Attraction (2 page)

your pond.”
“Don’t be deliberately obtuse, Riles.”
“Well, for God’s sake, who names their kid after a bird?”
“I think it’s a sexy name. Any way, what do you think?”
Riley stared at her sister for a moment. “What do you care about what I think about him,
Robbie? You never asked me about your other suitors?”
“Yes, but this one is different. With the other men that I’ve dated…Well, they were just
boys. Heron, he’s a man. A real man”
“You know, that sounds like a Calvin Klein advertisement for men’s underwear.”
Roberta gave an exasperated sigh.
“Well, what do you want me to say, Robbie? Why is it so important what I think about
your latest paramour?”
Roberta took her sister by the shoulder and gave a reproving shake. “Your opinion of
Heron is important to me. Even more important than Mom and Dad.”
Riley opened her mouth, but then she saw the entreaty in Roberta’s clear blue eyes. “He
seems to like you a lot, and genuinely has a fondness for you, which shows he has good taste and
some sense.”
“But…?”
Riley pushed back the heavy curtain of blond hair from her sister’s face. “I will like him,
and I will accord him every affectionate regard that there exist, darling, as long as he loves you
the way you deserve to be loved.”
Roberta looked at her. “You’ve been reading Jane Austen again.”
“Her writing soothes my soul that is ever so continually disappointed in the ways of men.
So, how’s he in bed?”
Roberta laughed, perhaps a little nervously. “Riley, I don’t kiss and tell.”
“Yeah, you do. You always call me up the next day to go over in fine details the guy’s
attributes and performance.”
“Oh, all right. Well, Heron…I don’t know how to say it.”
“Is he any good in bed?”
“Oh, yes, he is. Frighteningly so.”
“Frighteningly? Now, what do you mean…”
They were interrupted by their parents and Heron coming back. Lawrence beckoned
everyone to the living room.
In the living room, while Heron, Roberta, and her parents engaged in small talk,
Lawrence, in a rather courtly manner, mixed drinks at the trolley tray that held various liquors,
and passed them around. Riley sat silently, sipping her martini, content for the moment to watch
and listen to Heron being courteous and warm to her parents. Sometimes she thought he went a
little too far, like when he complimented profusely on their “charmingly small” suburban house
with its easy comfort. He said that it lent a certain coziness that was missing in his own living
quarters.
Oh, give me a break, Riley thought, barely suppressing the rolling of her eyes. How
generous of him to compare her parents’ tiny middle class suburbia abode to his million dollar
mansion.
“Heron, Robbie tells us that your family go way back before gold was discovered in San
Francisco,” Caroline said.
Heron looked puzzled. “Robbie?”
“Roberta,” Caroline said. “We’ve called her Robbie since she was a baby.”
Heron looked over at Roberta, reaching for her hand. “I’m afraid I can never call her that.
I couldn’t possibly equate a boy’s name to someone as beautiful and elegant as your daughter.”
Oh, come on, is this guy for real, Riley thought, ready to regurgitate the martini she had
downed. She could see, though, that her parents were eating it right up.
Heron said, “Yes. My great, great, great grandfather was one of the early railroad barons.
That’s where our money comes from. Many say it was blood money, and I’m inclined to agree. “
“Robbie, that is, Roberta tells me that your family is connected to English royalty,”
Lawrence said.
Heron winced a little. “My mother says that my great grandmother, who came from
England, was distantly related to Queen Victoria. I have my doubts, though.”
Marge appeared from the kitchen to announce that it was time to sit down to dinner. They
sat down with the first course of the meal, strawberry and watercress salad, which was followed
up by fusilli with eggplant and smoked mozzarella, procuitto-wrapped grilled asparagus, and
Cornish hens marinated in tequila. Riley had to admit the food prepared by Marge was miles
away from her mother’s meatloaf and lumpy mashed potatoes. Out of the corner of her eye, she
saw that Heron seemed a bit surprised and impressed by the elegant meal. She suspected that he
had been prepared to put up with a fare that was much more inferior.
It was Lawrence’s turn to make the guest feel welcome and included in the family fold. “I
understand, Heron, that you own a law firm in San Francisco. You chose not to go into your
family business?”
Heron answered, “I run a corporate law practice in the city. I am the general counsel for
my family’s business, though. I expect my younger brother will be groomed for heading the
family business.”
Caroline slid her eyes over at her oldest daughter. “Oh, you have a brother. Roberta did
not mention him.”
“He’s just finishing his MBA in Harvard. He’ll be joining the firm a month after he
graduates.”
Riley grudgingly gave him a point as she heard the underlying pride and a hint of
affection in Heron’s voice as he talked about his brother.
“Sometimes Heron has the craziest cases,” Roberta said. “Darling, tell them about the one
where the two brothers are suing the previous owner of this Victorian house that they bought for
a nightclub but they claim is haunted.”
“Is it really haunted?” Caroline asked in a conspiratorial whisper.
Heron gave a cynical smile. “No, I don’t really think it is. I suspect the two brothers are
doing this to build up the publicity for their club.”
“Riley owns a nightclub,” Roberta proudly proclaimed.
Heron flicked a brief glance at Riley with barely concealed disinterest. “That’s nice.”
“She’s owned it for over four years, and it’s already turning a profit, isn’t it, Riley? It’s a
very popular place. In a short amount of time, it’s built up quite a reputation around the Bay
Area. Because it’s different from most other nightclubs.”
Heron flicked his eyes at Riley again. “How so?”
Riley tried to waylay her sister, feeling she did not want her family discussing her
nightclub in front of Heron. “Roberta, I don’t think your guest wants to hear about it…”
“Of course he does. You’re my sister. Besides, it’s a very innovative nightclub. You
might say it’s the cutting edge in evening entertainment.”
“How so?” Heron asked politely.
“You might say it’s a cross between a sex club and a nightclub.”
Heron’s hand that was holding his wine stilled. “A sex club?”
“It’s not a sex club, per se, Mr. Wait,” Riley explained coolly. “It just utilizes some
aspects of a sex club.”
“And what would those aspects be?”
Riley was damned if she were going to explain her club to a perfect stranger, a stranger
who was ready to show his high-brow disapproval. “Well, if you’re really interested, you can
come by, sometime.”
“And what would I see? Topless dancing. Lap dances?”
Roberta gave a laugh. “It’s nothing as sordid as that, darling. Riley’s club is like any
other bar club, not some seedy girlie show. But it emphasizes sex more than a typical club. On
some nights, it’s BDSM theme, and all the employees wear these outrages outfits that a BDSM
would. And the guests can come in wearing their own outfit. But no one is allowed to have sex
or force or harass another guest or the employees.” Roberta giggled. “I went to one of those
nights, one time, but I was too chicken to dress up.”
Heron looked from one parent to the other, then to Roberta, then to her parents, and was
amazed to see only pride and humor on their faces. “It doesn’t bother you that your daughter runs
such an establishment?”
Lawrence shrugged. “We don’t really have a choice there, do we, son? And my wife and
I don’t really see the harm in it. It’s perfectly legal, and there is no prostitution.”
Caroline chimed in, “And like my daughter was saying, it’s not the vulgar establishment
of those girlie shows. It is a place where people can explore their sexuality openly and yet with a
sense of security and respectability. We were doubtful at first that Riley might have a go at it, but
it’s been quite successful since opening night. Our Riley has always been very clever.”
“And there is a gallery room where they display all these sex toys,” Roberta said.
Heron almost choked on a mouthful of Cornish meat. “Sex toys? They offer sex toys in
the club?”
“Well, what’s a sex club without toys,” Roberta said in a reasonable tone.
“So, sex does happen in the club,” Heron said, casting a cold glance at Riley.
Riley clicked her tongue. “Oh, Roberta, I’m afraid we have to come clean. Your guest is
about to go into fits, imagining all these sordid transactions going on at the club. Actually, Mr.
Wait, there are two parts to my club. One is the bar and dance club downstairs. The upstairs is
where the actual sex club is. It consists of a gallery room that display various apparatus, or toys,
combined with a lounge where people may sit and discuss…well, whatever they want, ruminate
on the possibilities of the toys, the nature of sex, the weather, or Nietzsche. Every once in awhile,
I commission a pleasure party up there, private invitation only, to discuss and demonstrate on the
toys. Upstairs, I also have a series of private rooms. By appointment, people can indulge in their
fantasies. Each room is fitted for various fantasies and scenarios.”
Heron asked in precise tone, “What do you mean by fitted?”
“Oh, whatever your sexual fantasies are, you can act them out in the room that fits that
description. If you’re into S and M, we have about three rooms. May be a man has a fantasy
about farm girls, you know like the ones they have on Hee Haw or Petticoat Junction. A woman
likes to be spanked, or likes to spank men. Or a couple might find it interesting to change gender
roles. If you have a fantasy that a room isn’t set up for, we might be able to accommodate you.
As long as it’s legal.”
“Is any of it legal?” Heron asked coolly.
“It is, as long as there isn’t any trafficking of sex.”
Roberta put a hand on Heron’s arm, meant to be reassuring. “Darling, what Riley’s doing
is all legal and above board.” She giggled. “There’s even one room where people can have a
threesome, if they want.” Her smile quickly faded and she looked a little confused when Heron
refused to be amused but continued to look coldly severe.
He said, “ There can be so much that can go wrong when you allow the public exposure
to various sexual situations. Especially when you make a living out of it.”
Riley rested her arms on the table and leaned in, her eyes gleaming with challenge.
“Surely you as a lawyer, most of all, would understand the subtle but very legal difference
between trading sex for money and charging people to rent an environment that allows them to
explore their sexuality.”
Heron’s dark eyes bore into Riley’s, and it seemed the two forgot the other three. He
suggested in deceptively mild tone that lawyers often use in courtroom, “Why don’t you pretend
you’re on the witness stand defending your business.”
For a moment, Riley was about to tell him to go to hell, but she just remembered her
sister and parents sitting nearby, and that he was Roberta’s suitor. “All right, I guess I’ll humor
you, just this once. People who are interested in the sex club have to buy a subscription. Once
they sign up, we do a thorough background check, to make sure we weed out anyone with a
criminal record. They also have to fill out a twenty page questionnaire that evaluates their
personality and psychological state of mind, so that we can further weed out anyone who has the
potential to be violent, manipulative, a pedophile, or a rapist. I will admit that with the criminal
checks and the psychological evaluation, we weed out close to a third of the applicants. For those
who are allowed into the club, we have strict rules about conduct, sexual or otherwise. And
everyone only has one chance. One time anyone steps past the line, they are out. And there is no
appeal. Out of the members, about five percent end up being booted out of the club.” She gave a
faint smile, with an infinitissimal narrowing of her eyes. “How did I do, Counselor?”
Heron picked up his fork and pitched it into the slice of double chocolate mud pie. “I’d
say you have it down pat. It’s a good thing you know that when it comes to the law, it’s good to
be prepared. And I have to add that you are very lucky that you have such an understanding and
supportive family. Not a lot of family would know what to do with your line of living.”
Meaning you, Riley thought acidly. But she kept silent and schooled her features to
appear pleasant and calm, because she was seeing some uneasiness in her parents’ and sister’s
eyes as they began to realize the tension between her and Heron.
Afterwards, Roberta took her sister aside while their parents corralled Heron outside to
show off their garden.
“So, what do you think about him?” Roberta asked again, anxiously.
Riley stared at her for a moment, thinking over carefully her words. “He’s very
attractive.”
“And?”
“Right now, that’s all. I just met him, Robbie.”
Roberta’s face looked crestfallen. “You don’t like him.”
“No, it’s not that I don’t like him. It’s just…He has certain opinions, doesn’t he?”
“I’m afraid that’s because he’s awfully smart. Like you.”
“Well, you’re no slouch yourself.”
“But, I don’t know what he’s really doing with me.”
“Have you looked in the mirror, lately?”
“But he can have his pick of any women. When I’m out with him, sometimes I have to
pinch myself, because I can’t quite believe that Heron Wait is with me. It’s even worse when he
takes me out to these really fancy restaurants and events with his friends and acquaintances.
They are all so sophisticated, and so worldly. I feel like a country bumpkin. I sit there and just
smile. At times, I can’t help but feel like an idiot.”
“Honey, you are just as good as they are. And you don’t need to feel like Heron is doing
you a favor because he happens to be taking an interest in you. You deserve the best that a man
can give you.”
Roberta paused, then gave a girlish giggle. “He is a bit straight laced, isn’t he?”
“Another name for that is prig.”
“You just don’t know him, Riles. I’m sure that once you do, you will come to like him. –I
think he might ask me to marry him.”
Riley looked shocked. “We’ve only known each other a month…”