Secret Attraction

Dominique was the executive director of First Impressions, a nonprofit agency that provided clothing and training to disadvantaged women and single mothers. She’d recently been approved for a grant to fund a GED program.

“How many students so far?”

“Can you believe we already have a waiting list?” She shook her head in wonder.

“Yeah, actually I can. Lotta people are struggling out there, Dom. All they need is a chance.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “I don’t think I ever realized how much until I started the agency.”

“You do good work.” He turned to her. “I’m proud of you.”

She reached across the gears and squeezed his hand as the car drew to a stoplight. “Thanks. That means a lot coming from you.” Her eyes held his for a moment.

He turned his attention back to the road. “Rafe’s town house is on the next street, right?”

“Yep. Third one from the corner, on the left.”

“Does he know you’re coming?”

“No.”

“Dom, suppose he’s … busy.”

She chuckled. “What else would be new?”

“I’ve been trying to get him to come down to the club and play. He’s always busy,” Spence said, pulling into Rafe’s driveway.

Dominique got out of the car and shut the door. “You should’ve told me. I would have spoken to him for you. Rafe can never tell me no.”

They stood in front of the door. Spence turned to her. “Who can?”

Chapter 5

The house was too quiet. Justin had gone out with friends earlier and Dominique had yet to return. The rooms began to echo in Desiree’s mind, highlighting her growing feeling of loneliness. Today would have been a perfect day to take a spin around the track, work out some of the kinks and get her mind wrapped around something that she could actually control. But Sundays were reserved for competitions only and she was not a competitive driver. At least not yet.

Restless, she went into the kitchen. Next to driving and reading, cooking was her passion. She decided to make jambalaya and went in search of the ingredients. While she gathered her ingredients and seasonings, she turned on the small television to her favorite cable channel—The Food Network.

As she cut and sliced sausage, deveined the shrimp and chopped green and red peppers, a smile came to her lips and she felt a rush of warm memories of the many hours she’d spent at her mother’s side, watching with fascination as she prepared a meal. She could almost see her mother standing next to her, watching in approval.

The ringing phone jarred her away from the warm but melancholy thoughts. She wiped her hands on her apron and picked up the phone from the counter.

“Lawson residence.”

“Hey, sis, I meant to tell you before I darted out that I called Chris and he’s going to stop by later this evening, around six, and he’s bringing his friend Maxwell. I thought we could have a few drinks, something light to eat and chat ….”

“Dom! How could you do something like that without telling me first? Did it occur to you that I might have something to do?”

“Do you?”

“That’s not the point,” Desiree tossed back, her anger boiling over. “This is so typical of you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that you have tunnel vision. You think the whole world revolves around you and your wants. And it doesn’t!”

“Rafe is coming,” she said in her sweetest voice to try to smooth things over. She knew how close Desiree was to Rafe. She could almost see the tight line between her sister’s eyes begin to ease.

Desiree pushed out a breath. Seeing her brother would do her a world of good, even if she was pissed off with her sister.

“Don’t you dare tell Rafe about this friend of yours, Dominique, or I swear our deal is off and I’ll never speak to you again. Understood?”

“All right, all right. I won’t breathe a word.” She smiled with triumph. “Um, you want me to pick up anything while I’m out?”

Desiree squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Her sister was truly a piece of work. “A couple of rolls of French bread. I am making jambalaya. Guess I’ll have to make some extra.”

“Oh, that’s my favorite! I’ll bring some wine, too.”

“Hmm.”

“See you later.”

Before she could ask if Spence was with her, Dominique had disconnected the call.

Dominique returned to the living room, where Spence and Rafe were talking about Rafe coming to play at Bottoms Up. She stood between them. “Hey, just got off the phone with Desi. Guess what? She’s fixing her specialty and wanted to have some folks over.”

“Tonight?” Rafe asked.

“Yeah, around six. Bring a date.” She turned to Spence. “You can come, too. Bring someone. It’ll be fun.”

The two men looked at each other.

“I’m always up for a free meal. Next to you, my sister is a damned good cook,” Rafe said over a light chuckle. “And I’m sure I can find some hungry young lady to be my escort.”

“What about you, Spence?” Dominique asked.

“Hmm, I don’t know. I had plans to make this an early night.”

“It will be. Come on,” she cooed, bending down in front of him. She ran her finger along his jaw.

He hesitated. It would give him a chance to spend some time in Desiree’s company. “Okay. Just for a little while.”

Dominique popped up. “Great.” She looked at her watch. It was almost two. “Can you drop me at the market before you take me back? I promised Desi I’d get some French bread and a couple of bottles of wine.”

Spence pushed up from his seat. “I’m apparently at your disposal.”

Rafe chuckled. “Yes, my darling sister does have a way of manipulating people.”

“That’s a terrible thing to say about your own sister,” replied Dominique.