When the girls reached the ground floor, the brothers were still there waiting for them. Conrad grinned like an idiot. Nicolas nodded appreciatively. Logan whistled. Tristan winked. Hayden cocked his head and said, “Not bad.” And Sebastian and Darcy had impassive expressions their faces.
Sakura wasn’t pleased the brothers had to be there, witnessing her awkwardly descending the stairs in her heels and short skirt.
“What do you think, Conrad?” Lauren asked. “Doesn’t she look great? I wore that dress on my sixteenth birthday. Do you remember? But it fits her perfectly.”
“Yes, it’s beautiful,” Conrad said, his eyes on Sakura.
“Do you really remember me wearing that on my sixteenth birthday back in New York?” Lauren asked him.
Conrad chuckled uneasily, remembering no such thing.
“You look nice, Sakura,” Nicolas said.
The brothers didn’t miss Nicolas saying Sakura’s name for the first time, as though he were cherishing it.
Darcy turned on his heel and headed toward the drawing room to join everyone else. Sebastian turned and left as well.
“Come on,” Lauren said to Conrad. “It’s time.”
It was jam-packed with guests in the drawing room, and Mr. Simpson gave a speech for his daughter’s eighteenth birthday. When the cake was brought in, a chorus of “Happy Birthday” followed. Lauren blew out the candles that stood on top of the biggest, grandest cake Sakura had ever seen. So that was what Mrs. Simpson had splashed her money on—the cake!
“Sorry, I’m late.”
Sakura turned to see the boyishly handsome Mark Chatsworth smiling at her. “Hey,” she said. “Where have you been?”
Mark said back. “At the lab. You look great.”
“Thanks,” she replied. “Want some cake?”
“Sure.”
Some twenty minutes later, James came over to his sons, wondering why they were looking so serious at a party. When he turned to observe the object of their interest, he couldn’t help but smile in amusement.
“Who’s he?” Conrad asked.
“Mark Chatsworth,” James said. “Dr. Mark Chatsworth.”
“Are they dating?” Logan asked.
“Not that I know of,” James said honestly.
This was followed by sighs of relief from Logan and Conrad.
“I’ll introduce him,” James announced and led his sons toward Mark and Sakura, knowing they were dying to know who Mark was in relation to Sakura.
“I don’t trust that guy,” Conrad whispered to Sebastian.
“Why not? He’s a doctor.” Nicolas chuckled from behind.
“Oh, shut up,” Conrad snapped.
“Sakura?” James said the moment he was beside her. “A new dress?”
Sakura turned and gave her adopted father a grand smile. “Accident,” she said. “And your sons are to blame.” She stared at the brothers, who looked as though they were ready to pick a fight.
“Really?” James asked and turned to his sons. “Which one of you is responsible?”
“Me,” Conrad said without hesitation.
“In that case, I believe you owe Sakura. How about repaying her by volunteering for Dr. Chatsworth’s research?”
“Oh. That’s great,” Mark said. “And they are?”
“My sons,” James said. “Nicolas, I believe, is the same age as you.”
Nicolas shook hands with Mark—tightly. He also made sure his hand was on the top, which pleased his brothers mightily.
“Logan.” James nodded to Logan. “Tristan, Sebastian, and Conrad.” Then he nodded toward his other sons. “Hayden and Darcy.”
Mark shook hands with all of them, pleased. “Are you all volunteering for my research?”
When the brothers nodded, Mark clasped his hands together and said, “Why don’t we go to the lab now? I’m quite eager to—”
“But you haven’t had lunch yet,” Sakura cut in.
None of the brothers had lunch yet either, and they were quite upset she didn’t notice—especially Conrad.
“Besides,” she added, “it’s rude to leave a party without saying farewell to the hosts.”
Mark chuckled. “All right. We’ll eat first.”
Sakura turned on her heel and headed toward the buffet station on the other side of the room. She’d do anything to delay going to the lab with the brothers.
She had to take their blood, and the thought didn’t sit well with her. She was an expert at venipuncture, having had experience working as a lab scientist, and as part of the job description she had to bleed patients. It was just that now she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to do a proper job simply because it was the brothers.
It was an hour later when Sakura reluctantly wished Lauren a happy birthday and told the girl she had to leave. She found herself sitting in the back seat by herself while Conrad sat in the front next to Mark, who was driving. Meanwhile, the rest of the brothers were in the other cars trailing behind them.
To say she was uncomfortable being surrounded by eight men in the elevator was an understatement. She held her breath until they got out, and by then her lungs were starving for oxygen and her body was aching because she’d been so tense.
Sherry, the lab assistant working under Mark, greeted them as they came in. She was quite shocked to see the Princeton brothers. She blushed profusely when they smiled at her, and her hands shook uncontrollably when she handed them each questionnaires a little while later.
“What’s this for?” Logan asked.
“Your well-being questionnaires,” Sherry replied, blushing again. “It’s the standard. Take your time. I’m here to help if you need any. When you’re done, Sakura will take your blood.”
The brothers got down to it, answering questions about their diet, medications (if they had any), daily routine, and exercise regime. Tristan and Logan, as usual, treated it like a competition and raced through the questionnaires. But it was Sebastian who finished first and headed out of the reception area to the lab behind. Tristan muttered under his breath as he watched his brother go. Nicolas put his pen down and chuckled.
Once he stepped into the laboratory area, Sebastian was taken aback by the scene before him. There were machines running tests everywhere, some as big and as long as the length of the whole room and connected together like trains. There was quite a few staff on the floor, working.
He spotted Sakura in an office on the other side of the lab. He noted she had on a lab coat and her long hair tied back into a ponytail.
He gave the opened door a slight tap. When she turned to him, he swallowed, hard.
The sight of her knocked the wind out of him. She looked damn sophisticated and professional in her lab coat. Not to mention sexy as hell.
“You’ve finished your questionnaires?” she asked.
He cleared his throat, which had gone dry suddenly. “Uh, yeah.”
“Then please sit down.”
He didn’t move.
“Sebastian?”
It was the first time she’d called him by his name, and it made his insides sing. “Hm?”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of needles,” she said, a slight smile on her lips, her eyes twinkling.
That slight smirk and the humorous eyes were pleasing to look at. He chuckled. “Afraid of needles? Me?”
“There’s no need to be embarrassed. Lots of people are afraid of needles,” she said.
He gracefully moved and made himself comfortable on the chair she indicated.
“Which arm do you prefer?” she asked.
“You choose,” he replied easily, his eyes on her.
Taking in a deep breath, Sakura told herself to calm down. It was only Sebastian. He was her adopted brother. Nothing more.
She came round to look at his arm up close. Her fingers gently touched against the skin of his forearm, feeling for his vein.
Sebastian held his breath for a second. When he breathed again, his heart was beating so fast he thought he wasn’t going to make it. He could smell her wonderful scent—the very same one from when he’d first met her—and it made his head swim in delight. He could feel the heat of her body against his, and his whole being stirred in pleasure.
“You have good veins,” she said, her face so close to his that Sebastian could feel the warmth of her breath fanning over his skin, which sent pleasure rushing through his body.
“I won’t have any problem at all,” she continued—more to reassure herself than him, of course.