Vectra smiled, albeit sadly, understanding her brother’s meaning. “You and Dad have reason to be protective—even if it does drive me out of my mind.”
“Qasim isn’t like that bastard who put his hands on you, Vec. I don’t profess to be able to read the man’s mind, but I don’t think he’d ever put his hands on a woman that way.”
Vectra entwined her fingers with Oliver’s. “Neither do I,” she said, feeling a slight chill as memories of an unfortunate and long-dead relationship came to mind.
“He doesn’t even want to be my friend. Why bother?”
“Maybe the friendship role isn’t the one he was aiming for.” Oliver winked, leaned in to drop a kiss to his sister’s cheek. “See you at the house.”
Vectra watched her brother sprint over to hop into the Jeep and drive away in a flurry of dust. She leaned against the hood of her ride and delved into a bit of deep thought.
He doesn’t want to be my friend, doesn’t want any of my other friends to call or even take me out. He has my brother drive over to check on me afterwards... What the hell kind of game is he playing?
She was more than familiar with the protective—well, overprotective—element, being a direct recipient of it from her father and brother. Not wanting her to go out with anyone else, though? That held traces of possessiveness that she knew could be signs of other things...
She shook her head, reaching around to massage the knotted muscles at her nape. Qasim wasn’t like that. She knew him well enough, had enough...past experience to know that wasn’t in his nature.
There was something up with him, though, and she was too curious about what it was to let fear of humiliation stop her from getting to the bottom of it.
“Great.” Vectra veiled the murmured phrase behind a tight smile. She found herself in San Francisco again the next morning, having arranged to meet her father for breakfast. She hadn’t expected to find him with his investment banker.
Qasim caught sight of her before Oscar Bauer realized his daughter had arrived. Whatever Qasim had been saying was silenced midsentence and he purposefully scanned Vectra’s body, which was encased in a curve-hugging magenta frock.
Vectra had but a moment to flash her father a greeting smile before he was completely eclipsed by Qasim when he approached her.
“Are you okay?” He’d invaded Vectra’s space, sending her back until her shoulder brushed the wall she stood closest to in the bar entryway of the bistro.
Her tight smile returned. “I’m all right,” she lied.
“Baby!” Oscar Bauer pulled his daughter into a crushing hug and then set her back to give her an adoring once-over. Satisfied, he reached up to clap Qasim’s shoulder. “Have this guy bring you to our table when you’re done.” He shook hands with Qasim then. “We’ll get together for drinks next week.”
“Sounds good, sir.” Qasim dropped his free hand over the one shaking Oscar’s.
“Thanks for sending Oliver out to check on me,” Vectra said once her father had walked on. She observed him closely, waiting to glimpse his response and hoping she’d taken him enough by surprise to get an honest reaction.
Qasim only offered the barest hint of a smile. “You’re welcome.” He offered her his arm. “Your dad’s waiting.”
She refused his arm. “That’s it?”
The smile ghosting around his alluring mouth gained definition.
Vectra blinked owlishly. “Is that a thing men do for women they don’t want to be friends with?”
She never knew whether he’d planned to respond. They were interrupted when a slender, attractive, dark-blond man jostled Qasim.
“Sorry, guy, thought I’d be late,” the man explained, his expression softening a bit further when he saw Vectra. “Well, well, what’s up, pretty lady?”
Vectra left off the budding tension-filled conversation to greet Austin Sharpe with a hug and cheek kiss.
“What’s goin’ on? How’s the fam?” Austin kept an arm about Vectra’s waist while making his inquiries.
While they chatted and carried on like the old friends they were, Qasim worked to keep his temper at bay. Jaw clenched, he hid a fist in a deep trouser pocket.
“...and I wanted to talk to you about putting together a cocktail party at your gallery,” Austin was saying.
Vectra’s cocoa eyes sparkled. “I like it. It’d be a perfect segue for an upcoming show I’m planning. You might want to send someone over to check the place out, make sure it’s right for what you’ve got in mind.”
“Actually, Vec, it’s the Miami gallery I’m interested in.”
Her eyes were positively luminous. “Now you’ve got my attention. Why don’t we get together and discuss it?”
Austin patted the small of her back. “I’ll call to see what your schedule’s like. Are your numbers still the same?”
“They are. How long will you be around?”
“I’m trying to work about three deals.” Austin smoothed a hand across his close-shaven jaw and grinned sheepishly. “That’s why I’m meeting with this guy.” He jerked a thumb in Qasim’s direction. “Killing all my birds with the same stone and I’m even heading out to Robb’s party tonight.”
“Me, too.” Vectra slapped Austin’s arm.
He eyed her speculatively. “Guess I don’t need to ask whether you’ve got a date already?”
Vectra used a flippant shrug as her response. “Hope that doesn’t mean you won’t come? I’ll be there, and I’m sure my date won’t mind us talking for a while.”
“Mr. Wilder?”
Qasim, Austin and Vectra turned toward the host who had interrupted.
“Your table’s ready, sir,” the man announced.
Austin squeezed Vectra’s arm once the host had moved on. “I’ll take what I can get. See ya tonight.” He kissed her cheek, clapped Qasim’s arm. “See you at the table, man.”
“Shall we?” Vectra looked from Qasim to the dining room and back again.
“You’ve got a date to Robb’s party?” he asked.
Smug, Vectra leaned close, pretending to straighten Qasim’s tie. “Guess you didn’t get around to scaring everybody away from me.”
Qasim brought his hands to her waist, cupping her hips firmly enough to keep her still before him. “Don’t play this game with me, Vectra.”
“It’s not a game I started, Qasim, and since games aren’t my style, consider this as me coming clean.” She moved closer, silently commanding herself not to swoon over the feel of his hands on her body.
“We were friends. Good ones. I wanted more—by more, I mean that I wanted to sleep with you. You had to know that.” She searched his bottomless eyes for a moment before she continued. “Yeah...I believe you did, and you withdrew anyway. I can accept that, but then you tell everyone else to stay away from me like I’ve got the plague? No, Qasim, I’m not playing a game. I only have questions. I’m guessing the answers aren’t all that easy for you to give.”
She glanced toward his hands, smothering her waistline. “Excuse me?” She waited, walking away when he released her.
* * *
The attentive server smiled engagingly