A Secret Kiss (Falling for Sakura 1)

A few minutes later, they arrived in town. It was a picture-perfect little place with beautiful old buildings dating back to the eighteenth century. Most of the shops and eateries were set up by the waterfront. Hence they had an excellent view of the beach and the blue ocean beyond. In the far distance, one could almost see New York to the west if one had a good imagination.

Sakura parked the car along the side of the road, and they all got out. Logan stretched out his long legs and arms and inhaled the fresh air.

“Ah. It’s so good,” he said.

“Come on, Logan,” Mary said, pulling him by the arm. “We don’t have much time. We still have to go and see the florist.”

“Such fun,” Logan responded.

Conrad rushed up to walk beside Sakura when he saw that his brothers were getting out of the other car parked not too far away and knew soon they’d be onto them. He had to take quick action, he decided.

“So,” he said to Sakura. “It’s nice today.”

“Yes,” Sakura replied.

“I suppose it’ll be lunchtime by the time we finish.”

“Yes,” Sakura said, looking up at him, wondering what he was on about.

“I know a nice place,” he said. “I thought maybe you and I could go. We could get to know each other a bit more.”

Sakura smiled up at him, her eyes twinkling. She wondered if he wanted to be friends with her and perhaps get to know her a bit better as adopted siblings. Or perhaps she wondered if he was playing tricks on her. But then again, why would he? He was a grown adult.

No one had time for that sort of bull now, and to be frankly honest, neither did she.

“Well,” she said.

“Please come,” he almost begged her, his eyes large as he waited expectantly.

Sakura thought he reminded her of Toby and couldn’t help chuckling. “All right,” she agreed. “But I know a place where we should definitely go. You’ll like it.”

“Yes!” Conrad yelled out excitedly as though a girl had just accepted a date with him.

“Yes what?” Sebastian asked from behind.

By that time, all the brothers had caught up with them. Sakura turned around to have a look. Her heart skipped a beat as she gazed at the brothers, and it did a triple skip once her eyes met Sebastian’s. Oh, God! Why was her heart beating so hard? Why was she finding it so difficult to breathe properly? Not to mention her stomach kept flipping.

She glanced away and looked at all of them instead. They were an awesome sight, she thought. They looked like they were advertising for Levi’s or something, with their long legs and tall frames. Oh my God! If she had her camera, she’d take photos of them and post them up for sale. Lots of commercial companies would buy them for their advertisements.

“Going out to lunch after this, are we?” Tristan said. “Good, I’m almost starving.”

Conrad widened his eyes in surprise. “What?” he shouted. “No!”

“Actually, I’m slightly hungry already,” Logan put in.

“Me too,” Hayden said.

“We only just had breakfast,” Darcy interjected.

“I’m still growing,” Tristan replied easily.

“At twenty-six?” Nicolas asked teasingly.

“It’s decided then,” Sebastian put in matter-of-factly. “We’re all going to lunch after this.”

“What?” Conrad growled. “No!”

Mary laughed and shook her head. “You guys are hilarious!” she said through tears. “It’s so much fun with you guys.”

“What’s so hilarious?” Darcy frowned at Mary. “These guys are a bore.”

Sakura sighed, wondering why they were fighting about lunch and who was going or not. Surely they were all going, right?

Finally they reached The Dessert Room, and Sakura was very glad indeed that they didn’t have to argue about lunch anymore. However, she wasn’t so glad two hours later when the brothers all stood before her and practically begged her to taste their choices of cakes—not that they were much different since they were mostly chocolate.

“I thought this was supposed to be Mary’s choice, not mine or yours,” she said.

“But we’re helping her,” Conrad said. “Isn’t that right, Mary?”

Mary nodded. “My choice is chocolate.”

“Me too,” Tristan said. “Speaking of which…” He moved and stood so close to Sakura that he could be kissing her. “Chocolate is similar to the color of your eyes. Deep, dark, and dangerously delicious.”

Sebastian wasn’t pleased with his brother’s use of alliteration to describe chocolate and Sakura’s brown eyes. For sure, the man was flirting with her. He grabbed Tristan’s arm and yanked him away from Sakura, who blushed intensely.

“Stop flirting around,” he muttered.

“All right, all right,” Mary said finally. “Look, we’re here for almost two hours now. Surely we’ve reached some type of conclusion. I want chocolate.” She turned to Nicolas and asked him. “You?”

“Chocolate,” Nicolas said.

Mary turned to Darcy, who said, “Chocolate.”

Next was Hayden. “Definitely chocolate.”

Logan said, “Of course chocolate. What else?”

“Chocolate, the color of Sakura’s eyes,” Tristan said, winking at her.

Sebastian said, “Chocolate.” He eyed Sakura, who at that moment decided to lick the last of the white, fluffy cream by popping her finger into her mouth and sucking. All the brothers were watching her, their eyes fixed on her sensuous lips and the slender finger that slowly moved out of her mouth.

Her innocent action was so erotic that the brothers were actually panting, and their bodies were heating up knowingly.

Mary, with her head still down and jotting notes, finally asked the youngest brother, “And you, Conrad?”

“Sakura,” he said softly. “I like Sakura. I want Sakura.”

All the brothers felt the same way and couldn’t help but look at her like little pups who wanted to be petted.

“No,” Mary said, jotting down notes furiously. “You can’t have Sakura. Sakura is not on the menu. It’s a Japanese flower and you can’t eat it anyway.”

Sakura blinked and turned to look at Conrad. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Conrad blinked. “Err, yes.” He chuckled uncomfortably.

Nicolas was the first to regain his wit and coughed loudly to distract his other brothers from the trance. Sebastian managed to get himself out too and cleared his throat. “So chocolate it is, then, Mary?” he said.

“Yes, it is,” Mary replied, finally looking up and giving them a big smile. “Thanks so much for your help, guys. Now then, off to the florist we go.”

“I’m no good with flowers,” Sebastian said, feeling rather awkward all of a sudden.

There was something in his voice that Sakura noted that didn’t quite sit well within her. Actually, all the brothers were acting a bit weird all of a sudden. What was wrong with them?

“I’m going to wait out at the beach. Come get me when you’re done,” he said, heading to the door.

“Me, too.” Nicolas chuckled. “Not good with flowers.” Then he headed after Sebastian. They both walked out the door side by side.

“Flowers aren’t my thing either,” Darcy said, frowning darkly. He gave Sakura a quick glance and then walked out the door.

Sakura noticed him looking at her. She thought there was something in his eyes—something secretive and almost painful.

“I’m good with flowers,” Tristan said happily.

“That’s because you sent too many of them to your women,” Logan teased. “Come on, we better leave the ladies to this.” And he practically dragged Tristan out the door.

Hayden shook his head. “This turned out to be no fun and game. If I keep going, I’m going to fall really hard,” he said, and before leaving the shop, he dragged Conrad out with him by hooking his arms around his little brother’s neck. “Let’s go join our bros,” he said. “Come get us when you’re done and ready for that lunch.” Then they were out the door as Conrad protested wholeheartedly.

Sakura cocked her head to one side, wondering what the heck was wrong with them.

“Boys,” Mary said. “They run away when they lose interest.”