Page 13 of If You Could Only Believe
I reached up and pushed one of her chocolate, wayward strands behind her ear. “It just does,” I answered, not answering her at all.
Sophia’s eyes narrowed, and she pursed her lips before muttering, “How do you know I don’t have a boyfriend at home or something?”
My heart was hit with a little pang at the emotion in her voice. I knew she was expecting me to say something along the lines of her not being attractive enough to have a boyfriend. But she was so wrong.
So very, very wrong.
“Your desk only had one thing of personal value on it and it was a framed picture of a cat,” I explained. “I figured if you had a boyfriend, he’d be in the frame.”
Her pretty little heart-shaped face got stubborn. “How do you know the relationship isn’t just new and so I’m not ready to put his picture up on my desk?”
I smiled, and it warmed me to watch her blink stupidly. “If it’s still new then I don’t have to feel guilty about stealing you away now, do I?”
Sophia’s mouth started to resemble a puckering fish, and I did laugh then. It made the male ego in me puff up with pride knowing I was rendering this free lipped girl speechless.
She finally managed to get herself under control.“Who says crap like that?”
I shrugged a shoulder and moved back to my side of the backseat. “Would you rather I lie?”
She still looked staggered. “Lie about what exactly?” Then she put her fingers to her temples and started rubbing in a small, circular motion. “I’m so confused,” she muttered.
The car came to a stop and Sophia turned to look out the window. I opened my side door and waved Brendan away, letting him know I’d be escorting Sophia. I walked around, and opening the door for her, I reached in to help her out of the car.
She graciously took my hand, but the second her feet were planted firmly on the sidewalk, she went to pull her hand away. I yanked it back and looked down at her. “What don’t you get about being my date to this thing?”
Her eyes took on a terrified look. “Yo…you mean, you wereserious?!”
Chapter 7
Sophia~
I was standing outside the Fitzmill Hotel gawking at Michael Buchanan and all his ridiculousness.
Plus, I was holding his friggin’ hand!
Or more to the point, he was holding my hand, and it was confusing the hell out of me.
Michael Buchananwas confusing the hell out of me.
He squeezed my hand and chuckled. “Yes, I was serious,” he answered. “Amserious. Sophia-”
I started tugging my hand away, and we looked utterly idiotic fighting for the rights to my hand. “No, Michael,” I whispered yelled. “No, no, no, no, no, no! Just No!”
“That’s not going to work for me,” he countered. “If you’re finally going to use my name, it better be surrounded by nothing but yeses, Soph.”
Soph??
I finally gave up the battle for my hand, but I employed another tactic. Begging. “Michael,please,” I implored. “You cannot go in there with me. You just can’t!”
His scowl was every bit as sexy as his smile.
The jerk.
“Why the hell not?” he growled.
I was very aware of people arriving, and acutely aware of the few who were pretending to fiddle with their this and that, in a poor attempt to eavesdrop. “Michael, you’re head of HR and I’m an employee,” I reminded him. “This cannot be appropriate behavior.” I lifted on my toes in an attempt to keep our debate somewhat private. “Besides, you didn’t evenaskme if I wanted to go out on a date with you!”
He stepped back and, finally, shock registered on his stupidly handsome features. It was quickly replaced with a bit of sheepishness. His free hand reached around and started rubbing the back of his neck. “Fuck,” he muttered. “Look, Sophia, I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I should have asked or that I’m asking now, because I know if I had, you would have turned me down and I’m not letting you turn me down for a date. Or anything else for that matter.”
