Substitute Seduction (Sweet Tea And Scandal Book 1)

by Cat Schield

  Little had she known Jake Wheeler would break her heart and shatter her opinion of him in less than twenty-four hours.

  Sophie’s eyes flew open when there was a knock at her door.

  Lizzie stood before her, plainly concerned. It was not like Sophie to sit at her desk with her eyes closed. “Ms. Eden? Reginald is here.”

  Sophie bolted upright and scrambled out from behind her desk. “Yes. Great. Good morning, Reginald. Please, come right in.”

  “Everything okay?” Lizzie asked under her breath.

  “Just a slight headache.”

  “Good morning, Ms. Eden.” Reginald, Eden’s creative director, floated into her office and began surveying the walls and windows. “We’re here to transform your office into a glamorous winter wonderland.” Reginald was a bald, spindly man with thick horn-rimmed glasses who always wore a suit with a bow tie. His ensemble today was navy blue with a lavender pinstripe, the tie matching the stripes. Reginald did not do quiet, dull or subtle—precisely the reason Eden’s window displays were one of the most popular Christmas attractions in the city.

  Two young women rushed in behind him, lugging large boxes overflowing with sparkly silver and white garland. They set down their armfuls in the corner of Sophie’s office and hurried back out into the hall, presumably for more supplies.

  “What’s the plan?” Sophie asked, filled with a mix of anticipation and sadness. Decorating one’s office was Gram’s tradition. She wanted Christmas oozing from every corner of Eden’s. It helped to make the most arduous month of the year tolerable.

  Reginald cast a doubtful look down at her, his glasses sliding to the tip of his nose. “You aren’t planning on staying, are you? I work best unencumbered. And unsupervised.”

  Sophie frowned. “You used to let Gram help you when you decorated her office.”

  “That was different. She was the matriarch of the store. A queen. An unparalleled woman.”

  Sophie didn’t need any more of this speech. She was well aware of the grand specter of her grandmother. She lived and worked under it every day. Sophie, along with her sister, would eventually fill the matriarchal role, but it wasn’t right to claim it now. That was a position that must be earned, not inherited. “Got it.”

  Reginald patted her on the shoulder. “Trust me. It’ll be stunning when you return.” He made a grand gesture for the door. “Now shoo.”

  Sophie grabbed her cell phone from her desk and stepped out into the hall. Gram’s office was right next to hers. The door was still open, and Sophie flipped on the light. It still looked so strange with no Gram. Sophie had no trouble sketching in what was missing—her grandmother, with her trademark strawberry blond bob with thick bangs, never a hair out of place. On a day like today, Sophie could imagine her in a tailored dress in a fun color, perhaps a bold floral, accessorized with gold bangles and diamond earrings. She was always glamorous perfection.

  Gram’s office was a similarly colorful and pristine place, with everything exactly as it was on the last day she’d worked, at the end of October. Sophie had a lot of regrets about the last time she’d seen Gram. Sophie’s day had been horrible and she’d only waved goodbye to her grandmother when she left the office. If she’d known Gram would have a heart attack in her sleep that night, she would have taken one last time to say I love you. She would have run out from behind her desk, grabbed her and given her one last hug.

  Sophie turned off the light. She wasn’t ready to use Gram’s office. She might never be. It would only make her feel sad and inadequate. She could just imagine the looks on people’s faces when they walked into the room and realized that the woman sitting behind the desk did not possess the gravitas of her predecessor.

  Instead, Sophie ducked into an empty cubicle hidden behind the reception area. She dialed the number for her sister, Mindy, who answered right away.

  “Lizzie said you aren’t coming in today. Why not?” Sophie asked.

  “Because it’s December and one of our high-production printers is broken and my team is struggling to fill orders. I don’t have time to spend at Eden’s.” Mindy had her own successful business, By Min-vitation Only, an online shop that sold high-end custom cards and invitations. “Everyone needs their Christmas cards yesterday. It’s a madhouse over here.”

  “Oh. Okay. I understand.”

  “Don’t sound so disappointed, Soph. You knew this was going to happen. You knew I couldn’t simply drop everything and take on new responsibilities. I appreciate that you’re steering the ship at Eden’s until Gram’s will is read, but I need you to accept the reality of our situation.”

  “And what is that exactly?” Sophie crossed her legs and bobbed her foot, stealing a glimpse of her red pumps. God, she loved those shoes. Mr. Blahnik was a genius.

  “Today is our reality. I am too busy to play a role in the store. Today I’m dealing with Christmas, but after that is New Year’s and Valentine’s Day. There is no downtime for me. I’ve worked hard to build my business, and I’m not stepping away from it.”

  Sophie understood her sister’s predicament and her argument. She did. She just wished it wasn’t the case. Now that Gram wasn’t around to offer advice and solve problems, Sophie was perpetually out of her depth. And alone.

  “Eden’s is a lost cause, Soph. You’ll be much happier when you just admit it,” Mindy said.

  “It is not. Gram didn’t think so, and I don’t think so, either. We can turn it around. Our earnings were up two percent last quarter.”

  “And my earnings were up twenty.”

  Way to rub it in my face. “I get it, Mindy. But this is our family business.”

  “I’m family. And I have a business. I’m telling you, as soon as the will is read, you and I need to sell Eden’s to the highest bidder, pocket the cash, and then you need to come work for me. Easy peasy. We’ll both have it made.”

  Mindy made it sound so simple and obvious, but she hadn’t made promises to their grandmother. She hadn’t spent the last three years working for Gram, learning and growing and soaking up every drop she could of her genius. “I’m not prepared to talk about anything until after Christmas. It’s in poor taste.”

  Sophie stepped out of the cubicle and tiptoed over to her office door to sneak a peek through the tiny gap between the door and the jamb.

  Reginald rushed right over. “Oh, no you don’t.” He quickly closed the door, right in her face.

  “Fine,” Mindy said, sounding impatient. “But will you at least call Jake Wheeler and listen to his pitch? The man is ridiculously persistent. He’s calling me twice a day.”

  There it was—that name again. “I know. He sent me a fruit basket.”

  “He’s got superdeep pockets, Sophie. And he sure speaks fondly of you. You’d think you two were exes the way he talks about you.”

  Sophie leaned back against the wall, her vision narrowing just as her lips pinched together. “You know that’s not the case.”

  “Oh, I know. I know the whole story. He’s the one who got away.”

  Sophie shook her head. “He is not. He’s the snake who slithered away. And I hardly had him to begin with.” Just one unbelievably hot night of abandon.

  “Regardless. Call him.”

  “I’ll think about it.” Sophie already knew there was no way she would call Jake. There was a lot of wisdom in the adage about not clawing at old wounds. He’d hurt her. Badly. She would never, ever forgive him.

  “Think harder. I’d like to cross him off my to-do list.”

  Sophie stifled a snort. Jake Wheeler had spent two years on her “to-do” list.

  Years later, she still regretted it like crazy.

  * * *

  Granted, expressing condolences was not Jake Wheeler’s strongpoint. He’d found it much easier to get through life by glossing over sad moments and enjoying pleasant ones. But after three u
nreturned phone calls, a sympathy card that garnered no response and an ignored charity donation in her grandmother’s name, he was certain Sophie Eden was not impressed with his efforts.

  Jake’s admin, Audrey, buzzed the line in his office. “Ms. Eden’s assistant is on the line, Mr. Wheeler.”

  Jake picked up his phone. “Lizzie, I’m worried that if we continue to spend this much time on the phone, people will start to get the wrong impression of our working relationship.”

  “Sir? You remembered my name?”

  “How could I not? Is this our fourth or fifth time speaking?”

  “I’m not sure, sir. Probably the fifth.”

  “And I’m guessing you know why I’m calling.” Jake rocked forward and back in his chair, watching out the window of his tenth-floor office in the luxury steel-and-glass tower of 7 Bryant Park. He had stunning views of the New York Public Library and other midtown Manhattan landmarks, but the one he enjoyed most was that of the building’s namesake. Down on the street, a temporary Christmas market was set up with vendors, music and ice skating. The holiday disruption had been overtaking the normally peaceful green space every December in recent years. Jake couldn’t wait for January, when it would all be gone.

  “I do. And I’m very sorry, but Ms. Eden is not available right now.”

  “Can you at least tell me when she’ll be back in the office?”

  “She’s here all the time, Mr. Wheeler. But her schedule is packed and always changing, as I’m sure you can understand. It’s December. She runs one of the largest department stores in Manhattan. It’s a very busy time.”

  “Of course.” Jake tapped his pen on his desk. “Did she get the fruit basket I sent?”

  “She did. And she was generous enough to share it with the staff. Everyone has enjoyed it greatly. Thank you.”

  Jake wasn’t sure what more he could do to get her to return his phone calls, and he certainly couldn’t arrive at a conclusion about why she was avoiding him. Their last interaction, years ago, at business school graduation, had been nothing but pleasant and cordial. They’d both agreed to let their shared history remain where it belonged—in the past.

  “But she’s not there right now?” He purposely added a heavy tone of suspicion to the question. It was the end of the workday. If Sophie was too busy to pick up the phone, she had to still be at the office.

  “I’m sorry, but she’s not available right now. No.”

  Jake wasn’t sure what that meant, but he knew he was getting the runaround. “Fine. I’d like to leave a message. Again. My name is Jake Wheeler, and my number is—”

  “Ms. Eden has your number.”

  Jake choked back a frustrated grumble. “Please remind her that it’s very important. I need to speak to her.”

  “She knows, sir. I’ve delivered each one of your messages personally.” Judging by the tone in her voice, Sophie’s assistant was losing her patience. That much they had in common.

  “Great. Thank you.” Jake hung up the phone, more frustrated now than ever. He had to get Sophie to talk to him. He had to meet with her. Jake was a member of an exclusive investment group called the War Chest. It was run by financier Jacob Lin, and they tackled only the biggest of big deals—ones that required several sets of deep pockets. Jake had suggested Eden’s when Sophie’s grandmother had died. The other War Chest members, hoteliers Sawyer and Noah Locke and real-estate broker Michael Kelly, along with Jacob, had all voted yes on the idea. Jake assured them with a great deal of confidence that he had an inside track with Sophie. Of course, until a month ago, he’d thought he did have an inside track. He and Sophie were best friends in business school. For a brief but memorable twenty-four hours, they’d been more.

  “Audrey?” he called out into the void of his office.

  In seconds flat, Jake’s assistant snapped to attention in his office doorway. Audrey was fastidious, hyperorganized and very opinionated. “Sir, I really think it’s too late for coffee. You’ll get edgy, and caffeine is disruptive to sleep patterns.”

  “I don’t need coffee. I’m wondering if you have any ideas on convincing a woman to call you back.”

  “Jewelry. Flowers. Chocolate. A profession of love.”

  Jake shook his head. “Not like that. I know that. I mean, in a professional setting.”

  “So nothing romantic?”

  Jake didn’t have to think about that one. He and Sophie were better off sticking to business. Of that much, he was sure. “Not intentionally romantic, but Ms. Eden does appreciate the finer things in life if that helps.”

  Audrey nodded. “Ah, yes. Your unromantic fruit-basket recipient.”

  “Precisely.”

  “And that didn’t go over well? Who doesn’t love a fruit basket?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Flowers?”

  “Isn’t that a cliché?”

  “Not if you buy a ridiculous amount of her favorites and show up with them in person.”

  Jake raised both eyebrows at his assistant.

  “That’s what my husband did when he proposed.”

  “I’m not proposing marriage.”

  “But you are trying to talk a woman into selling her business when it’s been only a few weeks since the family matriarch passed away. You might want to go big.”

  “Excellent point.”

  “Any idea what her favorite flower is?”

  Jake had a recollection of a dinner at a professor’s house and Sophie commenting about the centerpiece. “The ones that look like roses, but aren’t actually roses. I think it starts with a p.”

  “Peonies?”

  “Yes. That’s it. Pink would be good.”

  “I’m on it.”

  “Thanks, Audrey.” Jake sat back in his chair and turned his sights to the city again. The sky was dark, snow flurries starting to fall. Could it be as simple as flowers? Jake doubted it highly. Nothing was ever simple with Sophie. But he needed to mix things up or he would lose ground. He knew for a fact that other investors and developers were courting her and her sister. His pitch would work so much better in person, especially if he could get Sophie alone. She’d always dropped the tougher parts of her veneer when it was just the two of them.

  Visions of Sophie flashed in his head—her lush red hair, her full lips, the way her brown eyes flickered with gold when she smiled. Each thought of her was more beautiful than the last. They’d been drawn to each other from the moment they met at a business school mixer. She laughed at his jokes and flirted like crazy with him, touching his arm and flashing her gorgeous eyes. They shared an immediate chemistry that was off the charts. In any other scenario, Jake would have taken her home that very first night.

  But he made a point of keeping their relationship platonic, even when there had been days where that required superhuman strength. He wanted her. There was no question about that. But he knew how brutal those two years of school were going to be. He couldn’t afford to have a fellow classmate royally pissed at him for seducing her and then calling things off before they got serious, which was what Jake did every time. The panic when a woman started to get close to him was real. There was no erasing the part of his history that made him feel that way.

  Still, the night they both gave in to their attraction had been magical. He couldn’t deny that. Two years of waiting and wondering and resisting can make giving in that much more delicious. They’d been studying at the library for hours, preparing for one of their final exams. Exhausted, Jake had asked Sophie if she wanted to go get a beer. She then realized how late it was, and in a panic asked Jake back to her apartment.

  “My roommate is out of town and I’m supposed to feed her cat. The poor thing is probably starving. Come to my place. Okay?”

  “Yeah. Sure. I just can’t study anymore.”

  When they got to Sophie’s, after the cat had
been fed, they sat on the couch and had a drink. To this day, he could remember the moment when he’d decided to finally kiss her. She’d put her gorgeous red hair in a pile on top of her head, and she’d laughed at one of his goofy jokes, quite possibly a little too hard, and her hair slumped to the side. She’d pulled at the tie, and it tumbled down onto her shoulders. Maybe he’d been tired. Maybe it was the beer. He only knew that after nearly two years of waiting, he had to kiss her.

  So he did.

  No woman had melted into him the way Sophie did. Her lips were pillow soft, her sweet smell truly beguiling, and her hands were everywhere. Before he knew what was happening, she was tugging his shirt up over his head and pushing him down on the couch, her body settling between his legs and driving him crazy with desire.

  The moment when she sat back up, took his hand and led him to her bedroom was one of the most surreal. He’d fantasized about Sophie plenty, but she was also one of the only female friendships he’d managed to not only build, but maintain. He’d thought about it for a second that night, considered telling her it wasn’t a good idea for them to go to bed together, but once she took off her top and her stunning red hair tumbled back onto her shoulders? He was a goner.

  They’d made love three times that night. They even took a shower together in the morning, which should have been enough to convince him that Sophie might be the one worth trying for more with. But when the time came for him to think about going back to his place, and it was clear that there were expectations for the two of them to discuss where this next went, Jake panicked just as he always had.

  “You know, Sophie, last night was amazing, and I will always remember it. But we’re such great friends and we both have so much we want to do in our careers. I think it’s best if we chalk this up to two friends blowing off a little steam together.”