Page 67 of Any Cowboy of Mine
He turned to Sophie, his hands resting on his hips, his crooked smile matched by an extended hand. She took it, the familiar comfort of his thumb grazing her palm, tracing imaginary circles into her skin washing over her.
“Before you say anything, Brad, can I ask you a question?”
“You know you can ask me anything, Sophie. What’s up?”
“Is this,” she said, raising their hands and indicating his thumb that was still tenderly stroking hers, “a residual gesture from Julia?”
Brad shook his head. “I wondered if you thought that when I first held your hand at the wedding. No, Julia never let me hold her hand. She considered it juvenile, all forms of PDA beneath her. You can imagine how romantic our love life was, huh?” He chuckled as his free hand combed through his hair.
“She never held your hand?” Sophie asked, incredulous. “Ever?”
“Not once,” Brad said. The corners of his eyes fell with each memory Sophie asked him about.
“I’m so sorry. I thought Drew was closed off,” Sophie teased.
“No kidding.” Brad touched her hands to his lips and kissed them as softly as she’d ever been kissed. The heat from his breath warmed her hand, spread to her arm, finally coursing through her whole body. She wanted to take those lips back up to his apartment, let him warm her from the bottom up.
“So, your talk went well?” he asked, changing the topic back to his mom.
“She came to me and apologized straight away. What the heck did you say to her, Connors, because for the life of me, I wasn’t expecting that to go a fraction of as well as it did?”
“Me neither, to be honest. She’s been so cold to me lately that she won’t even call on Sundays like she used to, so I knew coming today, catching her off guard, was the only way she’d listen to me. Shit, even that was a gamble.”
He ran his hand through his hair, and her stomach fluttered. That one gesture of contemplation and concern she’d learned just in the short time they’d spent together. She couldn’t wait to discover all Brad’s other tics and idiosyncrasies. And for him to discover hers. She knew nothing she discovered about him would ever drive her away. Hers was a love that would never wane or waver.
“But, she gave me the green light to talk while I worked on the tractor, which she was light-years away from fixing, by the way—engines are not her strong suit. I told her what had happened,reallyhappened between Julia and me, and I’ll be damned if she didn’t listen, hug me even.”
“I’m so glad.”
“I think she just needed to hear what she already knew about Julia and her family, to know that I’ve found someone that I truly love, and who loves me.”
Sophie gazed up at Brad, tears building along her bottom lids, threatening to spill over. He pulled her against him, where she could feel his breath catch in his chest. He leaned down, buried his hands in her hair, and kissed her like he never had before. His tongue parted her lips and touched hers gently at first, then with more heat. In that kiss, Sophie felt promise, passion, and love. Penske barked up at them, his tail wagging.
Breathless, Sophie pulled back from Brad, laughing. They reached down at the same time to scratch one of Penske’s ears.
“I love you, too, you know. I think I might have even told your dad that earlier.”
Brad laughed. “Good, then dinner should be interesting, since I told my mom exactly how I felt about you. I’m sure they’re swapping stories and gossiping about us kids.”
“Then we’d better get in there and help so we can defend our honor,” Sophie said. She paused and a cloak of worry fell over her features. “Hey, do you need to call the library? You sorta ditched out on them this afternoon.”
He laughed. “I already did down at the barn. In fact, I told them I won’t be coming in at all anymore. Hopefully the sizeable donation I made over the phone smooths that over.”
Sophie reached up and kissed him on the cheek. “You’re amazing. By the way, your mom said Paige and her husband are coming tonight, too.”
“Owen? Nice. I can’t wait to see how you two get on. She’s gonna love what you have planned for the domestic violence shelters, Soph. But we have one more thing we have to talk about before we go inside.”
“What’s that, Connors?”
“Will you go to Steve and Jackie’s wedding with me? I just got the invitation today, and I’m allowed to bring a guest. I’m sure we’ll have a real first date or two before then, but consider this me asking you, officially, to be my date.” Brad’s eyes twinkled, and Sophie tapped her foot.
“I don’t know, Connors, I got invited with a guest, too, and I was going to see if Bradley Cooper could make it…” Sophie trailed off. Brad feigned shock, his mouth agape, but turned up at the corners, showing his amusement.
“You know, as offended as I would like to be by that, he’s in talks with my studio to be the male lead inJewel Thief.”
“Shut up! Okay, now we have to talk about how you introduce us,” Sophie said, laughing. “But on a serious note, Bradley Connors, I would love to go to the wedding with you. I think we’re safer going together than apart, as history has shown.”
Brad laughed, a ringing sound that went straight to Sophie’s heart.
