Tempting Sophia

by Jessica Prince

  “Oh… ohhhh. I see.”

  I nodded at her knowing expression. “Yeah.”

  “This is bad. Dom definitely has a bit of a temper.”

  “See?” Grabbing the wine bottle from the counter, I topped us both off. “So what do I do? How do I tell him without him going nuts?”

  “Well… you said BigSpoon is the only one worth talking to, right? And I’m assuming since you know about his ex that he knows about your situation with Dom?”

  “Yeah. Like I said, we’ve kind of become friends. He knows about Dominic and he’s happy for us.”

  “Then why don’t you just pick BigSpoon? You can explain the whole situation to him prior to the wedding. We’ll have him come in for the live reveal and just let our listeners think something’s starting between you guys. In a few weeks, most everyone will probably forget, and you and Dom can go public. For the sake of the station, just invite Spoon as a regular guest. The wedding’s closed to the public, so no one will ever know who you hang out with inside. And you’re in the wedding party, so it’s not like you’d be able to show up on someone’s arm anyway. I’m sure my crazy big brother will understand.”

  My gaze flickered to the stairs leading to the first floor. “Not so sure about that,” I muttered, thinking about the speech I’d given him on honesty, trust, and communication. “But what other choice is there?” I asked around the rim of my wineglass.

  “Hey.” Lola placed a comforting hand on my arm, drawing my attention back to her. “It’ll be fine. He’ll probably get an attitude, but you’ll put him in his place like you always did. You guys might fight about it, but you’ll make up.” She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. “And just think about how fun making up will be.”

  Lola joined in when I busted out laughing. We spent the next half hour talking, both of us feeling a lot better after we had our heartfelt chat. I loved her with all my heart, but I was happy when she gave Dominic and me her goodbyes and headed out. Not because I didn’t want to spend time with her, but because I wanted to spend alone time with her brother more.

  I just couldn’t get enough.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Sophia

  From: Sophia

  To: BigSpoon

  Subject: It’s all your fault!

  Spoon,

  I’ll have you know that I blame you for the torture I’m currently enduring at the pudgy little paws of Lancelot. If I’d gone with my gut and gotten a cute little Yorkie or something, I probably wouldn’t be dealing with the horror that is puppy flatulence.

  He’s a cute little bugger, I’ll give him that, but who knew such a small thing could have such horrible gas! I swear the paint is at risk of peeling off my walls.

  So, how have you been? I know we haven’t e-mailed much recently. Lola had a mini-bridezilla moment, so I and our other friend Daphne have taken up the reins. I’ll be happy when this whole wedding business is over and my BFF goes back to just being blissfully, obnoxiously in love without the added wedding stress.

  Anyway, enough of my dramatics. How are you? Anything new? Have you had any luck with your girl? If you need me to vouch for you that you’re a terrific guy, I’ll totally do that.

  Talk soon.

  ~Soph

  From: BigSpoon

  To: Sophia

  Re: It’s all your fault!

  Sweet Sophia

  Oh no way! I’m not taking blame for your dog’s chronic farts. Have you tried changing his food? Maybe that’ll help the problem. Either that or it’ll be up to you to make gas masks look trendy. LOL. Hopefully his cuteness will eventually make up for it.

  As for how I’ve been, I’m good. Busy with work and life stuff, but otherwise good. There’s really nothing new to report on “The Girl” front. I can’t tell you right now how that’s going to go, but I’m hopeful. We’ll just have to wait and see. But rest assured I’ll keep you informed.

  Until later.

  Your friend, BS

  The wedding was a month away. Which meant there were only two weeks left until I had to pick the winner of that stupid radio contest. I’d delayed it long enough; now it was time for me to fess up to Dominic and tell him what Lola and I had discussed.

  “So, I have something to talk to you about,” I spoke into the quiet of Dom’s car. We’d just spent an evening out at the movies. Since we couldn’t go officially public yet, a dark theater was the perfect place for a date. We could make out and grope each other like teenagers without the risk of anyone seeing. As a matter of fact, we spent so much of the movie with our hands and lips on each other that I couldn’t even remember the damn title or plot.

  He took his eyes off the road long enough to glance over at me, take my hand, and bring it to his lips to kiss my knuckles. “What’s up?”

  “It’s about the radio contest.”

  The side-eye look he shot me wasn’t a happy one as his grip on my left hand spasmed. “What about it?” he asked cautiously.

  I rubbed my free hand on the leg of my jeans, my palms having grown clammy. Assuming it was best to just rip the Band-Aid off, I blurted, “Well, it’s just that I have to pick one of the guys to take as a date to the wedding.”

  His hand on mine clenched again, almost to the point of pain. “And?”

  Shit, he isn’t going to make this easy, is he? “And you and I are together now, but if I back out on this deal, the station could penalize me at the least, or fire me at the worst. So… one of those guys technically has to be my date. And I think I know which one.” The muscle in his jaw ticked ominously, so I rushed to get the rest of my harebrained scheme out. “You have nothing to worry about, I promise! One of the guys I’ve been talking to is still hung up on his ex. We’ve agreed that we’re just going to be friends, so he’s the safest bet. We’ll take a couple of pictures and put on a little act for the PR, and then you and I will have the rest of the night all to ourselves.

  “I’ll even introduce you guys! I bet you’ll really like him. He’s cool, and funny, and really sweet. I haven’t told him my plan yet, but I have no doubt he’ll go for it. I’ve told him all about you, so he knows there’s nothing romantic between the two of us.” I pulled in a much-needed breath once I was finished and waited for Dominic to react.

  And waited.

  And waited.

  Until I couldn’t wait anymore. “Are you mad? You’re mad, aren’t you? Please don’t be mad.”

  It took several seconds for him to respond, and it wasn’t until he did that I was able to pull in a full breath of relief. “I’m not mad. I just… I can’t wait for this shit to be over. Don’t get me wrong, I’m down for feeling you up in the back of a theater, but that’s not enough. I feel like we’re fucking stuck in pause, like our relationship isn’t even real.”

  Okay, that stung like hell. “You don’t feel like our relationship is real?” I whispered. I was unable to hide the hurt in my voice, and I knew he heard it too.

  “Butterfly, that’s not what I meant.”

  “Well how did you mean it, then?” I snapped. “There aren’t too many ways to interpret what you just said, Dominic.”

  “I just meant—”

  “So you can imagine my surprise and disappointment, considering I’ve felt like what we’ve had these past couple of months is very, very real!”

  He jerked the wheel so fast I went flying sideways.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, looking around at the unfamiliar parking lot we’d just pulled into. “Where are we?”

  “My apartment. If we’re going to have this out, we sure as hell aren’t doing it while I’m driving.”

  He spun into a parking spot and threw the car into Park. “We can’t stay here,” I objected. “Lancelot needs to be let out. He’s still a baby. I can’t leave him by himself.”

  He cut the ignition and turned to look at me, his amber gaze sparking with determined fire. “Then we’ll head back to your place once we’re done. But I’m not going to argue with you when I’m not ab
le to touch you or look at you. You want a fight? You got it. But we’re doing it where I can get to you.”

  “Fine,” I bit out.

  “Fine,” he gritted.

  I jumped out of the car and stomped to the sidewalk. Having to wait on him to lead the way since I didn’t have the first clue where I was going only added fuel to my smoldering anger. With my arms crossed over my chest, I shot a quick peek around, noting that Dom didn’t live in the best complex. It wasn’t run down, just old. But considering the amount of money he had, I was surprised by the rather unimpressive place he called home.

  He joined me on the walkway and turned left. I followed after him until we came to a stop at a nondescript tan door on the first level with a rusted number twelve nailed into the tan-painted metal. “You live here?” I asked in bewilderment as he slid a key into the rickety lock on his doorknob. There wasn’t even a deadbolt.

  “I moved here with the sole purpose of winning you back. I really didn’t give a shit where I lived. I just needed a place to crash in the meantime, so I took the first apartment I could find.”

  That statement worked wonders at thawing some of the ice that had been building in my veins. “It’s—” I looked down the breezeway. “—not you.”

  “No, it’s not,” he agreed, throwing the door open. “It’s a shit-hole studio that’s smaller than my old closet back in New York. But I wasn’t going to put down money for somewhere permanent until I fixed things with you. You already have a house you love. The last thing I wanted was for us to argue about where we’d put down roots.”

  Oh God. I liked hearing that. I really liked it. All of my earlier ire turned to dust as he waved for me to precede him into the dark apartment. I was ready to put this fight behind us and get on to the making up part.

  That was until he flipped the light switch and I came face-to-face with a view I never wanted to see.

  “Hello, lover.”

  My jaw dropped and my eyes nearly fell out of my head as I took in the naked woman curled up beneath the sheets of Dominic’s bed.

  “Chelsea? What the fuck?” Dom boomed, his voice so loud it nearly shook the walls.

  The naked woman—Chelsea, apparently—sat up, thankfully holding the sheet over her huge breasts. “I wanted to surprise you, baby. I didn’t know you were going to have company.”

  I was frozen, completely able to move or speak. The pain lancing through my chest was almost enough to bring me to my knees. The backs of my eyes burned with the threat of tears while my heart shriveled up, withering to nothing in a matter of moments.

  I reached up and pinched my arm, thinking maybe this was all a bad dream. It had to be a dream. I just needed to wake up.

  “Have you lost your goddamned mind?” Dominic shouted, startling me out of my misery. It wasn’t a dream. It was very, very real. “How the fuck did you even get in here?”

  “I told the front office I was here to see my boyfriend. They were more than happy to let me in so I could wait.”

  “Boyfriend?” My throat felt like I’d swallowed a handful of glass as I spoke that one word.

  “Butterfly, no!” He grabbed my arms and tried to pull me against him. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

  “Don’t touch me!” I screamed, shoving at him so hard he was forced to let me go. “Don’t you dare touch me!” I finally lost the battle with my tears and they started falling down my cheeks uncontrollably.

  His expression was ravaged as he reached for me again. “Please, baby. Let me expla—”

  “Let me guess,” the skank in his bed interrupted. “You’re Sophia?” The woman’s cold gaze moved from me to Dominic unflinchingly. “You didn’t tell her about me? Oh, Dom,” she sighed. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “Get the fuck out,” he snarled between clenched teeth. Every muscle in his body quivered. His hands fisted at his sides so tight his knuckles looked like they were about to split open.

  Chelsea’s grin was pure evil as she turned her eyes back to me. “He didn’t tell you about how he took me to bed even though I was with his father? How he fucked me for hours? God, he’s good, isn’t he?” She hummed seductively, closing her eyes as though remembering that night. I was going to be sick. “Best I’ve ever had. He’s so good it becomes an addiction. But I’m sure you already know that.”

  “Shut your fucking mouth!” Dominic yelled before rushing at me. “Butterfly, she’s lying.” He took my cheeks in his hands, his eyes full of fear as the pads of his fingers pressed into my flesh desperately. “I swear, she’s filling your head with bullshit to try and get between us.”

  I’d gone numb. With every word Chelsea spoke, that numbness spread until I thought it might consume me. “So you didn’t fuck her?” My voice sounded as hollow as I felt.

  “I….” He slammed his eyelids closed, dropping his forehead to mine. “Yes.” His voice was scratchy as he continued. “I did. But it wasn’t—”

  “So she wasn’t your father’s girlfriend when you slept with her?”

  I could see the hesitation in his eyes, could hear it in his delayed response. “She was. But I didn’t—”

  “I can’t believe you,” I hissed, slapping at his hands and backing away. “I can’t fucking believe you!”

  He hadn’t changed. He was the same guy who’d broken my heart ten years ago, and I was stupid enough to fall for his act a second time. I wasn’t sure my heart would survive this, but this time around I had no one but myself to blame. I knew better, but I went ahead and fell for him anyway. God, I was such a fucking idiot.

  “Sophia, stop! Just listen!”

  “No!” I shouted in return. “Fuck that, and fuck you! God!” I raked my hands through my hair, pulling at the roots until my scalp cried in agony just to feel something. “What is wrong with you? Your father’s girlfriend? Jesus, that’s just sick!”

  I gave him my heart and he crushed it in his hands again. And it was my own fault.

  “It wasn’t like that—”

  “I don’t care. I don’t want to hear your excuses. This is just… I can’t even… I’m….” I turned my head back to Chelsea. The bitch was wearing a full-on Cheshire cat grin and I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get the hell out of there. “I’m done.” I started for the door only to stop and spin around when Dominic’s footsteps followed after me. “Stop! Don’t follow me. Don’t call me. Don’t show up at my house. This is over. I want nothing to do with you.”

  He took another step, forcing me to back up. “I mean it. If you follow me out of this apartment, I’ll scream bloody murder until every one of your neighbors comes out to see what the hell is going on.”

  “Please, butterfly, don’t do this,” he begged. Agony coated his words and expression.

  “I didn’t do this,” I sobbed. “You did. Just stay the hell away from me.”

  With that, I turned and ran out of his shitty apartment. Chelsea could have him. As far as I could tell, they deserved each other.

  It only took three minutes for the Uber I’d ordered to arrive, but those three minutes were the longest of my life. Fighting to keep from collapsing into a broken, sobbing mess outside Dominic’s apartment building was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. But I succeeded.

  It wasn’t until I was in the privacy of the black SUV with tinted windows that I completely broke down.

  I would’ve felt bad for the poor, unsuspecting Uber driver, but my heart was too shredded to care about anything else.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Dominic

  Never in my life had I laid my hands on a woman, or even contemplated doing such a thing, but at that very moment I was positively murderous. I wanted to wrap my hands around Chelsea’s throat and squeeze until the haze of red rage cleared from my vision.

  “Well, she’s just a ray of sunshine, isn’t she?”

  Her talking right then was a huge mistake. I lost it. I stormed in her direction, only pausing long enough to snatch her dress off the floor
. Once I was close enough, I grabbed her by the upper arm and yanked her out of the bed so fast her entire body jerked awkwardly, though her fake tits didn’t budge. The sight of her bony naked body did nothing but make me sneer. The bitch needed to learn to eat a sandwich every once in a while. Resembling a fucking skeleton with two watermelons hanging from her chest was a really bad look.

  “Get dressed and get the fuck out.” I dragged her toward the front door, released her with a shove, and tossed her dress at her unceremoniously. “What you won’t do,” I continued, the threat heavy in my tone, “is say another fucking word. Do not speak. Do not make a goddamn sound.”

  “Dominic.”

  “What did I just say?” I bellowed. I charged so fast her eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as she stumbled backward before bumping into a wall. “You just fucked up for the last time, Chelsea. You understand me? After I throw you out on your ass, I’m calling my father and telling him every goddamn thing you’ve done. Everything.”

  Chelsea’s forehead creased and her eyelids dropped into narrow slits as she tried to figure out whether or not I was bluffing. “You wouldn’t.”

  I leaned in menacingly and hissed, “Not only would I, but I fucking am. See, the mistake you made was thinking your pussy was something special, that you’d be able to control my father with that and your mouth. What you’re too stupid to realize is that there isn’t a woman on God’s green earth he cares more about than he does his money and status. Doesn’t matter if you got a cunt made of gold and suck dick like it’s an Olympic sport. The second his fortune or reputation is at stake, he’ll act like he doesn’t have a fucking clue who you are. And sweetheart, you put the final nail in that coffin the night you approached me and asked me to take you home.”

  I placed my hand on the wall by her head and loomed over her, making sure to use my size to intimidate. “You knew exactly what bullshit game you were playing, and I let it go on this long thinking you’d pull your head out of your ass and get a clue. Clearly I was wrong. I should’ve done this shit sooner, but lesson learned. Hope you got somewhere to go, ’cause the minute the old man finds out you fucked his only son while you were still riding his dick, your ass will be on the streets. And rest assured, I’ll make sure that happens.” I got so close we were practically nose to nose as I enunciated each word. “I won’t stop until I’ve. Ruined. Your. Life.”