibly get worse,” Morris said.

“Don’t say that.” Taletha surprised herself with her harsh tone. “It’s just—I’m afraid you’ll jinx it. I can think of about a dozen ways in which the day could, in fact, get worse.”

“Well, stop thinking about them. Emily is in jail, she’s going to court, and the evidence is already stacked against her. The studio is safe now.”

“I hope you’re right.” She glanced at the clock. “Are you sure there isn’t some time left for a quick nap? Even just twenty minutes?”

Adam laughed. “You know the second we get back into bed, we’re just going to have sex again, and then nothing will ever get accomplished.

“I suppose you’re right.”

Morris pinched Taletha’s nipple through her thin shirt, laughing as she sucked in her breath.

“Just get through the day, and we’ll give you a nice reward tonight.”

“What kind of reward?”

Adam reached out and slid his fingers along the seam of her jeans. “We’ll let you decide.”

Taletha giggled. “Fair enough. Adam, why don’t you ride with me? We can swing by the police station and give our extra statements. Morris, can you and Lynne hold down the fort again?”

Morris gave a goofy salute. “Aye, aye, captain.”

Taletha took a deep breath as she started the car, smiling as Adam placed his warm hand on her thigh.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said.

“I know. There are times when I worry it won’t actually be fine, but I have a great team, and I’m grateful that you and Morris are a part of it.

“It’ll be smooth sailing from here on out.”

Taletha shook her head as she pulled out of the parking lot. “It will never be smooth sailing forever. But we’ve got each other, and that will always help us ride out the storm.”

Chapter Nine

Taletha shoved her chair away from her desk and rubbed her eyes. A week had passed since the vandalisms had occurred, and it seemed as though things were settling down. But she was worried about paying for all of the repairs to the windows, mirrors, and floors. Her insurance policy covered a substantial portion, but she was still on the hook for several thousand dollars. She was in the process of suing Emily to recoup all expenses, but her attorney had warned her that even a clear-cut case could last up to eighteen months, and she needed the money sooner than that.

“How’s it going?” Morris asked. He stepped into the office and placed a soft kiss on her lips.

“I’m worried about cash flow over the next couple of months until we get these repairs paid off. Especially because I want to hire another instructor to replace Emily, but I’m not sure how we’d actually go about paying that person.”

“You’ll figure it out. You always do. And you have a bunch of people willing to help you out if you need it,” he said, kneading her shoulders with his fingers.

“Mmm. If you keep that up, I’m not going to get any work done at all, and I’ll be too relaxed to focus during practice.”

“So you want me to stop?”

“Actually, no, I don’t.”

“That’s what I thought.”

The intercom buzzed. Taletha pouted as Morris pulled his hands away. “Yes?”

“Adam hasn’t shown up yet, and he has to teach the beginner group class that starts in five minutes.”

“Maybe he’s stuck in traffic. Have you tried his cell phone?”

“Yeah, I’ve called twice so far. He’s not answering.”

“Weird. And he definitely didn’t call in sick?”

“Nope.”

“Shit.” She turned to Morris. “Can you substitute for him today? I don’t want to cancel on our students at the last minute, not when we have to keep our enrollment numbers up.”

“No problem.”

“Did you get that, Lynne?”

“Yep!”

Morris bent down and kissed Taletha again, but deeper this time. “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s fine.”

“I’m not so sure. I mean, he’d call if something had come up.”

“I’m sure that there’s a perfectly rational explanation for everything.”

“Maybe we should have woken him up and dragged him to the studio with us instead of letting him sleep in. Then we’d know he was safe.”

“Maybe he got held up at the auto shop when he went to pick up his car.”

“He would have called.”

“He might have forgotten to charge his cell phone battery.”

“He could have borrowed the shop phone.”

“Taletha, you need to stop worrying. Everything will be fine. Just trust me.”

Okay.” She sighed, trying to release the new tension that was accumulating in her body. She knew Morris was usually right when it came to knowing when to panic and when to let things go.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a group of awkward thirtysomethings looking to spice up their weekend routines with a little salsa dancing. I’ll see you for practice in an hour.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

* * * *

Adam had woken up that morning and had been slightly confused when he realized he was alone. He’d already gotten accustomed to sleeping in Taletha’s bed over the course of the week, and had already planned to look into finding someone to sublet for the remainder of his lease once all the repairs were done. While the vandalism had initially been an excuse for sleeping in her bed, he quickly realized that he didn’t want to sleep anywhere else.

But while he’d already become accustomed to waking up with her at his side and Morris snoring softly from the other end of the bed, he had not woken up alone over a week. He was surprised that day to discover how quickly the disorientation had set in. But as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes, he remembered that they’d both had to teach private lessons at ten o’clock. He had vague recollections of the alarm clock going off, but had drifted off as Taletha and Morris had rolled out from under the covers and began preparing for their days.

Glancing at the clock, Adam realized he didn’t have much time if he was going to make it to the beginner class he taught on Sunday afternoons, especially if he was going to pick up his car from the auto shop first. He called for a cab to give him a lift, and then hopped in the shower, pulled on some clothes, and wolfed down some fruit. He was just putting on his shoes when he heard the cab driver honk from the parking lot below. Taking the stairs two at a time, he hopped into the cab in under a minute.

“Where to?” the driver asked, glancing back into the rearview mirror.

“Luke’s Auto Body on East Thirty-Fifth Street. Thanks.”

As he settled into the back of the cab, Adam tried to figure out why his driver looked so familiar, but after a few minutes of wondering, he shook the feeling off. This wasn’t the first cab he’d taken since moving to town, and it wasn’t impossible that he’d have the same driver twice. But the odd feeling that came over him when he’d first sat down returned when the driver suddenly pulled onto the freeway.

“Hey, man, this isn’t my usual route. Do you know a shortcut or something?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

Adam tried to settle back and relax again, but there was something in the driver’s tone that set him off. He tried to tell himself that, having only lived in town for two weeks, he still wasn’t familiar with all of the roadways, and it was entirely possible that the driver knew exactly what he was doing. But he also couldn’t deny that something about the situation just didn’t feel right. The feeling only intensified when they left the city limits.

“Hey, what gives?” Adam snapped. “Did you forget my instructions?”

“Oh, I didn’t forget. But I decided we were going to take a little detour.”

Adam’s blood ran cold as the driver’s voice turned menacing.

“Stop the car, now. I don’t know who you are or what you want, but just let me go. I have fifty bucks in cash in my wallet. I know it’s not a lot, but I’m sure it will”

“I don’t want your money,” the driver snarled. “I want you out of the picture.”

“Out of what picture?”

The driver jerked the car across two lanes of highway, and as Adam braced himself for a crash into the shoulder, he felt relieved that there wasn’t much traffic that day. The car slammed to a halt, and despite the presence of his seatbelt, Adam’s head slammed into the back of the driver’s seat. His vision blurred for a second, and he felt blood start to trickle out of his nose and drip down on his shirt. He pinched his nostrils closed and tried to regain his focus.

The driver turned around and removed the baseball cap that had obscured much of his face. Despite the seriousness of the moment, Adam couldn’t keep himself from raising his eyebrows. The man was no less familiar, but Adam wasn’t any closer to identifying the face that scowled in front of him.

His captor, however, was not amused.

“You don’t even recognize me. You have no clue who the fuck I am?”

“Sorry to ruin your moment. You do look really familiar, I just can’t place you.”

“I can’t believe I was replaced by someone who doesn’t even know who I am.”

“Replaced? What? Oh!” Images of seeing the man on a crowded dance floor suddenly flooded Adam’s memory. “Matt Fairbanks. I thought you moved to Europe.”

Matt turned back toward the steering wheel and began driving again. “Everyone else thought that, too. But the day before I was supposed to start over, I got a call from the studio that had hired me. They’d put in a call to Taletha, and she didn’t exactly give me a glowing reference. So they revoked my employment.”

Adam braced himself as Matt banked a sharp turn. “What does this have to do with me?”

“You’re the one who took my job.”

“I didn’t take your job. You lost it because you were harassing your students. I just picked up the slack.”

“And once you’re out of the picture, Taletha will need to hire someone to fill the space you’ve left open, especially now that Emily is gone.”

“How did you know about that?”

The car screeched to a halt as Matt barely managed to avoid rear-ending a car in front of them. As soon as the next lane was clear, he swerved, and accelerated so hard that Adam was thrown backwards.

“Emily remained one of my few allies at the studio after Taletha fired me. She and I kept in contact after I left.”

Suddenly, things began to make sense. “I take it the two of you decided to form a partnership.”

“Having an ally made my plan much easier. It’s how your car and apartment were destroyed in the same morning. And Emily being sent to jail left me free to keep pursuing revenge.”

“You just get classier and classier.”

“I’d refrain from the sarcasm, if I were in your position.” Matt swerved the car again, barely missing a truck. Adam felt as though he was doing it just to prove a point.

“I figure that if you’re going to kill me, I might as well have some fun with you before I die.” Adam was trying hard to play calm and cool, but his insides were twisting with every word that came out of his mouth. Horns honked as Matt cut people off and ran red lights, leaving Adam wondering whether he’d survive long enough for Matt to complete whatever he had planned.