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Jane closed her eyes for a second and then looked directly at Carter. He didn’t react as he took in Anita’s face. Instead, he turned to Jane. “You have a sister?” It was accusing. Surprise mingled with annoyance and frustration.
“Hey!” Anita grinned. “You’re the only person who’s ever picked that on sight. I’m flattered.” She lifted a hand and ran it over her scar. “Usually this throws people off.”
He shook his head, staring from one to the other. “Same eyes. Same lips. Same spirit of disobedience, I suspect.” His tone was droll, and he softened it with a small wink for Anita.
Jane couldn’t help her look of withering derision.
“That’s us,” Anita said with a shrug, putting her arm around Jane’s waist. “Are you coming in? We’ve had dinner, but there are leftovers.”
“I’d like that.” He didn’t look at Jane as he walked past her. Jenna was in the process of clearing the table. She fixed Carter with an unmistakably cold glance; it spoke volumes. He’d messed up, her look said, and she wasn’t planning on forgetting or forgiving any time soon.
Anita, at least, was a friendly face. “Jane made meatballs. They’re the best. You want?”
He nodded. He wasn’t hungry. At least, not for food. But nor was he hungry for anything else, he realised with a frown. He wanted to be with Jane, to talk to Jane, but it had nothing to do with sex. In fact, what he wanted at that moment was to talk to her properly, without the distraction their desperate bodies always wrought.
“How old are you, Anita?” He asked, following her into the kitchen. Jane walked close behind, her expression guarded.
“Seventeen.”
“High school?”
“Senior.”
“Where do you go?”
“Greenfields Academy.”
It was one of the best schools on the Upper East Side. His eyes locked briefly with Jane’s. He could imagine what the fees were. And what lengths someone might go to in order to cover them. Is this why she had worked as an escort? To help their parents pay the fees?
“Impressive.”
“I know. It’s
an amazing school. I’m lucky.”
Jane’s smile was tense. “Anita got a partial scholarship.”
Even a partial scholarship would render Anita’s parents out of pocket. But where were the parents? Conspicuously absent. He compressed his lips further.
“You must be very intelligent,” he said after a long pause. He had to force himself to remain in the conversation. How many times had Jane lamented her own lack of brainpower? Was this why? Because her younger sister was extraordinarily intellectual?
“She is,” Jane gushed, forgetting, momentarily, her tension. “She’s been offered a full academic scholarship at Stanford and Harvard. I’m hoping she selects Harvard, for obvious reasons.”
“Here you go.” Anita handed him a bowl with a sincere smile that was so like Jane’s it made him do a double take.
He forked a meatball to his mouth before reaching the table. “You really are an excellent cook,” he said quietly to Jane. She looked at him without blinking. “I imagine your parents are very proud of you,” he probed Anita gently, ignoring the fact that Jane was glaring at him warningly. If she was going to be so secretive, he had to use what means were at his disposal to gather information.
“My parents?” Anita pulled a face and looked apologetically at Jane. “How do you two know each other again? I… I presumed you were… I must have got the wrong impression.”
Jane could never be cross with her sister. She shook her head kindly. “Carter and I don’t know each other well, darling. But you weren’t to know that.” She fixed him with a warning glance that even he couldn’t ignore. But inside, his rage was a huge, steaming pile of lava.
“Did you meet through the bar?”
“Yes.” Jane answered dishonestly. “But it’s very late and you should be in bed.” She stood and kissed her sister’s head. “Go.”
Anita stood obediently. “Good night, Carter. Night, Jen.”
All three watched her go. When she quietly clicked the door in place, the atmosphere immediately sparked with electricity.
