Seth shrugged. “He was, but he did a few test shoots and said that he really didn’t think it was for him. He said he was interested, so he came down and trained with Travis and Locke. It went well.”
Bobby felt nerves begin to kick up as he listened to his brother. Sure, he was no boxing champ, but he’d been training in MMA for almost six years now. He was in top physical condition and had done well in school. He’d graduated with a 4.2 GPA and scored 1800 on his SATs. He knew that he’d have to travel, but now that Sophie’s job entailed so much travel, it wasn’t like he’d be leaving her home by herself. She was happily pursuing her dream. They could work out the logistics. He knew that all Sophie ever wanted for him was to be happy, which was exactly what he wanted for her.
“How many more guys are you looking for?” Bobby asked, hoping that he wasn’t tipping his hand just yet.
Seth leaned back and his jaw tensed. Bobby wasn’t used to seeing his brother look stressed. Usually, Seth was unreadable. Had he pissed him off by asking him that? It wasn’t like he wanted state secrets or anything.
“At least six,” Seth finally answered.
“I thought you only lost four?” Riley, who, up until this point, hadn’t said much, leaned forward and engaged in the conversation.
“I did, but I just got three new contracts in that I accepted before I lost half my guys,” Seth said in a flat, unemotional tone.
“Are the contracts local?” Riley asked.
“Two are,” Seth replied.
“I can help out,” Riley offered, and Bobby almost spit his coffee all over the table.
“You?” all four brothers said in unison.
Riley didn’t seem offended in the least at his brothers’ reaction. “Yeah. I mean, Dax and Landon have everything under control down at Freedom. Mya’s in preschool now. I have time. I can help you out, bro. At least until you’re able to assemble a full crew.”
Shit.
Riley owned Freedom, a bar down in New Orleans, with two guys that he served with, but he spent next to no time there. Since he’d married Chelle and became a family man, he’d lived in Harper’s Crossing full time.
As the baby of the family, Bobby was more than used to getting overlooked, more than used to his brothers talking over him and ignoring him. But this was too important. No way was he going to get passed over or let his brother beat him to the punch—even if Riley had been in the Marines for ten years and had the experience Bobby was sure Seth was looking for.
“I can help you out, too,” Bobby spoke up. “Not temporarily either.”
“What?” Jason asked.
Bobby could feel the heat of all eight of his brothers’ eyes boring into him. This was it. Time to ante up. Put it all on the line.
“Don’t you have a job?” Alex asked, looking more than a little amused at this turn of events.
“The Randall Drive complex is wrapped. I don’t have another project lined up until March.” Bobby looked directly at Seth. “We can see how it goes.”
Bobby felt a little bad that his current employer, Jason, was watching this all go down. But Jason had known that Bobby had been thinking about leaving Sloan Construction for a while. Bobby was pretty sure that he might have thought it was all talk, but it wasn’t.
Seth, although normally unreadable, looked taken aback and…happy. His oldest brother nodded. “Sounds good.”
Looking around the table at his brothers, Bobby wasn’t surprised to see that Jason looked stunned, Seth’s poker face was back in full effect, Riley was on his phone, and Alex had a small smirk on his face.
Bobby had no idea what his face looked like. But he knew he felt alive. He felt like he’d just made a huge step in the right direction in his life. Maybe it would be the right one. Maybe not. All he knew was that the only other thing in his life that had felt so right and he’d been as certain of was marrying Sophie.
Sophie.
Just thinking of his wife’s name made him half hard. That tease of a Snapchat she’d sent earlier certainly wasn’t helping matters. He knew he should just leave it alone. She was working and he was heading back to work. Still, as his brothers all fought over who was going to pay the check, Bobby pulled out his phone and sent his wife another, more specific, text.
Chapter Two
Sophie was on a roll. After putting on Spotify and listening to some ’90s hits, she had been clearing out her inbox in record time. Her head bobbed along to both the click, click, clicking of the keyboard beneath her fingers and TLC’s “Waterfalls.” Just as she was beginning to make a considerable dent in her workload, her phone alerted her to a message. Thinking that her and Bobby’s sexting session was over, Sophie was not expecting to see what she did.
‘Spread your legs. Show me. Now.’
Perhaps the shock of the unexpected added to the intense arousal spiraling through every fiber of her being at Bobby’s request. Or maybe it was the fact that her husband was commanding an encore performance. Either way, her heart was pounding so hard beneath her button down shirt that she was scared she might pop a button.
After swallowing hard and glancing once more at the door, Sophie slid her fingers beneath the hem of her skirt for round two of ‘I see London, I see France, I see Sophie’s underpants.’ Then she lifted her hips up off her chair, pulling the tight fabric up to her hips. Once she sat back down, her heart raced even faster and her arousal grew before she spread her legs and positioned the camera between them. She bit her lip as the cold metal of the armrests pressed against the bare skin of her outer thigh. Finally, she turned on the flash so that the picture would come out clear, even though she was taking it beneath her desk and a burst of light flared as she captured the erotic image.
After snapping the picture, she made sure her skirt was back in place before she looked at the provocative pose displayed on the screen. When she did, she had to admit she felt more than a little thrill of erotic excitement. Her panties were so transparent that you could see the outline of her pouty lips and the small, dark patch of curly hairs that sat neatly above her sex, surrounded by the fair skin of her inner thighs. Knowing exactly what this picture would do to Bobby when he saw it, she decided to choose a ten-second viewing window before she pressed ‘send’.
Sophie could feel her cheeks heat up from the blood rushing through her body due to her heart beating in rapid succession. Instead of attempting to work, which she knew would be utterly impossible at this point, Sophie waited. Her mouth began watering in anticipation as her breaths came in shorter pants.
Then her phone vibrated in her hand as one word appeared on the screen.
‘Fuck.’
Sophie smiled. Yep. A man of few words.
Then another message appeared.
‘Be ready at 6. Lose the panties.’
Sophie’s breathing was labored as she set her phone back down on the desk, desire forcefully humming through her entire being.
“Hey, Soph.” Amber’s voice sounded from the doorway at the same time that she knocked on the wooden door and opened it.
Jumping with a start, Sophie sucked in a startled breath as she grasped her chest.
“Sorry! I didn’t mean to scare you,” Amber immediately apologized.
Quickly assuring her, Sophie said, “No, it’s okay. I just… I was just…” Having a nearly orgasmic sexting session with my husband. No biggie! “Never mind,” Sophie waved her hand dismissively. “What’s up?”
“You feeling okay, sweetie? You look a little flushed.” Amber’s voice was filled with concern.
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just a little stuffy in here.” Sophie knew that she was grasping at straws and, unfortunately, only choosing the short ones. The temperature was a mild seventy-two degrees in the back offices of Tempting. It was by no means “stuffy.”
One of Amber’s perfectly arched brows rose in suspicion for a moment before she thankfully dropped it and announced casually, “Hales just got the samples. So we were going—”
; “Oh great!” Sophie stood from behind her desk, making sure that she ran her hands down her pencil skirt as she did, just for good measure. No need to give Amber a panty shot.
She also grabbed her phone just in case Bobby initiated round three of naughty pics. Sophie had a feeling that this round might be a tad more interesting considering that Haley had been dropping hints all week that her new collection was her most risqué to date. Excitement strummed through Sophie as she thought about Bobby’s eyes when he’d seen her in her debut of this collection.
Amber’s hazel eyes narrowed as Sophie stepped from around the desk. When Sophie reached the doorway, Amber’s voice held both concern and curiosity-slash-suspicion.
“You sure everything’s okay?”
“Yep. Great!” Sophie nodded enthusiastically, feeling a flush on her cheeks return as she moved past Amber and headed down the hall. “Everything is great.”
As the girls walked to the fitting rooms to try on the samples from Haley’s new lingerie line, Sophie was overwhelmed once again by just how out-of-this-world amazing her life was. She loved her job. Not only did she get to work in fashion as a buyer for Tempting and Bella, but she also got to work with two amazing women who were part of her extended family. Amber Sloan owned Bella and was married to Bobby’s oldest brother, Seth. And Haley Sloan-Thomas, was the oldest of the Quad Squad—what Bobby’s four cousins, Haley, Jessie, Krista, and Becca, were nicknamed. So her professional life could not be better. And, as far as her personal life, Sophie was married to the sexiest, sweetest, hottest man in the world.
Her life was perfect.
What more could she ask for?
Amber and Sophie stepped around the corner to the spacious fitting rooms. There were several high-backed velvet chairs and a velvet-tufted chaise lounge in the middle of the oval room. A large mirror framed by black, ornate woodwork filled the far wall, and fitting rooms lined the remaining walls. The entire room screamed opulent beauty, but the pièce de résistance was the Venetian-style crystal chandelier that hung in the center of the room.
Sophie loved this area of Tempting. She loved playing dress-up in all of the sexy lingerie. And she loved bringing the fashion show home to Bobby.
“All right!” Haley, who was seated cross-legged on the chaise lounge as she opened several large, brown boxes in front of her, clapped her hands together. “This collection was inspired by some fun and inspirational reading I’ve been doing.”
Haley smiled as she pulled out several lace and silk corsets with matching garter belts. Then she removed sheer, lace-trimmed teddies with matching panties and what looked like blindfolds. They were all in the same color palette of black, gray, and red.
Amber placed her finger up to her mouth. “Hmmm… This wouldn’t have possibly been inspired by a book that starts with the word Fifty and ends with Grey, would it?”
Haley smiled enigmatically as her left shoulder lifted in a shrug. “It was research.”
The three girls laughed.
“I bet Eddie loved that research.” Amber wagged her eyebrows.
“Yes. He. Did.” Haley nodded enthusiastically as she held out several pieces for Amber and Sophie to try on. “Here you go. I had the samples made in your sizes. Remember, I want to know how it feels, not just how it looks.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sophie gave Haley a little salute as she took her pretties into the dressing room.
Haley’s brand, Tempting, was focused primarily on sexy wearability. Haley felt that if you didn’t feel comfortable in your lingerie, then how could you feel sexy in it? Sophie appreciated that, since her preferred wardrobe was sweats or jeans and one of Bobby’s oversized T-shirts. She’d just recently gotten used to her new, more professional attire since being promoted to buyer. It was a necessary evil. She was representing both Amber’s and Haley’s businesses, so she needed to look the part.
As Sophie unbuttoned her shirt, her lips turned up into a small smile. Bobby sure loved her new look. The first time she’d come home from work wearing a pencil skirt, high heels, and a button-up blouse, she hadn’t made it past the entryway.
When Sophie walked in the front door, Bobby had been sitting on the couch, watching a football game. She could still feel the way her body had lit up like a Christmas tree when his gaze had fallen on her. His baby-blue eyes had darkened with need as he’d silently stood and strode over to her like a lion stalking his prey. Her heart had felt like it had simultaneously stopped beating and started racing like a greyhound out of the starting gate as she’d waited, paralyzed by her husband’s piercing stare.
He hadn’t said a word. He’d just backed her up against the front door, pushed up her skirt up to her waist, dropped down to his knees, pulled her panties to the side, and pleasured her with his lips, his tongue, and his fingers until she’d come apart against his mouth.
Even now, her legs trembled at the memory. If Bobby hadn’t held her up, she would have dropped to the floor, but he didn’t let that happen. No. He’d braced her firmly between his hard body, pressed up against her front, and the support of the solid door at her back. He’d covered her neck with passionate, openmouthed kisses before tearing her shirt open. Several buttons had popped off and clinked against the tile floor. Then he’d roughly yanked her breasts free from the constraints of her bra and ravished her nipples while he plunged himself forcefully into her. Stilling only for a moment as he filled her completely to whisper how good she felt, how sexy she was, and how tight her body was before he’d begun his sensual assault of driving into her again and again until her entire body had exploded in climax.
Now, as Sophie slipped on the first corset, she hoped that Bobby would have just as strong and primal a reaction to this as he had to her pencil skirt, button-up shirt, and heels. Her fingers pulled tightly at the red, satin laces as she began tightening the garment from the bottom up. It fit snugly, but perfectly, across her waist and ribs, yet when she got to the breast, it felt constricting and tight.
As she tied the bow at the top, she heard Haley call out, “What’s the verdict, ladies?”
“I’m all good. I tried the teddy first and it is perfection,” Amber chimed in from her dressing room across from Sophie’s.
“How ’bout you, Soph?” Haley asked as she knocked on the black, wooden door of the changing stall.
“It’s good, just a little…” Sophie tried to adjust her chest so that it was more comfortable. She turned to the mirror and saw that she was spilling out of the top, noticing at the same time that her breasts were sore to the touch.
“A little what?” Haley prompted.
“A little tight around the chest,” Sophie explained. As soon as the words left her mouth, a thought hit her that made her stomach drop to the floor.
Of course. Sophie was probably about to start her period. Shoot. She’d been so busy traveling that she hadn’t kept track of when Aunt Flo would be visiting, and now, it looked like she would be accompanying them on their weekend getaway.
“Really?” Haley said, sounding confused. “Can I see?”
“Yeah,” Sophie said as she grabbed her phone off the chair that sat in the corner of the dressing room. She scrolled through her calendar to see when her last cycle was as she opened the door. “I think it’s just because I’m about to get my period.”
“Whoa! Holy Dolly Parton,” Haley said. “Where did those come from?”
Sophie heard Amber step out of the dressing room—probably to see what Haley was making such a big deal about—but she didn’t look up to see her sister-in-law’s reaction to her overflowing cleavage. Instead, she mentally counted and recounted the weeks that had passed since her last period as her eyes ran down the calendar.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven….
No, that couldn’t be right.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven….
Wait. Had it really been seven weeks since…?
She scrolled back to October once again, which was her last recorded cycle,
and ticked off the weeks one more time.
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven….
Seven weeks. How had she missed her period for an entire month and not noticed? It was probably all the travel. She’d been on the go, go, go. That had to be it.
Sophie absentmindedly looked up at Haley and Amber. She felt a little…lost. Off-balance. Her mind was swimming. She hadn’t missed a period since she was thirteen years old. She’d been on the same birth control since she and Bobby had gotten together and her cycle had always been so regular that it would make the military jealous.
She couldn’t be…
There was no way she was…
“Soph, I think you should sit down.” Haley’s voice sounded like it was coming from far away.
The room began spinning. The world tilted on its side, and the next thing Sophie knew, she was lying on the chaise lounge and someone was holding a wet cloth to her head. Opening her eyes, she saw Haley and Amber hovering above her. Amber was pressing the cool compress to her forehead.
“You okay?” Amber asked, concern etched in her face.
Sophie nodded, but her head felt heavy. Pushing off her elbows, she attempted to sit up but decided that maybe she’d just lie down for another minute or two more.
“Did I pass out?” she asked. Everything felt a little fuzzy.
“If you did, it was only for a second,” Haley offered.
“You have been running yourself ragged, Soph. I had no idea that all this travel was taking such a toll on you,” Amber spoke in a soft voice.
Sophie could tell that she felt responsible for this episode. That was the last thing she wanted.
“No, I’m fine. Really.” She loved her job, and she did not want this incident to make Amber or Haley feel like she couldn’t handle it, even if they were just looking out for her best interest. This time, Sophie forced herself to sit up. She took a deep breath and said, “I just haven’t eaten yet today and didn’t sleep much last night. But I’m all good. I promise.”
My Love - Bobby & Sophie: A Crossroads Novella Page 2
