Spring Into Love

by Chantel Rhondeau

  Taz gulped some coffee and gave her a flirtatious grin. “What’s in it for me?”

  “Okay. Forget it.” It was worth a try. But the truth was she expected he might make a power game of it. Back in the days when she worked for him he’d conducted business as if it were all one big seduction.

  “You’re a master at playing hard to get, aren’t you?” he said.

  “I’m not playing, Taz. I am hard to get.” Too bad she’d tossed her usual boundaries out the window when Drew Byrne walked into her life. But that was over.

  Drew had actually called her yesterday. Three times. Casey didn’t answer. His messages asked her to ring him back, told her again he was sorry about cancelling their trip to the Plaza and said he wouldn’t be able to pick up if she happened to call in the middle of one of his business meetings.

  Business meetings. Right.

  A waitress delivered their food, gushed over Taz and asked for his autograph. Casey listened to the rain beating on the window and sidewalk as they ate. She didn’t know Taz all that well and wasn’t sure how to make conversation with him. She was about to ask what his next music video would be when he looked up at her.

  “You got non-profit status? So the investment is tax-deductible?”

  Did that mean the subject wasn’t dead yet? “The school itself isn’t, but I have a non-profit group within it that gives performances and lecture-demos in senior facilities, community centers and hospitals.”

  “I’d have to check with my lawyer on that.” Taz asked her a few more questions about the business aspects of running the school. Just as she decided he was more intelligent than she’d given him credit for, Taz started teasing her about the favors he’d want in return. Casey joked along with him, but in her head she questioned how much was a joke and how much was not.

  “What kind of building are you aiming for?” Taz asked.

  “About a thousand square feet for the main studio. Plus a smaller second one if possible. A small office. Dressing rooms. I can show you my current set up after lunch.” Oh no. Why did she go and invite him back to her place? She was already walking a fine line with Taz. Casey took a nervous swill of coffee.

  “My barn,” he said.

  “What?”

  “The perfect spot.”

  “Really?”

  “Hell, yeah. You’ve seen it yourself. It’s not far from the wine tasting house. Students could park. Go right to the door.”

  Casey didn’t recall seeing the barn at the time of her outing with Drew. She brushed away a pang of sadness at the memory. It was that night they first made love. “Are you sure about this? You don’t use the space?”

  “All my wines are stored in the cellars. Vineyard equipment is kept in the other barn at the far end of the property. I’ve been wondering for months what I was going to do with an extra barn. Besides,” he added in a deep, sultry tone, “you know how much I go for dancers.”

  She sour-lemoned her lips. “Taz. My students are mostly children.”

  He mugged dire disappointment. “No sweet fems old enough for me to…ravage?”

  “Only jail bait, sweetie. And I would never risk putting them in harm’s way.”

  “Hey, relax. I’m no perv. I just like to push your buttons.” He reached out and took her hand. “You look so cute when you get all uppity.”

  Casey blushed. “I’m no puritan, I just—”

  “Don’t trust me.”

  “You do have a reputation.” Hadn’t she just said that to someone else recently? By the name of Drew Byrne? Was she walking right into another mess? Except Taz didn’t make her all tingly the way Drew did. So maybe this time she could keep it just business. Casey tried to withdraw her hand, but he squeezed tighter.

  “Come back with me now and have a look at the barn. It’s in pretty good condition as is. Wouldn’t take a whole lot to fix her up.”

  Now he seemed really on the level. She checked the diner’s wall clock. “Too tight. Got a rehearsal and then classes. How about tomorrow around noon?”

  “Can’t. How about tonight? See the barn. Discuss it over dinner at my place. I’ve got a European chef, and my vineyard makes the best cabernet sauvignon in the North Fork.”

  Would she be a fool to go? “Can I ask you something? Why would a famous rock star like you want to have dinner with a simple, ordinary girl like me?”

  Taz threw his head back and laughed. Then he raised her hand to his mouth and kissed it.

  Chapter 21

  “So, who is she?”

  Drew slowed his horse to a walk and gaped at Amber. She rode next to him along a woodsy trail that was part of her family’s property. Why was it females could always pick up on these things? “What do you mean?”

  She patted the neck of her tawny gelding. “Never saw you this preoccupied. And sulky.”

  “Ah, it’s just issues with the company.”

  Amber shook her head. “You’ve always had those, and it never broke your stride. No, it’s a woman. The mighty Drew Byrne has finally fallen.”

  Was it true? Was that why he hadn’t slept right in three nights? And why he kept checking his cell for a message from Casey every ten minutes like some balless wimp? “How do you know it’s not you?”

  “Gimme a break. There’s never been anything more than sex between us. And now you’re not even interested in screwing me.”

  He knew this was coming. Knew he’d have to answer sooner or later for the fact that he hadn’t shown up in her bedroom at all since he got here two days ago. And she’d given him plenty of encouragement. “Amber, I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I only wanted you up here to cover for me.”

  “Cover?”

  “Yeah. There’s this smoking hot jockey that I’m really into, but my mom doesn’t want me seeing him. That’s why she sent me to France and Italy for the summer. She wouldn’t have let me come up to Saratoga Springs at all if you hadn’t come along to occupy me. If she catches me with him it’s bye-bye trust fund. So don’t feel guilty for the bullshit act you’ve been putting on because it isn’t any thicker than mine.”

  Drew coughed out a short laugh. “One thing I always liked about you, Amber, is you never mince your words.”

  “Look, I know both our parents would like it if we married, not to mention my mom having a major teenage crush on you…”

  “Leave her alone,” Drew said. Since he’d been here he’d noticed another side of Julia. That of a truly caring mom. “She’s really good to you. There are mothers around who don’t give a damn about their kids.” Like his.

  “Yeah, well, maybe you don’t mind letting your dad run your life, but I—”

  “My dad doesn’t run my life.”

  “Oh, please, Drew. Then why are you here?”

  Drew couldn’t mask the embarrassment in his voice. “Your father’s contract is up for renewal.”

  “After all the years our two families have been close you really think my father would turn on you?”

  “No, I don’t, but—” Drew caught himself and looked away.

  “But your dad does,” Amber said, completing his sentence.

  She walked her horse to the shade of a towering maple and dismounted. Drew joined Amber as she tossed a backpack on the ground, sat, and pulled out cheese, bread and a bottle of wine.

  Drew took the corkscrew from her and opened it. “Got glasses?”

  Amber dug into her backpack and handed him two. “You know, Drew, it’s one thing for someone like me to play games to keep my parents happy. I’ve never bothered to take on a career, and frankly I don’t want one. I am who I am. I like being spoiled. I like having my generous allowance and all the gifts my father buys me. But you’ve worked your cute little booty off pushing your dad’s company to the top of the charts. You’re the one running the whole show now. No reason you should have to take a dive whenever your father tells you to.”

  “But I don’t like to stress him. He’s got a heart condition. And, well, you have
your three older brothers, but for me and my dad it’s been just the two of us for so many years. The last time I heard from my mother was in a greeting card on my eleventh birthday. I’ve been trying now to develop some kind of bond with my son, but most of the time he seems like a stranger to me. I’m not too sure he even likes me.”

  “Maybe this woman you’re in love with can help you put it all together.”

  “Love? Me? No way. I don’t do that number.”

  ***

  Drew wandered through the white walled rooms of the National Museum of Dance. Thinking about Casey. Just his luck to run into a dance museum to make him feel even lousier.

  He’d already taken a mineral bath and had lunch, killing time so Amber could hook up with her jockey lover. And typical Amber, instead of being grateful for the favor she calls his cell to say she’ll be another hour or so. Thanks, Amber.

  Yesterday she lectured him about doing everything his father wanted, but here he was wasting his life away covering for her.

  The worst part was that he’d thought it would be Casey when his phone rang. He stopped at an old black-and-white photo of a dancer named Martha Graham. Drew made a note to remember some of these names so he could mention them to Casey when he saw her again. If he ever saw her again.

  He’d called her three times on Sunday, twice on Monday and Tuesday, and twice today. She didn’t answer. And didn’t return his calls. Why? Was it all to punish him for cancelling their plans to spend the night at the Plaza? He could see Amber reacting that way, but not Casey. What was going on?

  He marched outside to the front lawn, pulled out his mobile and pressed Casey’s number again. “Answer me, dammit!”

  “Hello.”

  Casey. Drew nearly fell over. He reined in his anger. “Hi, Casey. It’s Drew.”

  “I know.”

  His stomach knotted at the icy tone of her voice. “I, uh, I…I spoke with Karl. He said you hadn’t called him or looked at the two buildings yet.” Geez. How personal. You can’t think of anything better than that to say?

  “No, I haven’t called Karl. Don’t need to. I found a studio.”

  “You did? That’s great. Send me the specs, and I’ll get right to—”

  “It’s not for sale. It belongs to Taz Ravage. We’ve been seeing each other. And he has this barn on his property that’s just perfect.”

  “Taz Ravage?”

  “That’s right.”

  “You’re putting me on.”

  “Listen, I gotta run.”

  “What’s with you, Casey?”

  “Gotta go. Bye.” She disconnected.

  Holy crap. I just got dumped. “Fuck you!” he shouted into his phone. But she was already gone.

  Good thing it had only been a phone call or Drew feared he might have completely lost it. He despised men who beat on women, but right now there was one bitch he sure felt like strangling.

  Drew shoved his phone into his pocket and strode across the grounds, burning with fury, his boiling blood ready to burst through his veins. Taz Ravage. The guy she’d supposedly never slept with. Well, you can bet that stupid, jerked off rock star wasn’t about to give her his barn without getting plenty of time in her bed.

  The same bed where Drew thought he’d finally found his own personal nirvana. In Casey.

  How could she dump him for Taz Ravage? The guy was such a phony. But apparently, so was Casey. Two of a friggen kind. Here he was obsessing on her like a sick cow and the whole time she’d just been using him to get her pain in the ass studio.

  Drew let out a string of obscenities, not giving a damn who was around to hear him. How could he let himself get all wrapped up in one woman like this?

  Might as well go back to dating mindless bimbos who wanted his money. At least with them he knew who they were and what to expect.

  ***

  Casey set her phone down on the coffee table and broke into sobs. She was supposed to feel great now. She’d given Drew a taste of his own medicine. Rid herself of a womanizing liar who’d toyed with her heart.

  But he’d captured it so completely and thoroughly that she didn’t know how she was going to make it through the two classes she had to teach now.

  Luckily she hadn’t scheduled a rehearsal with her Cove Corps group today. The strain of fighting tears was bad enough without seeing Josh, who thankfully was not in the Ballet IV or Beginner Modern scheduled for this evening. She thought about the boy’s angry resentment for his father, remembering his bitter words: “He’ll do it to you, too. You’ll see.”

  You were right, Josh.

  For the next three hours Casey put on her professional face and focused on the dance technique and her students. By eight o’clock every dance and piano student had left. She said goodnight to Jiao, locked the front door, and climbed the stairs to her lonely apartment.

  And Drew hadn’t called back. Which only proved his indifference about losing her.

  Casey fed her cats, but had no appetite herself. Taz had invited her to join him and a group of friends going into Manhattan tonight, but she’d declined. She didn’t want to encourage him. In fact, after the dinner at his place where she spent the night fending him off, she’d already decided not to use his barn for her studio.

  It wasn’t just that she knew Taz would expect her to eventually give in to his advances. It was also knowing the parents of her students wouldn’t be too keen on a dance academy associated with a rock star known for his sex-and-drugs lifestyle. And now that Drew was out of her life forever she no longer had to prove she didn’t need him. She could just close up shop at the end of the month and disappear.

  Except she felt rotten about abandoning her students. Especially Josh, when she could see how dance had begun to build his self-confidence. Maybe there was another way.

  A phone rang. Casey ran for her cell that was still on the kitchen table. But then she realized hers didn’t ring like that. Madame Lumina’s did.

  She raced for the living room and answered, “Madame Lumina.”

  “Who? I’m trying to reach Natalie D’Alessio?”

  Casey sank onto her loveseat, realizing how desperately she’d hoped it was Drew. She took a message for Natalie, but after the call she found herself in tears again. Having cried a zillion times a day since discovering the truth about Drew, she thought slamming him with news of Taz and the studio would cure her. But hearing Drew’s voice again only made it worse.

  He’d sounded almost vulnerable. Like he actually cared. Did he?

  What about the things he’d said to Madame Lumina? About feeling like he had a teenage crush on Casey.

  A crush is not love, girl. So, he was hot on you for a while. Now it’s over.

  But something in Casey refused to believe all those gloriously wonderful moments with him meant nothing. Just because he was a guy who was used to having a lot of women didn’t mean he couldn’t fall in love with one of them. Casey was fairly good at reading behavior, and over the past several weeks she could have sworn their feelings for each other were on the same page.

  Or was Drew so skillful she didn’t even know she was being played? Was he just that good at his game?

  As the night wore on, those questions haunted her. Casey grew desperate to find out if he ever really did care for her. Or if the whole thing between them was merely a sham. Twice she actually picked up her phone determined to call him back and ask him outright, demanding an answer.

  But she stopped herself, knowing that anything short of him saying he loved her would be devastating.

  And she’d only be making a fool of herself. Negating the triumphant revenge she’d fought so hard to construct this week by not answering Drew’s calls and finally giving him the boot with Taz Ravage as icing on the cake.

  She picked up Madame Lumina’s phone to put it away. She could give it back to Natalie now that the free readings were over. Except they weren’t. Drew had never called for his third reading.

  Which gave her an idea. She scrolled t
hrough the incoming calls. Yes. There was Drew’s cell number. She tapped the key and heard it ring.

  “Hello?”

  “This is Madame Lumina and I—”

  “Madame Lumina?”

  His annoyed tone made Casey speak fast, running her sentences together, praying he wouldn’t hang up on her. “Oh, I’m sorry, I was returning a client’s call, must have hit the wrong reply number, this is Dionysus, isn’t it, I recognize your voice, you know you still have a third free session, I could talk with you right now if you like.”

  “You just said you were calling another client.”

  “Only returning a request to schedule an appointment. No urgency there. Is there something you’d like advice on?”

  “No.”

  “What about that woman you met? The dancer? You said there was something special about her.”

  “I was wrong.”

  Her chest tightened. “I see another woman in your love life. Maybe she’s the special one.” Casey wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to this.

  Drew gave a cynical snort. “There’s always another woman in my love life. And they all get to be tiring after a while.”

  Tiring. He found me tiring. Parker was right. I never should’ve gotten near Drew.

  “Well, Ms. Lumina, thanks for the readings. Can’t say I’ll be calling you. I’m really not—”

  “Wait! How about advice on your son, or your business, or your health? Or even your golf game?” She couldn’t bear the thought of him hanging up. And the reason was so pathetic. She knew it would probably be the last time she ever heard his voice.

  “Okay, how about picking a horse for me to bet on at the track?”

  Casey remembered what Natalie said about the Von Alston’s having a horse farm. “You’re at…Saratoga?”

  “You nailed that one.”

  So, he was with Amber. His real girlfriend. Casey reached for the tarot deck she’d left on the bookshelf, but she was so distraught her jittery hands spilled them all over the floor. Tears streamed down her face.

  “Sounds like a summer cold you got there, Ms. Lumina.”