Chapter 13
"You really are the most wicked man," Sakura said, laughing. They were in Sasuke's damaged car, driving back to the old, drafty place they called home. "I can't believe you managed to get a date and tickets to an event like that on such short notice. And what a date! Although I can't say that she seemed to like you very much."
"Hyuga? I mean Miss Hyuga? She likes me fine. And I got a date because I'm a damned good-looking guy, in case you haven't noticed."
"Mmm. Well, you're passable, when you aren't scowling, that is. So tell me everything."
"My hair is natural, my teeth are all mine—"
"No, idiot," she said, laughing more. "Tell me about Miss Hyuga. Whatever did you say to make her laugh like that?
"Laugh? I don't remember her laughing," Sasuke said seriously.
"She is a bit solemn, isn't she? But you danced with her and she laughed. I heard her. I saw her and it was a real belly laugh."
He gave a one-sided grin. "Jealous, are you?"
"So help me, if you don't tell me, I'll . . ."
"You'll what?"
"Tell Hiro to stop sending food over and I'll cook for you."
"You are a cruel woman. Okay, I'll tell you, but all I did was ask her if she was one of those women who falls in love with her boss." When Sakura looked at him in puzzlement, he continued. "You know how some women pine away for their handsome, rich, powerful boss, so they never marry, never have a family of their own?"
"I've seen that in movies but never in real life," Sakura said. "But I don't understand. Who is the owner of Baby Heaven?"
"Some guy I know."
"Ahhh, I see."
"See what?"
"That you're not going to tell me. Is her boss gorgeous?"
"Makes Hiro look like a troll."
"Somehow, I doubt that. But, anyway, Miss Hyuga found the idea of being in love with her boss hilarious?"
Sasuke frowned. "Actually, she did."
"So why does that bother you?"
"Who said it bothers me?"
Sakura threw up her hands in helplessness. "I can't imagine why I thought it bothered you. But then maybe it was just because when she laughed and walked off the dance floor, you stood there for a full two minutes glaring at her back. I was afraid her hair was going to catch on fire."
"And well it should!" Sasuke snapped. "Her boss has been good to her, paid her well for years."
"Oh."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. Just that money is no substitute for personal feeling."
"Maybe he didn't want personal feeling; maybe he just wanted a competent assistant!"
"What are you getting so angry about? How long did she work for him?"
"Several years. And what do you mean,'did' work for him? She still does as far as I know."
"Well, it won't be for long."
"And what does that mean?" he asked as he swung into the driveway and parked beside Tsunade's Oldsmobile. He knew he was being irrational and short-tempered, but he couldn't help it. The evening hadn't gone as he'd hoped. Now that the ball was over, he didn't know what he'd been hoping for, but maybe he'd wanted, even expected, Sakura to . . . What? he asked himself. Declare undying love for him?
Over the course of the evening he'd tried to keep his attention on Hyuga, and the others at the party, but he'd only had eyes for Sakura. But she had seemed oblivious. But Naruto had noticed.
"What were you and Naruto arguing about?" Sakura asked as he helped her out of the car, taking care that her satin dress didn't touch the gravel of the drive. She'd looked divine tonight. Pearls and red satin suited her. He gave a little smile at her back as he thought of the engagement ring burning a hole in his pocket. Maybe tonight he'd give it to her.
Inside the house, Tsunade was holding a fretful Kenji, and when the baby saw Sakura, he leaped into her arms, and for a while the two of them held on to each other as though they'd been separated for years.
"So how did it go?" Tsunade whispered as she and Sasuke stood by the front door.
"All right," Sasuke answered. "Nothing special." He wasn't going to tell the town gossip anything.
"If nothing unusual happened, how come you're bringing Sakura home when she left with your brother?"
"Sssh," Sasuke warned. "Sakura thinks Naruto and I are cousins."
Tsunade turned her head sideways to look up at him.
"Have you thought about what Sakura's going to say when she's told that you've played her for a fool?"
"It's not quite like that," Sasuke said stiffly.
"Oh? You don't think buying a baby store, then telling her all that furniture cost two hundred and fifty dollars isn't assuming she's an idiot?"
"She believed it, and that's all that counts."
Sakura had taken Kenji into his bedroom, so he and Tsunade were alone in the room. "Look, I'm planning to tell her tomorrow."
Tsunade gave a low whistle. "Merry Christmas, Sakura."
"Don't you think you should go home?"
"I think you should go home," Tsunade retorted. "I think Sakura should be given a fair chance at a man and not be involved in this sick game you and Naruto are playing."
"Sick?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. "Isn't that a bit strong?"
"So, Sasuke, how are the men in your life?"
At that, he opened the front door. "Thanks for taking care of Kenji."
Tsunade gave such a great sigh. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
"I consider myself warned." The second he closed the door, Sakura stuck her head around the bedroom door.
"Clear?" she whispered.
"Yes," Sasuke answered, grinning. "You can come out now."
She was wearing her old bathrobe, and Sasuke thought of the new one wrapped and placed under the tree. "How's Kenji?"
"Asleep and snoring. He was exhausted, poor baby."
"I know how he feels," Sasuke said.
"Oh," Sakura said flatly. "You want to go to bed?"
He couldn't help teasing her as he yawned. "Yeah. I'm bushed." He pulled the tie to his tux open and gave a greater yawn.
"Me too," she said, but she didn't sound tired.
"On the other hand," Sasuke said slowly, "we could build a fire—if we can get the damper open—make some popcorn and you can tell me what you enjoyed most about the evening."
"You fire. Me pop," she said before she hurried off to the kitchen.
In record time a blazing—if smoky—fire was going and Sakura and Sasuke were in front of it, a huge tub of buttered popcorn and glasses of ice water between them.
"So what were you and Naruto fighting about?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke groaned. "Not that again."
Laughing, Sakura said, "So what made Naruto leave early so that you ended up taking me home? And don't you dare tell me it was an emergency at the hospital."
"Difference of opinion," Sasuke said tightly.
For a moment Sakura stared at the fire. "All night, I felt as though all of you knew something that I didn't," she said quietly.
"It's Christmas and we all have secrets."
"Right. Stupid little Sakura can't be told."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, nothing. What were you and my mother-in-law whispering about?"
"Are you going paranoid on me?" Sasuke asked, trying to distract her. "Did you have good time?"
"Yes," she said hesitantly.
"But?" he asked as he ate a mouthful of popcorn.
"Something was missing tonight."
"And what could have been missing? You were the most beautiful woman there."
"You're sweet. No, it was something else. It was . . . Well, for one thing, there was the woman in the rest room."
"What woman? She say something catty to you?"
"No, actually, she talked about you."
Sasuke took a while before speaking. "Does she know me?"
"Would it be a crime if she did?"
"Depends on what she knows. What did she say?"
"That you'd break my heart."
"Ah," Sasuke said flatly. When he said no more, Sakura looked at him in the firelight.
"Do you often break women's hearts?" she added softly.
"Every day of the week. Twice on Sunday."
Sakura didn't laugh. "What's going on?"
"What do you mean, 'what's going on'?"
Suddenly, Sakura put her face in her hands and began to cry. "Stop it! Just stop it! I know something is going on, but no one will let me in on the joke. Sometimes I think I am the joke."
"The woman in the rest room upset you, didn't she?"
At that, Sakura got off the floor and started toward the bedroom. "I'm going to bed," she said, and her voice was without emotion.
Sasuke caught her before she reached the door, his hand closing about her arm. "Why are you angry with me?"
"Because you're part of it. Tonight . . . Oh, you'd never understand."
"Try me."
"It was all so beautiful. I know it's a cliché, but I felt like Cinderella. Poor little Sakura Senju with her leaky house at a real live ball. Everyone looked so beautiful. And the jewels! If they'd lit one candle in the middle of the room, the sparkle of the diamonds would have illuminated the whole place. It was all like a dream, a fantasy."
Gently, Sasuke led her back to the living room to sit on the sofa. "But what was wrong?"
"I felt a sense of . . ." Looking up at him, there were tears in her eyes. "I felt a sense of doom. That's it. I feel that something awful is about to happen and I have no way to stop it. Everything has been so wonderful lately and my mother warned me to be suspicious of good things. She said we were put on this earth to suffer and if something good happened, it was the work of the devil."
"That isn't always right," Sasuke said softly, then he lifted her hand and kissed her fingers one by one.
"What are you doing?" she asked suspiciously.
"Making love to you."
Angrily, she jerked her hands from his and tried to get up, but he blocked her way.
"Would you mind?!" she said, her voice full of steel.
"Yes, actually I do mind." Again he lifted her hand and began to kiss the back of it.
"I changed Kenji's dirty diaper with that hand and didn't wash," she said to the top of his head.
"You know how much I love the kid," he said, but didn't stop kissing. In spite of herself, Sakura smiled; then she put both hands on his shoulders and pushed. When he was upright she glared into his eyes. "You're gay, remember?"
"Actually, I'm not. Naruto lied." Sasuke went back to kissing her hand; Sakura pushed him away, and her expression said it all.
"All right," he said, leaning back against the old sofa. "Naruto wanted me to stay with you and baby-sit Kenji so he could take you out. He's in love with you."
When Sakura said nothing, he turned to look at her. She had the oddest expression on her face. "Go on," she said.
"Naruto didn't want any hanky-panky between us, so he told you I was gay."
"I see. Is that it?"
"More or less," he answered, then bent down to get his glass of ice water and drank deeply.
"So you two have been fighting over me?" she asked softly.
Sasuke swallowed. "Well, actually . . . Well, yes, we have. I was just supposed to keep Kiba Inuzaka away, but I . . ."
"You what?"
"I fell in love with you and Kenji," he said, but he stared at the fire, not at her.
He'd never before told a woman he loved her. He had a feeling that most of the women he'd known in Suna would have responded by getting a calculator and figuring their cut of his wealth. When Sakura said nothing, he turned to look at her. Her face was pale and she was staring straight ahead.
"What else have you lied to me about?" she asked softly.
"Nothing of any consequence," he said quickly, his breath held. If she said she loved him now, when she had no idea of his wealth, he'd know forever after that she loved him for himself. Suddenly he knew his whole life could change in this moment and if he'd ever tried to sell anything, he'd better sell himself now.
"I love you, Sakura. I love you and Kenji, and I want you to marry me. That's what Naruto's so angry about. He wanted you for himself, so he conned me into staying with you, but Kenji . . . Kenji was a blessing from the beginning. He liked me, and you know how I adore him, and I want—"
"Oh, shut up and kiss me," Sakura said, and when Sasuke turned and saw that one side of her mouth was turned up into a smile, he felt as though he'd been freed from slavery.
Quickly, he swooped Sakura into his arms and carried her into her bedroom. He didn't need to be told that she'd want to be where she could hear her son. Our son, Sasuke thought. His wife; his son; his family.
"I love you, Sakura," he said as he nuzzled her ear. "I love the way you make me feel. I love how you need me."
There was something about what he was saying that bothered Sakura, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was, for at the moment she couldn't think much of anything. He was kissing her neck, sliding the gown from her shoulders.
It had been so very, very long since she'd been touched by a man. And she'd die before she said anything to further sully her late husband's memory, but, at the end, Kenichi was drunk most nights. But Sasuke was sober and clean and, oh, so beautiful. His long-fingered hands were moving over her body in a way she'd only dreamed of. Inch by inch he removed her robe, then her old gown, kissing as he removed her clothes. His warm hands ran up the sides of her breasts. How long it had been since her breasts had been anything but utilitarian?
"That's nice," she said, closing her eyes, letting sensation overtake her. His hands moved between her thighs, kissing and caressing.
"I like this," she said dreamily. "Does it have a name?"
"Foreplay," he said, smiling into her eyes. "Like it?"
"Oh, yes. May I have some more please?"
"I'll give you all I have," he said as he kissed her breasts.
When he entered her, Sakura gasped, because, for the first time ever, she was ready for lovemaking.
"Oh, my goodness but that is nice," she said, and the way she said it made Sasuke laugh as he rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him.
"Now you do the work."
Obviously this was a novel experience to Sakura, and Sasuke was pleased by her expression. "A virgin mother," he murmured, his hands on her hips, guiding her.
"Don't ever stop," Sakura murmured as her hips moved up and down. When they both reached climax, she collapsed, limp and sated.
"Yes," was all she could say, and feeling as secure as Kenji must feel in her arms, she snuggled onto his chest and let him hold her. Sasuke pulled the sheet over both of them, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.
###
A loud thud awoke Sakura, and she sat bolt upright, immediately afraid that Kenji had fallen, but when she checked on him she saw that her son was fast asleep in his new crib. His knees were tucked up under him, his well-padded rear end stuck into the air, his head was turned toward her, drool running down the side of his mouth.
Walking into the nursery, she went to her baby, gently blotted his mouth, tucked the quilt about him, then returned to her room to fetch her nightgown. It was flung over the end of the bed, and she was careful not to wake Sasuke as she put it on. But she needn't have worried, for both her men were in what she called "coma sleep"—you could perform major surgery and they'd not know it.
Smiling, Sakura bent and kissed Sasuke's forehead, then put on her old robe and went into the living room. For a moment she was disoriented, as the Christmas lights were on and the pile of gifts was as tall as the sofa.
"Santa Claus," she read as she looked at tag after tag on the white packages.
"Naruto," she whispered, then felt a bit guilty at the way she'd treated him at the ball.
She went into the kitchen to fix herself a cup of tea. She was wide awake, and now, in the middle of the night, when Kenji was asleep, was the only time she had to think. As the water boiled and she got out a cup and a tea bag, she thought about the ball. She was sure that every other woman in the world would have loved the ball, but Sakura had been bored by it. Sure, it was lovely and everyone had looked splendid, but all she'd wanted to do was go home to Sasuke and Kenji. There she was wearing a Dior gown and pearls—fake but who could tell?—and all she really wanted was to be home in her old bathrobe with her son and her gay boarder.
Everyone at the ball knew everyone else, and of course everyone knew Dr. Naruto, so Sakura had had time to sit alone at a table with a nonalcoholic drink and think—and remember. In all her life she didn't think she'd had a happier, more secure feeling than she'd had in the last few days. Every minute had been an adventure. Since Naruto had entered her house with his gorgeous gay cousin, Sakura's life had been turned upside down. Mr. Uchiha—or Sasuke, as she called him to herself—seemed to have a magic wand he could wave to fix anything. It wouldn't surprise her to wake up one morning and find that the roof over the dining room had been repaired.
And, now, tonight, she thought with a sigh. Tonight he'd said he loved her, told her he wasn't gay, said . . . Oh, she couldn't remember all she'd heard or felt tonight. All she knew was that this ball had changed her life.
When the kettle boiled, she poured hot water over the tea bag, liberally added milk, then went into the living room to sit and look at the Christmas tree. Now she could smile when she remembered how she'd felt tonight when she'd looked up to see Sasuke walk in with that gorgeous raven-haired woman on his arm. At that moment if someone had handed Sakura a shotgun, she could have blown a hole through Miss Hinata Hyuga's tiny never-had-a-baby waistline. Better yet, Sakura thought, she'd have liked to fire a cannon and hit both of them.
When Sasuke and that woman sat down at the table with Sakura and Naruto, she wasn't in the least surprised. What had surprised Sakura was the instant animosity that came from mild-mannered Naruto. Immediately, the two men had said things to each other under their breath, things Sakura couldn't hear.
Taking a deep breath, Sakura had leaned toward the divinely beautiful Miss Hyuga and said, "What will happen to Baby Heaven now?"
The woman was closer to Sasuke, so maybe she could hear what the two men were saying. And maybe the fact that she could hear and Sakura couldn't was why Sakura decided to engage her in conversation.
"Baby Heaven?" the woman said, reluctantly pulling away from where Sasuke and Naruto were engaged in furious conversation.
"Where you work," Sakura said loudly. "That is where I saw you, isn't it?"
"Oh, yes, of course."
The two men stopped arguing for a moment, and Miss Hyuga turned to Sakura. "What was it you asked me?"
Sakura cleared her throat. "What will happen to Baby Heaven now that all the merchandise is sold? Will
you have a job?"
"Oh, yes." The woman kept looking at the two men to see if they were going to start arguing again.
"So you will have a job," Sakura said loudly, demanding the woman take her attention away from the men.
"Job? Oh, yes. The owner has many businesses. Baby Heaven is just one of them." She looked back at the men, who'd started again.
"I see," Sakura said even louder. "Where will you work? Konoha or somewhere else?"
"Suna," the woman said over her shoulder, her eyes and ears on the men.
"Ah, so you're slumming. I thought so. You have the look of a big city about you. Ever seen a tractor, Miss Hyuga?"
The woman turned and gave her full attention to Sakura. "Mrs. Senju, I grew up on a farm in Kusa. I was driving a harvester at twelve years old and by the time I was sixteen I was cooking daily for twenty-three ravenous farmhands. So tell me, Mrs. Senju, how many calves have you delivered?"
Sakura gave the woman a weak smile and excused herself to go to the rest room. So much for her attempt at being catty. "Better stick to what I do best," she said to herself, then wished with all her might that she knew what that was.
It was in the rest room that she had the strangest encounter. A woman with long blonde hair, expertly pulled back into a chignon, wearing a slinky silver satin dress, was putting on red lipstick. When she saw Sakura, she nearly jumped, and for a moment Sakura thought she was supposed to know the woman. It's the dress, she told herself. Not too many Diors in Konoha, but when Sakura left the stall, the woman was still there and she made no pretense that she was doing anything except waiting for Sakura. And, for some reason, Sakura wanted to bolt. She had her hand on the door before the woman spoke.
"So, you're with Sasuke Uchiha."
Sakura took a breath and straightened her spine before turning back to the woman. "Not really. I'm with Dr. Naruto, his cousin. Miss Hyuga is with Sasuke." And Sakura had no doubt that Miss Hyuga could handle anything this woman was about to dish out.
"Oh? That's not what I saw and heard," the woman said. "From what I could hear Naruto and Sasuke were fighting over you."
"What did they say?" Sakura said before she thought to control her tongue.
"Are both those men in love with you?" the woman asked as she looked Sakura up and down.
At that Sakura relaxed, smiled, and decided to wash her hands. "Oh, yes," she said. "They want to fight a duel over me. Pistols at dawn. Or maybe they'll use swords."
The woman turned back to the mirror. "More like scalpels and cell phones."
Sakura laughed and decided the woman wasn't predatory, as she'd first thought. "How about fax machines versus color copiers?"
"Or your Internet dialer against mine," the woman said, smiling at Sakura in the mirror; then she paused for a moment. "That's some dress you're wearing. Buy it around here?"
"Hardly. I won it in a contest. It's a Dior from a shop in Suna."
"Ah, I see. A contest."
Again Sakura wanted to leave, but somehow, she couldn't. "Do you know Mr. Uchiha?" she asked tentatively.
"Dr. Naruto?"
Sakura had a feeling the woman was teasing her. "Sasuke."
"Ah, that Mr. Uchiha. I've met him. How do you know him?"
"He's living with me," Sakura said brightly, then smiled smugly at the woman's look of shock. But she soon recovered.
"Living with him? Not married to him?"
Sakura laughed. "You don't know him very well, do you?" She'd love to tell the woman Sasuke was gay, but, on the other hand, let her think Sakura had reeled in a hunk like Sasuke. The woman didn't answer Sakura's question.
"I think I should ask how well you know him. And what's he doing at a dud of a thing like this?"
That snobby question made Sakura's lips tighten. "Sasuke Uchiha is here because he likes it here, because this place makes him happy."
At that, the woman put away her lipstick and looked at Sakura in amusement. "I don't know what's going on, but a man like Sasuke Uchiha doesn't attend some cheap affair in Nowhere, Konoha, because it makes him happy. Sasuke Uchiha only does things because they earn him more money. He's the only man on this planet who actually does have a heart of gold."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Sakura said, confused. "Sasuke, Mr. Uchiha, is staying with us, my son and me, that is, because he has nowhere else to stay and no one to spend Christmas with."
At that the woman laughed. "My sister used to be just where you are now. She too felt sorry for Sasuke Uchiha and she took him in, and he repaid her by—Oh. I can see you're not going to believe anything I say, so maybe I'll just send you something."
"No, thank you," Sakura said as she put her nose in the air. But the woman wasn't listening as she withdrew a tiny cell phone from her evening bag and began to dial.
Sakura didn't wait to hear half of the conversation but rushed back to the table with the intention of telling either Sasuke or Naruto about the woman, but when she got there, the table was empty.
"What did I expect?" she said aloud. "That they'd all be worried about why I'd taken so long?"
"I was worried and I don't even know you," said a handsome man standing about six inches away from her. "What a beautiful . . . necklace," he said, but he wasn't looking at Sakura's pearl necklace; he was looking down her cleavage. "Are they real?"
"As real as mother's milk," she said, smiling up at him, and he laughed.
"Would you like to dance? Or would your escort die from the absence of your company?"
"Yes, her escort would die," came Sasuke's voice over the top of her head, and to Sakura's delight she looked from one handsome, scowling face to another.
"On the count of three, draw your cell phones and dial!" she said.
The man looked at her in puzzlement, but Sasuke clamped down on her upper arm and pulled her to the dance floor.
"Where in the world were you? Is Kenji all right?"
"Shouldn't I ask you that, since I left him with you?"
"Tsunade has him," Sasuke said tightly. "Who was that man and what was he saying to you?"
"That I have a nice set of pearls," she said, glancing down at her cleavage.
"Have you been drinking?"
"No, I've had two encounters with female piranhas though, so maybe I should have a drink. But then, I survived both attacks and I still have my skin."
"Sakura . . ." Sasuke said in a warning voice. "What is going on?"
"Other than the fact that my date seems to have dumped me? And my gay nanny has turned my child over to someone else so he can attend a ball with a woman so gorgeous she puts tulips to shame? And a woman in the rest room—"
"Tulips? Why tulips?"
"I like them," Sakura said, sighing. Why couldn't he stay to the point? "Why are you here?"
"Just looking out for things." He was holding her in his arms, and she had to admit that it felt wonderful.
"How did you get tickets to this event?" she murmured as her head touched his shoulder and stayed there.
"Long story," he murmured back, his cheek against the top of her head, but he didn't elaborate.
After that they danced together to one old song after another. No rock and roll that would separate partners was played at the Amaterasu Ball. When they at last returned to the table, they found a note from Naruto saying he'd taken Miss Hyuga home and would Sasuke please escort Sakura? It was a tense note and Sakura felt guilty at ignoring her date, but then Sasuke's big hand closed around hers and he said,
"Let's go home, shall we?" and the way he said "home" almost made Sakura cry.
So now she was sitting on the sofa, staring at the Christmas tree lights, and wondering whether it was Sasuke or Naruto who'd played Santa and put all the white wrapped gifts under the tree.
It was cool in the room, so she snuggled her feet under her, her hands wrapped around the still-warm mug. Her tenant wasn't gay, and they'd made love, and this morning was her son's first Christmas. Standing, she took a deep breath, stretched, and thought she might just go back to bed and wake Sasuke up and . . . Well . . .
Smiling, she started back to the bedroom, but paused because she saw a fat brown envelope on the floor by the front door. The heavy oak door had an old-fashioned brass mail slot in it, and someone had pushed the thick envelope halfway through it. Must be the thump I heard, Sakura thought, then wondered who would drop a package through a door slot at two o'clock in the morning on Christmas Day.
Idly, she picked up the envelope, yawned, started to put it on the table with the broken leg that stood by the door, but curiosity got the better of her. "Probably just a particularly aggressive advertiser," she murmured as she opened the top of the envelope.
When she first pulled the papers from the envelope, she didn't know what she was seeing. They seemed to be photocopies of newspaper articles. "Entrepreneur Closes New Deal," " Uchiha Buys Everything!" were some of the headlines.
" Uchiha?" she said aloud, then thought of Naruto. But what had Naruto done to engender articles written about him? Had he saved so very many lives? By the fourth page she'd flipped, the name "Sasuke" began to jump out at her.
Taking the package to the kitchen, she put the kettle back on to make herself another cup of tea to sip while she read. But the kettle boiled dry, and Sakura turned off the stove while she continued reading.
It was four A.M. when she finished, and she wasn't surprised when she looked up to see Sasuke standing in the doorway wearing only the trousers to his tux.
"Come back to bed," he said seductively, but Sakura didn't move. "What's wrong?" he asked, but he didn't seem too concerned.
"You're very rich, aren't you?" she asked softly.
Sasuke had been heading toward the teakettle, but he paused to look at the articles spread out on the table. They were all faxes, so someone had called and had this information faxed to Konoha.
"Yes," he said as he picked up the kettle, then filled it and put it back on the stove. When he turned back to Sakura, she was wearing an expression he'd never seen before.
"Look Sakura, about last night—"
She interrupted him. "Last night wasn't important. Sex isn't important, but the lies that led up to the sex are very important."
"I never meant to lie," he said softly. "It started out quite innocent but . . ."
"Go on," she said. "I'd like to hear this. I was told you were gay and that turned out to be a lie, but I forgave that. Of course, I admit that it was in my own selfish interests to forgive that. I was also told that you desperately needed a home over Christmas, and that seems to have been a lie too. According to what I've just read, that last one was a very big lie. And you certainly do date some smashing-looking women."
"Sakura—" He reached out to touch her, but she lifted her palms to let him know he was to stay away.
Sasuke turned off the kettle, then sat down across from her. "Okay, so I lied. But when I told you I loved you, that wasn't a lie." He took a deep breath.
"Now I guess I'm to fall into your arms and we live happily ever after."
"That would be the ending I have in mind," he said with a one-sided smile.
Sakura, however, didn't smile. "Who is Miss Hyuga?"
"My secretary."
"Oh, I see. And I guess she arranged the two-hundred-and-fifty-dollar nursery set."
"Yes," Sasuke said, his eyes burning into her.
But Sakura kept looking at the articles. "And the contest for the dress? Was it arranged by her for you?"
"Yes."
"My, my, but you've been busy. Santa Claus should work as hard as you."
"Look, Sakura, it started as something I was doing to help my brother, and—"
Her head came up. "Brother? Naruto? Ah, yes, of course. How stupid of me. Did you two have a couple of great laughs at the impoverished widow and her half-orphaned child?"
"No. Sakura, believe me, it hasn't been like that. I think you should listen to my explanation."
She leaned back in the chair, her arms folded across her chest. "Okay, so tell me."
Sasuke had earned a lot of money in his life because he just didn't care about the outcome of the deal. If he won, good, if he lost that was okay too. It was the game that he enjoyed. But now he very much cared about the outcome of this "meeting."
"My brother, Naruto, believed he was in love with you. I say believed because last night I set him straight on that one. Anyway, he said Kenji was such a tyrant that—"
"Kenji? A tyrant?"
"Well, I mean, I didn't know how old Kenji was until after I accepted Naruto's bet so—"
"Bet? You made a wager over me?" Her voice was rising. "You mean like a man betting the plantation on the turn of a card?"
"No, not at all," he said, but his eyes didn't meet hers. "Please, Sakura, let me explain."
She waved her hand then leaned back against the chair.
"Naruto wanted me to be Kenji's nanny, so to speak, so he could have some time alone with you. He bet me that I couldn't handle the job. That's all it was. And he told you I was gay so you'd let me stay here. It was that simple."
"I see. And where does the nursery furniture and the dress come into this farce?"
"You needed the things, so I, uh, I arranged for them. . . ." He trailed off at the look in her eyes.
"I see," she said again, but her facial muscles were rigid and her eyes cold.
"No, Sakura, I don't think you do see. I have fallen in love with you."
"Sure you have. It says in here that you give quite a bit to charity. How gratifying it must have been to make a donation directly to the poor."
"That isn't the way it was. Well, maybe it was that way in the beginning, but it changed. I've come to love both you and Kenji."
"And what do you plan to do with us now?"
Sasuke looked bewildered. "I want to marry you."
"Of course. What was I thinking? You didn't by any chance buy me a great big diamond ring, did you?"
Based on her tone of voice, Sasuke started to lie but decided against it. "Yes," he said simply. "A huge diamond."
"That makes sense. That fits. I guess you've planned our futures too, haven't you?"
Sasuke didn't answer, just looked at her across a table covered with reprints of everything that had ever been published about him. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out who had sent these to her, but he had a suspicion. At the ball he'd seen the sister of a woman he used to date. After going out for a few weeks they had parted ways amicably. Then she had approached him several months later and wanted to begin things again. When he'd turned her down, as gently as he could, she'd flown into a rage and sworn she'd get even with him. So now, Sasuke wondered if the sister he'd seen last night across the room, her eyes staring at him coldly, had had these pages faxed here and had made sure Sakura received them.
When Sasuke didn't reply to Sakura's question, she continued. "Let me guess. You plan to buy Kenji and me a huge house within commuting distance of Suna City and you plan to visit us on weekends. Maybe you'd helicopter in, right? And you'd open accounts for us everywhere so I could buy Dior any time I wanted. And Kenji could have all the finest toys and clothes. Nothing but the best for your family, right?"
For the life of him Sasuke could see nothing wrong with the picture she was painting.
Slowly Sakura began to smile. "Sounds good to me," she said at last. "How about some tea to celebrate?"
"Yes. Please. I'd like that."
Slowly, Sakura got up from the table, with her back to him, filled the kettle, and opened a few tins as she looked for the tea bags.
But Sasuke was so relieved he didn't pay any attention to what she was doing. "How about a summer home in Takigakure?" he was saying. "We'll get some place with stone walls and acres of . . . of fruit trees."
"Sounds great," Sakura said, her voice flat. But she knew he wasn't listening to her. He was in his own little daydream of a happy, idyllic life in which he had a loving wife and child to come home to. Whenever he could find the time, that is.
"Here you are," she said, smiling.
Sasuke tried to take her hand and kiss it, but she pulled away to sit down at the opposite side of the table.
"Did you see the movie Pretty Woman?"
"Can't say as I did." He was smiling at her sweetly.
"It's about a businessman, a billionaire, who falls in love with a prostitute."
"Sakura, if you're implying that I think of you as a—"
"No, let me finish. The movie was a great success, and everyone I know loved it, but—"
"You didn't."
"No, I did, but I was worried about what happened later. What would happen five years down the road when they had an argument and he threw it in her face that she'd turned a trick or two? And what about his education versus hers? His money against her lack of it?"
"Go on," Sasuke said cautiously. "What's your point?"
"Drink your tea before it gets cold. You and I are like the couple in that movie. You've done everything, proven everything to yourself."
"I hardly think—"
"No, it's true. You have."
"Sakura, you're a lovely woman, and—"
"And women don't need to prove anything, is that right?"
"I didn't mean that."
"Look," she said, leaning toward him. "If I left here with you, you'd swallow me up like the Richard Gere character would have swallowed the young woman played by Julia Roberts."
"What?" Sasuke asked, rubbing his hand over his eyes. Now that the crisis had passed, he found that he was quite sleepy. Why did women always want to discuss things in the middle of the night?
"Could we talk about this in the morning?"
Sakura didn't seem to hear him. "Why do you think I've refused to take charity?" she asked. "Everyone knows me as the drunk's widow, but I needed to prove that I was worth more than that. I don't want Kenji known as the drunk's kid." She leaned toward him. "And I most certainly don't want him known as the billionaire's kid."
"I'm not a billionaire." Sasuke could barely keep his eyes open. The clock over the stove said five A.M. "Sakura," he said. "Let's discuss this in the morning." Rising, he took her hand and led her back to the bedroom, where he removed her robe then held the covers back from the bed. When she was under the covers, he slipped in beside her and snuggled her in his arms. "Tomorrow we'll go over all of this, I promise. I'll explain everything, and we can talk about all the movies you want. But right now I—" He broke off to give a jaw cracking yawn. "Now I . . . love you . . ." He was asleep.
Beside him, Sakura took a deep breath. "I love you too," she whispered. "At least I think I do, but right now I have an obligation that is more important than my love for a man. I'm Kenji's mother, and I have to think of him first before my own needs."
But there was no reply from Sasuke.
When Sakura saw that he was asleep, she angrily threw back the covers and stood, glaring down at him. "It takes more than a private helicopter to be a father," she said quietly, then turned on her heel and went to the hall closet, where she pulled out an old duffel bag; then, without realizing what she was doing, she began to throw clothes into it.
"To be a father, Sasuke Uchiha, you need to be a teacher as well as a money provider," she said under her breath. "And what would you teach him? To buy whatever he wants? To lie his way into a woman's heart? Would you teach him that he can do any devious, underhanded, sly thing he wants to a woman, then all he has to do is say 'I love you,' and those three words erase all the lies?" She leaned very close to his sleeping face. "Sasuke Uchiha, I don't like you. I don't like the way you use your money to trick people, to connive behind their backs. You have treated me, Kenji, and, actually, this whole town with contempt."
The only reply she received was that he rolled to his other side and kept on sleeping.
Drawing back, she looked down at him, and suddenly, she was calm and she knew what she had to do. "Kenji and I aren't for sale. Unless the currency used is good deeds," she said as she almost smiled. "I'm going to leave now, but please don't look for me, because even if you do, you still won't be able to buy me."
With that she turned away and went into her son's room.