Raven was planning to hop on the subway back uptown to her family’s Harlem apartment. She turned to find Dru exiting the theater behind her and rushing to catch up with her.
“What’s up?” she asked in as casual a voice as she could muster. She gathered the mass of damp, dark curly hair back with one hand and replaced the ponytail holder she’d removed with the other, never breaking the connection her eyes had made with Dru’s.
Secretly, she had wanted to make a quick getaway to avoid another run-in with the man. When rehearsals had gotten underway, she’d quickly found out exactly who Mr. Dru Davis was. The word embarrassed didn’t even begin to cover how she felt at not having recognized one of the most influential modern figures in the area of stage. He was the Dru Davis, of Davis Theater Initiatives. Barkley had introduced Dru to the cast, informing them that not only was he the son of the infamous producer Stuart Davis, who’d had a hand in many of the classic Broadway productions over the past thirty years, but that Dru would be serving as a producer for The Salon.
Dru bore only a passing resemblance to the elder Davis in her opinion, the younger man’s smooth chocolate skin and sensual eyes being disarmingly attractive. From what she remembered from newspaper and magazine photographs of Stuart Davis, Dru was several inches taller, at least six feet three inches, and whereas the father possessed a thin, wiry build, Dru’s muscular frame was discernable even through the plain white T-shirt and dark denim jeans he wore now. In short, the young man’s sex appeal was all his own.
“I was wondering if you had time to grab a bite with me,” Dru asked.
Raven’s head began shaking vehemently before her lips could even form the words. She realized immediately from the startled expression on his face that she must have appeared to be having an epileptic fit or something.
“No…no,” she stammered.
“No, you don’t have time, or no—”
“No, I…I can’t. Sorry,” Raven hurried, cutting Dru off.
She gave her best attempt at a smile, turned and scurried away from him. She could feel his eyes boring into her, which only made her quicken her pace. She wanted to put as many square inches of city sidewalk between herself and Dru Davis as possible, before he had a chance to corner her again. There was no way her resolve could hold up very long under the warmth of his intense gaze.
By the time she’d boarded a crowded subway car headed uptown, her cheeks were flushed. That feeling definitely did not come from the fast pace of her trek nor the heat of the oppressive underground iron horse, however. No, it was the pallor of embarrassment that had colored her as she replayed the scene with Dru over and over again in her mind. He must think her a complete idiot. A silly, juvenile idiot at that. Why had she run away like a cockroach scurrying under the glare of fluorescent lights? There were two reasons, and while both were equally compelling, the knowledge of that did not make her feel much better. For one, he was the Dru Davis. Essentially, he was the boss, one of the players behind the production that she’d just landed a role in. Her very first production in a brand-new career and there was no way she was going to get involved with one of the bosses and make a name for herself as that girl five minutes out of the gate.
The second reason caused Raven’s heart to skip a beat as a warm fluttering sensation rippled through her entire body. Dru Davis was unabashedly gorgeous. Everything about the man had touched her—his smile, his eyes, even the timbre of his voice. His scent and his body caused a shock to her heart that she thought would cause it to jump through her chest. She had never been so physically attracted to a man, neither stranger nor acquaintance, as she had been to Dru, and she was completely unnerved by it. Her only defense was to run, because she knew that with her limited experience in matters of the heart, she was no match for a man as charismatic and alluring as Dru Davis.
Chapter 4
The Look of Love
She wanted to say no. She actually opened her mouth to say no, to tell him that she was meeting someone or that she had an important appointment. Yet, as she looked up into eyes that shone like brand-new copper pennies and inhaled the scent of him that was fragrantly masculine, she was speechless. When her lips parted at last, the only word that she remembered how to articulate was a bubbly, “Sure.”
It had been a week since Raven had joined the cast of The Salon. It had been a long, torturous week since her first encounter with Dru Davis. It had also been a week of successful dodging of his advances—until today. Rehearsal today had been light, as Marvin Barkley had been called away midpoint on a family emergency. They’d been left to just run lines with one another and to study sheet music and song lyrics. As practice wrapped up, Raven didn’t notice Dru seated in the back of the theater, his eyes studying her intently. As she exited the restroom, headed toward the backstage exit door, Dru was standing there, waiting for her. Wearing that easy smile that caused her heart rate to speed up whenever she saw it, Dru had the appearance of a man on a mission.
“Well, if it isn’t Ms. Walker in the flesh,” Dru said.
“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean by that,” Raven replied.
“Are you?” Dru laughed. “All right, I’ll explain. I’ve been trying to catch up with you for days and all I ever seem to see is the back of your head as you dash off to parts unknown. I was beginning to think you were just a figment of my imagination.”
“Well, Mr. Davis, I guess all I can say is that I’m a busy woman.”
“I’m sure that’s the case. Either that or for some incomprehensible reason you’re running away from me.”
Dru’s blunt declaration caught Raven by surprise, causing her already speeding heart rate to kick up another notch. At the same instant, she was certain that there lay no hint of arrogance behind his words.
“I don’t run from anything, Mr. Davis,” she replied.
“Prove it. Have lunch with me.”
They were seated immediately inside of TGI Friday’s restaurant after a short walk up Seventh Avenue. Dru had taken charge of Raven’s duffel bag as they walked and chatted about rehearsal and the show. Raven’s mind was filled with conflicting thoughts as they strolled and as much as she believed that an attraction to Dru Davis was a reckless act on her part, she couldn’t completely squash the excitement that being beside him evoked. While they waited for their meals, he stared at her for so long that she began to grow uncomfortable.
“What?” she finally asked.
His thick eyebrows knotted in confusion.
“You’re staring at me,” she explained.
“I’m sorry. Does that make you uncomfortable?” he asked.
“No, not at all,” she lied. “Just curious.”
“About me?”
“Yeah, about you. I’m just trying to figure out what your deal is, Mr. Davis.”
“My deal? What, are you accusing me of not being exactly what you see in front of you…of having some hidden agenda or something?”
“I’m not accusing you of anything. I’m just wondering what’s up with you. I mean, I hope you’re not another one of these game-playing brothers, because, trust me, the world has enough of those.”
Raven’s
