Project Seduction by Tatiana March

housework while her father watched football on TV and drank gallons of beer.
    "It's almost ten,” Georgina said with a quick glance at her wrist. “What's your bedtime?"
    "Nine on school nights, ten or eleven at the weekend, depending on what's on TV."
    "We don't have the TV on, so I guess it's got to be ten,” Georgina said.
    "Maybe we could talk a while.” Andy fidgeted with her hair, peering timidly at Georgina. “Huh, it's hot in here. Are you cooler now?"
    "Yes.” Georgina inspected the white T-shirt with a scooped neckline that kept falling off her shoulders. Her legs were bare. She tugged at the fabric to pull it away from her damp skin. “It was a good idea to change."
    Andy wriggled out of her shorts, folding them neatly and placing them on the chair. The black top reached past her hips. With a bounce, she threw herself on the bed and stretched out. Then she grabbed a pillow and hugged it to her chest, leveling an earnest gaze at Georgina. “Can I ask you something?"
    Georgina sat down on the opposite side of the bed, folding up her legs. She'd been boxed in. Girl talk was on the agenda next, whether she wanted it or not.
    "Sure,” she said, with an easy grace that stemmed from her willingness to accept her defeat. “Fire away."
    "How old were you when your mom died?"
    "I was four. It wasn't just my mom. My mom and dad died at the same time. It was a car crash. A juggernaut driver fell asleep and crossed to the wrong side of the road. The car was totally flattened. It had to be cut open like a sardine tin to get their bodies out."
    "What's a juggernaut?"
    "A huge transport vehicle. I think you'd call it a tractor-trailer."
    "Why were you not in the car with them?"
    "I was at home with a baby-sitter. My parents had gone out to dinner, and they never came back."
    "Who brought you up? Did you go to an orphanage?"
    "No. I went to live with my grandmother."
    "Was she nice to you?"
    Georgina selected her words carefully. She'd thought about it many times, but apart from Annabel she'd never confided in anyone.
    "She tried her best, but she wasn't very good with children. She had never had any of her own. She wasn't really even related to me. She was my father's stepmother."
    "Was there nobody else to take care of you?"
    "My other grandparents didn't want me. They traveled a lot, and they thought a child would tie them down. My mother had argued with them when she married my father, so I'd never even met them until my parents died. It was decided I'd go to Grandma Ethel."
    Andy's eyes were intense on Georgina's. “What was she like?"
    "She was very strict and old-fashioned.” Georgina's voice shook a little as she felt the memories flooding back. “I wasn't allowed to dress the same as other kids, which set me apart. And when I first started school I spoke like her, using old-fashioned expressions. People thought I was weird."
    "Did you have any friends?"
    "Not really.” Georgina reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind Andy's ear. “I did love my grandmother, and I know that she loved me. She was just not very good at showing it. I wasn't unhappy."
    "My mom doesn't love me,” Andy said quietly.
    "Why do you think that?"
    "She's a drug addict. Sometimes she'd forget to feed me. When I was really small, I got sick all the time because she forgot to feed me, or change my diapers. Sometimes she left me alone in the house and went out. Half the time I was in foster homes because the social services took me away."
    "It's an illness,” Georgina said softly. “She can't help it."
    "She could at least try, if I was important enough to her."
    Georgina bit her lip. She couldn't really argue with that. “How old were you when your mom and dad split up?” she asked.
    "They were never together.” Andy's face lost its sadness and broke into an impish grin. “I'm the product of a careless one-night stand."
    "What?” Georgina burst out laughing. “Who told you that?"
    "My mom's sister. Sometimes my mom sent me