thank you, everything’s great.”
Julie sighed and tossed her long, wavy red tresses over her shoulder. “Okay,” she said, drawing out the word as if she were reluctant to have to go. “Let me know if you need anything, and I mean anything.”
Belana noticed the stress she’d put on the word “anything” and had nearly choked on a fry. Her brother, charming devil, smiled suggestively at Julie, and said, “I surely will.”
Belana kicked him underneath the table.
When Julie had gone, Erik frowned at his sister. “That hurt.”
“I meant it to hurt,” Belana told him. Finished eating, she pushed her plate aside and pulled her milk shake forward to concentrate on it. “If you’re serious about Ana, you can’t go around flirting with waitresses. You see? That’s what I mean about men. I thought you loved Ana, and yet you can’t resist toying with the affections of an innocent bystander.”
Erik laughed shortly. “Who said I was in love with Ana? I am in fantasy-love with Ana. There’s a difference. And there’s no harm in a little flirting.”
“Until you take it to the next step, and believe me, Julie wants to take it to the next step. If you’re serious about Ana, I’ll help you. But I’m not going to help you get a date with Ana if you insist on behaving like a hound. She’s been hurt enough by men who didn’t know how to be faithful to one woman.”
“She has?” Erik asked.
“Don’t you know it’s the bane of the beautiful woman’s existence? Men want to be with beautiful women because they look good on their arms and make them the envy of other men. But beautiful women have a very hard time finding that one special guy who’ll love them for what’s inside, not for how they look.”
“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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