Page 62 of Blackmailing the Bad Girl

“If I have to.” He sounded resigned.

“Oh, you have to,” the other replied.

“Summer, this is the terrible twosome—named by Harry, by the way. Valentine.” He waved a hand at the sister in red. “And Alex.” The sister in blue. “And this is Summer, my assistant…for the moment.”

“More than that, if Mama is telling the truth. Apparently, she caught you in the act.”

“Don’t exaggerate. You’ll embarrass Summer.”

“Will we? How interesting.”

Summer stepped forward and shook both their hands, trying not to squirm under the inspection.

“Sorry if we seem like we’re coming on strong,” Val said.

“But Nik’s not really capable of selecting his own women,” Alex continued. “Never has been. He usually has the most appalling taste.”

“He’s done a crap job so far.”

“So it’s our sisterly duty to look you over and ascertain whether you’re likely to break his heart.”

“Jesus Christ,” Nik muttered.

Summer patted his arm. “Don’t worry,” she said, sending a serene smile to the two girls. “Nik knows I’m just after him for his money.”

“Oh.”

“That’s good then.”

“You know,” Nik said from beside her. “I think I feel the need to dance.”

“Wow.” Alex turned to her sister. “Have you ever known Nik to dance?”

“Never.”

“You know what this means?”

“It must be love.”

Nik rolled his eyes, grabbed Summer by the arm, and dragged her onto the dance floor. Something slow was playing, and he pulled her close against his body. Summer closed her eyes and rested her cheek against the smooth cotton of his T-shirt. Just for a minute, she relaxed, letting the music flow through her.

The day hadn’t been so bad. She’d met Pete, her mother’s friend. It was clear Pete wanted to be more than just friends, and equally clear that her mother was holding him at arm’s length. But he was a nice man, and only a couple of years older than her mom. He was so solicitous of her; it was sweet.

Her mother might deny she wanted anything more than friendship, and Summer knew her mother had a will of iron, but she had blossomed under Pete’s attention. They’d talked after Pete had left them, and her mother had sworn once again that she wouldn’t be a burden. But for all that, she seemed happy. Something Summer had doubted she would ever see.

Summer had left feeling optimistic for the future. And now here she was in Nik’s arms. What they were doing couldn’t really be called dancing, more like swaying to the music. But it felt good. She opened her eyes and her gaze landed on Nik’s mother. She was standing beside a much older man, who was tall with black hair flecked with gray. Nik’s father, she presumed. Despite the age difference, they looked good together, and clearly their disagreement of the morning had been sorted. Elena leaned into him, her arm threaded through his. Whatever Nik thought of the marriage, these two were close.

It was strange, but she and Nik hadn’t come from such different origins. The disparity was, Nik’s father had married his mother when he’d got her pregnant. Whereas Summer’s had pretty much abandoned them. How different would her life have been if he’d shouldered his responsibility? Or not even that. If he’d loved the young woman he’d gotten pregnant.

As she watched them, Nik’s father put his arm around his mother and pulled her close.

Nik was wrong.

They loved each other.

She tugged on Nik’s arm and pulled away, lifting her face from his chest, immediately missing the thud of his heart against her cheek. “Your mother is here,” she said.

“I suppose we should go and say happy birthday.”

---