Page 50 of Any Cowboy of Mine
“What?” Sophie shot Jackie the same pissed-off look he’d thrown her way moments ago, but if Jackie knew they were watching her, she didn’t let on. She laughed heartily at something Steve said, playfully slapping him on the shoulder. “She knows I don’t need to hear it from you to move on. In fact, I’d prefer it if they eloped and I never had to see you again. No offense. What the hell is she playing at?” Sophie trailed off, the last sentence said more to herself than Brad.
“Do you think she would have brought you here if she didn’t think it would be worth your while?”
Sophie gazed up at him, and he could see the pain working its way through her thoughts as she undoubtedly weighed her curiosity against a fierce protection over her heart.
This was going to be more difficult than he imagined. He tightened his hands around her arms just enough to remind her he was there, waiting for an answer.
“Fine,” she spat. “But make it quick. I plan on having enough drinks that I forget all about you, Brad Connors, and I’d like to start sooner rather than later. I’ll deal with Jackie tomorrow. Steve, too, if I have to.”
He released her, wishing he could pull her into an embrace and kiss those pouting lips like he’d done at the wedding. The hardest part, besides knowing she still thought the worst of him, was not kissing her right then and there. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind she’d understand what he wanted to tell her if he didn’t have to use words to explain himself. Instead, he watched her tan, muscular legs as she sped away from him.
Words, though cumbersome, were necessary this time.
She stopped halfway through the crowd, a look of pure annoyance on her face, her arms crossed over her perfect chest. “You coming?” she asked him.
He made up the distance between them in two strides, surprising her enough that she gasped. He tucked his chin in by her neck and whispered, “I’ll follow you anywhere, Sophie. You know that.”
Brad felt her breath catch. She started to walk away again, but this time, Brad grabbed her hand and smiled when she didn’t pull away from him.
He found himself in Steve’s room and saw small touches of Jackie already infiltrating what was once the ultimate bachelor pad slash auto mechanic’s office, with naked pictures of pinup girls, engines, and Harleys. There wasn’t even a pinhole to show where they used to hang. Instead, tasteful art—nothing too feminine, but definitely reeking of Jackie’s taste—adorned the walls.
There were actual frames polishing the paintings and pictures, which was enough of a clue a woman had been there. Not to mention that the pool table that he and Steve had spent countless hours drinking, crying, and playing on had disappeared. That thing had seen them both through their breakups, and now it was nowhere to be found. In its place was a small table and some plush chairs on either side, all facing the windows. Sophie led them there, releasing his hand as she sat down across from him. Brad noticed two books on the table, both with bookmarks. Stephen King on one, Barbara Kingsolver on the other. He never remembered Steve talking to him about reading, ever, unless it was to tease him about the time Brad spent on the hobby. Well, at least they had good taste.
His friend was obviously pretending to be someone he wasn’t for a woman since Brad couldn’t find any evidence that Steve had ever lived there. He’d be worried, except he was singularly focused on the way Sophie crossed her legs so that her thighs tensed and flexed and showed each run she’d taken in her life. He followed them down past her shapely, still-tanned calves, to her shining, iridescent shoes, which he wanted to take off so he could nibble on each of her toes that he knew would be decorated with red polish.
“You’ve lost the right to look at me like that, you know,” she said.Caught. Dammit.Her voice dripped with animosity, and her arms were crossed over her chest again. “Your girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate it, I’d be willing to bet.”
Brad sighed and closed his eyes. “I don’t have a girlfriend, Sophie, at least not in the way you think I do.”
“She dump you again already? I can’t say I blame her. Once a cheater, always a—”
Brad cut her off with his mother’s signature flourish of the hand before she could finish her sentence. “Julia isn’t in the picture, Sophie. She hasn’t been in over eight months. In fact, the last time I saw her was when I got back to the room and saw that you were gone. I ran there asking if she’d seen you, but she hadn’t. You heard her fight with Chris though, didn’t you?”
He was breathless when he finished, afraid if he took the time to pause and inhale, she’d interrupt him and continue the interrogation she’d clearly thought out word-for-word. He had plenty of time to catch his breath now, though, as the color drained from her face. He couldn’t help the smug smile that crept onto his lips, didn’t try to hide it, either.
“That’s right. I went to get you and me some breakfast—omelets, because I don’t really know what you like yet, and I emphasize the yet—at the cafe next to the hotel. Ask my folks—they saw me there, and my mom had some pretty choice things to say about me spending the night with you. But don’t you worry, I defended your virtue and told her it didn’t matter, that I was falling for you regardless of how she felt about it. She stormed out and my dad kept me behind to tell me I should go for it with you, that you seemed lovely, which I am inclined to agree with. I took his advice and all but ran back to curl up in bed with you. Well, you know the rest. You weren’t there, neither was your stuff, but when I found the letters on the floor, I guessed what you must have imagined I was capable of.” He sighed, the memory of that morning still fresh like a raw wound. “But, Sophie, I could never, even if I hadn’t met and fallen in love with you. My chapter with Julia is long over. I’m hoping ours is just beginning.”
Sophie looked for all the world like she’d just been handed the world’s most unsolvable math problem and was asked to solve it in less than a minute.
“But I saw your mom that morning in the lobby as I was leaving. I asked if she’d seen you, and she said no, that you’d probably gone to Julia’s. Why would she lie, Brad?”
“Was my dad there?” Brad asked, as stunned as Sophie looked. His world was slipping from him again. His mom had proven to him lately that she didn’t approve of his choices, but she’d never gone so far as to lie outright to prove her point. And there was no way she would have gotten away with such a bold-faced lie in front of his dad.
Sophie shook her head. “No. Just your mom.”
“I don’t pretend to know why she lied, but you need to find a way to ask my dad, Sophie. I have no reason to lie to you. I would never keep you from the truth.”
Brad walked over to Sophie’s chair and wrapped her hands in his again. Her jaw was still set, her face smooth and unmoving, giving her the look of a mannequin in a wax museum. Even her chest was still, making Brad wonder if she was still breathing as she processed his lengthy but necessary monologue.
“I… I’m not… I mean, I don’t know…” she began, but then she frowned and looked down, leaving her broken thoughts unfinished. “But, wait. Did you just say you were in love with me?”
Brad smiled ear to ear, released one of her hands and cupped her chin, bringing her gaze back to meet his. He leaned in, but just before his lips grazed hers, he heard a cough behind him. He didn’t move. Whoever it was should get the hint that they were busy and move on.
Except they didn’t.
Another cough, this one louder and more pronounced than the last.
Sophie broke free of his gaze and looked behind him to see who was there. Whoever it was, Brad wanted to pummel. For the second time that night, he followed her gaze to see Drew watching them with a concerned look on his face.
