Page 27 of If You Could Only Believe
I smiled at her and her finger came up immediately and she was pointing at me like I was a suspect in a lineup. “Don’t! Do not,” she said, eyes narrowing. “Put that smile away, and Jesus Christ, have some care with that weapon!”
I couldn’t help it. My head fell back in a laugh so genuine and deep, my happiness was real. I went from being on the fringes of a temper eruption to full-on laughter. When I was done laughing, I looked over at Sophia and she was sitting with her arms crossed over her chest and a face full of irritation.
I tried to control my offending smile, but I just couldn’t help it. “I’m sorry, Sophia,” I said, not sorry at all. “But what do you expect me to do when you’re the one who makes me smile?”
Her eyes widened. “Jesus,” she breathed out. “No wonder you guys are ruling the world. You’ve got the looks, the money, the charm and you’re great in bed.” She cocked her head to the side in thought. “Of course, in all actually, you might totally suck in bed and I’m just too inexperienced to know otherwise.”
I coughed, and I had to clear my throat.Christ, this woman.
Before I could throw her across my desk and rip her clothes off to prove that I was great in bed, the door to my office opened and Aiden and Denise walked in. “Hey, Michael,” Denise greeted. “Hi, Sophia.”
I watched as Sophia immediately shrunk into herself and I didn’t fucking like it.
Not. One. Mother. Fucking. Bit.
She gave them a shy wave with a timid smile, and I could feel the heat of my temper trying to distract me. I hated that she didn’t see herself the way I saw her. Hated. It.
Sophia looked over at me while Aiden took a seat on one of the armchairs and Denise helped herself to a water in the mini fridge behind the bar. Sophia leaned in and whispered, “Aiden’s here. Does that mean I really am in trouble?”
“Soph-” I was cut off when the door opened again, and Gabriel entered my office. He was alone, and I wasn’t expecting that. “Where’s Justice?”
Gabe walked over to the bar as Denise took a seat across from me at the conference table. He pulled a water out of the mini fridge, too. “She said she was finishing up a meeting with Claymore for Shane but would be here in a few minutes.”
He was taking a seat on top of my desk when Mason and Shane walked in carrying bags full of food. They didn’t say anything as they set all the bags down on the conference table and started pulling out all the food and arranging it across the table. They had ordered sampler platters from a great Mexican restaurant a few blocks over. The samplers had a little bit of everything, so everyone was sure to find something they liked. Mason arranged the food while Shane arranged all the plastic cutlery.
Everyone started milling around the table when Sophia finally stood up looking like a deer caught in headlights. “Michael, what is this?”
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at us. “Lunch,” I stated simply.
“Lunch?”
“Well, lunch and formal introductions,” I clarified. “My family’s dying to officially meet my girlfriend.”
Chapter 15
Sophia~
They wanted to meet his girlfriend?AndIwas his girlfriend? Like for reals? No sex fueled declarations?
“So, you’re sayingI’myour girlfriend, like really for reals?” I asked, not caring who heard.
“Pretty sure that was established this weekend, babe,” he quipped.
“It was?”
“The exchanges of virginities pretty much cemented that, Sophia.”
“Michael!” I cried, absolutely mortified. The chitchat and clatter stopped all around us, and I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. It wasn’t that I was ashamed to have been a virgin, I just didn’t need the entire Buchanan clan to know that level of detail about me.
I didn’t have time to be mortified when the door swung open and Justice Buchanan came strolling in. “Hey,” she greeted. “What’d I miss?”
“The confirmation that virginities were indeed exchanged this weekend,” Aiden answered.
“Oh, my Sweet Jesus,” I groaned loud enough for everyone to hear me.
My head whipped around to face Michael’s twin when his voice hit my ears. “You’re going to have to get over that, Sophia,” he announced. “Buchanans have no secrets.”
I wrapped my arms around my waist because I didn’t know what to do with my hands. They were shaking from nerves. “I’m not a Buchanan,” I pointed out.
