Attraction

by Linn Young

  bullshit. You’re the last man to let yourself be in a position where your fate has strings that can

  be pulled by another.”

  “Normally, that is true. But when you fall in love, self-determination, I’m afraid, is

  subordinated.”

  “That is so sweet. Did you get that from a Hallmark’s card?”

  Heron gave an icy smile. “You can take this just so far.”

  “Ah, there is it is. As much as you’re trying to impress me that you’re thoroughly

  civilized, don’t’ bother. Not with me, at least.”

  A brief break in the deadly sparring was forced on them when Francois arrived with their

  meals. After getting the dishes in front of them, he set down between them a small vial of olive

  oil and tiny bowl that contained shaved parmesan.

  Francois looked a little uneasy from one to the other. He knew both were hardly aware of

  him, each keeping his or her eye on the other. He imagined that each was assessing the weakest

  points in the other into where they could thrust their foil once his back was turned. “Will there be anything else,” he asked carefully.

  Heron barely gave him a glance. “No. Thank you. That will be all.”

  After Francois took his leave, without preamble, he smoothly picked up their exchange

  where they had left it. “Fine. Then, let me be blunt about all this. I have concerns about your

  business and what it means to your sister once she is married to me.”

  “Concerns?”

  “Not so much the bar and dance club. Those I can accept. It is your sex club that I have

  deep concerns about.”

  Riley stiffened, her face turning cold as she waited for him to continue, sipping at her

  soup.

  “Running a sex club is a bit unusual, wouldn’t you agree? It’s not exactly the normal,

  accepted method of livelihood.”

  Still, she kept quiet but watched him, and continuing to sip her soup. She watched him

  slice into a succulent roll of yellowtail tuna that was soaked in olive oil and bite into it. She had

  had ordered the dish one or two times, and knew how it would taste. It would be very tender, the

  meat dense as most raw fish are, the taste buttery with a slight sweetness to it. If Heron had not

  forced her to meet during her sleep hours, but after she had her full eight hours, she might have

  ordered the yellowtail, as well. It would have been perfect for her as a meal as it was for him, as

  they were engaged in a rather savage tearing of each other’s metaphoric flesh. Heron put down his utensils and wiped his mouth with the cloth napkin. “I think you

  have a pretty good idea of the position that my family holds in society. That makes us quite

  visible to the public eye, and our private lives are often invaded upon and scrutinized. That is

  why it is important that people in my position, and in my family’s position, have to be careful of

  what we do and what we say. Now, I’m afraid your sister will soon be joining me in that rather

  insular life.” He paused, waiting for a reaction.

  Riley continued to remain silence and merely gave him a mocking disingenuous look by

  widening her light gray hazel eyes, which made his narrow slightly with unspoken threat. “Now that Roberta is marrying into my life, I’m afraid not only her actions but the

  actions of her friends and family will be placed in the open season for the public. With that in

  mind, I hope you don’t mind when I say that it would be in Roberta’s interest, as well those of

  her new family, and yours, if you discontinue the sex club.”

  Riley smiled. “No, I don’t mind you making that suggestion.”

  “Then you’ll quit the sex club?”

  The smile stayed on her face. “No, I won’t. But thanks for the suggestion.” Heron’s face became hard, his dark eyes dangerously cold and threatening. “I don’t think

  you fully appreciate the delicate position that your sister will be in once she’s married to me.

  And, believe me, I will do everything in my power to protect my family and our name, and that

  means protecting my future wife, as well. I don’t think you understand what you’re up against,

  Ms. Calderon.”

  “Well, since it’s open season, I guess I’ll find out soon enough. Tell me, Mr. Wait, did

  you happen to talk this over with my sister?”

  Riley thought she detected him shifting slightly in his seat.

  “No, I didn’t. I was hoping to keep this strictly between the two of us.” “Ah, an excellent way to start your future together with Roberta, making pacts with a

  member of her family behind her back.”

  “I had hoped you’d be more understanding, Ms. Calderon. about the position you might

  be putting your sister in. How do you think our friends and relatives are going to view my wife’s

  sister running an establishment that caters to sordid sexual proclivities?”

  “If they’re interested, I can send them brochures on the club.”

  “Don’t you think she might be made a laughing stock because of what you do?” “Well, now, that’s where you come in, Mr. Wait. You see, that’s how a marriage works.

  When the world rains down rejection and disapproval on a person, she, at least knows that her

  husband will be there to stand by her, through thick and thin, ‘til death do you part, and all that

  sort of thing. I hope that my sister knows that no matter what anyone else thinks, that you will

  always love her, and accept her for who she is or who she has for a family. If you don’t know

  that by now, well, maybe you need to brush up on this concept of unconditional love before you

  exchange vows with Roberta.”

  Heron set his fork and knife on his empty plate and pushed it aside. Out of nowhere,

  Francois appeared and took their empty plates away.

  Heron said mildly, “That’s all well and good. But no matter how much Roberta and I love

  each other, we still have to live in the real world.”

  “Well, of course. That’s why they came up with the phrase true love conquers all.” Heron regarded her for a moment. “I’m starting to get the idea that you question my love

  for your sister.”

  Riley’s eyes widened with shock, then she lowered them. She cursed herself for letting

  her mouth run away with her. She had not meant to reveal so much to him. It was all because she

  hadn’t been able to resist the battle for one upmanship with him.

  “Whatever my opinion is, it hardly has anything to do with you and Robbie.” Heron considered her words and then decided that he couldn’t let it go at that just yet.

  “That might be true with some sisters. But I think with Roberta, it isn’t, because she values your

  opinion the most of out of anyone, even more than her parents. As much as I dislike being in this

  position, I really can’t ignore what you think of me, can I?”

  “You’re severely mistaken if you are getting the idea that I have any undue influence

  over how Robbie lives her life.”

  “Then let’s pretend my interest in this is mostly out of curiosity, shall we? And, since I

  suspect that you’ve been dying to tell me where I can stick it from the time Roberta first

  introduced us, why don’t you consider this as your one and only chance to tell me what you

  really think of me.”

  “And if I do, then you’ll marry my sister, and live happily ever after?”

  “Yes. We’ll only let this one time be the chance for the door to be opened between us for

  complete honesty. After that, when we both walk away from this lunch, w
e’ll consider that door

  to be closed forever and never to be revisited ever again.”

  Riley was about to tell him that, as far as she was concerned, he could keep the door

  closed, and he and Roberta would get married in two months with her opinion kept to herself,

  and she would continue with her own life, and no one would be the worse or wiser. But then she

  saw the challenge on his face, and the way he stared at her with such cool self-assurance and

  superiority. And it was that sense of superiority of his that she was coming to recognize that caught at her craw, and she was seized, once again, with the urge to see if she could bring him

  down a peg or too.

  Riley folded her arm on the table in front of her and leaned closer to him over her arms.

  “Alright. Remember, you asked for it. You’re right. I do have my doubts about you and my

  sister.”

  Heron’s dark eyes narrowed slightly. “And why’s that?”

  “I don’t think you’re good enough for Robbie.”

  That wiped out the hard coolness from his face as he pulled back from shock. Whatever

  he had been expecting from Riley, it wasn’t that. To give himself time to regain his composure,

  Heron lifted his glass and drank the water. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid you’ve knocked me a little.

  I’ve never heard a person tell me that.”

  “I know. Most people would say it’s the other way around, wouldn’t they? Why, just

  because you’re rich and powerful? So, what?”

  “Funny, I would think a woman’s family would be relieved to know that her new

  husband will be able to take care of her for the rest of her life.”

  Riley clicked her tongue. “I don’t care that my sister is going to be sitting pretty for the

  rest of her life. What I care about is whether or not she’s going to be happy once she marries a

  man.”

  “And you don’t think I can make her happy? Why?”

  “I don’t think you can love Robbie the way she deserves to be loved.”

  Anger was starting to slip through Heron’s cool composure, his lips beginning to thin, his

  dark eyes hardening and flattening. “And why do think I’m incapable of loving your sister?” “I don’t think you really appreciate her for who she is. I don’t really think you know who

  Robbie really is. I know you appreciate her for her beauty, her intelligence, unpretentiousness,

  her humble background, and that those attributes in your mind make her socially suitable as a

  wife. But I don’t think you see the other things that make Robbie who Robbie is, such as her

  soft-heartedness, her kindness, gentleness, her immense capacity for giving to others. And I also

  don’t think you realize just how much of a small town girl she is at heart, that she likes the

  simple things, and lives rather a simple life. I think a man who can make Robbie happy is a man

  who sees all that and can appreciate her and love her for it.”

  Heron took out his wallet and put his credit card on the tab. “You’re mistaken, Ms.

  Calderon. I do understand all that about your sister. That’s why I fell in love with her, because

  not only is she beautiful and successful, but she is also very kind and generous. What you don’t

  understand is that your sister is marrying into a very wealthy and prominent family. There are

  certain things that are expected of us, things that are demanded of us, such as, appearances, as

  much as we loath it. And I think your sister understands that more than you do, and that she can’t

  just flaunt at society. Roberta is much more accepting of societal mores than you are. Don’t you

  think you might be mentally and emotionally supplanting your values onto hers?” Riley bowed her head. “Very clever. I take it then that that the door is now closed.” She

  stood up and gathered her purse and pashmina. “I want to thank you, Mr. Wait, for the lunch. I

  must admit, I rather didn’t enjoy myself when I didn’t expect to at all. So, I’ll take my leave,

  now, if you don’t mind. Please tell my sister that I said hello and give my love to her.” As she walked away, her head held proudly, her back ramrod straight, Heron watched

  her, unwillingly, as he felt his anger rise up inside him all over again. He realized that he had

  never felt the gripping need to throttle a woman until now.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  In the later days, Riley regretted airing her doubts to Heron about his match with Roberta.

  The regret was not due to her doubting that she believed in what she had said to him, but that the

  desire to bring his supercilious self down a peg or two was what prompted her to speak so freely

  to him. She scolded herself that that didn’t give her a pass to talk about her sister’s future to her

  fiancée on the side. Plus, the marriage was not anything that she could something about. And she

  had already been resigned to the marriage long before that day she met him for lunch. Riley really regretted her words to Heron when she got a call from Roberta. “How could you, Riley?” Roberta accused her, the hurt clear in her voice. “How could

  say such mean things to Heron, my fiancée?”

  “How could I say what things to Heron?” Riley asked carefully.

  “Heron told me about the lunch he had with you, and he told me what you said to him,

  that you didn’t believe that he loved me.”

  “I did not say it that way. And, you know what, I am now disappointed in him. I thought

  he would be at least a gentleman enough to keep quiet about things to himself. But I guess he’s

  not even gentleman.”

  “Don’t you change the subject, Riley. How can you do that to me and the man I love?

  How can you try to tear us apart?”

  “I wasn’t trying to tear you apart. I swear. He’s just twisting my words. He got it all

  wrong.”

  “Then why do you believe that Heron doesn’t love me?”

  “I don’t believe that. I do believe he loves you.”

  Riley blew out a breath, walking around in her robe in her kitchen, trying to think up a

  fast track way out of this pickle, all the while cursing Heron. She wouldn’t put it past him if he

  had deliberately set her up like this.

  “Look, honey, Heron called me up out of the blue in the middle of the morning, when I

  was sound asleep, and said that he wanted to meet me for lunch. I could hardly refuse him,

  because he’s my soon-to-be brother-in-law, now could I? I was exhausted, because I had a bad

  night the night before, and then worked until four o’clock in the morning on the books. So, I

  wasn’t thinking too clearly when I met up with him. I don’t even know half the things I said to

  him. I guess I was just taking my frustration and my exhaustion out on Heron, and I’m sorry for

  doing that. As soon as I left the restaurant, I really regretted what I said. I didn’t mean it. I know

  Heron loves you and I know you love him. You two are going to be so happy together.” There was silence from the other end.

  “So, what you said to Heron isn’t really how you feel?” Roberta asked cautiously. Riley blew out another breath and took in some air, and then said brightly. “Yes, that’s

  what I’m saying. I think you two will be very happy and go around being stupidly in love for the

  rest of your life.” She winced, almost choking on her words.

  “Thank you, Riley. I’m sorry I got upset. I didn’t know what to think when Heron told

  me that. I couldn’t bear the thought that you, of all people, wouldn’t support me in this

  marriage.”

&
nbsp; “No, no, darling. Please put that out of your mind, because…Guess what, I’m throwing

  you a bachelorette party at my club,” Riley decided on the spot.

  Robert gasped, as if scandalized, then she giggled. “Are you going to have a stripper?” “I’m not only going to have one stripper, but a bunch of them. And we’ll mix it with a

  pleasure party, so that you can get all these toys and ideas on how to turn your husband on during

  your honeymoon. So, start putting a list together of the women you want to invite.” “Oh, this will be so much fun. Oh, wait, Heron will probably disapprove.” Riley bit down on her tongue, almost blurting out to Roberta to tell Heron to go to hell. “So, what, honey. Look, he’s probably going to have a bachelor party thrown for him that

  will be wilder than anything I throw for you. And, hell, this is your last night as a single woman.

  You deserve at least one last night of wild abandonment.”

  “Yeah, you’re right. I do deserve to rev it up for one last time, don’t I? Go ahead, Riley,

  you go ahead and throw the wildest party for me that you can. I’ll talk to you later. Love you. –

  Oh, by the way, you’re invited to a family dinner at Heron’s parent’s on Saturday. Mom and

  Dad, too.”

  Riley stifled a groan. “Uh…”

  “You can’t get out of it, Riley. This is important, because it’ll be the first time you and

  Mom and Dad get to meet his parents and his sister.”

  “Heron has a sister?” Riley asked irrelevantly.

  “I’ll expect you there. So does Mom. It’s at seven o’clock. I’ll call you tomorrow with

  the directions.”

  The Waits lived in one of the mansions on the hills of the San Francisco, behind a large,

  gated landscape that employed two full-time gardeners. Riley, as ordered, arrived in front of the

  large white, three story establishment. Her parents had arrived separately, having taken the Waits

  offer of making a weekend of the city by staying at the St. Frances Hotel, which the family

  owned.

  A little nervous, and a little irritated that she should be, Riley rang the doorbell, and

  shivered and hunched further into her light raincoat. It was a clear night, but there was a decided

  chill hanging over the city.

  A butler opened the door and greeted her very formally, “Good evening,” and gestured