by Francis Ray
“We’ll leave immediately after rehearsals.”
“Wonderful.” Sabra thought that was the end of it until she kept having the feeling that Ruth was watching her. Yet when she looked, Ruth would be speaking with one of the students or doing some other task. After rehearsals, they went directly to the restaurant.
“Good afternoon, Mrs. Grayson,” greeted the smiling hostess in an off-the-shoulder white blouse and black slacks. “This way please.”
Tense, not knowing what to expect, Sabra followed. She wasn’t looking forward to sitting with Pierce. Then, too, she wasn’t sure how he’d react to her being there. From what she’d learned from Sierra and Faith, only family was coming.
Sabra stopped in her tracks on seeing the Grayson brothers. The resemblance was too strong for any other explanation. Any one of them would cause a stir. Dangerously seductive, they would be impossible to ignore. She’d been right. It would take a strong woman to raise such commanding and self-assured men. Not to mention a fearless woman like Sierra.
Ruth glanced over her shoulder. “Did you say something, Sabra?”
“Your family is striking.”
“Thank you. I think so.” Ruth continued to the booth.
Sabra smiled as Ruth introduced her. On one side of the booth were Luke and his wife, Catherine, sitting beside Morgan and his wife, Phoenix. Facing them were Sierra, Pierce, Faith, and Brandon. As if they’d done so hundreds of times, Brandon, Faith, and Pierce scooted out of the booth. Ruth slid in beside Sierra.
“Please sit down, Sabra,” Ruth instructed.
Left without a choice, Sabra did as directed. She thought she was prepared for Pierce to sit next to her. She wasn’t. She felt the heat and hardness of his muscled body from her shoulder to her thigh. Why did this man make her body yearn?
“Do you want to tell Mama or should I?” Luke asked.
Sierra casually dunked a chip in salsa. “The sale fell through, but there’s no reason we can’t have a wonderful lunch. Glad you could come, Sabra.”
“Thanks for the invitation,” Sabra said dutifully, but from the looks on the faces of Sierra’s brothers, they weren’t going to let it drop.
“What caused the sale to fall through is what I’m talking about,” Luke said easily.
“Boring.” Sierra reached for her cola.
“What happened at the hotel, Sabra?” Pierce asked.
Sabra had an answer ready. “Sierra and I had breakfast; then later Faith joined us.”
“So we heard. Faith and I are going to have a talk about her part in this when we get home,” Brandon said, his easy smile gone.
“Brandon, you know I love you, but I have no intention of shirking my duty to my guests,” his wife told him.
“You will if anything like today happens again.”
“Back off, Brandon,” Sierra ordered. “I don’t want your first argument to be because Faith helped me.”
“It won’t be,” Catherine soothed from across the table. “Brandon understands that Faith feels the same way about her hotel guests that he does about his at the restaurant.”
Brandon’s brows knit. “Of course I do. I just want her to be safe.”
“She was,” Sabra said, ready to defend Faith for her bravery.
“I understand you had a part in this as well,” Pierce said.
The words were spoken quietly, but the look in Pierce’s black eyes was anything but. “A minor part actually. The credit goes to Faith and Sierra.”
“I’m not sure I’d call it credit,” Pierce said.
“I would,” Phoenix said. “Faith alerted security as soon as she learned there was a problem.”
“But they weren’t close enough to protect them.” Pierce’s worried tone clearly said he didn’t think any of them had acted wisely.
Sabra could understand his concern but not his condemnation. “If Shuler would have tried anything again, Sierra would have put him down just like she did the first time.”
“Chips, anyone?” Sierra jerked up the basket so fast a few chips fell over the side.
Sabra became aware of the silence that seemed to stretch on forever, the tenseness of Pierce beside her, the hint of danger in the air. “What did you say?” Luke asked.
“She was just speaking figuratively.” Sierra put the basket on the table. “Brandon, where are the appetizers?”
Brandon didn’t move. Ruth twisted in the seat toward her youngest child. “I want to hear everything, and leave nothing out.”
“Mama, I—”
“Now.” Her mother’s tone and face said she didn’t want an argument.
Sierra didn’t even think of refusing. Her mother was the best mother in the world, she’d sacrifice anything for her children, but when she had that look, no one pushed her. Sierra told everything. “His check is in the mail, and the property is back on the Web site.”
Ruth stroked her daughter’s unbound hair. “You were always fearless.”
“I had good role models in you and my brothers,” Sierra said. One more hurdle and she’d be home free.
“There’s a difference between being foolish and fearless,” Pierce commented.
“I had good role models for that as well.” Sierra leaned over so she could see Pierce. She had a very good idea why he was more upset than her other brothers. “I promise to yell if I need help again.”
“That’s probably as good as we’re going to get, but I don’t want to have this conversation again.”
Sierra was over the last hurdle. Luke was the leader. They all deferred to him. The crisis had passed. “Brandon. Chop-chop. I’m hungry.”
“When aren’t you hungry?” There was affection in Brandon’s voice.
“Who wouldn’t be when they can eat food prepared by the best chef in the country?” Sierra dunked a chip.
“Laying it on pretty thick, aren’t you, Sierra?” Morgan asked, the corner of his mouth kicked up.
“She’s just telling the truth.” Faith gazed adoringly at her husband.
Brandon kissed the inside of her wrist. “How did I get so blessed to have a beautiful and smart wife?”
“It takes a wise man or woman to know when they’ve found their soul mate.” Ruth smiled serenely at her two youngest children. “Soon you’ll know.”
Sierra’s hand stopped inches from her mouth. “You want to make me lose my appetite?”
“You were never at a loss for words,” Ruth said to her youngest and most unpredictable child.
“She likes giving orders too much,” Brandon said. “We were right to call her the Little General.”
“Then it isn’t just me she can talk into anything?” Sabra asked.
“Unfortunately not,” Pierce said.
Unoffended, Sierra chomped down on the chip and chewed with gusto. “One of my many talents. Brandon?”
Brandon held up his hands. “I’m going.”
Faith watched him walk away. “Isn’t he the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
Phoenix looked at Morgan, Catherine at Luke, and both women said, “Yes.”
Sabra felt the pull of Pierce’s gaze and refused to look at him. He might get her body to click on all cylinders, but nothing was going to happen between them. Nothing but an intense attraction that she was finding more and more difficult to resist each time they were together.
SABRA HAD BEEN AT THE TABLE LESS THAN FIFTEEN minutes before she came to the conclusion that the Graysons had what every family should have, love in abundance and a deep, abiding loyalty. They might tease one another, but they gave as good as they got. And heaven help the person who did one of them wrong.
“Sabra, I might have to have the plate you’re eating out of bronzed and put in a glass frame to commemorate your eating here,” Brandon said as he sat at the end of the booth.
“Just as long as I can keep it until I finish eating.” Sabra piled sizzling strips of beef on her soft flour tortilla.
“Be careful of the salsa,” Pierce warned. “It
can burn the roof of your mouth.”
Her hand paused. “How hot on a scale of one to ten?”
“Try twenty,” Pierce said.
Sabra put two generous scoops of the salsa with red and green peppers on top of her meat, then took a hearty bite, watching Pierce as she did so. Then she smiled. “In college, there were a lot of students from all over. You can get pretty hungry at night, so you learn to eat a lot of different foods.” She looked at Brandon. “Although I’ve eaten in some of the best restaurants in the world, not many have food this good.”
Brandon nodded briskly. “I’m definitely having the plate bronzed.”
“I’d be happy to send it to the foundry with my next shipment,” Phoenix joked.
Sabra straightened. “Phoenix. The sculptress?”
“And all mine,” Morgan said.
“I went to one of your openings,” Sabra mused. “By the time I arrived, everything was sold.”
“I’m pleased my work is so well accepted.” She placed her head on Morgan’s shoulder. “It helped bring us together.”
“It also put Casa de Serenidad in several national art magazines because her work is displayed in the lobby.” Faith picked up her glass of diet cola. “I still can’t thank you enough.”
“Art should be appreciated by as many people as possible.” Phoenix turned to Sabra. “I imagine you feel the same way.”
“I do. That’s why I started the mentoring program.” Sabra picked up her cola. “The theater is hard work, but it’s worth it.”
“Rumor has it that you’re thinking of leaving the theater for the big screen or a record deal,” Pierce said.
“There’re always rumors.” Sabra leaned forward to prop her arms on the table and admitted what she had to few people. “But, in this case, there is a nugget of truth. There have been offers, but I haven’t made up my mind.”
“The theater would lose a great actress,” Ruth said. “But a movie would certainly widen your audience.”
“And put me in the spotlight.” Sabra sighed. “Eating a normal meal like this would be impossible. I went to LA to talk with the producers, and everywhere I turned there was a photographer or a reporter. I’m not sure I want to live under a microscope.”
“When do you have to give them an answer?”
The others at the table might want to know, but Pierce was the only one bold enough to ask. “Sooner than later. My agent said the studio is getting anxious.”
“Surely neither your agent nor the studio can expect you to leave in the middle of rehearsals of a play you’ve written,” Pierce said.
“That’s the thing,” Sabra said.
“What are you talking about?” Pierce asked.
“The people at this table and my assistant are the only ones who know I wrote the play,” Sabra confessed. “The students, like my agent, think I wrote only the two songs.”
“You told me,” Pierce reminded her.
“I’m not sure why. Maybe it was because Isabelle liked you and you’re Ruth’s son. Besides, you looked like you could keep a secret.” She glanced around the table. “All of you do.”
“You’ll be able to stay and perform, won’t you?” Sierra asked. “Mama and the students are counting on you.”
Sabra turned to Ruth. “I’ve never missed a performance or broken a promise. We’re going to blow the audience away.”
“I have never thought differently.” Ruth glanced at the eighteen-carat gold watch on her wrist, a present from her children. “I have class in twenty minutes. Sabra, I’ll see you at four. Sierra, well, just be careful. Faith, perhaps it would be wise the next time to wait on security, but I’m extremely proud of you.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Sabra, Sierra, and Faith chorused.
Faith, Pierce, and Sabra slid out. Ruth followed and stood. “I’ll see you all Friday night around seven.”
“She’s wonderful.” Sabra stared after Ruth as she walked away.
“We think so,” Sierra said, sipping the last of her diet cola. “Apparently she feels the same way about you.”
“I’m flattered.” Sabra’s lips twitched. “The students admire her, but they have a healthy fear of her as well.”
“Don’t we all,” Luke said, and everyone laughed.
“This has been wonderful, but I should be on my way to pick up Isabella,” Sabra said. “It was nice meeting all of you.”
“I have to get back as well,” Pierce said. “I’ll drive you.”
Sabra tilted her head to one side to study him. “Only if we leave what happened this morning in the past.”
“All of you took a needless risk.” The thought of what might have happened still made his gut clench.
“That’s a matter of opinion.” Sabra folded her arms. “I’m waiting.”
“Pierce, I’d think real hard before you pushed this,” Luke advised.
“Perhaps that’s the problem,” Catherine said. “He’s been thinking about it too much.”
“That’s Pierce, the thinker,” Sierra said.
“Take it from a man who’s been there, sometimes you win by giving in,” Morgan said.
Pierce looked at Brandon, Faith, and Phoenix. “Don’t be shy. Everyone else has given me their opinion.”
Smiling, Brandon slapped his baby brother on the back. “Since you don’t take advice, I thought I’d save my breath.”
“I don’t like taking advice, so I seldom give it,” Faith reasoned.
“A smart man like you can find the answer for himself,” Phoenix said diplomatically.
“Nice going, honey.” Morgan hugged Phoenix.
Pierce looked at Sabra. Her lips were pressed together, but her shoulders were shaking. “You find this amusing.”
“And endearing,” Sabra answered. “You have a wonderful family.”
“They have their moments. I’m just not sure this is one of them. Good-bye.” As he took her arm, they started from the restaurant.
“Does this mean you accept my terms?”
He speared her with his gaze. “Maybe.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
LATER THAT AFTERNOON PIERCE SAT AT HIS DESK, HIS mind filled with thoughts of Sabra Raineau. She fascinated him as much as she annoyed him. She could be reserved, as she was when she’d entered the restaurant with his mother, or bristling with indignation, as she had been when defending Faith and Sierra or standing up to him.
Thoughts of what might have happened to the women still made his stomach clench. Cowards were unpredictable. Any man who used his strength to harm or intimidate a woman was just that. Pierce and Luke’s visit to Shuler’s hotel room just as he was leaving had confirmed the fact.
The man had broken out in a sweat. Morgan had been in court, and Brandon would have hit first and talked later. No one threatened their women.
Pierce shifted in his plush leather executive chair. Technically, Sabra wasn’t one of “their” women, but since she had been with two women who were, she qualified. It hadn’t taken much to figure out why Sierra had invited her. Family business stayed family business. But as Sabra had been with Sierra at the hotel, none of them had thought of letting the matter slide as she had expected.
At least he hoped that was her reason. It wasn’t like Sierra to miss details. A frown puckered his brow. His little sister could be crafty, almost devious at times. He almost grinned. A brother shouldn’t call his sister devious even when it was flattering.
That brought him back to Sabra. He was generally a patient man. Sabra was going to test that patience to the limits. After they’d arrived back at his office, she’d taken Isabella and left. Sabra hadn’t returned until twenty minutes before four. Even then she’d left Isabella with his secretary.
“Your mistress is certainly good at keeping her distance.” Curled up in her favorite spot on the rug that he’d moved from under the coffee table to a sunny spot by the bookcase under the window, Isabella continued to sleep. The phone rang and he picked it up. “Yes.”
“Pierc
e, Sabra is on the other line,” his secretary said. “The students want to practice late tonight. She wants to know if we can keep Isabella, but tonight is parent conference night at my daughter’s school.”
Thoughtful, Pierce leaned back in his chair. Sabra was still trying to keep him at a distance. She was going to learn that he wasn’t going to let her do that. “How late?”
“Just a moment,” she said, then came back moments later. “Eight at the latest.”
Perfect. “Please tell her I have plans for tonight, so I’d appreciate it if she would be there no later than eight.”
There was a slight pause. “All right.” A short time later his secretary came back on the line. “She said to thank you, and said she’ll be there.”
“Excellent.” Pierce hung up the phone and began to plan. Perhaps it was a good idea for Faith to leave the things for the table after all.
SABRA HAD NO RIGHT TO CARE THAT PIERCE HAD A date, but she did. Only her years of acting allowed her to go on as usual. The students worked hard. They were becoming more used to her, less tense. Theo, the pianist who had written the music for her songs, volunteered to drive her back to her place.
She arrived a little before eight. Exiting the elevator, she went straight to Pierce’s door and rang the doorbell. She heard Isabella’s excited bark seconds before the door opened. Pierce looked as mouthwatering as ever in a white polo shirt and black jeans that delineated his lean muscles.
“Hello, Pierce.” She reached down to pet an excited Isabella. “Thank you again. I’ll get out of your way so you won’t be late picking up your date.”
“That would be impossible since she’s already here.”
She blinked. “What?”
“If you aren’t tired, I thought we could go to an open-air theater.” He glanced down at Isabella. “Pets aren’t allowed inside, but I know a spot where we can park and enjoy the music.”
The idea appealed to her. “You used to neck there?”
He smiled. “A gentleman never tells.” He went to the kitchen and returned with a wicker hamper. “Our dinner.”
She smiled, feeling lighthearted and refusing to worry about the reason. What could one night hurt? “No dishes tonight.”
