"What was it?"
"They were some martial arts moves taught in self-defense classes. They probably came from tae kwon do or jujitsu."
"Do you know any karate?"
"Yes."
"Do you have a black belt?"
"I teach self-defense to women," Sloan evaded. "As a volunteer."
"Would you show me some moves so I can defend myself?"
"We're the ones who need to defend ourselves from you," Douglas said dryly.
Sloan was inclined to agree with him, but she couldn't resist the irrepressible teenager. "Yes, if you'd like."
"Promise?"
"I promise."
Stalling for time, Sloan took a sip of water while she tried to think of some way to divert Courtney from the inquisition in which she clearly took unrestrained delight. She almost choked when Courtney helpfully suggested, "At this point, most people ask me what courses I'm taking at my school and what my college plans are."
Sloan bit back a guilty laugh, looked away, and encountered Noah's knowing gaze and sympathetic grin. She'd assumed he lived a life of elegant leisure, far above the stresses inflicted on ordinary humanity, and the realization that he had "to endure" the whims of a precocious teenager made him seem very human and very likable. Unaware that her expression had softened as much as her attitude, she smiled at him and then turned to Courtney. She wanted to say something that was true and not superficial, and after a moment, she said with quiet sincerity, "I'll bet your IQ is off the scales."
"You're right. So is Noah's. Now, where did you go last night? Where were you when you shot Noah down and he crashed and burned?"
"We went to the Ocean Club, and I didn't do—" Sloan said desperately.
"We were on the dance floor," Noah clarified piously. "I was trying my best to carry on a flirtation, and she volunteered to fix me up with a friend of hers."
Douglas laughed out loud, and Courtney studied her with wide-eyed respect. "Are you really immune to his great looks and legendary wealth? Or—were you just playing hard to get?"
Mortified, Sloan looked at Noah, who waited to hear her answer.
"Don't keep us in suspense, my dear," Douglas prodded with an expectant grin.
The entire conversation was so outrageous that Sloan covered her face with her hands, leaned back in her chair, and started to laugh. She laughed so hard she made the others laugh, and when she tried to explain, the expressions on their faces made her laugh again. "I don't… don't know the first thing about flirting," she told Courtney. "If I'd had a… a telephone, I'd have called my friend Sara from the dance floor… and asked her…"
"Asked her what?" Courtney said eagerly.
"I'd have asked her what I should say to a man who asks what he can do to… to impress me."
"You mention jewelry," Douglas promptly advised. "You bring up a diamond bracelet."
That incredible suggestion sent Sloan into fresh peals of laughter. "Is that what wealthy Palm Beach women do?" she managed between giggles. No longer self-conscious, she lifted her gaze to Noah's. "What would you have done if I'd… I'd mentioned a diamond bracelet?"
Noah looked at her soft, provocative mouth and lifted his gaze to her face. Beneath a heavy fringe of russet lashes, her shining eyes were an amazing lavender blue, mesmerizing in their lack of guile, and her smooth cheekbones were flushed a becoming pink. Strands of hair had escaped from her french braid, and they glistened like spun gold at her temples. Plucky, unpretentious, and unaffected, she sparkled from within and glowed on the surface. She was, he decided, the most wholesomely beautiful female he'd ever seen. She was also becoming embarrassed by his scrutiny, her laughter fading from her trembling lips, her long lashes flickering down to hide her eyes.
"On second thought," Douglas joked as he correctly interpreted Noah's thoughts, "don't bother with a bracelet, Sloan. You can go straight for a diamond necklace."
Time passed very quickly after that. By the time the breakfast plates were being cleared away, Sloan felt almost as if she were a family friend, and much of that was due to Courtney. With democratic impartiality, the outspoken teenager had switched her attention from Sloan and aimed a series of equally impertinent, and frequently hilarious, comments at her father and then her brother. No one was spared, and by the end of the meal, her three victims had bonded with each other in shared helplessness, sympathy, and laughter.
In that short time, Sloan learned an amazing amount about both men from Courtney, including the fact that Noah had been married for three years to someone named Jordanna, who had supposedly soured him on marriage, and that two of Douglas's wives had been Sloan's age.
Courtney gave her father absolutely no quarter, and he let her get away with it, but Noah had limits, Sloan noticed, and those limits evidently involved his work. He ignored Courtney's numerous gibes about his personal life and even some of the women he'd been involved with, but when she started to make a remark about his "business associates," Noah's jaw tightened and his voice turned ominous. "I wouldn't go there, if I were you," he warned her.
To Sloan's surprise, the irrepressible fifteen-year-old stopped in midsentence and did not "go there."
Claudine arrived with a coffeepot and started to refill Sloan's cup, but Sloan looked at her watch and shook her head. "Those were the most delicious pancakes I've ever had," she told the cook, and Claudine beamed at her. "I have to go," she said to the others. "Everyone will be looking for me."
"Wait," Courtney said, trying to forestall her departure. "Why did you learn martial arts?"
"To make up for my lack of height," Sloan said lightly as she shoved her chair back and stood up; then she smiled down at her youthful hostess and said, "Thank you for the most memorable meal I've ever had. And thank you for making me feel like a member of your family."
It registered on Sloan that Courtney actually seemed at a loss for words for the first time since she'd set eyes on Sloan, but she was distracted by Noah who stood up and said, "I'll walk you home."
In silence, Courtney and Douglas studied the pair as they strolled side by side across the lawn.
Propping her bare feet on Noah's chair, Courtney crossed them at the ankles and wriggled her toes, studying the brownish red lacquer she'd applied to her toenails. "Well?" she said finally. "What do you think of Sloan now?"