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The eye massage hadn’t helped. Qasim fought to quell rising temper over what Oliver Bauer had confessed to him.
“Once I heard that, I kept the liquor flowing until he told me everything. Your brother’s tolerance level is nowhere near mine.” Qasim studied the life lines in his palm, tracing them with his thumb. “I, um...I wasn’t proud of getting him so sauced, but I had to know. Oliver spent the night at my place. We had breakfast the next morning. He didn’t seem to remember telling me anything.”
“My dad and Olive were the only ones who knew.” Vectra turned away from the painting she’d half studied. “I don’t want anyone’s pity, Qasim.”
He straightened in the chair. “I don’t pity you, Vectra.”
“But you do think I’m too fragile to have a man in my bed.”
“No, I think you’re too fragile to have me in your bed.”
She smiled. “FYI, you’re tempting me more than discouraging me.”
He reclined in the chair, rubbing at his jaw while he regarded her. “Threatening Lew came out of nowhere. You deserve better than to have another guy in your bed that wants to half kill a man every time one looks at you.”
Vectra moved, her steps carrying her within inches of where Qasim relaxed in her favorite chair. She reached out, nails grazing his whisker-shaded jaw before she toyed with the open collar of his shirt.
“Wanting to half kill a man is a lot different than actually following through on it, and if you’re gonna ‘what if’ every aspect of our relationship before we actually have one, then I guess we didn’t really have any business trying to get one started.”
He stood. “Vectra—”
“You can show yourself out.” She treated herself to a few more seconds of caressing the back of her hand across the mink-soft whiskers claiming his very gorgeous face. “The door will lock behind you when you go.” Briefly, she rested her hand flat on his chest and mourned the fact that she wouldn’t get to experience feeling what felt like sheer magnificence bare beneath her fingertips.
“Good night, Qasim.” She moved past him to head into her bedroom, stopping just before she passed through the double doors.
“By the way, the only thing Keith was jealous or possessive of was my money, and he didn’t like it much when I told him he couldn’t have any more of it.” Vectra moved into her room and let the doors close at her back.
Chapter 6
“Qasim?” Minka Gerald traded unsteady looks with the other people at the long, rectangular table that Monday morning. She resorted to leaning forward to tap Qasim’s hand, smiling encouragingly when he focused on her face as if he had no idea what she was doing there.
“Do you need more time to decide?” she asked. “We’ve been giving this business to area hotels for years now. We all think this could be a good alternative.” Her smile faltered a bit, and she glanced toward the opposite end of the conference table. “Most of us think it’s a good alternative.”
“Changing venues is a big, complex alternative,” Will Lloyd stated.
“Changing venues?” Qasim’s interest heightened a tad.
“This event requires lots of planning and detail.” Will leaned forward in his chair. “A lot of that planning depends on the location. The hotels already have the necessary personnel in place to handle a lot of those details. Holding this thing at a private residence brings the brunt of that work way down on our shoulders.
“Given that I’m the one who has the job of planning this thing, I certainly don’t want to be responsible for screwing up the first time we decide to shake up the status quo.”
“This would save a lot of dollars from the bottom line.” Minka’s voice was flat, cool. “Dollars that could go to the donations side of the charity. It is why you started this, isn’t it?”
“So what’s the plan if we change venues?” Qasim asked.
Minka cast another look around the table. The group seemed fine with letting her step out on the ledge and answer the boss. “We thought Carro Vineyards would be the perfect location.”
Qasim frowned, not bothering to hide his surprise over the suggestion.
Minka lifted her hands in a show of mock defense. “Don’t shoot it down just yet. I got the idea when Vectra came to the office last week. We just want your permission to talk to her about it. I think we have an excellent chance at getting her blessings on the go-ahead.
“We all know that Carro holds that grape-gathering event every year for the kids. Having a part to play in something like this might be very exciting for them.”
