Page 144 of Lovers' Dance: Vol. 2

I blew him a kiss as he spun on his heels and disappeared.

“Why she persists in such a state of undress is beyond me.” he spoke loud enough for me to hear his complaint though. Obviously done on purpose for my benefit.

“I can still hear you.” I yelled. My eyes dropped down my body. Oversized t-shirt and panties, what was wrong with it? Not much different than a leotard. I hurried out after him. “And it’s DuMont-Bradley. Just because I’m married to Matt doesn’t mean I’ve lost all sense of self. A person’s family name is very important.”

George’s back paused and his shoulders went up and down slowly, I think he was taking deep calming breaths. A teasing grin lit my face up. Things had been so awkward with Matt and me, I needed to get my kicks wherever I could. Riling George kept me from fleeing the house most days. Deliberately skipping up to him I tried to slip my arm through his stiff one.

“Must I lecture you again about your behaviour, Mrs Bradley?” he asked tartly.

“Sir George,” Had I used this one before? “I’d rather discuss your annual leave. Matt told me you haven’t had a vacation in years. Shall we plan something outrageous? You know, that man, um, what’s his name? Never mind. He reminds me of you. The old guy who works for Matt at his place in Venice. He’s an Italian version of you. How about Venice?”

George politely stepped away from my reach, shot me a dry look and did that slow breathing thing of his again. “I have errands to run, Mrs Bradley. Is there anything else I can assist you with?”

I deliberated for two long minutes, the flush on George’s face was growing with each passing second. He knew deep down he was my boy, at least I hope he did. Otherwise I’d be the worst person to wait upon.

“Poppet, stop pestering George. I’ve spoken to you about that numerous times.” Came from the bend in the hallway.

Crap. I thought Matt had gone upstairs to get ready. Had he overheard everything?

George tilted his head smugly. “Is there anything else I can assist you with, Mrs Bradley?”

“Ah, no, thank you.” Busted. If I persisted teasing George, Matt would tell me off. George spun on his heels and rapidly proceeded down the hallway. “Bye Curious George.” I couldn’t help myself it seemed.

“Madison,” Matt’s warning was sent and received.

I followed George’s retreating back at a more leisurely pace. When I rounded the corner, Matt was scowling at his phone, he must’ve been in his office to retrieve it. Pasting a bright smile on my face I sashayed up to him. Matt slipped the phone into the pocket of his jogging pants before tapping my nose with his index finger.

“Your manner in dealing with our staff leaves a lot to be desired. I’ve already spoken to you about your over-friendliness with George, poppet. It’s inappropriate.”

I grimaced and rubbed my sock-covered toes over the carpet. “Inappropriate how? He lives with us, Matt.”

“As a loyal and trusted member of staff, not a favourite uncle.” Matt reminded me a touch sharply. “Speaking of staff, I’ll need you to call the Surrey estate; the care of the grounds is not up to scratchand one of the stable stalls needs immediate repair. There are also a few trees on the drive in to the estate that are in dire need of pruning before the branches interfere with the electricity poles. Poppet? Are you listening to me?”

I blinked slowly. Was this further punishment? “I’m not your P.A, Matt. Why can’t George handle it? Or Rachel? I think these things fall more into their remit than mine.”

Matt twisted his mouth into a frown. I fidgeted under his unwavering gaze.

“You’re absolutely right,” His tone was deceptively pleasant. “You’re not my P.A, you’re my wife and these things need to be dealt with. Properties don’t run themselves, you know.” Yep, definitely a new form of punishment. Matt knew how I felt about havingstaff. He continued in that pleasant voice, “The staff need to know your position and I may have been too relaxed in letting you avoid establishing that fact. But if you’re reluctant to accept theseexpectedresponsibilities, I shall look into your suggestion of a P.A and contact my mother. I’m sure she’ll know someone suitable.”

The bloody tyrant! I would ratherdiethan give his mother another reason to judge me. It was time to pull out the big guns.

“Who dealt with these things before we got hitched, Mr Bradley?” I glanced around, checking George was nowhere close by.

“George did, under my instruction.” Matt admitted, the corners of his mouth curled up as I started doing a slow shimmy while teasingly lifting the bottom of my long t-shirt to reveal my cartoon briefs.

“So,” I licked my lips slowly, really slowly. “Why can’t he continue doing it?”

Matt leaned against the wall and folded his arms across his bare chest as my shimmy became even more suggestive. “Because he’s getting on in years and I’ve been trying to reduce his duties before his retirement.”

My shimmy stopped abruptly. “What? He’s retiring?” This was news to me. George was a part of the woodwork. “Does he know this? I don’t think he should. You always hear about old people who die because they have nothing to do. He doesn’t have any family,” I was getting worried for George. Was Matt planning on forcing him to retire? “I mean, we’re his family. No, I won’t allow it.”

Matt arched a perfectly formed eyebrow in my direction. It was his ‘you’re not actually telling me what to do, are you?’arch.

“He’s not retiring now, but it is something we’ll need to think about in the near future. I’m going to get changed, make those calls.”

I watched open-mouthed as he walked away. The urge to shout expletives at his back was strong, but common sense prevailed. It was best to simply accept my punishment and move on. How long could it last? A few more weeks? A frigging life-time? There was no one I could talk to about it. Dr Brown would probably rub her hands in glee and suggest marriage counselling with one of her psychiatrist friends; they would split the no doubt hefty fee and laugh at me all the way to the bank.

Dante knew things weren’t all hunky dory but his advice had been:you shouldn’t have gotten married so soon.I told him to suck my balls as he was too chicken shit to handle a committed relationship, and he said if I did in facthaveballs I would’ve called Matt out on his current treatment of me. Dante had then said no real woman from Queens was going to let some man play head games with her and I’d become what I’d been born…a too polite English person. Well.Hisballs earned a knee and Gerrard had been my dance partner for the rest of that day.

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