Page 27 of A Miracle for the Confident Cowboy

“Hmm? Nothing really. You?”

A smile curled his lips and he kissed the top of her head. “This is nice.”

“Yeah, it is.”

There were a few more moments where Sophie was recognized by other food enthusiasts and she was so patient with them. He couldn’t say the same—especially when male fans were those approaching her.

Duke hovered near Sophie, keeping half an ear on her conversation with her admirers. The last one to approach had a deep voice—one that caught Duke’s attention. He glanced over to find a tall cowboy. He was built and incredibly good looking. That twinge of jealousy attempted to reemerge, but Duke kept it in check. He’d only started dating Sophie. There wasn’t any way to know where they would be in the next few years.

“I didn’t know you were visiting Texas. It’s crazy you’re in Sweet Bloom,” the cowboy gushed.

Sophie smiled with all the grace anyone could want. “I moved to be closer to my brother.”

“I bet it’s a lot different than living in the mountains, huh?”

She laughed and nodded. “Very. The best part is that the snow hasn’t followed me.”

The cowboy chuckled with her. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up too high. Sometimes we get snow down here, too.”

“Yeah,” she grimaced, “Already experienced that the other day.”

The way the cowboy was talking, the slight lean he put in her direction, he was shamelessly flirting.

Duke took a step toward them, then held himself back once again. It was innocent. There was nothing to be worried about.

“Hey, since you’re new to the area, maybe I could show you around sometime?—”

“She’s taken,” Duke snapped, no longer capable of holding back.

Sophie whirled wide, surprised eyes toward him. “Duke?—”

Duke draped his arm around Sophie’s shoulders and shot a dark look at the cowboy who suddenly seemed to notice he wasn’t alone with his idol. He murmured an apology to Sophie then hurried away.

Sophie didn’t speak again, but her eyes said it all. She didn’t approve of what he’d done. The more Duke thought about it, the more he hated himself for how he’d handled the situation as well. This relationship was still too new. He didn’t have any right to step into their conversation like that.

His own apology was lodged in his throat but thankfully, Sophie pointed to a group of carolers who had stopped outside of the bookstore. “Come on,” she reached for his hand, “I love The Carol of the Bells. Let’s go over there.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It wasn’tthat Sophie didn’t have a good time when she went out with Duke. She did. The night had nearly been perfect.

Nearly.

She stood by what she’d said. Duke was pretty much perfect. It wasn’t until he’d snapped at her fan that Sophie had noticed he harbored a little bit of jealousy. In small doses, jealousy could be a good thing—if it could be controlled.

To be fair, Duke had put up with a lot of her fans coming out of the woodwork all evening. He’d had to stand back as she spoke to them, took pictures with them, and allowed them to blur the lines between professionalism and being too flirtatious. Sophie couldn’t blame Duke for getting frustrated. That was why she was choosing to ignore what had happened.

Their relationship was too new. Anything could happen from this point forward. Heck, if her deal with those international restaurants went through, she’d be leaving the country for who knew how long.

Her stomach dropped as she sat at her computer and considered what would happen to her growing relationship with Duke. He hadn’t been shy about his opinions about long distance relationships. If a family’s relationship couldn’t remain strong, then how could she expect him to try to maintain a romantic relationship with someone up until a few weeks ago he couldn’t stand to be around?

No, that wasn’t correct. According to Duke, he’d fallen for her fast and hard. She shook her head, placing her head in her hands as she waited for the email her manager said she’d be sending this morning. It was still so hard to believe—to converge the man she thought she’d known with the man he claimed to be.

An alert popped up on her screen along with the little whistle that came with it. Sophie pushed aside the concerns. She didn’t need to worry about Duke. He was still every bit the man she knew. Sophie clicked on the notification, opening her email. And as far as she was concerned, she wasn’t going anywhere any time soon. It was more than a reach for her to believe that Michelin restaurants would be interested in her blog—laughable really. What did she have to offer them? Her blog was more about shedding light on what happens behind the scenes. Most restaurants didn’t like sharing their recipes, either.

Her whole body froze as her eyes traced over the words she’d read a second time and then a third.

Sophie,you’re never going to believe it! I’m sorry I couldn’t call to get you this information and hear your reaction, I’m currently in a meeting. I shouldn’t even be emailing you right now, so don’t tell anyone at my firm. There are ten restaurants in Europe that want to be showcased on your blog. I don’t know how you did, it sis, but you did! TEN! Can you believe it? That’sgoing to give you a good two and a half months of travel per your preferences of visiting one location a week. And don’t cap it at that. I’m still getting responses trickling in. So far, only five have turned us down.

---