Sensual Confessions - Brenda Jackson [5]
Sam closed her menu and glanced up to find Blade staring at her. She was about to ask if there was anything wrong, but decided not to. Instead she stared back at him. She smiled to herself. If he thought he could outstare her, he was so wrong. This was one of the games she and her brother would play as children, when they didn’t have anything better to do. Not only did she play it well, oftentimes she beat her older brother. She could hold her own with the best of them and could stare down anyone without blinking.
It didn’t take long for her to see that was exactly what Blade was trying to do. Evidently he’d played a similar game as a child and could definitely hold his own. But she had to admit—even though it bothered her to do so—that staring at him was affecting her in ways that the game she’d played with DeAngelo never did.
She felt a stirring sensation emanating from Blade’s dark eyes. They seemed to be staring right through her, reading her thoughts.
“Blade, I understand Jake will be hosting a huge party in a few weeks to celebrate Sheikh Valdemon’s marriage,” Mac said.
It was only then that he looked away from Sam, to answer her. “Yes, he is. And you know nobody throws a party like Uncle Jake and Diamond. They would have given the party sooner, but it’s been hard for the newlyweds to visit the States because of commitments between the two countries.”
“I can’t wait to meet the woman the sheikh chose as his bride,” Mac said excitedly.
Blade shrugged. “Everybody who attended the wedding celebration said she’s a beauty. Still, I thought Rasheed would remain a bachelor forever. But I guess he had to marry sooner or later to produce an heir.”
Sam remembered the sheikh. What woman who’d attended Luke and Mac’s wedding hadn’t? She had certainly checked him out herself. “Who did he marry?” she asked.
“A young woman from his country,” Blade said. “One chosen for him by his family. If I remember correctly, she’s the reason he had to unexpectedly leave Luke and Mac’s wedding. Rasheed wasn’t happy about that. But according to Uncle Jake, it ended up being a love match anyway, and I’m glad. I would have hated for him to have gotten tied down for the rest of his life, married to a woman he didn’t love,” Blade concluded.
Sam took a sip of water and looked over the rim of her glass at him. “So when you marry, it will be for love, Blade?”
She knew by the look in his eyes that he didn’t appreciate her question, and from the silence at the table it was evident that, like her, Mac and Luke were waiting for him to answer. Sam wasn’t exactly sure what had possessed her to ask such a question when she already had a pretty good idea what his response would be. But she had asked, and there was no doubt in her mind that he would make it crystal clear for her, so that there would never, ever be any misunderstanding. He enjoyed being a womanizer, and he proudly played the part.
He took another sip of water before flashing a smile that revealed a pair of dimples she hadn’t noticed until now. His eyes locked on her face. “I don’t ever plan to marry, Sam—for love or any other reason. I enjoy my life just the way it is. I could never be a one-woman man. What’s the point?”
“Yes, I agree with you one hundred percent. What’s the point? I don’t plan to marry, either. Like you, I like my life just the way it is, and I could never belong to one man exclusively.”
She wasn’t quite sure what he had expected her to say, but from the look on his face she could tell that hadn’t been it. He evidently thought men were the only ones who could play the field.
Sam was spared from saying anything else when the waitress returned to take their orders. But that didn’t stop her from glancing across the table at Mac and seeing the sly smile on her friend’s lips. Luke seemed inordinately preoccupied with his