A Secret Kiss (Falling for Sakura 1)

Chapter 9

Awakening of the Past

Sebastian hadn’t had such wonderful sleep for a while. There hadn’t been any noise like in New York at all, just what he’d always wanted. Quiet. Peaceful. And he wondered why he had left home in the first place. When he woke up this morning, it had been to the sound of birds chirping outside his window and then soon after that the voices of girls talking. He was pretty sure it wasn’t Alaina or Tara. The maids perhaps?

Now fully awake and refreshed after his shower, he sighed in content. It couldn’t get any better than this, sitting here with his brothers in the morning sun in their pretty courtyard with cherry and magnolia trees in full bloom surrounding them.

Woof! Woof!

“Holy smokes!” Conrad said, perching up in his chair. “Is that?”

“Toby,” Darcy supplied, more interested than he wanted himself to be.

The dog appeared from the direction of the pond and dashed straight at them. Toby stopped by Tristan and greeted him by jumping around the man’s leg with delight. Tristan picked him up and let him sit on his lap as he fed the dog his bacon.

“Man, Toby really likes to hang around here, doesn’t he?” Conrad said.

“That’s because his owner lives nearby,” Hayden put in.

“We should return Toby and the memory stick to her after breakfast,” Nicolas suggested.

“I concur,” Tristan added, feeding Toby yet another piece of his bacon.

Logan, who was sitting beside Tristan, stroked Toby’s head. The dog was obviously enjoying being the center of attention and stuck his tongue out in delight.

Darcy reached out, got himself another perfectly cooked, golden-brown toast and was just about to sit down when he saw her. His heart, to its own accord, did a good somersault at the sight, and naturally the toast decided to do a somersault of its own as well all the way to the marble floor because Darcy’s fingers and thumb seemed to have lost their gripping function.

She was in their house, and Darcy couldn’t believe his eyes. He felt another hard thump in his chest.

“She’s in our house,” he whispered in amazement.

The brothers turned their eyes toward the house, and sure enough, the girl they were talking about was there. Not to mention the fact that she looked amazing in that lilac dress and heels, and yes, talking to James—their dad—in a most intimate way.

When they thought it wouldn’t get any weirder, James pulled the girl into his arms and kissed her on the cheek.

The brothers stared at the scene before them in shocked surprise, confused, as millions of questions ran through their minds. A moment later, she pulled back and rushed out the opened French door and right into the courtyard.

Sakura nearly fell off her three-inch Jimmy Choo pumps when she came face-to-face with the seven brothers again. This isn’t happening, she thought to herself. She couldn’t believe it. Just couldn’t! She thought she’d get away with it. She thought they would still be in bed until midday, and she therefore wouldn’t have to face them. At least not this soon.

Well, at least she was decently dressed this morning and in a better position.

“Toby,” she said.

“Woof!” the dog replied.

“You found him.” James suddenly appeared behind her, one hand holding his coffee cup and one arm wrapped around her shoulder, which of course caused the brothers to stare at him in confusion.

“Shouldn’t you be thanking your brothers for that?” James asked Sakura, a cheeky smile on his face.

The brothers blinked, and then Darcy said, none too quietly, “What?”

“Brothers?” Sebastian shouted.

“We’re her brothers?” Hayden asked in disbelief, pointing a finger at Sakura. It had to be a joke—a very big, fat joke that none of them liked.

James cocked his head to one side—a gesture they all knew very well that meant he was disappointed and was indeed very serious with the whole situation. He glanced from one of his sons to the other, his eyes sharp as he said, “Don’t tell me you forgot Sakura? Shocking. Most shocking. Your own adopted sister.”

A long silence followed. Sakura knew James was doing this on purpose. She knew he knew the brothers didn’t remember her. She knew he knew she didn’t want to meet them again. She knew he took pleasure in shocking his seven sons by introducing her to them with such weird timing.

She gritted her teeth and said, “Toby! Come here. You’re in trouble, young man.”

Toby jumped out of Tristan’s arms, trotted to her, and rubbed his head against her legs to say he was sorry. She bent down to pick him up. The view was too enticing not to notice and the brothers simply stared at her—enchanted.

James noticed his sons staring and coughed loudly to bring them back to Earth.

“I’m going back in,” Sakura said, turning around.

“No, you’re not.” James held her by the shoulder, rather a bit too firmly for her liking, to prevent her from escaping. “Have breakfast with your brothers.” He emphasized the word brothers again.

“I’ve had mine, thanks,” Sakura replied, desperate to get out.

James was having none of it and made her sit in the empty chair between Nicolas and Logan. Then he left to get more food, muttering to himself he really needed another cup of coffee because one wasn’t enough, and a certain person refused to offer him another, as too much was bad for his health.

Sakura heard him and said loudly, “Too much caffeine isn’t good for you, Daddy James.”

James secretly smiled. Ah! Just the exact response he needed. Once at the door, he had a quick glance at his seven sons and saw the sour expressions on their faces. Ah! Yet another satisfying response. Daddy James, indeed.

Sakura placed Toby on her lap in front of her as if to form some sort of barrier between her and the brothers. Logan reached out to pet the dog. Sakura got very annoyed when Toby rubbed his head against the handsome man’s palm and then even moved from her lap onto Logan’s to sit. Not a moment later, the dog began to enjoy some of Logan’s delicious bacon.

“Toby, behave yourself. No more bacon, all right?” She lectured. “Your cholesterol isn’t too good at the moment.”

Toby ignored her, and just when she thought she couldn’t handle the brothers staring at her in silence any longer and was ready to leave this weird situation in the past, Sebastian said, “So you’re Sally?”

Sakura gritted her teeth and her cheeks turned a becoming pink. “My name is Sakura. Pronounced Sa-ku-ra. It’s a Japanese name meaning cherry blossom.”