Read Online Touch Me and Tango by Alicia Street, Roy Street - Free Book Online Page B

Just
when Parker thought he’d gotten away, she leaned toward him and said, “Look
who’s back in town. Ms. La-di-da.”
    “Ah, she’s not so bad.” He kept his face as blank as he
could, relieved that his sister had never told her friend about his secret
relationship with Tanya.
    Miles gave him a puzzled look. Natalie rolled her eyes, and
moved on to chat at another table. A mama tending her flock, since the majority
of customers were locals.
    Tanya walked toward the door, paper bag in hand. Her eyes
widened when she saw Parker. She detoured to his table. “I sent you a text.
Don’t tell me you didn’t get it.”
    Parker brushed aside her question. “This is my friend Miles.
Miles, this is Tanya.”
    “Nice to meet you. Sorry to intrude.” She gave him a quick
nod and turned to Parker. “So what’s up? Are we going or not?”
    He feigned his most therapeutic tone. “Did you know one in
four suffer from hypertension?”
    “Don’t play me, Parker. I text you a question and all I get
from you is the twenty-four hour forecast?”
    “Sorry. Next time I’ll send you the complete seven day
report.”
    Tanya gave him a candy sweet smile and slowly raised her
middle finger.
    Miles winced and cleared his throat. “Running late. Gotta
go. Later, Parker.” He picked up his check and stood. “A pleasure, Tanya.”
    “Likewise.”
    Parker felt Natalie gaping at him. And some of the men had
to be wondering why this stunning new woman in town was hovering over Robinsin
Crusoe. Standing so close he was totally distracted by his desire to touch her,
to be wrapped in her legs the way he’d been so many times. He forced himself to
say something. “Why don’t you sit down? I’ll buy you lunch.”
    She slid onto the bench. “Thanks.”
    Natalie herself came to their table. “You’re Tanya
Gentilliano. I used to see you at Amanda’s vintage clothing shop back in the
days when Parker’s sister worked there.”
    “Wow, we were teens then. Feels like another lifetime.”
    “This is Natalie, by the way,” Parker said. “It’s her
place.”
    Tanya lifted her paper bag. “Got my mother some of your
apple turnovers. She loves your food.”
    Parker said, “You’ll love the Mediterranean salad. It’s got
all your favorite stuff in it.”
    “Okay.”
    Natalie cast a curious glance at Parker. He pretended not to
notice and ordered a bluebery cobbler for himself.
    When Natalie left, he murmured, “Maybe we should notify the
press.”
    “About?”
    “Tanya Gentilliano returns from overseas tour. Seen having
lunch with the local gardener.”
    “Cut it out, Parker.”
    “Well, you gotta admit it is a first.”
    She frowned. “Not this again. What was I suppposed to do? My
father would’ve fired you or worse if he’d found out we were seeing each other.
Don’t start punishing me ten years later. If you had—”
    He cut her off with a stop sign hand. “Let’s not do this.”
    “You started it.”
    “Takes two to tango.” But she was right. He’d started it.
After he’d sworn to himself he would stay cool and keep the upper hand, here he
was doing the same old dance.
    The food arrived. A heavy silence hung in the air between
them as they ate. Parker listened to the scraping dishes and chattering voices,
aware that he might be providing gossip for some of the locals. “Maybe we should
stick to talking about the weather.”
    “Okay, I get it,” Tanya said. “So your text message was
saying we had to delay the project because of the weather. I thought you were
just angry at me.”
    “No. That’s more like something you would do. I’m not that
childish.”
    Her dark eyes flashed with fire. “I can’t believe I actually
put a make on you the other day,” she said, her voice a harsh whisper.
    Parker grinned. “Believe it. I was there.”
    She pursed her lips and rested her fork next to her plate.
“Let’s stick to business. Those were your terms, right?”
    “Right.”
    “When are we