by Moira Byrne
After I met Sophie, she was all I could think about. I wanted her so badly I thought it might drive me insane. I'd been flirting with her throughout Maddox and Rose's reception when I had come up behind her and had softly said, "Hey, sweetheart—"
She had reacted as if I had hit her. I got the fiery fury of a thousand suns bursting to life in her eyes. As she shoved away from me, I thought I saw a look of pain, or maybe fear.
She had stormed out of the reception hall, and I had followed. When we reached the lobby, she'd turned on me with an enraged look on her face.
"How dare you? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Whoa, Sophie, what's wrong?" I'd been floored. I had no idea how simply calling her sweetheart had set her off.
"I'm not that sort of woman, Alex," she had growled through clenched teeth. "Get it through that pretty little head of yours."
I toned it back and made my amends, but I still wondered from time to time why she had reacted so intensely. The fear in her eyes had made me feel like scum. She didn't seem to mind me flirting. In fact, I only dared to start flirting again when she flirted with me. I didn't know why she had reacted the way she did, but I didn't have to. I wasn't going to do something that caused her hurt again.
Now I held my breath as I waited for her reply. I didn't think I'd gone too far again, but there was a look in her eyes that made me wonder.
"What're you doing here? I mean, what're you really doing here?"
"I'm here to work on the landscaping, courtesy of your landlord. Maddox called me a little bit ago. They've moved to the main house and won't be back today. He said they, uh, surprised you this morning. They got an early start on the repairs today, huh?"
"An ungodly early start." She scoffed and folded her arms. "You won't be banging anything will you?"
"Well . . ." I trailed off with a raised brow. I couldn't resist.
She rolled her eyes. "Oh honestly."
"Not even a smirk?" I pressed a hand to my chest and feigned hurt.
Her eyes flicked to the side, then back to me. A small puff of air fell from her lips. I tilted my head to the side and studied her a little more closely. Something was bothering her. It wasn't just the early morning wake-up call or me showing up unannounced.
Could it be the other cougar I saw running after her the other day? It had looked like they were playing, but was I wrong? I needed to find out. I didn't know why exactly, but I simply had to.
"This is more than Maddox and Charlie, isn't it?" I kept my tone casual, hoping not to set off her defenses.
Sophie leaned against the door, and someone else might have been fooled into thinking she was relaxed, but I wasn't. I could see the current of tension that ran beneath her skin.
"Hey," I said gently. "Tell me what's going on."
She looked up so sharply that I nearly took a step back. There was a clear warning in her expression that said I was treading somewhere I wasn't welcome. I had grown used to her shutting down on me. I didn't care, I would tunnel under her walls if I had to.
This had nothing to do with how much I wanted her. If she offered, I'd be undressed in a heartbeat. Right now, however, I saw a person in need of someone to talk to. The agitation, the tension in her movements, the way she barely insulted me when I flirted too much—it was all setting off alarms.
"C'mon, you're going to spontaneously combust if you keep letting this build." I sighed. "It's not like you've never vented to me before. What about that time Karen stole your . . . hemo-goblin . . . something or other?"
"Hemoglobin analyzer. Unfortunately, this problem is much bigger than Karen and her habit of borrowing without asking."
She looked down again. I tilted my head to the side until I was nearly upside down. I smiled when her eyes flicked to mine. The ghost of a smile appeared on her face.
"Okay, fine," she said with an exasperated sigh. "I'll tell you, but only if it'll get you to stop giving me that dopey look."
"Dopey, yet strangely compelling, right?" I waggled my brows.
That one earned me an exhale of air that could almost be counted as a laugh. I would take what I could get right now.
"I'm worried about . . ." she hesitated, "my sister."
"Your sister? I didn't even realize you had one." I raised an eyebrow. I found it a little strange that she had never mentioned her before. "What's got you worried?"
Her eyes abruptly darted away from mine, but I quietly stared at her. I wasn't going to let her run away from this one. Whatever was going on with this sister of hers must be causing her some serious upset. I had never seen Sophie so agitated.
"No, there's nothing you can do." She shrugged and a small, bitter laugh fell from her lips. "Even I can't help her. Sometimes I wonder if I can even help myself."
"Is she in trouble?"
"She doesn't think so."
"But you do?"
Her eyes darted around suddenly, as if looking for a threat, and my concern grew. Finally, she feigned relaxation once more and shook her head.
"I'm just paranoid. Forget I said anything."
I watched in despair as the door that led beyond her walls slammed shut. I fought the urge to ask anything else. I knew it would get me nowhere. My eyes roamed over her face. My heart clenched at the sight in front of me—she wasn't wearing makeup and I could clearly see the dark circles beneath her eyes.
She was still as beautiful as ever, but she looked exhausted. Whatever was going on with her sister was only making it worse. As unhappy as it made me, I wasn't going to press her for details if she didn't want to give them. I took a step forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Hey," I began with a soft smile, "why not let me help you out tonight?"
She looked at my hand, then arched a brow as she lifted her eyes to mine. "How exactly? I swear, if you say anything about warming my bed—"
"I'll make you dinner."
Her eyes widened slightly. I resisted the urge to gloat at having taken her by surprise.
"Dinner?" She sounded out the word as if saying something foreign. From the way she said it, one would think I had proposed something outlandish. "You want to make me dinner? I don't think that's necessary."
"You might not feel that way after you've tasted my cooking."
"Really now?" She seemed to consider it for a moment, then quickly shook her head. "I really don't need any distractions right now."
"I think that's exactly what you need."
"That might be true for some people, but not me."
"Give me one hour of your time tonight. I'll make you rethink that."
"I think I'll pass, Alex. Getting food poisoning isn't on my list of things to do right now."
I caught myself frowning and quickly pasted my smile back in place. That one stung a little. "I'll have you know I'm a great cook."
She closed her eyes and let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean . . . Look, I really don't think it's a good idea, Alex."
Frustration ate at me, but I knew that look. I wasn't going to get her to agree.
I sighed and shrugged. "Well, let me know if you change your mind."
Reluctantly, I dropped my hand from her shoulder and took a step back. I still had work to do around here. And pestering her wasn't going to get it done, as enjoyable as it was. I turned to leave, then stopped when I felt her fingers lightly touch my wrist.
"Wait. Be here at seven."
I looked over my shoulder. I saw a hint of cougar-blue peeking through her eyes and grinned. It was a welcomed sight. She was so much more playful when she shifted.
"Seven it is," I replied, cheerful once more.
Sophie gave me a small nod before she stepped away from the door to shut it. As the door was closing, I had a sudden idea. If her cat was still so close to the surface, now was probably a good time to get her to loosen up a little.
"Sophie."
She peeked out from behind the door, to give me a curious look. "Yeah?"
"Why not come
plant with me for a little bit?"
For the first time since I arrived today, she looked genuinely amused.
"Trust me, you don't want me helping. I have a bad history with plants."
I held out my hand. "C'mon, I'm a really good teacher."
"Are you?" She hesitated for a moment, then reached out to take my hand. She let me pull her across the threshold, then I pulled her in even closer until there was only a breath between us.
"Mhm. I'm kind, I'm gentle, and great with my hands."
"You're not talking about plants anymore, are you?" she asked dryly.
I chuckled and stepped back, but kept hold of her hand.
"Of course I am. Your mind is filthy, Sophie."
She huffed and sputtered behind me. I tossed a grin over my shoulder as I tugged her over to the first bed I planned to work on.
"Wait here a second, I need to grab my tools."
She nodded and studied the bed dubiously. "I'm still not so sure about this."
"You'll be fine," I told her as I returned from my truck with what I needed.
"So, which ones are weeds?"
"Here, you keep an eye out for these," I said as I plucked out a weed. "Be sure to get the root or they'll just grow back."
She nodded and hesitantly reached out and grasped a plant. The wrong plant. I grabbed her hand before she could pull the plant out of the ground.
"No, that's one of the ones we want to keep." I gave her a funny look.
"Uh, okay. How about this one?" She pointed to another plant.
"Nope, we want to keep that one, too."
"Well, how to do you tell which ones are weeds and which ones are keepers?" Frustration threaded through her voice. "They're all so . . . green."
I tilted my head to the side, studying the plants and trying to imagine them through her eyes.
"They do look kinda alike, I guess. You can still help. I need holes for the new plants. How about that? You up for digging? That's probably more of a dog thing, but . . ." I flashed her a grin.
Sophie rolled her eyes, then laughed. "As long as I don't have to tell plants apart, I'm good."
I quickly showed her where I needed the holes and gave her the trowel.
"No shovel?"
"No. We're not planting trees."
"Well, I guess I can't do too much damage with this."
"At this rate, I'm not so sure," I said with a laugh. "But I think we're safe as long as you're not handling the flowers."
"To be fair, I did warn you." She sighed and narrowed her eyes at the dirt. "Here goes nothing . . ."
I watched her for a moment as she tentatively poked at the ground.
"It'll take you forever if you dig like that. You have to use some elbow grease."
She slowly looked up at me. I saw a flash of challenge in her eyes. She gave me an evil grin and went to digging with a vengeance. It quickly turned into a race to see if she finished digging her holes before I finished weeding the bed.
I enjoyed having her work with me, and we moved much faster than I expected. I noticed she would occasionally start digging so viciously that I could've sworn she was imagining someone she really hated.
Once I finished weeding the beds, I moved on to dig holes of my own. I grabbed the shovel for the large holes for the bushes.
"So, you get a shovel?" Sophie griped.
"I can be trusted with a shovel," I replied with a grin.
She narrowed her eyes, then shrugged. "Fair."
I was about to place the shovel in the ground when something glinting in the high grass around her house caught my eye. I set my shovel down and went to inspect the object that shimmered in the sunlight. I reached down to pick it up and frowned. How odd.
"What're you doing?" Sophie asked in an annoyed tone. "Wait, I know. You're trying to get me to do all the work, aren't you? You get your big fancy shovel while I'm toiling away with an itty-bitty trowel."
"Yes, obviously. Next, I plan to whip out a lawn chair and sip some tea."
"You're hilarious," she replied dryly.
"Actually, I stopped because I saw something." I turned around and held up the vial. "Is this yours?"
Sophie wrinkled her forehead and blinked several times as she looked at the vial. "Why would I own that sort of glittery, pink . . . what is that, exactly?"
"A vial, I think."
"Probably just trash left from the people who rented the place before me. I think the wife sold makeup or something judging by the catalogs that kept coming in the mail."
I scoffed. "Well, whoever made this should be ashamed of themselves. It's ugly as sin."
"You and I agree on that one."
Sophie set her trowel down and stood up and stretched, causing her T-shirt to ride up and expose her pale stomach. She tugged her shirt back down with a jerk. I trailed my eyes up to see Sophie looking at me with raised brows.
"I'm only human," I said with a smirk.
"No, you're not." Her voice was laced with amusement.
"Part human. But that doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?"
"I guess not."
I looked at my watch and realized it was nearly five. I had to get going if I wanted to be ready for dinner by seven. "I wanted to finish here today, but we should probably call it."
"Well, if you want to finish, we could cancel our dinner—"
"Nice try, but it's still happening. I need to head out now to go pick up some fixins' for dinner though."
"Fixins', huh?" She laughed. "Fine, fine. But don't expect me to be all dressed up when you get back."
"Dress code for dinner is casual. You could even wear your pajamas."
"Don't tempt me."
I dropped my voice low. "Sophie, I want nothing more than to tempt you."
A faint flush worked its way into her cheeks and I knew it wasn't because of the heat. I would take that one as a victory for me.
"Off with you," she said with a wave of her hand. "Go get your fixins' for this dinner you have planned."
I walked Sophie to her door, then headed down the steps with my hands shoved into my pockets, smiling to myself. I was surprised to find I was enjoying this slow pursuit. In a way, I almost didn't want it to end.
I had no doubt that the grand finale would be amazing, but I didn't want there to be a last encounter between us. I knew myself, though, and I simply wasn't the kind of a guy looking for something permanent. I couldn't risk the inevitable heartbreak.
An image of that cougar who followed her the other day passed through my mind again. I didn't even know where she and that other cougar stood. I frowned and pushed the thought aside. This evening wasn't about any of that. It was about helping Sophie relax. That was it.
I quickly packed away my tools, then headed back to my truck, got them secured in the back, and slid into the driver's seat.
I would go home for a shower, then into town to pick up a few things. I cast a glance at Sophie's front door and smiled to myself. I would make sure she had a perfect evening.
Somewhere between the drive home and stepping into my bathroom for a shower, my mind started veering off course. It went from making sure she had a relaxing time to entertaining just how good of a night it could be.
Suddenly, the thought of sitting across the table from her shifted from dinner to breakfast. She didn't have any makeup on again, but she looked refreshed, relaxed. She smiled at me over a cup of coffee, her hair tousled and eyes full of promise. I grew hard at the mental image.
I shook my head and snapped myself out of the daydream. I had no idea what that was about. Since when did I get stiff just thinking about the morning after? Come on, Alex. Get your head on straight.
I reminded myself that this dinner wasn't even about that sort of thing in the first place. I sighed as I stepped into the shower, a little disappointed in myself for letting my thoughts run wild.
I decided to crank the cold water up a little more than I usually would. I needed to get a handle on myself before
I went back over there. I might want her, but I wasn't a bastard. I could keep my hands and thoughts about her beautiful, statuesque, lithe, perfect body to myself.
I groaned. This wasn't going to be easy.
Once I finished my shower, I made quick work of getting ready. I paused by my bedroom window where I had moved my special red peony. It sat among thriving plants on my windowsill. I bent down and touched my fingers to the soil and smiled. I could feel the happy roots and knew it was ready for a little more magic.
I lifted my fingers, and as I did, a tiny, green sprout pushed through the soil. I stopped my magic there. I felt like I was going to burst with pride as I looked down at it.
"Just a little longer and you'll be able to grow all on your own."
I left shortly after saying my goodbyes to the little plant and drove down to the main road that ran through Fayoak. I liked how cozy it was here. It was big enough that not everybody knew your business, but it was still a tight-knit community.
I popped into several stores on my quest to find the perfect dinner, and each of the shopkeepers' greetings were genuinely friendly.
It had only been a few months since I moved home to help my grandmother with her orchard, but it already felt more like home to me than anywhere I'd lived before in my twenty-five years.
As I went from shop to shop, I had a growing feeling of being watched. It was in the last store I visited that the irritating feeling became an unsettling fact. I happened to look up while inspecting potatoes to see a man staring at me intently.
What was his problem? Did he not like the way I was looking at the russets?
His brows were drawn and his glare was menacing, as if he had a personal hatred for me. I didn't recognize him at all. I glanced around but didn't see anyone else behind me that he might be looking at. When I turned back, he was gone. I tried to shake it off, shoving it aside as a creepy coincidence.
Yet, the image of those dark eyes burned into the back of my mind. I couldn't shake it for some reason. I forced it back even further as I pulled up to Sophie's place. I didn't need to be thinking about some weirdo staring at me, I had enough to worry about.
