Curve Struck (A Celebrity Stepbrother Romance) Read Free Page A

she checked her signal bars and sent up her own string of swear words.
    Perfect! Now she had to find a spot where her crappy service would let her make a call out then get back to the changing area, finish up with Declan and put away what she had taken out and probably recite Hail Mary a dozen times if she wanted any chance of making her flight.
    If she missed boarding the plane, she would have to cancel the trip because her ticket was non-refundable and she didn't have enough money in her bank account for at least another week to purchase a replacement.
    Stepping outside, one foot keeping the auto-lock door from closing, Melanie tried calling her roommate again. She heard the first ring, then the second. By the fourth ring, frustrated tears built along the rims of her eyes.
    She had to make the flight and needed Cammie's help.
    Five...six...fuck, fuck, fuck!
    "Hey, roomie, I can't come to the phone right now--" Cammie started before she busted up laughing. "Tell me I had you going there for a second."
    "Totally," Melanie lied, her need for a favor overriding her general policy of being honest. "Can you do me a major solid?"
    "I don't have to take my top off, do I?"
    Melanie laughed. Cammie took her top off for a living. She also never had to empty out her change jar to make rent or walk to work the day after, unlike Melanie. So having to take her top off was never an impediment to getting things done.
    "Depends on how late I am getting to the TSA checkpoint," Melanie quipped. "I'm still on set, I didn't pack and I desperately need a ride to the airport."
    "How many days?" Cammie asked, her voice turning businesslike. "And casual, formal, mix?"
    "Just tomorrow and Sunday," Melanie answered. "Totally casual, but a warm hoodie and some real shoes. It's just me and my mom."
    "Oh! So Mz. Winslow is back from England?"
    Melanie laughed. After three years of being Melanie's roommate, Cammie still hadn't come to terms with Melanie's otherwise old school mom keeping her maiden name when she married. For an exotic dancer, Cammie could be remarkably old fashioned sometimes.
    Of course, exotic dancing was a very old profession -- one of the oldest, no doubt.
    "Yes," Melanie said. "And she's insisting I come for a visit. I would have put it off, but she sounded so freaking happy I need to make sure something weird hasn't happened."
    Sighing, her foot still preventing the door from shutting, Melanie leaned her head against the exterior wall and closed her eyes. She felt like a shit for thinking something had to be wrong with her mom if the woman sounded so happy, but becoming a widow a little more than four years before had made Melanie's bookish, introverted mother even more withdrawn.
    Now Nancy Winslow sounded like distilled sunshine -- and she'd added two weeks to what was supposed to be a month's stay in England, the dream trip she and Melanie's dad were scheduled to take before he fell suddenly ill.
    "Okay, so totes casual," Cammie confirmed. "Basic hygiene and essential makeup only. Tablet, laptop or both?"
    "Tablet and make sure my art stylus is in there."
    "The little white pencil looking thingie, check. More importantly, tampons or pads?"
    "Oh, gawd," Melanie snorted. "You're incorrigible. Neither -- but don't forget to toss my birth control pills in there, which I would have forgotten."
    Internally acknowledging that it had been far too long since she'd needed to worry about contraception, her mind flashed an image of Declan at her. The image was followed by another and another until she was sweating despite all the cool air being sucked past her from the open studio door.
    "I'll have to meet you across the street from the studio," Melanie added, dragging herself back to solving her current dilemma. "I can't get you access on such short notice."
    "I'll park at Taco Smell and have a crunch wrap and lemonade waiting for you."
    "You're the best," Melanie chirped before her lips smacked together in a kiss and she ended the