Tempting Sophia

by Jessica Prince

  Yes, I’m very close to my family, particularly my mother and sister. But that might have more to do with the fact that they’re both extremely nosey and in my business whether I want them there or not.

  There’s no way I could witness a person being mugged and not stop to help. I never understood how people could just keep walking when they saw something like that. I think anyone who doesn’t try to help in some capacity is a piece of shit.

  I think you should absolutely get a dog, but not one of those small, yappy ones. Dogs are great for companionship, but also protection. Especially for a single woman. I think a larger breed is the way to go.

  I hope my answers have helped to put you at ease, at least a little bit. But if it helps, I’ll add this: I’m not a psychopath. Promise. I’m in my mid-thirties and have a stable job that comes with medical benefits and a retirement plan. I don’t live with my parents, I have no criminal record, and I’d like to think I’m a relatively good-looking guy. The reason I filled out that questionnaire was because I haven’t landed The One yet and decided that maybe it was time to think outside of the box.

  If nothing else, at least there’s a chance of us walking away from this experience as friends, right? No pressure. I say we just get to know each other and take it one day at a time, and whatever happens happens.

  Sleep well, lovely Sophia.

  I’ll look forward to hopefully hearing from you in the future.

  This could be fun,

  ~BigSpoon.

  I hadn’t thought it was possible, but after BigSpoon’s reply, I actually felt a little better. He was totally right—I didn’t have to go into this with any expectations.

  At least that helped to minimize the stress that seemed to have piled on my shoulders lately.

  “I can’t believe you’re actually going to go on a date with someone you’ve never laid eyes on.”

  I stepped out of the ugly dye-to-match shoes that pinched my toes and kicked them to the side.

  I was currently standing in the middle of a chic bridal boutique in downtown trying on bridesmaid dresses with Lola and Daphne. Fiona, who I’d met a few months ago through Lola, had joined us since we were going out for drinks right after.

  Fiona was a total sweetie. Unfortunately it had taken us a while to discover that. She’d grown up with Grayson, and their families had been close friends for years. They’d dated a million years ago, but there’d been a time that Lola, Daphne, and I were still convinced there were feelings lingering between the two.

  Turned out we were wrong. Nothing but friendship remained between Grayson and Fiona, and the three of us were able to pull her into the sisterhood, giving us an even foursome whenever we hit the town. She fit in with our crazy asses like she’d been born to it.

  I cut my eyes at Daphne in the mirror before responding to Fiona. “It wasn’t my idea, believe me. It was the brainchild of those two traitors right there.” I pointed at my so-called best friends before flipping them both the bird.

  Daphne stood on the platform in front of the wall of mirrors, swishing the golden fabric of the gown she was wearing side to side, studying the way the skirt fell. “You’ll be thanking us when you meet the love of your life.”

  “Or she could haunt you both from the grave for getting her killed when one of those guys turns out to be a psycho.”

  “Thank you!” I cried, turning from my examination of the purple dress I was wearing to high-five Fee for being the only rational one between my friends.

  “Will you stop your bitching!” Lola called from behind the heavy satin curtain of her dressing room where she was currently slipping into the fifth wedding dress. None of the others were the dress so far. Since she and her fiancé had insisted on the world’s shortest engagement, that meant we were already in crunch time. She needed to find her dress, and fast. “They aren’t psychos.” She paused for several seconds before adding, “At least not all five of them.”

  “Well that should make her feel better,” Fiona deadpanned.

  I got to thinking of my e-mail exchange from a few nights ago with BigSpoon. I’d messaged him the morning following his reply, and our correspondence since then had actually been kind of fun. I felt like we were building a friendship at the very least. Which was more than I could say for the other guys. HarleyLover’s response was boring and somewhat clinical. I’mRosstoyourRachel hadn’t gotten my GoT reference at all, which cost him serious points. And DreamMan81 and LovestoCook still had yet to respond. There was a clear front-runner so far with BigSpoon, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell my friends any of that. Not because I was worried about what they’d say or who they would pick, but because Dominic was still weighing heavily on my mind.

  He’d gone out of town on a business trip that kept him away for two days, and I was currently dealing with warring emotions. Part of me was relieved that I had the space I needed to attempt to clear my head, and the other part missed him like crazy. I’d spent the last two days craving the funny little texts he’d send me with random jokes.

  I hadn’t been able to bring myself to respond to any of them, but I still looked forward to each and every one.

  “Uh, guys?” Lola called from behind the curtain. “Can we put the conversation about Sophia’s boy troubles on hold for just a sec? I think… I think I found the dress.”

  She came out of the dressing room and the three of us all lost our breath. She most certainly had found the dress. She looked like a princess. We spent a good half hour oohing and ahhing over how stunning she looked before finally settling on the gold gown for bridesmaid dresses and heading out of the boutique.

  I was thrilled for my friend, and I couldn’t wait for her to get her dream wedding with her perfect man. But deep, deep down inside I couldn’t help but feel a little envious. I hadn’t realized it until we were walking together on the sidewalk outside, but I wanted my dream wedding with my perfect man as well.

  Unfortunately, I was afraid that wasn’t in the cards for me.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sophia

  “I think I’m going to head out.” I grabbed my purse, ready to hop off the stool I’d been occupying at our high-top table for the past two hours.

  After the boutique, we’d headed to an awesome little Mexican restaurant that made the best guacamole. And bonus, they had a huge bar area, and served margaritas by the pitcher. But I was exhausted. The buzz I’d had earlier was wearing off, leaving me sleepy with a touch of a headache.

  Lola looked from her phone to the door like she was expecting someone to walk through at any moment. “But it’s only nine,” she argued. “And it’s Saturday.”

  Honestly, the last thing I was looking forward to was going home to my empty, quiet house just so my mind could wander to Dominic, but I’d been feeling particularly mopey since leaving the bridal salon and wasn’t the best company. I opened my mouth, prepared to say as much, when Lola’s entire demeanor brightened.

  “Oh look! The guys just walked in. Now you have to stay, Soph!”

  We all turned as one to see Grayson had walked in with none other than Dominic, Caleb, and his brother Deacon. Daphne let out a pained groan and sucked back more of her margarita just as Caleb shot her a salacious wink. I was sure that putting those two together in the same room wasn’t smart, but I was too focused on the way my heart began to race and my palms got clammy at the sight of Dominic heading our way to care about much else.

  “I need to run to the bathroom,” I stated on a quiet mumble. I started from the table on wobbly knees. This was ridiculous. I felt like a teenage girl swooning over the fact that the most popular boy in school just looked at me.

  It wasn’t until I got into the ladies’ room that I realized I really did have to pee, thanks to the three margaritas I’d downed. I did my business, washed my hands, then scrutinized my appearance in the mirror to make sure my makeup and hair were still in their proper place. My eyes were on my cute peep-toe booties as I walked out, so I was taken by surprise w
hen I ran smack-dab into a wall of warm, solid muscle.

  “Shit,” I yelped as I stumbled back. Thankfully two large arms banded around my waist to prevent me from falling. “Sorry, I….” My words died on the tip of my tongue when I looked up into Dominic’s smiling eyes.

  “Hey there, beautiful.”

  “H-hi. Um, thanks for, you know… catching me.” Why was I suddenly so tongue-tied around this guy?

  His arms tightened, making me feel secure and claimed all at the same time. “I didn’t mind at all. I kind of like catching you.”

  Crap. I kind of liked it too. Almost too much.

  I cleared my throat and took a step back. “When did you get back?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

  He crossed his arms over his broad chest. The move stretched the fabric of his T-shirt and made his muscles look positively yummy. Bad Sophia! Bad! I mentally scolded. “Just a couple hours ago,” he replied, leaning one shoulder against the wall in front of me. “I’d have texted you to tell you I was back in town, but you haven’t been returning my messages.” His eyebrow kicked up as he gave me a playful glare that made my skin burn. I had no doubt I was blushing like crazy under his scrutiny.

  “I’m sorry,” I offered on a lame whisper. “I just needed….”

  His voice went gentle as he pushed off the wall and stepped into my space, using his fingers under my chin to tilt my head up. “Hey, we said we’d try to be friends, right?”

  “We did.”

  “Friends are allowed to text each other, baby. It’s okay for you to reply.”

  At the tiny smirk on his face, a teasing glower took over my own. “So, what? Are you making it a habit to stalk me outside of bathrooms now?”

  He chuckled and hooked an arm across my shoulders, using the casual hold to lead me out of the secluded hallway and back into the main dining area. “What can I say? I saw an opportunity and I took it.” I felt his gaze on me and turned my head to look up at him. “I missed you, Soph,” he murmured as we walked.

  My chest swelled as warmth blanketed my entire body from the inside out. “I missed you too,” I said back on a smile.

  His wink was totally cocky as he said, “I know. Now let’s get back to the table. I ordered you a large guac before tracking you down. You still love that stuff, right?”

  “Careful now. You might just push your sister out of the best friend spot if you keep it up,” I said, when what I was really thinking was you’re making it really hard not to want to lick you up and down!

  We made it back to the table and I noticed that the guys had pulled another four-seater up to ours to make enough room for everyone. We joined our group just in time to see Lola plant herself in her fiancé’s lap and fuse her lips to his, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “public display of affection.” “Jesus,” Dom grunted under his breath. “It’s sickening. Why doesn’t he just swallow her and get it over with?”

  A loud giggle bubbled from my throat, turning everyone’s attention our way.

  “Well.” Lola grinned mischievously. “Don’t you two look cozy.”

  I tried to mentally reach across the table and slap her as I reclaimed the stool I’d vacated earlier. Dominic took the vacant one next to me. I was still silently communicating to her to shut the hell up when the waitress stopped by. Dom ordered a beer, forgoing his usual bourbon, and leaned back, resting his palm on the back of my stool. The tips of his fingers brushed against my back in a barely there touch, but it was still enough to create a swarm of butterflies in my belly.

  The sound of his quiet voice in my ear pulled me from my silent argument with Lola. “So, what have you been up to the past two days? Anything new?”

  “Nothing,” I answered quickly. “Same stuff, different day.” Just the thought of talking with him about the five guys I’d been talking to—especially BigSpoon—didn’t sit right with me. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt almost like a betrayal of sorts to be talking to anyone while my feelings for Dominic were in such an upheaval. He kept staring at me like he didn’t believe me, as if he were expecting more. So naturally, I changed the subject. “You were on a business trip, right? Where’d you go?”

  “Grayson’s looking into possibly buying out a communications firm in Arizona. He wanted me to go check it out, see if I thought it would be a good investment for Bandwidth.”

  I found myself propping my elbow on the table and resting my chin in my palm, giving him my full attention. “I’ve always wanted to go to Arizona. I’ve heard Havasu Creek is beautiful. And there are some ghost towns I think would be really cool to visit.”

  He chuckled and tapped the tip of my nose. “You always were a sucker for all that creepy shit.”

  “It’s fun!” I insisted.

  His smile was nearly blinding as he continued. “Yeah, to you, maybe. Not to the rest of us who don’t get our rocks off on being scared out of our minds.”

  He wasn’t wrong. I loved anything that gave me a fright, always had. When we’d been together, I’d dragged him to as many haunted houses as I could find, and made him watch countless scary movies. Fall was my favorite time of year simply because it heralded in Halloween, my favorite holiday. I loved ghost stories and even took the haunted tour in New Orleans when we went for spring break during college. It was morbid, but so much fun.

  “Remember when you dragged me to that haunted house in the Warehouse District?” he asked.

  My mind immediately went back to the night in question and I burst out laughing. “Oh God! I forgot all about that!”

  “Glad you think a two-hundred and fifty-dollar fine is still funny,” he said dryly, but I could see the smile he was fighting tugging at his lips.

  “That poor kid,” I sighed, wiping the tears from my laughter off my cheeks. “Bet you scared him more than he scared you.”

  “That ‘poor kid’ was dressed as a demented clown!” Dom cried. “He deserved to get punched in the face! The only thing scarier than a fucking clown is a demented one.”

  “Aw.” I reached up and patted his cheek. “I forgot how delicate you are.”

  He snorted derisively. “I’m not delicate. I’m a badass. I can burp the alphabet, crush a beer can on my head, and rebuild a car engine. I’m a man.”

  Another fit of laughter overtook me. After the breakup, it had been so easy to focus on the bad that I’d let myself forget about the good, about how Dominic could make me laugh until I damn near peed myself.

  “Oh yeah?” I chided. “Then prove it.”

  He looked at me with suspicion, furrowing his brow as he asked, “And just how do you expect me to do that?”

  I leaned in even closer, completely oblivious to the fact that we were only inches apart. I was too excited to notice. “I know of a haunted house that’s open all winter long. You make it all the way through and sit through a scary movie marathon, and I’ll get a trophy made special for you.”

  His golden-brown eyes darkened just a touch as his voice grew raspy. “Will you be with me the whole time? I’ll need someone to hold my hand.”

  “Deal.” I held my hand between us for him to shake. At the feel of his rough, callused skin against my soft palm, I shivered. Oh yeah. There was no denying Dominic was all man. But I wouldn’t say it out loud.

  At least not until I had the chance to torture him a little bit.

  When I looked up from our private conversation I noticed that most everyone was eyeing us curiously. Except Lola who looked like she was on cloud freaking nine. The only thing I could do was ignore their intrusive stares. At least that way I could keep pretending that there was nothing going on.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Sophia

  From: Sophia

  To: BigSpoon

  Subject: Desert Island…

  Well, dress shopping was a success! Lola finally found the wedding dress of her dreams, and the bridesmaid dresses we settled on weren’t a disaster, so that’s something to be thankful for, I guess.

  Honestly, I
can’t wait for this whole wedding business to be over. I’m hoping that once they’re hitched they’ll stop sucking face around the rest of us like a couple of horny teenagers. Seriously, what is it about being engaged that turns two normally sane adults into embarrassing romantics? A group of us went out to dinner a few nights ago and they spent the entire time making out at the table. It was cute for the first week or so, but now it’s just embarrassing. I’m waiting for the day they take it too far and get locked up for public indecency. LOL.

  So, I think I’m getting closer to making a decision on getting a dog, but do I HAVE to get something big? Not that German shepherds aren’t great, but I kind of had my heart set on an English Bulldog. They’re just so cute! I’ve been doing some research and have a picture of a little guy that’ll be up for sale in a couple of weeks.

  I’m thinking of naming him something regal, like Winston Churchill or Lancelot, something like that. Oh! Or Snorts! You know, because they snort? How cute is that?

  Okay, so I have a very important question to ask you. And before you answer, I need you to promise to take the time and really think about your answer. What you say is crucial in whether or not this friendship can continue.

  If you were stranded on a desert island and could only have three things with you, what would they be?

  And before you say it, no, one of your answers can’t be a boat or a plane. That’s cheating!

  Well, that’s all I’ve got for now.

  Talk soon.

  ~Sophia

  From: BigSpoon

  To: Sophia

  Re: Desert Island…

  Morning, Lovely.

  I’ve given your question some serious thought and think I’ve come up with a solid answer. BTW, I think it’s totally unfair that you said I couldn’t ask for a plane or a boat. ;)