Page 81 of Lovers' Dance

“Hi,” I murmured, smiling politely at them. How could anyone tell them apart? I let them lead me away from everyone else, following them in my soggy state until we stopped in front of an elevator. One of them saw my look and explained.

“Granddad had it installed for Grumps.”

“Grumps?” I asked. The girls were staring at me with teenaged curiosity shining from their sky blue eyes.

“Our great-grandfather. You’ll meet him at dinner. How old are you?”

“Twenty-six.” I grinned and plucked at my wet dress.

The girls exchanged a secret look before we entered the elevator. How pretentious was that? An elevator in their house.

They were silent until we exited the elevator, and they took me to an enormous bedroom with twin beds and every electronic gadget a teenager could ever want.

“Do you want a shower first?” one asked.

“Sure.” I pointed at her. “Natty?”

She shook her head with a shy smile. “Nikki.”

I nodded, feeling at ease for the first time since arriving. I was used to teenaged girls. Sometimes I felt like one myself.

“Grandma doesn’t like you,” the other one, Natty, said casually. “I heard her tell Mum earlier you were after Uncle Matt’s money. She called you a whore.”

“Natty!” Nikki exclaimed, hands covering her cheeks.

“What?” Natty sent her a bland look over her shoulders as she moved around the room. “It’s true, Nikki. You were there, too.”

I chewed my inner cheeks, slowly digesting the girl’s admission. I knew she was trying to get a reaction from me, testing me by her frank and cruel statement. Teenaged girls.

I shrugged. “She would be wrong in thinking that. I’m not after your uncle’s money. I work hard for my own.”

Natty snorted delicately under her breath and Nikki shook her head, obviously embarrassed at her sister’s lack of tact.

“She also said Uncle Matt is with you to spite them, and he’ll soon come to his senses and throw you away like the garbage you are.”

“Natty!”

I held the girl’s piercing gaze with an amused one, a little smile curling my mouth. “Why are you telling me this?”

She smoothed her hands over her knee-length, blue cocktail dress, giving the impression of a gawky teenager uncomfortable in her clothes.

“I don’t know. To shock you, I guess.”

My smile widened. “Consider me shocked. Where’s the bathroom?”

Nikki pointed to a door and I squelched over to it.

“There are fresh towels in the cupboard and we’ll find dry clothes for you,” Natty said as I entered the ensuite.

I closed the door and leaned heavily on it. Why? Oh why did karma hate me so? The look on Matt’s parents’ faces. And, stupid Adam cackling like a hyena at my sorry state. He was a grown man, older than Matt.

And, Matt, I would deal with him later.How could he laugh at that debacle of an introduction?I groaned, covering my face with shaking hands.

“Get it together,” I muttered sternly. So I fell into their fancy pool, big deal. These things happen…to other people. Why me? I was supposed to be the epitome of grace, cultured breeding, a strong black woman who could hold her own in any given situation. That had been my plan on the drive over here. Now, they were probably still laughing at me.

I undressed quickly and hopped into the shower. The hot water felt cathartic, washing away my embarrassment. Hell. I was a frigging New Yorker. Shit like this doesn’t faze us. I would go out there and schmooze my ass off. To be honest, I wished Dante was here with me. He always had a way of making me feel better about myself. My hands froze, halfway through shampooing the chlorine out my hair.What was wrong with me?I shouldn’t need someone to make me feel better about myself. I shouldn’t need anyone to validate my own self-worth. That was a loser’s way of thinking. I was an adult, a grown-up, with my own company and a level head on my shoulders. Resuming the shampooing of my hair, I strengthened my inner resolve and decided right there that, if Matt’s family didn’t like me, it was their problem…not mine.

Fifteen minutes later I dried off, wrapped another towel around my head and exited the bathroom. The twins were on the bed giggling over an iPad, and looked over at me with identical expressions of curiosity. Before I said anything, Natty—I knew it was her because of the blue dress—blurted, “I apologize for my earlier remarks.”

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