Janice Sims - Dance of Temptation

“Ana told you she’d been hurt before pretty-boy actor broke her heart?”

“A couple of times,” Belana told him. “So if you’re going to win Ana’s heart, you need to be unimpressed by her looks and get to know who she is on the inside.”

There was a contemplative expression on Erik’s face. He twirled his straw around in his milk shake, thinking. Then he looked across the table and met his sister’s eyes. “I’d never do anything to hurt her.”

Belana smiled, satisfied. “I’m glad to hear it. She’s going to be back in town in about three weeks. I’ll invite you both to dinner.”

“No,” said Erik.

“No?” cried Belana, surprised he would object to her fixing him up with the woman of his dreams.

“No,” her brother repeated. “A dinner designed for us to be in the same room at the same time, and it’s just the two of us invited, will look contrived. I’ll wait until one of the family dinners during the holidays when there will be lots of people around. I don’t want her guard up before I can even begin to plead my case.”

“It’s your call,” Belana said, resigned. “But it’s August. There are three months before Thanksgiving. What if she meets someone else?”

“She won’t,” Erik said confidently. “We’re meant to be together, I feel it.”

“I felt that way about Nick,” Belana reminded him. “But he apparently didn’t.”

“That you know of,” countered Erik. “You’re too chicken to ask him.”

“Yes, I am,” said Belana.

“Then you’ll never know,” said Erik with a sad note to his voice. “Look, Belana, I can’t force you to do anything, but I have to say this. If you can’t get over your cowardice and go after Nicolas Reed if you really want him, then Mari wins. Even though she has managed to stay out of your life all these years, she will have ruined it.”

The arrival of their waiter saved Belana from having to reply to that. “Can I get you anything else?” he politely asked.

“No,” Erik told him. “Thank you.”

The waiter promptly placed the check on the table. “Thank you for your patronage. Please come again.” He smiled faintly and walked away.

Erik picked up the check, put a nice tip on the table, and rose. Belana picked up her bag. She sensed her brother’s mood. He was disappointed in her. She hated it when he put her on a pedestal, behaving as if she couldn’t have flaws in her character like normal people. So, she was being a bit of a coward and protecting her heart when it came to Nicolas Reed. Did that make her a bad person? No!

Erik turned his back on her and began making his way to the front of the restaurant where he intended to pay the bill.

“I’ll think about it,” Belana blurted.

He stopped, turned and smiled at her. “Come here,” he said.

She went into his outstretched arms and they hugged. “You’ve got to stop manipulating me with emotional blackmail,” she complained.

“What are brothers for?” he asked with a smile.

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