Enchanting Melody (5 page)

She cocked her head. “To tell you the truth, it brings back memories. I wish I had a nickel for all the affairs not unlike this one my parents dragged me to in the past.”

“Are you serious?” he asked, confused.

“My father's a politician. And my mother takes her role as a politician's wife very seriously—image is everything. ‘The Rushes are role models to the rest of the African-American community.' That meant up until I was eighteen, I had to attend all the important social affairs with the family. Can you believe when I was sixteen my mother even made me have a cotillion?”

Will stared at Melody as though he were seeing her for the first time. “Wow. I had no idea. I never would have guessed…”

She stared down at her hands. “I know. To my mother's great chagrin, I don't reflect the image of my fine upbringing.”

Will could hear the pain underlying words that were meant to be flippant.

“Thankfully, my mother was blessed with my two younger sisters who will walk in her footsteps. Stephanie especially. She's a fashion model who's marrying one of the last straight clothing designers in New York. Mother couldn't be more proud.”

“I'm sure she's proud of you, too.” At that moment, Will realized he had no idea what Melody Rush even did for a living. Luckily, she filled in the blank before he could ask.

“Proud of me?
Please
. I write comic books for a living. Combine that with the fact that I—these are her words—dress like a subway transient, and it should be clear. Yeah, my mother's approval is something I gave up on long ago.”

Will studied Melody, wishing he could believe her. No matter what she said, he knew it had to be hard not be accepted for who she was.

“I used to be a big fan of comics when I was a kid,” he said. “Which ones do you work on?”

“I launched the Delilah series. She's a—”

“Kick-ass sister in a yellow catsuit who electrocutes her enemies.”

Melody's eyes lit up. “You've heard of her?”

“Yeah, I've seen my nephews reading Delilah comics many times. Wait until they find out that I know the creator of the series. This is amazing.”

“Thanks,” she said, clearly unflattered.

“Wait a minute. You're a woman under thirty with her own comic-book series? That's huge. You can't tell me your parents aren't impressed with that kind of success.”

“Believe me, that kind of ‘success' isn't even on their radar.” Melody sighed. “That doesn't mean my mother's given up hope for me though. She still tries to mold me into her image of perfection. It's by virtue of that fact that I had something suitable to wear tonight.”

“What do you mean?”

“For birthdays and Christmases my sisters get stereos and DVDs—I get clothes, makeup and salon appointments. This skirt and blouse are some of the few pieces that hadn't made it into the Goodwill bin yet. And these shoes are the bridesmaid shoes my mother's been pestering me to break in.”

Will smiled at her. “Well, you look very nice. But, you'd look good in anything. You could have worn whatever made you feel comfortable. There's no one here you need to impress.”

She stared at him for a long time before finally giving him a soft thank-you.

Feeling bad for making the situation awkward, Will gestured to the dance floor. “Are you ready?”

Melody popped up out of her chair. “I think I'll visit the ladies' room first.”

Will had to resist the urge to follow her. He had no gauge of where her mood was now. He could only pray she wouldn't leap out of the bathroom window and ditch him.

 

Melody stared at her pasty face in the bathroom mirror. Will's unconditional acceptance had thrown her off guard. She'd started off the evening in a funk. She'd let her mother get to her, and now she didn't even know why.

Before dance class that evening, her mother had called to discuss Stephanie's bridal shower. The woman had made it clear that if Mel's plans weren't up to her standards she would be taking over. Since she had no plans to speak of, her mother began barking orders until Mel had a splitting headache.

Thinking about it now made her angry. Splashing cold water on her face, Melody pushed her mother out of her mind. Her mother wasn't here now, and after the strange way she'd been acting all night, she wouldn't be at all surprised if Will thought she was climbing out of the bathroom window right now. No doubt he regretted bringing her.

Her chin lifted as she studied her reflection. This outfit wasn't her style, it was her mother's style. And Will said he wanted her to be comfortable.

She'd made up her mind. She was going to face this situation the way she faced everything. As herself.

Twisting her hair out of its knot, she pried open the braids until her hair streamed down to her waist in a wild spiraling mass.

She took out her dark liner pencil and ringed her eyes to chase off the tasteful conservative look she'd arrived with. Hot-red lips completed her face.

Now for the rest of her outfit. She looked down at her clothes. Rolling her eyes, Mel tore off the blouse revealing the black camisole beneath it.

“That's better,” she said aloud, happy with the way the top gave the flowing skirt a bit of an edge. On impulse she thrust the blouse under the running faucet. Wringing and twisting it, she formed the blouse into a rope that she secured with rubber bands.

She used the rope to pull her long thick tresses into a high ponytail. Tucking in the edges of the rope, she was satisfied with her look. Much more herself.

She had planned to break in her bridesmaid shoes, but the gold sandals were already severely pinching her toes. She'd never get through even one dance with those things on.

As Melody was preparing to leave, a young woman entered the bathroom. “Is your name Melody?”

“Yes, that's me.”

“Well, there's a guy outside looking for you. He wanted me to make sure you didn't climb out a window or something.”

W
ill
paced back and forth in the narrow hallway in front of the restrooms. Logically, he knew Melody couldn't have
really
climbed out of the window. But, she could have slipped onto the elevator and taken a cab home.

“Looking for me?”

Relief washed over him at the sound of her voice, and he turned immediately to face her. He paused for several seconds trying to take in her unexpected transformation. “Melody?”

“Sorry I was gone for so long. I decided that my outfit needed a few adjustments.” She twirled around. “What do you think?”

With her dark-lined eyes and her hair spilling like black rivulets of lava from a peak at her crown, she looked like a jungle priestess. His eyes slid down over her filmy lingerie top, which revealed just the right amount of her cleavage, to her stockinged feet.

A grin curved his lips. “Honestly, you look great. Definitely more like yourself.”

“Good,” she said, linking her arm through his. “Then let's dance.”

They dropped her shoes off at their table and then Will guided her onto the dance floor. “Are you sure you don't want to wear your shoes? I'd hate to step on your toes.”

Melody laughed. “As if you could. You're way too smooth for that. Besides, I was more likely to break an ankle wearing those things. I don't know what the hell my sister was thinking when she picked those things out.”

Will laughed, looking back at them. “Actually, with those spiky heels, they'd probably make better weapons than footwear.” He led her into a slow fox-trot.

“That's right, and if Stephanie isn't careful I'm going to use those shoes on her. She keeps changing her mind about what kind of dresses we'll be wearing. Since her fiancé is the designer, she thinks it's okay for her to keep changing her mind. We went from Cinderella-style ball gowns to African robes to tight sheaths with trains.”

Will laughed. He was glad Melody was talking because he was finding himself more and more distracted. Even though he could feel the eyes of the other couples on them, he didn't care. He definitely felt like he was with the most interesting woman in the room.

Will guided Melody around the dance floor through two fox-trots, a waltz and a mambo. “Are you getting tired? Do you want to take a break?”

Melody glanced around the room and a sense of weariness crept up the back of Will's neck as she answered, “Yeah, I think we could use a break.”

He headed back toward their table but was surprised to find that Melody wasn't following him. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw her making her way to the bandstand.

“What could she possibly—”

Will saw her take something out of her purse and hand it to the band leader. Seconds later, the band announced they were going on a break and raucous punk music filled the ballroom.

Melody skipped across the floor and grabbed his hand. “I wanted to show you something.”

Still baffled, Will had no choice but to let himself be led onto the dance floor, which was conspicuously empty for the first time that night. Couples were clustered around the floor, their mouths agape with horror at the frenetic beat of the music.

Melody grabbed his hands and began a hurried version of the swing step he'd taught her. Will, still locked in a haze of confusion, was barely able to keep up. Staring down at her feet, he was mesmerized by her movements but helpless to imitate them due to the swirl of questions circling in his mind.

“How much did you have to pay that band leader to play this CD?”

“A hundred bucks.”

“What!”

“Hey, I know a lot of musicians—even the fancy ones that play in joints like this are starving.”

“Are you kidding me? That guy was willing to risk being banned from this venue for a hundred bucks? And you were willing to spend—”

“Shhh. Concentrate. You're not paying attention. One, two, rock step, one, two, rock step, one, two, rock step,” she counted aloud for him.

Realizing that he was making a fool of himself regardless, Will gave in and fell into step with her. Strangely enough, he began to feel the rhythm of the pattern and took over the lead.

He began to lead her into new patterns she hadn't learned before, but she followed him naturally. They laughed at how their old dance pattern fell in step with this frantic music.

Will was having such a good time, he barely noticed that the other dancers had joined them on the floor. The couples crowded around them, watching their movements and quickly matching the familiar swing steps to their rhythm.

As that song ended and a new punk song rocked through the ballroom, Will watched a Franklin Hotel manager standing in the doorway laughing his head off at the sight of New York's polished ballroom dancers swing-dancing to a song called “Purgatory.”

By the time they finally cleared the dance floor for a much-needed break, the free buffet had been cleared away, and the bartender was already offering a last call.

Will smiled over at Melody as he summoned a cab. “You know, you're a fun date.”

She threw him a sidelong glance. “Oh, is this a date? I hope you don't expect me to put out when you didn't even buy me dinner.”

 

Will instructed the class to repeat their last pattern as he ducked into the hallway. He was entirely too distracted today, and he had to pull it together. He didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing that next week would be their last class. He enjoyed teaching Melody, but it was having a noticeable effect on the rest of the class.

In addition to the verbal blunders that had been tripping off his tongue all evening, he'd put the wrong music on the stereo twice. And Melody seemed to be enjoying his discomfort through all of this.

He knew she liked to watch him squirm. That had to be the reason she'd floored him with that sassy remark about him not having bought her dinner last week.

While he'd stared back at her, as white as a sheet, she'd claimed she was kidding and punched him in the arm. Of course he'd known she was kidding. But that did nothing for the images that had been haunting him ever since she'd uttered that anything-but-innocent remark.

“Are you okay?” Melody called out to him from the doorway.

Will deliberately took a sip from the water fountain before answering her. “I'm fine. Why aren't you inside practicing with the others?”

“Come on, there's only so much spinning around in a circle I can do by myself without feeling like a moron. You're supposed to be my partner.”

“Melody, I don't want anyone in class to get the wrong idea about us—”

Melody tossed her head back and laughed. “Too late for that. They've already got ideas, and I'm not so certain they're the wrong ones.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I got to class early and heard the McFeeneys speculating on whether or not there's something going on between the two of us.”

He felt the blood drain from his face. “Are you serious?”

“Relax. You know, it's pretty obvious to everyone that you have a thing for me. Even before your absentminded-professor routine today.”

Will shook his head in resignation. “Is that so?”

“Yes, so you may as well give in. I promise not to break your heart.”

“Oh? And how do you know I won't break yours?”

Her chin lifted defiantly. “You break my heart and I'll break your nose,” she said, shaking her fist at him.

Her tone was joking yet Will didn't doubt her seriousness for a moment.

“Get back to class,” he said, facing the water fountain. “I'll be there in a minute.”

 

After dance class, Melody hung around as she usually did. Which was probably the reason the class had begun speculating that they had something going on. They had no formal plans to meet for extra lessons this evening, but after their so-called date, it was clear to Melody that Will liked her.

Throughout the class she'd enjoyed watching how her nearness distracted him. It reminded her of that stunned look he'd had when she'd joked about putting out. She'd never been fond of the word
easy
for many reasons. To her, it sounded weak.

And in relationship to dating, it had become her goal in life to make sure no man
ever
found her easy. Quite the opposite, in fact. But Will had caught her off guard. He'd surprised her because he was the last person she would have considered dating.

But he'd already ducked under her radar without bearing most of the brunt of her personality. She'd had to start giving him a hard time just so he'd know where she was coming from.

But, she also couldn't deny the fact that he had a strange effect on her. He melted her. She'd heard her sisters refer to such a feeling, but she didn't think she was capable of it. It was
she
who melted men.

If she weren't absolutely confident that she had that very same effect on Will, she might have resented these new feelings more. In fact, initially, she had. But now she had him right where she wanted him.

It was time for her to have a bit of fun.

As the last student filed out of the classroom, Melody remained leaning against the wall. Will turned to her.

“Staying late, Melody? You seemed to master the waltz just fine today. I didn't think you needed any extra help.”

His words were innocent, but Melody could read the look on his face. He was happy she'd stayed.

“I'm taking my sister's wedding very seriously. I don't want her to be disappointed. And Lord knows those stuffy rich types love lame dances like the waltz—so lay it on me, brother,” she said holding out her arms for him to join her frame.

“Well, I'm sure you'll be able to just bribe the band into playing some punk music to get things going.”

“My mother would have a conniption—hmm, maybe that's not such a bad idea.”

Will put a slow waltz on the stereo, then he walked into her arms and squared up their frame. “Now how are you ever going to get your mother to take you seriously if you keep provoking her?”

“I have to provoke her. Her world is so superficial. She judges everything by appearance…designer labels, money, status—none of those things have any real value.”

Melody paused to giggle as Will missed a step and faltered for a second. “Ha, maybe I should be giving you lessons,” she teased.

“Anyway, I've seen her world, and I've seen the real world. There's no place for me among all those phonies that just want to flash their bling. My friends may look like rejects from the gutter, but they have more class than any of those my mother considers the crème de la crème.”

Will pulled out of her arms as the song ended.

“Your parents will definitely be proud of one thing—you've finally got a grasp of the art of ballroom dancing. Next week is our last class, and we'll review all the forms I've taught so far. Then you'll be in perfect shape for your sister's wedding.”

Melody stood in the middle of the floor stunned as Will turned off the music and began packing up. She knew when she'd been dismissed.

 

Later that night, Will let himself into his apartment. What had he been thinking? For a few minutes, he'd actually been entertaining the idea of bringing Melody home with him.

Ever since their date, he'd been thinking about her nonstop. She'd seen to that by placing an image in his mind that he'd been artfully avoiding until that night.

He'd allowed her to torment him today. He'd arrived resigned to the fact that there was something between them. He had a policy about not interacting with students on a personal level, but rules were the last thing on a man's mind when it came to Melody.

He'd thought it would be all right to get involved because their lessons were almost over, but now he realized that would have been a mistake. They were just too different.

Different hadn't bothered him so much at first, but after today he knew that Melody would never accept his lifestyle. All the things she was running away from were all the things he was trying to achieve.

He'd been on the other side of the tracks, literally and figuratively, and he had no intentions of going back. They probably would have had little in common other than sex anyway.

Will glanced down at the phone number sitting in the wicker bowl on his coffee table. Valencia. He needed a distraction. Maybe it was time he gave her a call.

If he wanted to be the biggest fish in the ocean, he had to stop swimming in the pond.