Their Virgin Concubine(9)

“What happened?”

Oh, so many things. Her heart clenched as it always did when she thought about those months. “Life happened. My father died suddenly. My mom had passed away a few years before that after a battle with cancer. I had to stay with my sister. I thought it would just be for the summer. I had a scholarship to the University of Texas in Austin. I assumed I would find a foreman for our ranch and a guardian for my sister and still head out in the fall.” She was about to get misty. Why was she getting so personal? She always talked too much. These men had invited her to lunch for business, not to hear her life story. “I’m sorry. We were talking about patents.”

Piper noticed that Rafe wasn’t the only one who’d moved closer. The booth was elegant and fashioned into a semi-circle. Piper sat between them, and neither man seemed to have a need for personal space. They were beginning to crowd her. Kade’s long, muscular leg brushed her own, sending an odd wave of heat through her. The heat wave swelled when Rafe smiled.

“No, habibti. Continue,” he bid. “Why did you not go to the college of your choice?”

Rafe was so close she could feel the heat of his body, smell the musky cologne he wore. She stared at the strong column of his throat, the firm line of his jaw, the sensual shape of his lips. Piper tore her gaze away.

“Uhm, I couldn’t leave my sister. Once I found out the ranch was deep in debt, I had to sell it, along with our home. No one wanted to take Melinda in. She was fourteen and a little wild. You have to understand that the town I lived in was very small and conservative. A week after my father’s funeral, some of the women of the community stopped by to tell me they thought Mindy should be placed in the foster system.”

“You had no family left?” Rafe asked, his voice deep with sympathy.

She forced a smile, but knew it looked bitter. “Oh, we had family, just none interested in us. My mother’s parents were millionaires. When she didn’t marry the man they’d chosen, they cut her off. My grandparents wouldn’t even help pay for my dad’s funeral, so I had to find a way to bury him properly. They’ve never met me or Mindy. They said they had no use for mongrels.”

And she’d once again said way too much. Why did she just talk when she got nervous? It was like an illness. Once she started going, Piper Glen would tell anyone anything.

A strong hand covered hers, encasing her in warmth—and a heat that sizzled up her arm. She blinked up with a silent gasp to find Rafe regarding her. “It is good for you that they are not in your life.”

“Yeah.” Though a check would have been nice. “It’s good. And Mindy and I came through just fine. I worked at a clothing store during the day and took night school classes…and here we are. Mindy’s in her sophomore year of college. She settled down. We’re good.”

The waiter placed the iced tea in front of her, but suddenly she didn’t have a hand because Kade took hold of her other. Guys from Bezakistan were really touchy-feely. Piper went with the flow. She’d heard people from other cultures didn’t have the same boundaries as Americans.

Kade’s hand squeezed hers lightly. “You were left on your own at eighteen years old to raise your sister. That must have been very difficult.”

“It wasn’t like I had to change her diapers or anything. Though getting her back and forth from color guard was a nightmare. Seriously, those color guard moms are like a cult. If I had to sell one more box of candy or make another homecoming corsage, I was going to blow my head off.”

“That would be a shame since it’s such a pretty head.” Slowly, Rafe released her hand and reached for one of the ridiculously well-presented oysters. “Here you are, Piper.”

They looked awesome. And the minute she put a hand on one of those things it would inevitably slide the wrong way, fall out of its nice little shell, slip across the floor, and some very important person would break a leg. “No, thank you.”

“You do not like them?” Again Rafe’s gorgeous face turned down, and she felt a bit like she’d insulted him. No, upset him. “Dex told us you liked seafood. It was why we chose this place. I’ll have the waiter take this away. We can find a restaurant that is more pleasing to you.”

They both started to stand, as though perfectly ready to leave.

“No! I love seafood. I adore oysters. I’m just really clumsy with them, and the waiter didn’t offer me like a bib or anything.” Because yeah, that would be classy in a five-star place like this.

Kade laughed, the masculine sound running a shiver up her spine. “You’re worried you will make a mess?”