Page 135 of Lovers' Dance

“Wait, what?” I grabbed my bag, wondering if I had time to change my ballet shoes and put on sneakers. “What are you talking about? Nathan and Bella are there? In my house?”

“Yes,” he said blandly, as if I should be aware of his plans. “I left you a message stating they’d be joining us tonight. Did you listen to any of my messages?”

“I told you I was too busy.” I tried not to lose my temper. Was he mad? How could anyone be so infuriating? My texts earlier in the day were quite clear: I couldn’t go out tonight.

But did he pay attention to that? Oh, no. Mr Matthew Bradley had made a decision and everyone had to go along with it. Nathan and Bella were in my house. I couldn’t remember if the hamper full of clothing was still next to the washing machine in the kitchen. Oh, shit. My cartoon panties were on the top of the pile. I had washed those clothes, hadn’t I? Yes, yes, I remembered turning off the dryer this morning before pulling the clothes out.

Damned, bossy tyrant.

“Matt,” I hissed down the line. “Are you crazy? You can’t do things like this.”

“I can do as I please, poppet,” he replied stiffly. “Now I expect you home in thirty minutes.”

The bastard hung up on me. I stared in shock at my phone, not believing he’d given me tone.Unbelievable.

“Argh,” I yelled in frustration. The office door opened and I yelped in nervous surprise as my best friend walked in. “Chill out, Dante. Let’s take a moment to look at things from a cool, calm perspective. Everyone is tired. We need a good night’s rest and tomorrow we’ll be better. No need for things to escalate. You know I can thump you, right?”

I was gripping my bag over my shoulder and eyeing the door behind him. If I did frontal flip, I could probably knock him down and escape before he chewed me out.

Dante peered at my face, then burst out laughing. “You’re such a chicken-shit, Madi. And you’re right. Sorry about losing my temper back there. You know how I get, but tonight is the only night we leave before nine.”

Chewing-out averted, I sauntered over to punch him lightly on the arm. “I’m going, D. See you tomorrow.”

He leaned his face forward, cheek being offered. I gave him a quick peck and smiled.

“Has Christine moved in yet?” I teased.

Dante grumbled in the back of his throat, and I hurried out the office with a murmured, “Lock up everything before you leave.” tossed over my shoulder.

One annoyed man down, one more to go. I couldn’t believe the nerve of Matt, yet my mouth was stretched in a guilty smile at the thought of seeing him. I’d been good all week, sticking firm to my resolution of slowly distancing myself from him. It had been easier than expected with Matt being busy himself. Last night when I’d been fighting the urge to commit a stalker-ish act of driving all the way to his place and peering into a window to glimpse him, an unexpected call from Aunt Cleo had stopped me. I missed her, a lot. The way she would yell at me for doing something she thought was stupid or reckless, the way she would berate Jenny for hanging out with her crazy friends, the way she would pander to Jamal…he was her firstborn and only son. Of course, she pandered to his lazy ass. The way she would demand a kiss from Uncle David whenever he left the house, even if it was to take the trash out. I missed my family. I knew Aunt Cleo would amp up her calls over the next few weeks. She always did around this time since I left the States.

And there was Matt. She’d raked me over the coals about our relationship, telling me Jenny had shown her the pictures on the Internet from the charity ball. Goddamn modern day technology. What the hell was Jenny doing? She should have my back. I needed to remind her of the times I covered for her.

I hurried out of my building and jumped into my temporary baby. Yes, the Porsche was being used while my true love remained with the mechanic. He still hadn’t figured out what was wrong with my Beetle. It took fifteen minutes and anxious moments of wondering if the speed cameras had caught me, but I got home as fast as possible.

The door opened before I could turn my key to reveal a devastatingly handsome, well-dressed Matt—with the twin eyebrows of doom lowered.

“Hi,” I said shyly. Why was I blushing?

“Upstairs, shower and change,” he ordered, pulling my key out and herding me inside the door.

“Hi Bella, you look nice,” I said with a nervous smile. Would she judge my semi-messy living room? Stupid Matt. Bringing people over without running it by me first. I turned my nervous smile on Nathan. “Hey, Nathan, how are you?”

“Poppet,” Matt said in a low warning voice before they could respond to my greeting. “Upstairs. Now.”

I folded my arms, giving him a haughty look. When he took a step towards me, I turned on my heels and moved towards the stairs. Bella laughed. I wasn’t afraid of Matt, I just knew you shouldn’t tease a lion. King of the jungle and all that jazz.

“Twenty minutes, poppet,” he said sternly to my back. “Or I’ll come up there and dress you myself.”

I refrained from making a snarky comment and hustled. Damn. Matt looked good enough to eat. Forget cutlery, if he was a dish I would use my fingers, get sauce over my mouth, lick the freaking plate, then ask for more like Oliver in Dickens’s novel. He was gorgeous.

Twenty minutes wasn’t enough though, even with the quickest shampoo and conditioner I had ever executed. I knew Matt would be annoyed. He was anal about being prompt.

I frantically towel-dried my hair while riffling through my wardrobe. Bella was dressed in a lovely, floor-length dress, burgundy in colour and bringing out tones in her skin. The men were dressed up, not function dressed up, but wearing casual dinner jackets over their shirts. Where were we going?

I spotted one of my long dresses. It had been ages since I wore it. A year to be precise. A dark green satin dress with plunging neckline and open back. Was it too much? Man, I had forgotten about the slits up the side. But the shoes I’d bought to go with it were fierce. They deserved to be worn. I took the dress out and scowled at the neckline. Braless, I would have to go braless. I shook my head, worrying my lower lip between my teeth. Would Matt like the dress? Would he think it was trampy? I dropped the towel in my hand and slipped on the dress, to remind myself how it looked on my frame. I could always choose another dress, I just wanted to see how the green one looked.

The bedroom door opened as I was twisting side to side in front the mirror.

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