Page 52 of Any Cowboy of Mine
“My lawyer?” Steve asked, not pulling away from his fiancée. Instead, he nibbled on her neck, making Brad fume under his breath.
“Your lawyer? No, the guy in the suit, Sophie’s ex.”
“Yeah, Drew, my lawyer, the guy in the suit. I didn’t know he was Sophie’s ex until tonight, bro. I’m sorry. But he’s an okay guy. A bit uptight, but he knows his shit. He’s the only reason I got to keep the shop in the divorce. I figured he could help you out.”
“How the hell is he supposed to help me?” Brad asked. Steve looked up. “I thought you wanted Sophie and me to get back together, but since you invited him here, that’s gone to shit,” he said. He didn’t like that his voice cracked at the end, but screw it, he was pissed.
“The only reason he came tonight was to talk to you about your injunction,” Steve said. “You figure out another way around that bus-sized pothole in your path that you haven’t shared with me?”
Brad stared at his friend. So Steve, in trying to help his career, had inadvertently derailed his personal life. Again. And the injunction was no closer to being handled, either. Jesus, this would be comical if it weren’t so damn tragic.
Jackie chimed in, a delicate smile on her face, like she was content and happy with how her night had gone. Brad fought back another wave of jealousy.
“I asked Drew, already. He promised he in no way wanted Sophie back. He’s just here as Steve’s counsel, nothing more. He can get the book thingy taken care of. So lighten up, have a drink with us.” She pulled Steve back into her neck and giggled as he found what must have been a ticklish spot.
“You mean he ‘was’ here,” Brad said. “And he didn’t say shit to me about my lawsuit.” His voice was raised loud enough to be heard over the house music; a few other people stopped to look over at him, but lost interest when they could tell he was just agitated and that they weren’t about to witness a fight.
Steve pulled away from Jackie, sitting up straighter on the couch.
“Hmmm,” he mused. “He left? Without saying goodbye? That’s weird. Well, what’s it matter to you anyway? Go find Sophie then, and fix your shit. Stop worrying about my lawyer until Monday. Then go see what his plan is. I think he’s already talked to your publisher.”
“That’s the problem, Steve-O. Yourlawyer, the one who had no intention of getting back with Sophie, just left with her. Explain that, asshole.” With that, and the murmurs of his friend and his fiancée behind him on the couch, Brad led the way to the window, where, with a simple wave of his hand, he showed a sleek Mercedes SUV sliding down the driveway, Drew at the wheel, and Sophie, looking upset, beside him.
“What the fuck?” Steve asked.
“Exactly,” Brad replied. “What the actual fuck did you do?”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The Offer
Sophie’s heart raced.Brad had just told her the most amazing news, the kind that she’d been hoping to hear for a week now—years, actually, if she was being honest—and she couldn’t concentrate on it. Instead, her mind swirled with what Drew had told her, asked of her—the only news that could have pulled her away from Brad.
In some ways, it was everything she’d ever wanted from Drew, the recognition that he did indeed need her for certain clients, but she’d moved on from his practice, even if she wasn’t completely happy with her transition. Working trials had shown her how one small opportunity often changed a client’s life—for good, or bad—forever. Would she be a complete idiot if she turned down his more-than-generous offer to help on this one case, or was she just acting smart, reacting the way he’d taught her to all these years by his sheer neglect? Neglect that was often followed by control over her every move?
Her mind spun, and somewhere in the back of it all, was Brad’s voice telling her he’d never gone to see Julia that morning, that he had fallen for her, Sophie. He’d even used the L-word. Then, to completely throw her off her game, he’d said that his mom had been lying. Sophie didn’t put it past the woman, since every interaction she’d had with Marge was terse at best, but would she really lie to keep her son ensnared in her claws? She wanted so desperately to believe Brad, but she needed more than just gut-feelings to go off of if she was going to go down that path again with him. She was more confused than ever, and now that she thought about it, sober as heck. Definitely not the festive night she’d imagined when she’d left her apartment earlier.
“We’re here,” Drew said, exiting the vehicle and walking around to open her door. Whatever other faults he had, Drew had always been a gentleman.
Sophie’s phone buzzed. Her home screen announced that she had three missed calls and two more texts from Jackie. She also had no cell service. Jackie would understand when Sophie filled her in later. Right now, she had much bigger problems on the horizon.
“Wow. I knew it would be bad, but this is horrible,” Sophie said, half to herself. Drew just nodded, and Sophie wrapped her jacket tighter around her body, partly to keep out the biting cold that infiltrated every place her skin was exposed, and partly as a barrier between her and the foreboding environment they’d just willingly wandered into.
The building in front of them could only be considered as such because it had four walls that mostly stood on their own. Other than that, there wasn’t anything that made Sophie think it could be hospitable enough to house women and their children in their time of greatest need. Most of the windows were cracked, or broken, and some were missing altogether. It must be as frigid as the North Pole in there. Sophie shivered against the cold she felt creeping up her spine.
The Elks Ridge Valley was colder than usual this winter, which the locals were hoping meant a wetter spring than the one they’d had last year. Everything was so dry that if it weren’t for the damp chill in the air, one match would be enough to ignite the whole valley. Still, the damp cold wasn’t a good thing on a night like this one, especially in a place like this.
“Now you see why I needed you. There’s no way I’d be any good to her, to any of them. You can reach them in a way none of the others can.”
“Because I’m a woman?” Sophie asked.
“No, because you’re human, and smart—the smartest person, notwoman, I know. No one I’ve worked with has the empathy and grit needed to pull this off. You do.”
Sophie’s eyes welled up at the unexpected compliment from Drew. She couldn’t remember ever hearing anything kind from him; he definitely hadn’t ever told her she was smarter than the men he worked with.
If only she could take that to the bank.
“Thank you, Drew,” she said, her cheeks flushed.
