by Joanna Sims
She brought a glass of water back to the table with her and then sat down beside him. Ranger had found his way back to the food Sophia had scrounged up for him. The Brand family had taken in so many strays over the years that it was standard operating procedure to have emergency pet supplies on hand.
“The moral of this story is, I feel pretty good and I have to stay active in order to maintain a modicum of sanity out here in the boonies. So, I don’t mind helping you out while you rest your leg a bit...if you can put your male pride aside for a second or two.”
Luke wasn’t really paying attention to what she was saying; he was shoveling in his food as if he hadn’t eaten for days. He ate like a man who was used to being surrounded by other men vying for the same food. He protected his food with one arm, leaned forward and got the food to his mouth as quickly as possible.
“Luke,” she asked with surprise, “what happened to your table manners?”
Luke paused from his shoveling for a second, sat up and moved his arms off the table. He glanced up at her. “Better?”
“Much.” She shook her head at him. “I take it you like the food? Or, were you just that hungry?”
Luke gulped the water down before he said, “It was pretty damn good.”
Sophia picked up the plate and rinsed it in the sink. “Glad you liked it.” When she returned to her spot at the table, Luke had Ranger in his lap.
“Find any clippers when you found the cat food?” Luke was examining the kitten’s claws.
“Yes. Finally. I wish your mom would find a different outlet when she’s upset. None of us can ever find anything when she’s done.” Sophia chuckled and shook her head. “I put them over there on the counter.” She made to get up again. Luke’s warm hand on her arm stopped her.
“You sit. I’ll get them.”
She decided to let him win this one and didn’t protest. He returned with the clippers and the kitten. Once seated, he flipped Ranger over on his back and put him down gently on his lap.
“You’ve done this before.”
“Yes, I have,” Luke replied. His mom’s soft spot for animals was well-known in the community; everyone knew where to drop off the strays.
Ranger was crying and squirming on Luke’s lap. “If you steady his hind legs, we’ll get this done quickly.”
She scooted her chair closer and reached out to stop Ranger from kicking his legs, while Luke started to trim his front claws. She was so close to him that the fresh scent of his skin invaded her senses. He smelled just like Daniel when he was straight out of the shower: almonds mixed with the scent of soap. She couldn’t stop herself from taking his scent deeply into her lungs. Her long intake of breath caught Luke’s attention. He looked up from his task, caught her eye and said, “Teamwork.”
Nothing in his face read humor, but she saw a glint of mirth that lurked behind the intense depth of his light blue eyes. She leaned back a bit and resisted the urge to bury her nose in his neck. That’s what she used to do with Daniel. It used to be one of her favorite things to do.
“There you go, little man. All done.” Luke easily turned the kitten upright and let him down on the ground. Ranger hopped forward a couple of steps before he stopped and licked his shoulder to release some of his irritation.
Sophia watched Ranger, glad for the distraction that pulled attention away from the way Luke’s nearness made her heart race. “I was actually starting to think that you were going to sleep through the night.”
“I’m surprised I got any shut-eye at all, to tell you the truth.” Luke leaned back in the chair and stretched out his left leg. He rubbed his hands across his cropped hair. Daniel had always worn his light brown hair shaggy and long. Sophia couldn’t remember the last time she had seen Luke without what she termed “Marine hair.” Looking at him now, she was reminded of the first time she had seen Daniel after he had enlisted in the army; he had looked just like Luke in that moment. When they had made love, conceived the child she was carrying, for a split second, she had thought of Luke.
“What?” Luke asked her, an eyebrow raised in question. She must have been giving him an odd look.
“Just thinking.”
“Anything interesting?”
“No.”
Just remembering that I had thought of you when Daniel and I conceived this child...
Luke was growing a goatee; there was a faint outline of stubble that encircled his mouth. Her fingers had the strangest urge to reach out and follow the goatee trail around his lips, of all the stupid things!
“I think we should put Ranger in the hall bathroom upstairs. What do you think?”
“What?” She hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation; she had been distracted by his lips.
“The hall bathroom. Ranger. The kitty box. What do you think?”
“Oh. Yeah. Makes sense.” Those words were followed by a wide yawn. “I think it’s time for me to start thinking about bed. It’s been a long day.”
It took several slow trips, but between the two of them, they managed to get Ranger, his food and the kitty box upstairs into the hall bathroom. Sophia molded a bed out of towels and turned on a low nightlight before she shut the door. Ranger was hooked up.
Luke and Sophia faced each other outside of their respective bedroom doors. There was an awkward moment of silence before they both finally said good-night. Once inside their rooms, they ran back into each other on their sides of the adjoining bathroom.
Luke held on to his door. “Ladies first.”
Sophia agreed. She stepped into the bathroom. She added, “Make sure you knock, mister. Let’s not have any unfortunate moments.”
He knew what she was getting at. She didn’t want him to accidentally walk in on her while she was naked in the head.
“Understood,” he said before he closed the door firmly shut. He heard the lock click, and that made him smile a bit.
Fifteen minutes later, she knocked on his door. “Okay. Your turn.”
He got himself in and out of the bathroom as fast as possible. He popped a couple of painkillers into his mouth and then waited impatiently for them to knock him out. He tossed and turned; he tried to find a comfortable way to position his leg, but he never found it. Instead, he lay on his back with his hands folded behind his head, and imagined Sophia in her bed. It took all of his willpower not to cross to her room and pull her into his arms.
God, he loved her.
God, he wanted her.
But she loved Dan. In her eyes, he would always be second best to his twin. He knew that. Had always known it. Now, he would just have to continue to live with it.
Sophia wasn’t having any better luck sleeping than Luke. It was almost impossible to find a comfortable position to sleep at this stage of the pregnancy game. She had three pillows jammed along her back for support, and one pillow jammed between her legs to keep her knees from digging into each other. Little Danny had decided, for some unknown reason, to change his position the minute she lay down to go to sleep. He had seemed perfectly content in his original position the entire night, but once she closed her eyes, he stuffed his feet up under her rib cage and started to spin around. It felt as if he was trying to make a break for it!
So, when Ranger started crying at the top of his lungs, she was awake to hear it. She sighed heavily and rolled herself out of bed. The wood floor was cold on her bare feet as she quietly made her way to the door. She opened the door, stepped outside of her room and bumped right into a nearly naked Luke. The only thing the man had on was tight white boxer briefs. She hoped that her expression didn’t change as her eyes flitted up and down the length of him.
The frame was the same as Daniel’s, yes. But this build was all Luke. His body was lean and muscular from years of fighting and surviving. Her eyes settled on the bandage that encircled Luke’s sculpted thigh before she swung them back up to Luke’s face. At that moment, she was genuinely grateful for the dim light in the hall. She had no doubt that her face was stain
ed bright red with a blush.
“I’ll get him,” Luke said. “You go back to bed.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah. I got it.”
Sophia removed herself quickly back to her room. The racing of her heart, she suspected, had absolutely nothing to do with her husband and everything to do with Luke. And she hated it. What kind of woman would bury her husband, carry his child and then respond physically to another man?
“A seriously disturbed one,” Sophia scolded herself as she pounded the pillows behind her, squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to fall asleep.
Luke was having his own issues. Ranger was curled up in a ball next to his ear on the pillow, happily purring his fool head off. Luke, on the other hand, was wide awake and fully aroused. Seeing Sophia in her nightgown, her long silky hair spilling over her shoulders and onto her breasts, made blood flow rapidly into parts of his body that had no business waking up. But she had just looked so damned sexy in her modest cotton nightgown with the light from the stairs revealing the outline of her shapely legs. Even the bulge of her pregnant belly was a turn-on.
“God... You’re sick, man,” Luke said to himself. He balled his hands into a fist and waited for the arousal to ebb. He had no business horn-dogging after Sophia. No business at all! Luke felt like hitting something, so he pounded the mattress with his fists. Why hadn’t the pills kicked in? Only sleep would annihilate the vulnerable, sensual image of Sophia fresh out of bed that was now scorched into his brain. Sleep couldn’t get here soon enough. Not by a long shot.
Chapter Three
Luke woke up the next morning feeling hungover from the meds. He had managed to sleep off and on, but for the most part, he had tossed and turned all night. He couldn’t get his leg comfortable and he couldn’t get Sophia out of his mind. Being so close to her, without Dan as a buffer, was not something he had been prepared to handle. She made him feel out of control. He didn’t like it.
“Square yourself away, marine. Real quick,” Luke said to his reflection before he flipped open the hinged bathroom mirror and looked for a razor in the medicine cabinet. He knew he’d find one; his mom was always prepared. What he wasn’t expecting to find was a neatly organized row of Sophia’s favorite fragrances.
The first time he had ever laid eyes on Sophia, she was working behind a fragrance counter in a local department store. She had been talking with a customer, a perfume bottle loosely held in her hand. Her hair was swept up into a haphazard twist and her lovely face was completely devoid of makeup. The sight of her throwing her head back as she laughed stopped him in his tracks. She laughed without reservation; her positive energy sucked him in. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. In an instant, he was crazy, head over heels for her, and he had been ever since.
Luke glanced over at the adjoining bathroom door that led to Sophia’s bedroom. He had heard her moving around a couple of hours ago, so he knew she was already downstairs. He reached over and checked to make sure the door was locked before he pulled the first fragrance bottle down.
“Stalker,” Luke said quietly to himself with a self-effacing half smile. He popped the top off the first bottle and brought it up to his nose. The minute the perfume reached his senses, he thought “Sophia.” To Luke, Sophia always smelled like something he wanted to eat. She never wore the same fragrance two days in a row, but she did have a lineup of favorites, and Luke recognized them all.
One by one, Luke spent a moment with each of Sophia’s fragrances. Each one conjured up a memory of Sophia. From Luke’s vantage point, Dan had won the ultimate prize the day he married her. Luke snapped the top onto the last bottle and got back to the business of shaving the stubble off his face. He moved his head side to side and checked out the goatee that was taking shape. A couple of days more and it might actually look like something. He wondered if Sophia would like him with it. The minute that thought crossed his mind, he gripped each side of the sink, dropped his head and shook it.
Unacceptable, Brand!
The sooner he got back to his life in the corps, the better off he’d be. He didn’t make sense in civilian clothes. He sure as hell didn’t make sense when he was around Sophia; he needed to figure out a way to shove his feelings back into place. He had been doing it for years; it should be second nature. But it wasn’t. Keeping his heart closed to Sophia was like trying to stop his lungs from wanting to take in air. Whenever she was near him, he had an overwhelming urge to hold her face in his hands, look into those sweet hazel-green eyes and tell her that he loved her. That he had always loved her. Which would, of course, be the worst mistake of his life. His confession would freak Sophia out, and any plans he had to play a big role in his nephew’s life would get eighty-sixed. He couldn’t risk that happening. He just couldn’t risk it.
Luke stared down his own image in the mirror. “Maintain your military bearing, marine. That’s all you have to do. Maintain your military bearing.”
Luke pushed himself away from the sink and headed downstairs. Sophia smiled at him in greeting. She was on the phone; she mouthed the name “Tyler” and raised her eyebrows at him. He shook his head. There were five kids in the Brand clan, including him. Tyler was the middle child; he was sandwiched between two sets of twins; Dan and Luke were the oldest, and Jordan and Josephine were the youngest. Out of the three boys and two girls, Tyler had turned out to be the only true rancher in the bunch. He took after their dad, from his tall, lanky build to his love for the land. Luke was proud of him, looked forward to seeing him, but he wasn’t ready for a reunion just yet. His entire focus was on Sophia. The rest of the family had to take a backseat.
“Okay.” Sophia said into the phone after a pause. “Thanks for checking up on me. Tell your mom and dad that I’m fine. Danny and I are doing just fine.” She rested her hand on her stomach as she spoke those words. “Okay. I’m glad your uncle’s feeling better. And listen, have some fun while you’re there. Stop worrying about me. I’ll see you when you guys get back. All right. Bye, Tyler.”
Sophia hung up the phone. “You could have at least told Tyler you’re here. He’s as tight-lipped as you are.”
“And ruin the surprise?”
Luke said this with a deadpan expression. She could rarely read him, and this time was no different, but something in her gut told her that Luke’s early arrival didn’t have much to do with surprising his family. She just couldn’t figure out what else it could be.
She put the kettle on for tea. “I already got the third degree from my parents this morning...again. They want me to have this baby in Boston. I can’t really blame them, this is their first grandchild. But this is your parents’ first grandchild, too. And I don’t know...I think it’s more important for your parents because this is Daniel’s son.”
“No matter what you do, someone’s always gonna be ticked off.” Luke shrugged. “Do what’s best for you, make yourself happy; everyone else will fall in formation. Or not.”
Sophia smiled faintly. “You’re right. Not always easy to do, though. For me, anyway. Coffee?”
Luke nodded. She brought him a cup of black coffee. He was surprised she remembered that he didn’t take cream and sugar.
“Eggs okay?”
“I wish you’d stop waiting on me.”
“I wish you’d stop giving me a hard time about something I want to do. You’re actually doing me a favor. My days are packed in Boston with clients and meetings, friends, shopping. I’m used to being on my BlackBerry all of the time at home. I swear I’m having serious withdrawal because the reception is so bad here. I actually have to stand up on the window seat in my room and smash myself up against the wall in order to get just one lousy bar! I have to find stuff to do here, or I swear to you I’ll go stark raving mad.” She pulled eggs out of the fridge and located a pan. “I mean, your family’s great. Your mom, your dad, Tyler...all of them. They’ve been wonderful to me. But I’m a city girl. I’m used to keeping up the pace all day long. Coming and going as I
please. Out here, I feel like I’m stuck in slow motion.” She paused from her task for a minute so she could punctuate her words with her hands. “Quite frankly, it’s driving me nuts. There are only so many sunsets I can admire, so much foliage I can appreciate. I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but bring on the traffic and the noise.” She dug in the cabinet for a bag of decaffeinated green tea. “And I can only hope that your parents aren’t going to want me to make this a permanent situation once Danny is born.”
Luke nodded. His mom just might try to convince Sophia to stay. His mom was all about family, and she would want to see Dan’s son grow. “It’s gotta be tough to be away from your business. Who’s taking care of your clients while you’re away?” Luke asked, before he took a sip of coffee.
Sophia started to scramble the eggs, just how he liked them. Another thing she had remembered about him. Dan only ate his fried.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, leaving the business. I’ve had horrible abandonment issues. What kind of therapist abandons her patients? Luckily I have a great group of therapists in our office who were willing to take on my patients. I still feel bad, though. Like I’m letting them down. Especially during the holidays. I’m booked between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. A lot of depression.” Sophia took the kettle off the stove and poured the piping-hot water over the tea bag.
“Dealing with your family can do that to a person.” Luke nodded.
“The holidays are a tough time. People get depressed if they have to spend time with family, and then other people get depressed if they don’t have family to make them miserable during the holidays. Either way, the holidays are a therapist’s busy season. Kind of like tax season for CPAs.” Sophia put the finished eggs on a plate and brought them to Luke. “Here ya go.”
“Tax time’s probably busy for you, too.”
That made Sophia smile. Lately, Luke had been having that effect on her. She liked it. “Come to think of it, I do get a boost during April.”
