Cat's Claw
Elemental Passion
Institutional Sex
Kira's Best Friend
The Passion Of Tanner Black
The TreeKeeper
DEDICATION
For Nelson Damschroder, who has been my biggest supporter an
CHAPTER 1
"Of course, Mr. Monroe. Your order will be there tomorrow, i
Sophie Macgregor listened to the old letch's response and tr
"Goodbye, Mr. Monroe. Thank you for using MultiMicroTech." S
"The top of the heap is dealing with the mulch, now?"
Sophie sat up and smiled at her sister, Kira, who stood in t
"Rescue!" Sophie flung her arms in the air, dumped her heads
"Gotcha."
"Quick. Before they send me another one." She ushered Kira a
"Ah, freedom!" Sophie inhaled the unique scent of the city o
"Since when do you handle customer complaints?" Kira asked.
Sophie cuddled Joey against her shoulder. "Since always." Sh
Kira paused in front of a boutique and Sophie frowned at the
"That dress would be stunning on you," Kira said.
Sophie stared at the five hundred dollar cocktail gown. It w
"Nah."
They continued on a few blocks and settled at their usual ta
Sophie nibbled a spinach leaf and eyed the couple across fro
Kira tossed her napkin to the table. "Okay, what's wrong?"
Sophie popped a mangled mandarin orange into her mouth. "Wha
Kira studied her, handing Joey the rattle he'd dropped witho
"How is that?"
"Dissatisfied. Confused. Like my world was tilting and every
"No. It's not the same." Sophie interrupted Kira as she star
Kira barked a laugh. The baby jerked and stared at his mothe
"Sophie, don't you remember what we went through? Darcy's fa
Sophie sighed. "I know all that, Keer. I meant, your obstacl
Kira wasn't looking at her and didn't seem to be listening.
Kira pointed at something in the street. "There's a good sta
Sophie twisted. A city bus idled at the curb across the stre
"Yeah, right. That'll change my life."
"It would be fun, anyway. You love to talk."
Sophie glared. Kira grinned. "Just what is wrong with your l
"I can't eat hamburgers," Sophie grumped.
"Don't pout. I'm nursing." Kira nodded at Sophie's wilted sa
She was right. It was all her choice. She sighed and shoved
Kira shook her head, but her smile wouldn't go away, even as
"Where? At the country club?"
Kira laughed. "Sure. Don't you remember what I told you last
"No."
"That you would fall for a playboy."
Biff Cornwall, one of those playboys, flashed into her mind.
"Brie's younger than you. She has plenty of time."
"Oh, and I don't?" The whole conversation was stupid. Sophie
But Kira was so unperturbed, so at peace as she lifted Joey
"It's been a while since you've come home for a visit," Kira
Sophie shook her head. There was a reason she hadn't been ho
Another bus went by with one of those stupid billboards on t
Sophie ignored her.
* * * *
Parker Cornwall loved to golf. Some found that absurd. Golfi
But every once in a while Parker was able to golf for fun. T
He lifted his driver over his head and stretched. "Who's joi
"Some friend of Darlene's."
Parker grunted. Jason's fiancée was a certified socialite, b
"Here they come."
Parker turned and saw the two women coming down the walk. Da
They drew closer and he recognized the curves under the cons
Sophie Macgregor.
"Hey, Biff!" Darlene leaned up to kiss his cheek and Parker
Most of what she did made him want to kiss her.
He stepped back as Darlene set up her first drive. Sophie st
"Shooters!" Darlene stomped her foot and pouted. Jason comfo
Parker lusted after Sophie.
He still hadn't unstuck his tongue to say anything to her. W
"Yeah, who'd have thought it? Sophie the Shark and Darlene t
If Sophie had heard the jab, though, she ignored it and them
Her first flaw.
The foursome made small talk as they walked. Parker watched
He didn't know why he was so obsessed with Sophie. He didn't
Sophie also played great golf, and was smart enough not to m
"Have you had a chance to look at the proposal I sent over?"
He shrugged. "I glanced at it. It's not that enticing."
She bristled and he hid a smile. "Not enticing? If we can ge
And she was off. Parker was actually grateful as they approa
* * * *
Sophie couldn't keep her mouth shut. She didn't know what pr
Biff moved ahead of her to find his ball, which had rolled o
"Honey, you won't catch Biff Cornwall that way."
Sophie frowned at Darlene. "What are you talking about?"
The younger woman took a practice swing. "You're yammerin' o
Sophie laughed, but it pained her that Darlene the Dimwit co
"I'm not interested in Biff Cornwall," she assured Darlene.
"O-kay-ee." Darlene shrugged. "Your loss." She moved ahead.
Just like she wasn't interested in that radio promotion, rig
Right.
* * * *
The radio station looked much like any other office, Sophie
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." She hurried to catch up wit
"This promotion has been a disaster," Stevie was saying over
Thus ended the distraction of the nerves. They flared to lif
The "on the air" light blinked off and Stevie shoved the stu
The dark-haired woman on the other side of the glass—Sophie
"Welcome back to WNRK! I'm Melina Van Horn, and this hour ou
What the hell am I going to say? She couldn't very well rant
Or could she?
Melina aimed a finger at her and Sophie recognized it as "ta
"Good afternoon, Boston, and welcome to the fifth circle of
"Been on the highway lately? If you have, I'm sure you've no
She paused and took a deep breath. "Wow, that feels good!" S
Melina caught her eye and mouthed a name while holding up tw
"Bruce, line two. What's your rant?"
"Slow drivers in the left lane, Sophie. Why can't they get o
"You've got a point there, Bruce. On the other hand, I get r
"Hi, Sophie. I'm a state trooper, and I'd like to remind peo
"Duly noted, Trooper John, and duly chastised, aren't we, Br
"Sophie, that's great! You're doing great! Except for that '
Sophie raised her eyebrows at him. "How much longer?"
"About an hour. The next guy doesn't look like he's going to
Sophie shrugged. "Sure." She was having fun.
She lost track of time, and breaks, and callers. Topics fed
"Thanks, Tonio, for your rant. Next caller is Parker. Whatch
"I don't think your callers understand the purity of golf, S
"What do you mean?"
"The course isn't supposed to be perfect to each person's sp
Sophie snorted. "Sport? Golf isn't a sport. It's outdoor pol
"To some. But to others, it's more." He continued, and Sophi
"Well, you have to admit, it's not very athletic," she said,
"Not athletic? Haven't you ever golfed, woman? Try it. Nine
"Yeah, the ones you use to get in and out of the cart." Meli
The commercial came on, the "on the air" light blinked off,
&nbs
p; Stevie and Melina entered the room through opposite doors.
"Great job!" Stevie grabbed her hand and pumped her arm. "Th
"Four hours!" Sophie checked her watch. It had been four hou
CHAPTER 2
Sophie's good mood lasted through dinner, despite the consta
"I caught your show today."
"Yeah?" Miffed at his avoidance and not adult enough to pret
"It was fun," he said. "Even if you don't know what you're t
Something pinged in Sophie's brain and she tilted her head a
"Despite that," he continued suavely, ignoring Vanessa White
For one instant, one split second when her hormones had begu
The instant vanished under the proprietary gleam of Vanessa'
Sophie rolled her eyes at the sultry voice she knew Vanessa
She wondered, though, as she slipped past and headed for the
* * * *
The call came out of the blue.
Sophie had nearly forgotten about her little playtime on the
"Why do you want me, again? You know I've never done this be
"We got an overwhelming response to your show," Stevie expla
Sophie tried to read the contract they'd handed her, but eve
"I'll read the contract and consider your offer, then give y
"Good enough." Stevie and George, the station manager, stood
"We don't have enough female personalities here," she told S
It didn't take Sophie long to decide. She read the contract,
"Go for it!" her phantom sister said.
"But what about Chuck and Dave? I owe them."
"They've gotten what they paid for, Sophie. You don't owe th
"I wanted something to change. Now that I'm getting it, I'm
Sophie didn't need her sister to sort that one out. Everyone
She and her lawyer attended another meeting at the station a
"This is standard in every single contract," one of the stat
Sophie signed the contract.
She gave notice to MMT the next day. They begged and pleaded
"Sorry, guys. That won't fix what's wrong."
"Tell us how to fix it!" Dave ground his teeth in frustratio
"I don't think we can, can we, Soph?"
"No. It's not a problem with MMT. It's a problem with me." A
Once she was done at MMT, she immediately went to work at WN
For several hours a day she met with Melina to work out the
"I don't want to rant for three hours," Sophie said two days
Melina shifted on the beat-up sofa where they sat in the bre
"You need something positive, then."
"Right." Sophie got up to pace. "What's the opposite of a ra
Melina scribbled as fast as Sophie talked. "We'll start the
"Then I'll open the third hour with a rave. We won't let any
"It's my job to keep the callers on track." The producer pul
"A little of both, I think. We'll set a theme, but it might
"How come you don't host a show?" Sophie asked. "You have th
Melina laughed. "I didn't always speak so clearly. I came fr
Sophie understood that, but couldn't empathize. She had ener
"I thought you were Greek," she commented. "But Van Horn isn
Melina smiled thinly. "No. My ex-husband was ... not Greek."
"Think we got it?" Sophie asked, biting her lower lip.
"Absolutely. You'll be fantastic." She waved over her should
Sophie transferred her chewing from her tender lip to her ov
* * * *
"Good afternoon, and welcome to Rant and Rave! The talk show
Sophie relaxed and settled into her chair. She lowered the m
Melina signaled that she had a caller. Sophie nodded and smo
"Kyle, you're on the air. What's your rant today?"
"Garbage."
"Well, that fits the theme. What about it?"
"We're wasting it. It's a prime energy source. We have liter
"That's fascinating stuff, Kyle, and information we did not
Melina gave her a thumbs up and she shrugged. She hoped she
Lissa went right into her rant. "I hate when the grocery cle
"Hear, hear, Lissa. And it gets worse when they double bag."
"Yeah! And you tell them not to and they ignore you like you
The calls continued. From waste of supermarket bags came com
Halfway through the second hour, Sophie got her first repeat
"Thank you, Rick, for enlightening us. Melina, who's next?"
"Parker on line three."
"Go ahead, Parker. What's your rant?"
"Wasted time."
Even with so few words, Sophie recognized those warm tones.
"Can you be more specific? Rick just told us about all the t
"I'm talking about time wasted on the golf course. Golf shou
"Parker, are you obsessed with golf?"
He chuckled, and sparks zinged through Sophie's middle. She
"No, I'm not obsessed. But I guess I come pretty close."
"Well, if we want to talk about waste and golf, lets talk ab
"You don't think people who live near the desert should have
Sophie ignored the flashing lights that indicated callers wa
"Of course golf has a bearing on quality of life," Parker gr
"—in heat over a hundred degrees, which forces everyone to d
"Boy, you don't give an inch, do you?"
"This is rant time, Parker. We're ranting."
"Seems more to me like we're bantering."
Sophie grinned at his flirtatious tone. "This isn't dial-a-d
Sophie had a hard time concentrating on the rest of the show
"The last caller we can take tonight is.... "She looked at M
"Parker," she mouthed, and held up four fingers.
Sophie sighed audibly. "The last caller is Parker. Parker, d
"Nothing as fun as this," he teased. He wasn't on a cell pho
"I suppose you're calling to rave about golf."
"Not this time. I'm calling," his voice lowered a register a
Sophie's tongue got caught in something. She saw Melina fran
"Are you a playboy, Parker?" She grimaced as soon as the wor
"Define playboy."
Sophie thought of Biff, the purest form of the beast. "Rich,
"Well—"
She cut him off. "Dates a new woman every week, making it cl
"I guess you have something against playboys?" He was a litt
Sophie remembered this was the Rave. She glanced at the cloc
Her music started with perfect timing. Sophie sat and listen
"Exhausted?" Melina entered the booth, followed by a beaming
Sophie stood and stretched. "No, energized. How do you guys
"Great."
"Right on." Stevie added a thumbs up. "You never ran out of
Sophie shook her head. "I don't think so. He sounds familiar
"Could be a made-up name."
She hadn't thought of that. If it was a made-up name, it cou
Hmmm.
She shrugged. "I'm not sure. Is it a problem?"
Stevie's face cleared. "Not at all! There was some chemistry
The travel host came in to start his program, and Sophie fol
* * * *
Parker lounged on his suede sofa and half-listened to the fi
Chuck Whitmer had been at the club last week, whining into h
He'd had fun this afternoon, egging her on, flirting without
The phone rang and he balanced the glass of merlot on his st
"Hello?"
"Hey, love."
"Mare, hi. What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to catch up with you. We're both alw
Parker set his wine glass on the table and zapped the TV wit
She hesitated. "Maybe.
I was wondering if you could pick the
"You know I will, Mare, but you've got to slow down some." H
She sighed and Parker heard tears in the catch in her breath
"Let someone help you coordinate the Lowell office." He knew
Mare seemed to know he didn't need her response to that. "Th
"No problem."
"Now, tell me how things are going for you."
"Well, I picked up some stock in...."
"Nooooo!" Her screech nearly cracked his wine glass, never m
Parker smiled. "There is nothing else."
When she didn't respond, he could almost hear her eyes narro
"Nope. Vanessa took a powder."
"You dumped her."
"Wasn't anything to dump. I told her weeks ago I wasn't inte
"Ah-ha! So there is someone else!" she said gleefully.
"Mare, you've got to stop living vicariously through me."
"Nonsense. Give me the goods."
Parker tried to think of something to tell her. He didn't wa
"She doesn't like playboys," he finally admitted.
Mare snorted. "Leaves you out, then."
"Not necessarily."
"Yeah. We'll see. There are few enough women who aren't afte
"Am I that bad, Mare?" He knew he sounded wistful. She didn'
"She must be something, Park, to shake that famous Cornwall
"She is, Mare. She is."
Sophie was something, all right. He just didn't know why.
CHAPTER 3
Sophie climbed out of her vintage Mercedes convertible and t
As was her former employer, she grumbled silently as she cro
Chuck was waiting in the lobby, his trademark whiskey sour a
"Ah, my lovely, my gracious Sophie." He grabbed her hand and
"Give it up, Chuck. You aren't refined enough for that."
He grinned. "I was hoping practice would make perfect."
She snorted as they walked toward the Patriot Room. "Well, t
Chuck's response slipped past her and she froze near the ent
Sophie managed not to turn on Chuck and tried to sound disin
"Sure. Biff gets approached for money all the time, now it's
"Hm." Sophie let Chuck steer her into the room, her gaze swe
"Tell me again why you needed a date for this?"
Chuck grinned wider. "For an opportunity to talk you into co
Sophie groaned. "Chuck, I told you I was done with MMT."
"Even if your show flops?"
Something flipped in her stomach. "What do you mean? Did you
"Well...."
"Sophie!" Darlene rushed up and gave her a faux embrace. "Yo
Jason Wenrick stepped up behind Darlene. He smiled apologeti
Sophie smiled back. "It's okay. I haven't had much direct li
Sophie's Playboy Page 24
