Dante glances down at Heaven, who is hastily shoving her cell phone back into her apron pocket. He acts like he’s never seen her before and he gives her a polite smile.
“Thank you, Heaven,” he bows dramatically. She blushes and he stands upright again. “You might have saved poor Ms. Ellis’ life. She isn’t known for her directional prowess.”
“What?” I demand in mock agitation. “You have no way of knowing that. It’s an unfounded rumor.”
He cocks a golden eyebrow.
“Really? You forget that I was on the beach with you this morning. After we got onto the beach, you couldn’t tell north from south.”
“That might be true,” I acknowledged. “But I do know right from left. And you have to cut me some slack. I’m new here.”
“True,” he concedes. “But I have a feeling that it wouldn’t be much better even if you weren’t.” He laughs as I swat at him.
“Would you like to come meet my friends?”
He has a hopeful tone in his voice that makes him seem like a little boy, which immediately penetrates my soft spot. I’m a sucker for big strong guys who have a gentle side.
“Sure,” I nod. “I saw you playing tennis with one of them.”
“Is that what you call it? Playing?” he grins cockily. “I call it annihilation.”
“Really?” I laugh. “Pretty sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
He laughs too as he holds the door open for me.
“I have to be,” he confides to me softly as he passes by. “If I’m not, the public will sense it on me and descend like a pack of wild wolverines.”
He winks and then leads me to where two boys and a girl are sitting by the pool sipping what looks to be lemonade. The dark haired boy who was playing tennis is there, as well as a black-haired girl and another blond boy. Neither boy is as good looking as Dante. But that’s probably not a fair thing to say. No one is as good-looking as Dante. I’ve come to peace with that fact and they probably have too.
“Guys,” Dante says easily. “I want you to meet Reece Ellis. She’s my houseguest for a while.”
The boys look up and the girl appraises me quietly. She seems friendly, not cat-like like Elena. Her face is sincere and open and I sense that she could be friend material.
“Reece,” Dante continues. “This is Gavin, Nate and Mia. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. In a nutshell, Gavin is our resident Casanova, Nate is the smart-ass one and Mia is the sweet, talk-your-ear-off one.”
“And which one are you?” Nate scowls mockingly.
“I’m the good looking and charming one, obviously,” Dante jokes. Only it’s not a joke. He really is.
I smile and wave at the group. “It’s really nice to meet you.”
Gavin leaps to his feet and circles the table, grabbing my hand and kissing it. “The pleasure is mine,” he purrs. “You’re every bit as beautiful as your pictures, mademoiselle.”
He’s not French so it’s pretty funny. But my heart still plummets. Even they have seen the stupid pictures? Has everyone?
Dante sees my expression and rushes to assure me.
“Reece, seriously, I’m sorry. It’s just a part of my life- the press loves to speculate. But it will blow over, I promise. And they didn’t use your name.”
“Yeah, because they don’t have it yet,” Mia mumbles. She stands up and leans over to hug me. “It will be fine,” she assures me also. “Those stupid gossip sites are piranhas, but Dante is right. They have very short attentions spans. They’ll forget about you soon enough- once you go home, for sure. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I murmur. The last boy, Nate, stares unabashedly from the table. He doesn’t stand up and his eyes seem sort of cold. He’s got white blond hair and ice blue eyes. He doesn’t seem friendly. At all.
“You’re pretty skinny for an American,” he observes. No smile.
“You’re pretty rude for a Caberran,” I answer. No smile. And that’s hard for me because I’m usually pretty smiley.
“Oh, snap!” Gavin crows. He laughs and shoves Nate’s arm, while Dante scowls.
“Behave yourself,” Dante instructs Nate. “I mean it.”
What the hell? What had I done to Nate? I hadn’t even had time to offend him yet. Yet, apparently I had. Even I’m not fast enough to stick my foot in my mouth that quickly.
“It’s alright,” Dante tells me. “Nate had a bad experience in America when he was there last. He’s not a fan.”
“Oh?”I raise an eyebrow. “I thought you said Caberra loves Americans. Or, our tourist dollars, anyway.”
Dante smiled graciously. “I said I love Americans. I think most Caberrans do. Nate just had a bad experience.”
“Really?” I turn toward Nate, determined to try one more time. “What happened? Pick-pocket in New York? Rude people on the subway?”
“Girl problems,” Mia told me. “He dated a true wench. She only wanted his money and a free vacation to Caberra.”
“Oh.” I felt red stain my cheeks. I should have known. Relationship troubles seem to be the root of all evil. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be,” Nate says stiltedly as he pushed away from the table. “It’s just been my experience that American girls are all the same: self-entitled, arrogant and complete bitches.”
I stare at him, dumb-founded. “I don’t know what to say to that,” I admit.
“Say nothing,” Gavin advises. “He’s just being a dick.”
Nate glares at him before stalking off. Dante follows him and I watch as they seem to have a few heated words by the edge of the pool. Dante sticks his finger in Nate’s face and Nate’s scowl seems glued into place.
“What’s his deal?” I ask Mia. “Did he really get burned that badly?”
She nods. “Uh-huh. The girl was a cold-hearted wench. I know that all American girls aren’t that way. But Nate can’t seem to get it through his thick, pale head. And truly, he’s just kind of a dick in general. He’s never happy.”