Jordan, Olivia - Taletha's Salsa Sweethearts [Studio Seductions 1] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (2 page)

“Of course I am,” Adam said, shaking his head to bring himself back to reality.

Lynne smiled. “I’m not so sure you were. But don’t worry. I know that it’s easy to get distracted when Taletha and Morris are practicing. There have been several mornings when I’ve lost more than an hour of my day because I was paying more attention to what they were doing than my own work.”

“I don’t know how you get any work done at all. I don’t know how I can pay attention to anything else. That’s how you know a world-class dancer—when you can’t keep your eyes off of her at any point, even when she’s practicing.”

“Sometimes, I just sit here and wish I could be Taletha.”

“I’m a champion, and I’m not as good a dancer as she is.” Adam laughed. But I bet with enough lessons and hard work, you’d have it in you to be great.”

Lynne laughed. “Doubtful. I might work at a dance studio, but that doesn’t mean I have any sense of rhythm or grace. Now come on, you really do need to learn to focus on learning the system so you can start booking lessons and making money.”

Adam turned his eyes to the computer and struggled to concentrate. Finally, he had a rudimentary knowledge of how the system worked and put a few appointments into the system.

“Okay, I’ll call the students to confirm the appointment times,” Lynne said. “You go and let Taletha and Morris distract you.”

Adam settled himself on a chair near the back of the studio, hoping to stay out of sight. He didn’t know if Taletha and Morris were willing to be watched during rehearsal, and he didn’t want to make them self-conscious. But the allure of Taletha’s endless, slender legs compelled him to watch as the two of them worked out choreography and repeated difficult steps. The longer he focused on her body, not just her legs but also the movements of her hips and shoulders as she added accents to her movements, the more the arousal he’d tamped down began to rise back up. His cock fluttered to life, and he tried to turn his mind to unsexy thoughts. But the sight of Taletha turning and shimmying around the floor overrode every boring or unpleasant image he conjured up in his mind. It wasn’t long before his cock was throbbing beneath the fabric of his tight pants.

I have to get out of here
, he thought.
Just for a minute, until I can figure out what to do about this hard-on
. He stood up out of his chair, but in his haste, he stumbled, knocking both the seat and himself to the ground. Nor was the clatter he made unnoticeable. Taletha and Morris both stopped what they were doing and looked across the room at him.

Fortunately, the sudden fall and pain caused Adam’s erection to settle down, so he didn’t need to think of a way to conceal it when they came rushing over to make sure that he was okay.

“What happened?” Taletha asked.

“Nothing serious. I just tripped over the leg of this chair. I’m fine, really.”

She grinned. “Good, because I don’t want to have to deal with my new employee being injured on the first day.”

“Are you sure you’re fine?” Morris asked. “I could run and get the first aid kid.”

“I’ll probably have a bruise or two tomorrow, but I don’t even need a Band-Aid. My ass absorbed most of the fall.”

“In that case, we should get back to work,” Taletha said. “You can keep watching if you want. We try to keep our practices closed, but since you were already watching, I don’t see the harm.”

“Let’s take a five-minute break, okay?” Morris asked. “I really need to take a piss.”

“Do you need to be so vulgar about it?” Taletha asked, rolling her eyes.

 
Morris leaned in so close that Adam found himself inexplicably jealous. “I could be a lot more vulgar if I wanted to. But I know you’re hell-bent on professionalism.” He turned and walked toward the bathroom.

Taletha turned to Adam and shrugged. “Sorry about him.”

“You don’t need to be sorry. He wasn’t being obscene. I found Emily’s behavior to be far more offensive.”

A look of panic flashed on Taletha’s face. “Oh my god, I didn’t realize you were that upset. I’m so sorry. I’ll have another talk with Emily.”

Adam laughed. “Don’t worry about it, really. You already spoke with her once. If she didn’t learn anything from it, it’s her fault, not yours. I know how to handle things.”

“Still, I’m responsible for my employees.”

“Your employees are responsible for themselves. Now, can I interest you in a dance while Morris is taking his bathroom break?”

“Sure, why not?”

Taletha went over to the stereo and put on some music. Adam took his place on the dance floor, and as Taletha approached, he held out his hand. After waiting a few measures to get the rhythm of the song coursing through his blood, he started to move. He began with the basics to get warmed up, but after about thirty seconds, he was leading complex combinations that he knew would give even the most accomplished follower a challenge. Each time she twirled past him, he could breathe in her scent, light yet slightly musky, feminine and strong. His erection started to perk up again, but he focused on his technique, refusing to let it overwhelm him and interfere with his ability to lead. But as she shimmied and turned, he found once again that his body could not resist the allure of hers. Still, he kept his focus on the music, trying to keep his arousal at bay.

As the song came to an end, Adam threw Taletha into a deep dip, stopping when her head was only three inches from the floor. As her breasts threatened to spill out of her tank top, his erection reached full force, threatening to burst through the fabric of his pants.

“Now I’m really glad I hired you,” Taletha said as he pulled her up. “Not that I didn’t already know you were an amazing dancer. But now I have firsthand experience.”

“Likewise,” Adam gasped, hoping she wouldn’t cast her eyes in the direction of his crotch.

“Planning to steal my partner away?” Morris asked as he walked back into the studio.

Chapter Two

Taletha and Adam jumped away. Taletha couldn’t explain why she suddenly felt guilty for dancing with him, but she couldn’t bring herself to meet Morris’s eye. She shoved her hands behind her back to hide the fact that they’d suddenly started shaking. She felt her face flush and cursed the fact that she didn’t have a way to hide the color in her cheeks.

Adam, on the other hand, was completely suave. “I was just keeping her warm for you,” he said with a wink before walking off the dance floor and heading toward the staff lounge.

“Thanks, man,” Morris called out. “I always appreciate a dancer who can take good care of my followers.”

“Anytime.” Adam gave Morris a thumbs-up as he disappeared down the hall.

Morris turned back to Taletha. “I like this guy. I think he’s going to fit in well around here.”

“Well, that’s why I hired him.” Taletha hoped Morris couldn’t hear her voice shaking.

“Okay, we should get back to work. Do you want to take it from the top or review the section we just made up?”

Taletha was surprised by Morris’s calm demeanor. “You’re not mad?”

Morris narrowed his eyes. “What on earth would I be mad about? You dancing with a colleague while I was in the bathroom? Oh, the horror.”

“I was just checking.”

“What’s to check? We dance with other people all the time. That’s part of the job description, to dance with as many people as possible. If I had a problem with you dancing with other people, I’d convince you to marry me, and then convince us to find completely new jobs that didn’t require us to touch other people. Though if I were that uptight, I’d probably belong to one of those churches that forbade dancing, so it would be a moot point.”

Taletha couldn’t help but giggle as she continued to stare down the hallway, catching the last images of Adam’s taut ass. “I guess I am being a little ridiculous. I don’t know what got into me.” The door to the staff lounge closed, but she continued to stare. She couldn’t help it.

Morris frowned. “You’re into him, aren’t you?”

“He’s a very good dancer.”

“Cut the bullshit, Taletha. We’ve known each other long enough that we can’t hide a thing from each other. I can see it in your eyes, I can hear it in your voice, and most of all, I can see it in the way you’re blushing.”

“He’s cute, but come on, most of the people in our profession are pretty attractive.”

“Yeah, but you’ve never asked my permission to dance with any other guy before.”

Taletha sighed. “Look, I’m sorry, I’m just being ridiculous. It’s been a long day already. I got a call from Matt.”

Morris’s gaze narrowed. “What happened? Is he trying to make trouble?”

“Nothing. I took care of it. He’s leaving town and just wanted one last chance to be an ass before we never had to deal with him again. But even though it wasn’t that big a deal, the conversation rattled me.”

“Maybe you should call your attorney, just in case. And if you need me to, I can go talk to him.”

“Look, we can discuss this at a time when we’re not supposed to be rehearsing. Let’s just get back to dancing.”

“Are you sure that’s all that’s bothering you?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Now hurry up. If I stand here too long, I’ll have to warm up all over again.”

“You’d tell me if there was something going on between you and Adam, right?”

“You know I would. But what can be going on between us when I’ve only known him for a few hours? Now you’re the one who’s starting to sound crazy.”

Morris turned the music back on, and Taletha jiggled her hands, working the nervous tremors out. They started their routine from the top. But Taletha knew he was upset, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. His dancing suddenly became mechanical. Their steps were correct. In fact, this was the first time they’d run through the choreography without any mistakes. Their rhythm was perfect, and they hit every accent and break without hesitation. But Morris had lost the soul of the music, the essence of the dance. He led her through the movements like a robot. Taletha hated when this happened. It turned rehearsal from fun into work. Between teaching students and keeping up with the administrative tasks of the studio, Taletha had enough work in her life. Rehearsal was her respite from all of that. But for the last half hour, it suddenly became just another chore that needed to be completed.

“I think we can call it a day,” Taletha said when there were ten minutes left. “We’re making good progress.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. See you later.” Morris turned around and hurried off to the staff lounge.

Taletha didn’t want to follow Morris into the lounge when he was already upset. After shutting off the sound system, she went back to her office to deal with the never-ending stream of e-mails. At the top of her inbox was a message from Matt.

You had your chance, but you blew it. You’ll regret it sooner rather than later.

The terse message didn’t even bear a salutation or signature. The sparseness combined with the tone made Taletha shudder. Deciding to take Morris’s advice, she forwarded it on to her attorney with a note that she wanted to have a paper trail just in case. Then, she archived it, so she wouldn’t have to find it each time she opened her inbox. But she refused to respond. She refused to play Matt’s manipulative games. If she wrote back, she’d just be digging herself deeper into whatever mess he was trying to create. She was not going to let him intimidate her, and she was not going to let him drag her studio down. Deciding to cheer herself up, she got on the phone with her costume designer so they could start discussing outfit ideas for the new choreography.

* * * *

“What’s with you and Taletha?” Morris asked, closing the door to the lounge behind him.

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