The Favor Page 3

  Concern was all she saw. There was nothing of the desire she’d seen earlier. Sierra swallowed her disappointment. All of her life she’d managed to bring out the protective streak in men. Even Bradley Winthrop, the man she was currently seeing, treated her as if he were her caretaker.

  Wasn’t that one of the reasons that she’d come up with her five-step plan? She didn’t want to be the baby who was taken care of anymore. And she wanted to be a take-charge woman in the bedroom as well as out. In short, she wanted to be the woman she’d just been in this man’s arms.

  She’d do well to remember that she had a five-step plan. But while she was gazing into his eyes, it was difficult to remember the steps. His eyes were as gray as smoke, the kind that could swallow you up in a heartbeat. For the first time in her life, the thought of losing herself that way sent a little thrill through her.

  Oh, she was definitely not the same woman who’d walked into the bar a few minutes ago. But she wasn’t at all sure that she was ready to be the woman she’d felt bloom inside her during that kiss. She had to think…she…

  “At least let me buy you a drink. You look as if you could use one. I know I could.”

  “Yes. Okay.” The words were out before she remembered. “Oh no, I can’t. I forgot.” She tore her eyes from his and glanced around. How could she have forgotten her sisters, not to mention her father’s letter?

  “You have a date?”

  “Yes.” She grabbed her canvas bag and stuffed the pills and the inhaler into it. “Sort of.” Spotting her day planner under a stool, she reached for it, but he was quicker.

  “Sierra Gibbs, Ph.D.” He read the name off the card that had slipped out of the plastic slot on the cover. “What’s the Ph.D. in?”

  “Psychology and Sociology.” She glanced around, but didn’t spot the letter from her father.

  “Two Ph.D.’s. I’m impressed, Doc. And you’re a shrink?”

  In spite of the interest in his voice, she kept her eyes averted. “Not in the way you probably mean. I don’t have a private practice or anything like that.”

  “No couch?”

  “No. Only psychiatrists use those.” He was smiling, she was sure of it, but she didn’t dare risk another look at his mouth. She wouldn’t be able to think if she did. “I teach at Georgetown in the graduate school. Mostly, I do research and write. I just finished a book.” She was babbling. And no wonder. Her lips were still vibrating from that kiss.

  In spite of her resolve, she found herself looking at his mouth again. Immediately, curiosity began to war with common sense. If she just had the courage to lean forward and close the distance, would she experience that same whirl of sensations again? The thought slipped into her mind so easily, as if the man who’d just kissed her was simply some experiment that she wanted to run through again.

  But he wasn’t a lab experiment, and she should really get a grip. Her sisters would be waiting for her, she reminded herself. She was never late for an appointment. And she had her father’s letter to read.

  Scrambling reluctantly to her feet, she said, “I really have to go.”

  She made it halfway to the stairs that led to the upper dining level when she remembered the letter. With a flutter of panic, she whirled around and saw that he was right behind her, the envelope in his outstretched hand.

  “It was under one of the stools,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “My pleasure.”

  Ryder grabbed her wrist before she could turn and used a finger under her chin so that she had to meet his eyes.

  “The kiss was my pleasure, too, Dr. Gibbs.”

  “I…it was…I don’t think…I…”

  Ryder smiled at her. This blushing, flustered woman was the nervous Nellie he’d first spotted pacing in front of the restaurant. This side of her contrasted sharply with the determined-looking Joan of Arc who’d strode so purposefully into the restaurant. And then there was the woman he’d held in his arms a few minutes ago. “Kisses are best when you can’t think at all—don’t you think?”

  Color flooded her face, and Ryder saw once again the innocence that he’d sensed in the woman who’d kissed him so passionately. How many other women lurked below the surface? Curious, he felt the strong pull of desire. Oh, there were complications here all right.

  “That kiss was…” she began.

  “Incredibly exciting.”

  “Yes, but I think…I’m sure….”

  Later, Ryder would wonder if he might have given into impulse and kissed her again right then and there, but his cell phone vibrated in his pocket. The high-tech version of “saved by the bell,” he supposed as he took it out.

  “I’ll be in touch,” he said to Sierra Gibbs before, with some effort, he turned away and took the call.

  “Ryder, it’s Mark.” Static rattled in his ear for a second. “…delayed…not going…make it.”

  Right. Mark Anderson, the man he was supposed to meet. And the man who’d slipped right out of his mind for the past few minutes. “Where are you?”

  “I’ve been…think it was worth it.”

  In spite of the choppy connection, Ryder could hear the excitement in his old friend’s voice, and something else that he recognized as fear. “Are you all right?”

  “…can’t talk…on the phone. Not safe…they can trace the location…?”

  “If they have the right equipment,” Ryder said. And just what was Mark involved in that he’d have people tracing his cell? “Are you in trouble?”

  “…tomorrow…same place?”

  “Sure. Blue Pepper, five o’clock?” Ryder frowned when he realized that the call had ended. He hoped that they had the time straight between them.

  He was about to climb back on his stool when he spotted the blue note card beneath it. It had to have fallen out of the doc’s bag. He bent over and picked it up. He was turning, intending to take it to her, when his gaze fell on the neat little list.

  A five-step plan for initiating a sexual relationship with a man.

  Intrigued, he read further.

  Attend speed-date night at the Blue Pepper and collect data. 7/28.

  Study data. 7/29.

  Select a lover. 7/30.

  Review and select appropriate sex techniques. 7/31.

  Initiate sexual relationship.

  Could this possibly be what it seemed to be? Eyes narrowed, Ryder read the list again.

  What kind of a woman set out to have an affair with a to-do list in hand?

  2

  AS SIERRA made her way up the stairs to the dining room, she felt two different women warring inside of her. One of them wanted to turn around and kiss that man again. The other one was much more cautious. The second was the one who currently had the upper hand.

  Still, she’d kissed a stranger in a bar and part of her had enjoyed it. She hugged the knowledge to her, hoping that the experience would give her the confidence she needed to go forward with her plan.

  She spotted her sisters the minute she entered the dining room. They were already seated and Rad, one of the owners of the Blue Pepper, was emptying a tray of drinks and an hors d’oeuvres platter onto their table.

  She was late. Just how much time had she spent kneeling on the floor with that man?

  Too much time, a little voice in her head lectured.

  Not enough time, another voice taunted. Not nearly enough.

  Stopping short, Sierra straightened and drew in a deep breath. It just wasn’t like her to think that way. She dug though her bag and then closed her fingers around the inhaler, just in case she needed it. She had to put the man and the kiss out of her mind until she accomplished her mission.

  Drawing in another deep breath, she headed toward the table.

  Rad spotted her first and hurried toward her, surprise lighting his features. “Dr. Gibbs! You look absolutely ravishing tonight.”

  It was Sierra’s turn to be surprised as Rad hugged her and rose on his toes to kiss the air on one side of
her head. Rad and his partner, George, ran the Blue Pepper. George, a huge bronze giant of a man, handled the bar while Rad greeted the customers. A small man, Rad changed his hair color nearly as frequently as he changed his ties. Tonight, the white spikes matched his shirt and the tiny dots in his fuchsia tie. As a dues-paying member of the fashion police, Rad was not given to hyperbole. His usual greeting to her was a sigh.

  Holding her at arm’s length, Rad studied her carefully. “It’s your hair. That’s what it is. You’ve finally taken my advice to wear it down.”

  Her hair. Sierra ran a hand through it. Sometime during that all-consuming kiss, the man in the bar must have loosened her hair. She risked a quick glance over her shoulder, but she couldn’t see him.

  Rad gripped her arms and turned her to face her sisters. “Tell her she looks ravishing with her hair down.”

  “Ravishing,” Natalie agreed, winking at Sierra.

  “Totally,” Rory said. “We’ve been telling her that for years. But does she listen to us? No. We’re just her sisters. We owe you big-time, Rad.”

  “Just part of the service,” Rad said, sweeping them a bow before he turned and hurried away.

  “This is a major coup,” Rory said as she snagged a shrimp off the hors d’oeuvres platter. “You’re usually immune to Rad’s advice. What’s up?”

  She’d just kissed a stranger in the bar, Sierra thought. From her seat, she was able to scan the bar again, but he wasn’t in sight.

  “Sierra?” Natalie asked. “Is something wrong?”

  Sierra gripped her inhaler more tightly as she drew in another deep breath and refocused her thoughts. “I’m just a bit nervous about opening Harry’s letter.” That was the truth, just not the whole truth.

  “Have a shrimp,” Rory said, pushing the platter closer. “Food always soothes my nerves.”

  “Thanks, I’ll pass,” Sierra said.

  “At least take a drink of the martini we ordered,” Natalie advised.

  That she could do. Dutch courage was always helpful when you never had any of your own. After raising her glass, she clinked it to her sisters’, took a sip and prayed that the nerves dancing in her stomach would settle from a polka to a slow waltz.

  “Dad’s letter won’t be as bad as you think it’s going to be. Isn’t that right, Rory?”

  “Absolutely,” Rory mumbled around a stuffed mushroom. “I felt much better about everything after I read mine.”

  Sierra thought of the men in her sisters’ lives. “Chance and Hunter must be annoyed that I stole you away tonight.”

  Natalie snorted. “Fat chance. They’re having some kind of a men’s night out. I think gambling is involved.”

  “And beer,” Rory said, reaching for a mozzarella stick. “They were quite happy to see the last of us.”

  “You guys really hit the jackpot, didn’t you?” Sierra asked.

  “Oh, yeah,” Natalie said with a smile.

  “Definitely,” Rory said.

  One look at the expressions on her sisters’ faces confirmed her belief that she was doing the right thing. They’d not only found men and love, but they’d also had wonderful adventures. She’d settle for the man. That much she was pretty sure she could do. And she didn’t even mind if the relationship was temporary. Whatever her father said in his message, she wasn’t going to let it dissuade her. She’d just look at her sisters.

  Better still, she’d let herself remember that kiss.

  She let go of the inhaler, then drew the letter out of her bag and set it on the table in front of her. There was her name, written in her father’s hand. She wasn’t aware that she’d clenched her hands into fists until Natalie covered one of them. “He loved us. We know now that he regretted the promise he made to mother to stay away.”

  Rory took Sierra’s other hand. “It’s like when you get called to the principal’s office. The anticipation is always worse than the reality.”

  Sierra had never been called to the principal’s office in her life. Since she’d always caused her family so much trouble with her illnesses, she’d concentrated on being perfect in everything else. It was the least she could do.

  Sierra resisted the urge to use her inhaler. Her breath was short, but not nearly as much as it had been when that stranger had kissed her.

  Pushing the thought away, she focused on the letter. She could do this. She really could. From the envelope, she pulled out a single folded sheet of paper and opened it up.

  Dearest Sierra, my beautiful dreamer,

  Even when you were little, your imagination and your curiosity amazed me. And you were so smart, that sometimes you scared your mother and me. My biggest regret is that I didn’t have more time to spend with you.

  You of all my daughters have the power to make all your dreams come true. Don’t be afraid to dream big. And always remember that life is better than any dream. It’s a better adventure than anything you can find in a book or a movie. Trust in yourself and take the risk of believing that, Sierra.

  Love,

  Harry

  When she realized that she was chewing on her bottom lip, Sierra made herself stop. Finally, she said, “I didn’t think he knew me that well.”

  “Of course, he did,” Rory insisted, her characteristic impatience clear in her voice.

  Sierra shook her head. “He was always going off with the two of you, and I had to stay home because I was sick.”

  “What about all the time he spent with you when you were in the hospital?” Natalie asked. “Whenever he could, he’d stay the night. We were always jealous. I think Mom was too.”

  For the first time since she’d taken the letter out of her purse, Sierra glanced up and met her sisters’ gazes. “I guess I don’t remember.” But she’d had dreams of someone holding her hand. Had that really been Harry?

  Sierra turned to Natalie. “I mostly remember that he taught you to crack safes.” She shifted her gaze to Rory. “And he took you horseback-riding.”

  “But he read books to you,” Natalie said. “Rory and I used to sit outside your bedroom door and listen. He never read books to us.”

  “I do remember some of that,” Sierra said with a sudden smile. “Once he read me ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears,’ and he told me Mom would probably have a fit because Goldilocks was a housebreaker and a very bad role model.”

  “That sounds like him,” Natalie said.

  “Aren’t you going to look at the photos?” Rory asked.

  “Oh. I forgot.” There had been pictures in her sisters’ letters, too. Sierra slipped hers from the envelope and spread them out on the table. One had been snapped when she’d given the valedictory address at her high-school graduation. Another was one of her poring over books at her college library. Both were typically Sierra, the studious bookworm, she thought.

  Then the third one caught her attention. She was sitting on a park bench in Rock Creek Park watching the joggers and in-line skaters whip by. It had been one of those perfect spring days that were so plentiful in DC. She’d been a freshman in college, and she’d been so envious of the skaters.

  “There you go,” Rory said, pointing to the picture. “He knew you all right. Look at the expression on your face.”

  “What expression?” Sierra asked, studying the picture more closely.

  “The one that you always had when Rory and I got to do something and you couldn’t.” Natalie tapped a finger on the photo. “You’re wishing you could be skating, too.”

  She’d tried to satisfy her wishes by daydreaming, Sierra recalled. She still did.

  “This picture is another way he’s telling you that if you believe in yourself, you can do anything you want,” Rory said.

  Sierra swallowed to ease the lump that had formed in her throat. Had Harry really believed that?

  “So, tell us.” Rory reached for another shrimp. “What is it that you really want?”

  That man in the bar.

  The thought slid so easily into her mind that, for a m
oment, Sierra couldn’t speak. Panic bubbled up. She couldn’t want him. He was so out of her league. Besides, she had a perfectly logical five-step plan, and she couldn’t see that man fitting into any kind of plan.

  “That’s got to be a tough one for you,” Natalie commented. “Your life’s just about perfect. You’ve accomplished everything you’ve set out to do.”

  Sierra glanced down at her father’s words and then back up at her sisters again. Then she took a deep breath. “I want to initiate a sexual relationship with a man.”

  “Oh.” Her sisters spoke in unison, then exchanged a quick glance.

  “You and Bradley Winthrop are getting serious then?” Natalie asked.

  “No.” Sierra frowned. “Bradley and I are just friends.” She tilted her head in thought. “We go to dinner and the opera together, and we visit interesting exhibits at the Smithsonian. Our relationship is stimulating on an intellectual level, but it’s strictly platonic.”

  “Then you’ve met someone new?” Rory asked.

  Sierra thought of the man in the bar. “No. I haven’t selected the man yet. But I’m ready for a relationship that will be physically stimulating. So I’m going to find a lover.”

  “What can we do to help?” Natalie said.

  Sierra blinked and stared. She’d expected a negative reaction—especially from her oldest sister. “Nothing.” She took another sip of her martini. “I have a plan, and you’re not going to talk me out of it.”

  “Why would we do that?” Rory asked.

  Once again, Sierra stared at her sisters. “Because I…because you…” She drew in a deep breath. “I was so sure that you’d try and talk me out of it.”

  “Yeah, well, Natalie and I have already discussed the issue. And we decided that we couldn’t very well do one thing and lecture you to do another. You were the one who encouraged me to go after Chance.”