Page 1 of Chasing Sophia

ASHCROFT

“Acceptthat you’ve lost all your charm, Ash.” Jonathan’s heavy arm lands on my back as a playful gesture.

“I haven’t, and don’t hold your breath in wait of that acceptance.” I lean back, sipping the fine whiskey in The Queen’s Hall.

This building was an old city library built several decades back by a rich literary connoisseur. However, with time and inadequate upkeep, it was on the verge of finding a place beside other dilapidated sites in the soon-to-be demolished ledger at the city town hall.

It was my mother’s undying love for books that saved it from the imminent fall when my father purchased it. He restored it to a glory that left the initial owner speechless. It was no surprise when Dad named this grand hotel The Queen’s Hall, his nickname for my mother. Proving true to his fame as an astute and shrewd businessman, he renovated the interiors, and this place is no longer just a library awaiting random book seekers, but a meeting hub for the elites in St. Peppers.

The reading area on the ground floor is still open to the public during the day, but it’s at night when this place comes to life in the top three floors. Socialites and businessmen in theirfinest clothes parade around, enjoying a drink, striking business deals, or like me today, meeting long-lost friends. Though once again, I’m questioning why the hell I’m here.

“What are you thinking? Summoning the lost charmer who had the power to impress women with a simple smirk?”

“I think you’ve forgotten who I am.” I pin Jonathan with a steely gaze that would make a common man squirm. But he wouldn’t be my friend if he’d back away so easily. “I’m willing to give you a demonstration right now and blow away the cobwebs of doubt that have covered your brain.”

After placing the glass, which is still a quarter full, onto the table, I get up from the leather bergère chair. A brief lull falls upon us when my six-five frame comes to its full height, and a second later, everything resumes. But it’s only a matter of days until everyone finds out who I really am, when they learn Ashcroft Miller is back in town, and this time for business. They might not recognize my face, as I was absent for the past ten years, but the name Miller holds a high stature in this town.

Jonathan’s voice breaks through my drifting thoughts. “You cannot tell her you’re Ashcroft Miller, the richest man in town, or share the fact that you are a veteran who’s medically retired. For some reason, chicks dig that story.”

“It isn’t a lie.” My voice is drier than the Sahara Desert.

“That gives you another advantage with the ladies, as if you’re hurting in that department.” Jonathan straightens and sharpness gleams in his gaze. I notice the shift in air. Suddenly, he seems determined to turn this lighthearted fun into a big challenge.

“So, what am I going to say? I’m a nameless, jobless creature wanting to go on a date with her?”

“No,” Mathew, who has been quiet all this time, pipes in. “Not just a date. You have to kiss her. Tonight.” Fuck. I’moutnumbered two against one. Never a good scene, especially with these two.

“Yeah,” Jonathan drawls. “It’ll be like old times. The three of us in a bar, trying to find dates for the weekend.”

“We were in our twenties then.” I fake a yawn. “Not thirty-one.”

“So you agree, yourthirtiesaren’t suiting you as well as your twenties?”

“Hold that Cheshire grin, Jon. I’m not a canary you can swallow so easily.” And because I’m Ashcroft Miller, sole heir to one of the most powerful families in St. Peppers and someone who hasn’t learned the meaning of the wordfailure, I decide to indulge my friends like the good old days they’re obviously missing so much. “Who?”

They don’t blink an eye when I stick my hands inside my pockets. After giving me one last glance, they turn their heads around as I heave a sigh. I had planned to go home alone and read through the last few years’ finance records my executive assistant left on my desk earlier in the day, but now I’m stuck here for God only knows how long.

The air around me shifts, and I register the exact moment something captures my friends’ wandering gazes before they jerk their heads back at each other. My heart trips for the first time, and an odd sensation hits me.

Jonathan smirks. “Last chance, Ash. You can reconsider.”

“Have you ever known me to back away from a challenge?” The thumping in my chest is so loud that I’m sure my family doctor is going to have a field day tomorrow.

My friends look at each other smugly. “There’s aladybehind you in a red dress.” Mathew takes a dramatic pause, and I mumble a curse.

I’m going to rip their heads off if they try to fix me up with a twenty-something girl again, who’s barely of legal drinking ageand looks at the world with rose-colored glasses. Their desire totalkandknow everythingabout me exhausts the hell out of me.

“Like I said, you have to kiss her.” Mathew gives me a sardonic grin. “You can look at her now.”

Asshole. As if I was waiting for his command.

But when I turn around and get a glimpse of the girl with platinum hair, my heart fucking stops. A voice echoes inside me that after tonight, my life isn’t going to be the same. Before I can even recover from the lightning that just hit me, a swarm of black suits throng in through the door, separating us and block my view. I’m marching toward her, ignoring the chuckle of my friends.

2

SOPHIA

What the hellare you doing, Soph?

---