Page 3 of Sophia, Property of Tracker

Finally, she looks over at me. “Sorry, what?” she asks in a daze.

Raising my eyebrows, I repeat, “I said, that will be all.”

“Oh, right… well… just holler if you need anything else.” She looks back at Ryan, and he thanks her before taking a bite of his food.Typical male!Doesn’t even notice when a woman is drooling over him.

“Thanks, Gabbi,” I reply, and she finally gets the hint and walks back to the counter.

“As I was saying… what is your brother’s name?”

He looks up at me continuing to chew his food, and my eyes travel to his throat when he swallows, and my mind wanders to what it would feel like to kiss him.

“Tate,” he says, grabbing his coffee and taking a sip.

“Well, I hope you find him. What were you fighting about?” I ask, then immediately regret the question. I don’t want to seem too forward.

Placing his BLT down on his plate, he grabs the nearby napkin and wipes his mouth. His lips are full and luscious, and my eyes linger on them far longer than I intended to. They form a smirk, and I realize he knows exactly what I’m doing.

“It’s a long story.” I vaguely hear him say something, but I’m too busy just taking him in.

“Sophia?”

“Mmm…”

He begins to laugh, a husky laugh, and I quickly pull my eyes away from his lips to look into his eyes. My cheeks burn with embarrassment, and I stutter. “S-sorry, what were you saying?”Damn those lips.

He cocks his head to the side. “How old are you, Sophia?”

“What? Why are you asking me that?”

His eyes travel down my face to my breasts, then back up at me again. He shrugs. “Just wondering, that’s all. You look young.”

“Why? How old are you?” I reply, wanting to know his age first.

Shaking his head, he says, “Ah… I asked you first.”

“Twenty-four.”

He nods, then picks up his BLT, throwing the last bit into his mouth.

“Well…”

Watching him chew is like an aphrodisiac. My God, I’ve never felt so attracted to a man like this before. My last boyfriend, Domenic, was the star quarterback player of Vixen Falls High. We dated through senior year and went our separate ways when we graduated. He’s now a celebrity in the football league playing for Vixen Rapids. I constantly see him on television dating several women and know that it would have never worked between us. There’s no way I could have shared him with the world, least of all other women. But we still have a friendship and call each other now and then when it’s not ball season.

I’m brought back to the present when Ryan says, “Twenty-Nine.”

Smiling, I ask, “So where to from here?”

He scans the café, his eyes traveling around the room, and then he focuses on me.

“Well,” he states, his eyes melting into mine as he bites his lower lip. “That depends.”

Swallowing hard, I feel the air suddenly become thick between us as the chemistry heats up. I know he feels it too because the way his eyes are devouring me, he’s making it known he wants me to. But what should I do? I mean, I want nothing more than to take him back to my apartment and have my way with him. And believe me, Iwantto have my way with him. But then I think about the fact that he’s a stranger. I mean, he could be a serial killer for all I know, and here I am practically throwing myself at this stranger and thinking of inviting him back to my home.

I inhale and ask, “Depends on what?”

Smiling, he replies, “On whether you’re going to invite me to stay.” Sitting back in his chair, he folds his arms and looks deep into my eyes.

“Don’t you have to go look for your brother?”

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