The Favour

“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.”

“And you were right there cheering me on after I met Hunter.” Rory took her hand.

“In fact, if you hadn’t brought it up, we were going to suggest that you become more socially active and get out and meet someone,” Natalie admitted.

“Following Harry’s advice has been very good for us, so if you’ve decided to take a lover, we’d hardly be the ones to give you any grief,” Rory added.

Even as relief flowed through her, Sierra felt nerves once more begin to jump in her stomach. They weren’t going to argue. She felt as though she’d geared up for a battle and the enemy had turned tail and run before she’d had a chance to fire off the first shot.

“You mentioned a plan,” Natalie said. “I’d like to hear more about that.”

“Me, too,” Rory said. “We might have some suggestions.”

Sierra nearly smiled as she reached into her bag for her note card. “That’s more like it. For a minute I thought that perhaps my sisters had been replaced by aliens.”

Natalie’s brows shot up. “We just want the chance to offer advice. Isn’t that what sisters are for?”

“Yes,” Sierra said as she sorted through the contents of her bag.

“How many steps?” Natalie asked. “With Chance, I only needed about three.”

“Ha!” Rory pointed a pepper strip at Natalie. “I win. I only needed one step with Hunter.”

Sierra could feel her day planner, her inhaler, the pills, and the pack of note cards. Frowning, she opened the mouth of the bag wider. The single blue note card listing the steps wasn’t there. Had she dropped it in the bar? If she went back to look for it, she might run into that stranger again.

Pushing the thought and the temptation firmly out of her mind, she cleared her throat and focused her attention on her sisters. “As part of my research on my new book, I’ve been studying the sexual practices of urban dwellers.”

“City people?” Rory asked.

Sierra nodded and then took another sip of her martini. “Rad and George have been kind enough to allow me to do some of my research right here on Wednesdays when they reserve this dining room for speed dating.”

“Speed dating?” Natalie asked.

“You know,” Rory said, “it’s kind of like musical chairs. Remember the episode they did on Sex and the City with Miranda. She talked to each date for about ten minutes to see if something clicked.”

“Whoa.” Natalie’s frown deepened as she studied Sierra. “You’re going to choose a lover during a ten-minute conversation?”

“No. The speed date is step one,” Sierra explained. “Step two is to analyze the data I collect and then select a lover.”

“Time out,” Rory said. “A speed date is just a prelude to a real date. How can you possibly gather enough data to select a man as a lover?”

“By using the time efficiently. I see no reason to bother with casual conversation. After I tell them that I’m looking for a lover, I’m going to ask each man a few questions. Their answers will provide me with a profile of just what kind of lover they will make.”

Rory and Natalie exchanged a glance, then looked at Sierra.

Sierra began to chew on her bottom lip again. These were her sisters all right. She’d lost count of the times that Natalie and Rory had looked at her in just this way when she was growing up, as if she were the alien. “You don’t think it will work?”

“No.” Her sisters spoke in unison, and then Natalie said, “That’s not it. We think it might work too well—especially if you tell them right up front that you’re looking for a lover.”

“I don’t see why I should hide my intentions.”

Natalie shook her head. “There are times when a little subtlety is…advisable.”

“You don’t know what kind of men come here. They could take advantage of you,” Rory added.

“But I do know what kind of men come here. I’ve been studying them for three months now. My research assistant and I have taken copious notes and written up several case histories.”

“As a psychologist, you know that people lie,” Rory said. “They can easily pretend to be something they’re not.”

Sierra frowned.

“Right. We all wear disguises,” Natalie added.

“During that speed-dating episode on Sex and the City, even Miranda lied,” Rory said. “Didn’t she tell one guy that she was a flight attendant?”

Sierra set her clasped hands on the letter. “All right. Perhaps, I won’t tell them straight out that I’m looking for a lover. But I’m going to ask them some questions.”

“Such as?” Rory asked.

“They’re very simple—kind of like a Rorschach test without the pictures. Things like what kind of musical instrument or breed of dog would you like to be, or what three things would you take to a deserted island with you?”

“And from that you’ll learn…?” Rory asked.

Sierra could feel her cheeks redden. “The subject’s answers will provide a profile of his sexual preferences as well as indicate his style of lovemaking.”

“Really?” Rory asked.

“My research assistant, Zoë McNamara, and I have been testing it on volunteers. When we interview the test subjects, we’ve found that our profiles have been quite accurate.”

Natalie tapped her fingers on the table. “What will you do with your results?”