Page 74 of An Overdue Match
At the end of the catwalk, Evangeline popped her hip. “Maybe.” The bangs of the blond wig brushed the top of her eyelashes. She reached up and swiped them to the side.
“How do you like the blond?” Tai asked quietly so his voice wouldn’t travel to Hayley.
She shrugged, unsure. “I feel like I’m pretending.”
“Is that bad?”
She seemed to think for a moment, and then her eyes sparkled before she gave a twirl. “Actually, it’s kind of fun at the moment.”
She retreated back to the bedroom and came out a few minutes later wearing the red wig. The synthetic hair ran down her back, stopping at the curve of her waist.
“And who do we have here?” Tai leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
This time she slinked toward him like a femme fatale, reeling him in with each step she took in his direction.
“I am Natasha Petrov, KGB agent,” she said in a butchered accent.
His brows rose. “KGB? Didn’t they cease operations in 1991?”
Her step faltered, but then her shoulders squared. “Zat is vhat we vanted you to think.” Shetsked. “Americans.”
Tai sat back with a grin. “So, Natasha, are you going to interrogate me?”
“I vill uncover your secrets.”
Tai spread out his arms. “I’m an open book. No secrets here.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Hmm. Ve shall see.” She walked back to the room with her posture perfectly straight.
Hayley came out a second later, back in her original clothes and with her newly shorn hair pulled into the shortest ponytail Tai had ever seen. “Roxanne will be out momentarily.”
Tai stood and pulled his cousin into a hug. “Thank you.”
“For what?” Her voice was muffled by her face in his neck.
He loosened his grip and stepped back. “You helped her to find the fun in a situation where she couldn’t see it before.”Just like you helped me when we were kids.
Hayley studied him. “You really like her, don’t you?”
She meantloveand ... “Yeah, I do.”
She squeezed his shoulder. “I’m really happy for both of you.” She grabbed her bag. “And now I’m going to get out of here and give you two lovebirds your privacy back. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Tai laughed. “There’s not much you wouldn’t do.”
“Exactly.” She winked.
As the front door closed, the bedroom door opened. Evangeline must have grabbed his leather jacket earlier without him noticing because it draped over her narrow shoulders and hit the curve of her hips. The raven wig made her pale skin seem even more porcelain, and she planted her hands at the curve of her waist as she stopped in front of him. He stared into her eyes, and she stared back.
“Nice jacket.”
A hint of a smile played at her mouth. “I’ve always thought so.”
“Is that right? What other thoughts have you been keeping to yourself?”
Her gaze dipped to his mouth, then farther south, halting at his throat. Or, rather, the side of his neck. It intensified as her eyes tracked over the lines of his rose tattoo. He could feel her look like a physical touch and then it was, her fingers rising and ever so softly brushing against the lines.
“It’s as soft as I imagined. Like the petals of a real rose.”
