Page 76 of Lovers' Dance

“Matt doesn’t seem to have a problem with it,” I added.Was that vindictive of me?

Matt smiled. “It’s delicious, poppet. I might have seconds.” He snorted derisively at Adam. “Your table manners are appalling, just look at you.”

Adam glanced down at his wet shirt and one corner of his mouth tugged up. He started to grin as he watched Matt and myself cheerfully tucking into our dinner. A low chuckle slipped past his lips and the awkward tension disappeared.

Adam picked up his cutlery, saying with exaggerated affront, “If Matthew can bear it, so can I.”

“That’s the spirit. Oo-rah,” I said, and Matt shook his head. The amusement shining from his eyes warmed me all the way down to my toes and, when he mouthed “love you”, my cheeks grew hot and my heart started to race. Damn. I had it bad.

Dinner was nice after Adam’s brush with death—that’s what the two men were calling it. He was actively conversing with me, asking about my dance company, my family, my yearly earnings. Matt told him to shut up after that question. It was fun watching their brotherly interaction. Growing up, I had envied the relationship between my two cousins. Even though I’d lived with them, was technically the middle child of the house, they shared a special bond I was excluded from.

“You can ask Matt,” I told Adam after a personal question about my mother and the picture in the papers. “He had a background check done on me.”

“Poppet,” Matt muttered in frustration. His sexy grey eyes were remorseful though.

I arched an eyebrow at him, daring him to defend his behaviour.

Adam was nodding in support of his brother. He stopped when he caught me scowling at him.

“Madi…Madison…do you have a preference?” Adam asked.

I shrugged and stood up. “Most people call me Madi. Do you want more, Matt?” I asked, gesturing to his plate.

He chewed his lower lip for a moment, then declined my offer. I stacked his empty plate on top of mine.

“What about you, Adam? Think you can handle another helping?”

“I barely survived the last,” he said with a shake of head.

His plate went on the pile and I took the used dishes over to the counter. Hands on hips, I stared at the lower cupboard doors. There would be a dishwasher somewhere, close to the sink, but there were two sinks, one on the island and the other close to the stove.

“Second door from the stove, poppet.” Matt, reading my mind, rose from the table and sauntered over.

“How do you do that?” I grumbled as he grinned at me and opened the door to reveal a dishwasher with more knobs on it than was useful.

He shrugged, then helped me load the dirty dishes in. We stared uncertainly at the knobs and Matt shrugged.

“George will sort it tomorrow,” he said.

I shook my head in amusement, then tried to stifle a yawn.

“Tired, poppet?” Matt murmured as he stepped closer. His masculine scent filled my nostrils and a flicker of arousal went through me.

“A bit,” I answered, glancing at Adam who was getting up from the table. “It has been an eventful day.”

A flash of remorse flitted over Matt’s face before he said softly, “Why don’t you go to bed? I won’t be long.”

I looked over at Adam again, not wanting to be rude, but I was tired and certain Matt wanted to talk to his brother in private.

“Okay then,” I agreed. “Good night, Adam. Um, it was nice meeting you.”

Adam gave me a smile and I hurried out of the kitchen.

When I crawled into Matt’s huge bed, the worry set in. Would Adam make Matt change his mind about me? About us? It was obvious he didn’t think I was good enough to be with his younger brother. Would he bring up the race issue? Or the money issue? Would he make Matt realise the futility of our relationship?

“Damn it,” I muttered and snuggled under the cool sheets. I had it bad for Matt, but I wasn’t a fool. Deep down, I knew we weren’t going to last. This was a pleasurable interlude in our lives that we would one day look back upon and shake our heads in disbelief. He said he loved me. The more I thought about it, the more unrealistic it seemed.

A few hours passed before the bedroom door swung open. I squeezed my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep as muted footsteps came towards the bed.

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