She wanted to cover herself. This was about the time they should be turning off the lights. Instead, she was caught by the look in his eyes. As he watched her, he looked...rapt.
Still. She took a half-step backward.
“You’re beautiful.” His eyes flicked up to hers, then back to her shirt, the bottom of which now brushed the underside of her breasts.
“Oh, I’m not—”
”Shh. Yes, you are.”
The shirt slid higher, revealing her lacy white bra. Sophie sucked in her breath, though she wasn’t sure if she did it because she was nervous or in a stupid attempt to look thinner.
“Lift your arms.”
As she did, he pulled the shirt over her head and dropped it to the floor. His hands skimmed her shoulders then down over her breasts. “So beautiful.”
Sophie didn’t see how he could say that. For a second she thought about Stanford, who told her over and over how much he wanted her but never once said she was pretty. Maybe that should have told her something.
Rhys’ phone rang and he swore. Sophie backed up to let him pull it off his belt. Shaking his head, Rhys said, “I’ve got to take this. I’ll be right back.” With a pointed look, he said, “Don’t go anywhere.”
He swept out of the room and into the hall, leaving the door cracked. She could just barely hear him greeting someone.
She waited a minute or so, but when it became clear he wasn’t going to come back immediately, she put her top back on then wandered around the room. It was surprisingly austere, very few paintings or artwork or geegaws. The mantle held a single urn, like the kind that hold cremated remains. His bedside table had a lamp and an alarm clock but nothing else.
Nevertheless, the room oozed wealth. He might like to live simply, but every object she saw was top quality, the best money could buy, from the drapes to the sheets to the carpeting. It was beautiful.
It was frightening.
Rhys’ voice rose until she could hear it clearly. “She’s just going to have to wait.”
The person on the other end must have talked a while, because Rhys stayed silent. Then he said, “I don’t give a damn. She’s the one fucking my life up, not the other way around.”
Sophie had never heard him so angry. She almost expected to hear him punching the wall. She made her way to the small brown leather bench not too far from the door planning to sit down.
“Seriously? How could Sophia ever think I’d be interested in her? Her body...” He paused briefly. “No, I don’t get that. Why would anyone find her attractive? She’s nuts!”
Sophie’s knees felt weak. She couldn’t imagine why he’d be talking about her that way, but who else could he be talking about?
“I’ve told you over and over, Sophia is just this side of ugly.” Rhys continued to talk loudly into the phone, but she didn’t hear any more than that.
Tears blurred her vision and her chest hurt. She had to get out of there before he came back. No way could she hide that she’d heard, and she couldn’t talk to him about it either. Right then, all she wanted was to escape.
There had to be more than one way out of a bedroom this size. She tried each door, finding the bathroom, a massive walk-in closet, and finally an anteroom that looked like a study or sitting room or something. Lots of books and a fireplace with chairs in front of it. She slipped inside and closed the door behind her. At least she wasn’t in the bedroom anymore.
It didn’t take long to find the door to the hallway, but she could still hear Rhys out there, so she tried the only other door. That one led to a back staircase. She didn’t know where she’d end up on the other end of it, but she didn’t care. She went down the stairs as fast as she could.
Tears slid down her cheeks and all she wanted was to crawl into her own bed but she had enough sense to realize her room was the first place he’d look for her. If he looked for her. So she raced upstairs just long enough to grab her purse then headed out the kitchen door and wound around the house to the staff parking lot. Once in her car, she drove off the grounds.
Part of her couldn’t believe what was happening. He cared about her; she was sure he did. She must have heard him wrong or been mistaken. Maybe he was talking about a different Sophia. But how likely was that? Or maybe she’d heard the name wrong. Or...who knew.
The other part of her was sure she’d just heard what he’d been feeling all along. Why would he want someone like her, fat and unglamorous when he could have anyone he wanted? How could she have ever thought he would?
That’s why she had to leave. She knew she needed to talk to him, one way or another, but she couldn’t face him right now. How could she?
Part of her wanted to quit. He was leaving on a trip; she could give notice in the morning and hopefully be gone before he got back home. But she wasn’t that kind of coward. And she loved this job. He wasn’t running her off so easily.
Sophie pulled into a little gas station on the side of the road and parked. She just needed to think, that’s all. She needed a little time to herself.
Her cell phone rang. Rhys. She dropped the phone back into her purse. She didn’t hit ‘ignore.’ She didn’t want him to know she was ignoring him. Okay, that was stupid. Of course she was.
Her phone blipped. He’d left a message.
In her rearview, she watched a ratty station wagon pull up to the pump. She rested her head back against the head rest, his words ringing in her ears. Could he have meant something other than what she’d thought he meant? It seemed pretty clear.
She touched the phone lightly. Her curiosity would kill her. She wanted to know what he’d said in the message...and she didn’t want to know at the same time.
In the mirror, an older couple came out of the little convenience store arm in arm and walked back to the station wagon. The man opened the front door for the woman and helped her inside before going to get in the driver’s seat himself.
Sophie sobbed. That’s all she wanted for herself—that kind of love and companionship. Was it really so much to ask?
She grabbed her phone, pulling up the voicemail before she could change her mind. Maybe he’d say something that would explain everything.
His voice had a teasing note in it. “Sophie, where are you? I thought I told you not to go anywhere. We’ve got unfinished business.” There was a pause and it sounded like he was moving. “I’ll check your room. Maybe you’re there. Sorry I took so long on the phone, but I’ll find you one way or another.” He hung up.
He sounded like nothing was wrong at all, like he hadn’t just shattered her entire world with a single sentence. How could he not realize?
And wasn’t that what she’d wanted? She took a deep breath.
The clock on her cell flipped over to eleven. How long did she need to stay away before she could figure he’d given up looking for her?
Chapter 21
“Sophie, where are you? What happened? I don’t understand—” Rhys bit off a curse. “Call me back. Just—call me back.” He hung up. Standing in the empty conference room, he felt the urge to hurl the cell phone against the wall.
Two days ago, he’d been on top of the world. He and Sophie had gone back to his room and he’d been sure everything would be smooth sailing for them from then on out. And then she’d disappeared. And now she wouldn’t talk to him and he was in flipping New York and couldn’t do what he needed to and track her down and make her talk to him.
What the hell had gone wrong?
He still had a few minutes before he had to go back into the negotiations. Things weren’t going well. He was having to give more concessions than he wanted and was getting perilously close to the point where the whole deal would no longer be of benefit to his company.
The thing with Sophie wasn’t helping. He kept thinking about her when he needed to focus on work. He needed to talk to her and get it resolved.
He stood and stared at his phone for a moment, not really seeing it. How could he get her to pick up when he called?
Try a different phone?
Or he could go the brute force way. He was her boss, after all. If Janet or Raymond handed her the house phone she’d have to take it.
Brute force sounded good. He immediately dialed the house. When Janet picked up, he said, “I’m looking for Sophie. Can’t raise her on her cell phone. Is she there today?”
Janet sounded surprised. “Of course. She hasn’t missed a day of work yet. Do you want me to get her for you?”
“If you would.”
“Of course. Hold on, please.”
A couple of minutes went by. Rhys pictured Janet walking to the kitchen and handing a recalcitrant Sophie the phone. Another minute while Sophie debated not picking up. Then he heard a click and Sophie’s sweet voice came on the line.
“Hello?” Her voice sounded tight.
“Sophie.” All of a sudden he wasn’t sure what to say. He could hear his heart beating in his ears. “Where’d you go? Why won’t you talk to me?” He hated the plaintive note in his voice but couldn’t help it. He needed her.
She paused long enough that he thought she’d hung up. “I heard you.”
“What?”
“On the phone the other night. I heard what you said.” Her voice sounded thready.
Was she crying? “What did I say?” God, what did he say? He didn’t remember anything that would have upset her. He was just talking about the trial, about Skinny–
“You said, ‘I can’t believe Sophie would think I could ever be attracted to her.’”
Skinny. “Sophia. I didn’t say Sophie, I said Sophia—”
”What difference does that make? I can’t believe I trusted you—”
”I wasn’t talking about you! I was talking about Sophia, about the woman who’s suing me. Sophie, I’d never ever say that about you. I adore you. You’re beautiful. You’ve got to know that.”
“You expect me to believe there are two Sophias.”
“Yes.” If he’d ever thought this might happen, he would have told her about the trial. He hadn’t meant to keep it a secret; he just didn’t want her involved. And when he was with her, he didn’t want to have to think about it. So he’d never mentioned it and now he was paying the price. “I’m sorry I never told you about her. I wish you’d told me what you’d heard when it happened. I could have explained right away.”
“Two Sophias?”
“I can prove it,” he said. “Ask Janet about it when you get off the phone. Better yet—is she still there?”
“No.”
“Go find her. Then put me on speakerphone.”
He could hear her moving around. “You’re getting sued?” she said.
“Yeah. She says I sexually harassed her.”
There was a short pause then Sophie said, “Nobody’d be crazy enough to believe that.”
He definitely should have told her about the lawsuit before this. Because damn, it felt good to hear her say that. “My lawyer hasn’t been able to convince the judge to drop the suit yet.”
“You can’t be serious. It’s ridiculous.” Already, her voice sounded different. Stronger. “Wait—here’s Janet. I’m putting you on speaker.”
“Janet?” Rhys said. Through the glass walls of the empty conference room he stood in, he could see the other people gathering in the room where the negotiations were going on. He needed to get back to it. But he had to finish this first. “Tell Sophie about the other Sophia.”
“Are you sure, sir?” Janet said.
“Yes. Tell her.”
“All right,” Janet said, voice hesitant. “Sophia was the chef here before you. She was a mediocre cook at best, and threw herself at Rhys at every opportunity. When he turned her down, she quit her job and hired a lawyer, claiming that Rhys harassed her. I almost didn’t hire you, having the same name as her. But your cooking is superb, and I’m glad I took the chance.”
“Believe me now?” Rhys said.
“Yes,” Sophie said.
“Then take me off speaker.”
He heard Sophie saying goodbye to Janet. “I’m back. And I’m sorry. I should have asked you about it the other night. I just—it didn’t seem possible you were talking about someone else. And I’ve been wondering for a while why you’d like someone like me. So it all seemed to fall into place.”
“Someone like you?” What the hell was she talking about?
“You know.”
He didn’t know. “Is this because you don’t have as much money as I do? Because I don’t care about that.”
“No, no...it’s...I mean, I’m not what most men find attractive.”
“Sophie...” His voice took on a low growl.
“I’m fluffy, all right? Not exactly any man’s dream—”
He cut her off. “You’re this man’s dream. And I don’t want to hear you talking about yourself like that. You’re beautiful and sexy and kind. Everything I could ever want. Got it?”
It took a minute, but she finally said, “Yes.”
“Now it’s my turn. I’m sorry I was so stupid as to talk like that right outside the bedroom door. I knew I was getting angry; I should have realized my voice would carry. I should have thought about what the things I was saying might sound like to you. I’m so, so sorry for hurting you. Forgive me?”
“Yes,” she said. “Of course.”
“I’ll make it up to you. I have to go back into the meeting now, but I’m going to call you tonight, okay? And this time you’re going to answer the phone.”
“I look forward to it.” He heard a lightness in her voice.
“Good. I’ll talk to you tonight.”
“Tonight.”
They said good-bye and Rhys hung up. He felt sick to think Sophie’d thought he was talking about her. At the same time, a weight had lifted off him, knowing they’d worked everything out.
He took a second to pull himself together and then headed back into the negotiations.
Chapter 22
Sophie couldn’t believe some woman had accused Rhys of harassing her. The man she knew would never do something like that.
In the past, Sophie’d always believed ‘where there’s smoke there’s fire.’ She’d thought if a woman had the guts to admit what had happened to her, there was no doubt it was true. But now she had to admit she’d been narrow-minded. If Rhys could be accused of something he wasn’t capable of doing, who else might that have happened to?
In the end, it didn’t matter. What mattered was clearing Rhys’ name. Surely there was something she could do. She could testify or something. Tell them he wasn’t like that.
He’d mentioned a lawyer. She’d find out who that lawyer was and ask what she could do to help.
But how could she find out who the lawyer was? She headed back toward the kitchen then realized she still held the phone in her hand. She didn’t know where Janet had picked up the phone, and the house was so big she’d never find it on her own, so she’d have to find Janet and give it back.
And maybe Janet could tell her who the lawyer was.
Sophie found Janet in the drawing room with one of the maids. She waited until Janet finished speaking with the maid then let Janet walk over to her instead of vice versa, hoping she’d be more willing to share information if the maid couldn’t hear it too. She handed Janet the phone. “I wasn’t sure where this went.”
“Of course.” Janet took it.
Sophie lowered her voice. “I can’t believe someone is suing Rhys. He’s such a nice man.”
Janet made a sour face. “That woman was trouble from the beginning.”
“I just wish there were something I could do.”
Janet shook her head. “So do I.”
“Have you talked with his lawyer at all? What’s his name?”
“Dan. Dan Montclair. He deposed me a few months ago but I haven’t talked with him since.”
“He hasn’t talked to me at all. I guess because I wasn’t here when she was here.” Sophie took a half step toward the door. “Well, I guess
I should get back to work. But let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
“I will.” Janet headed across the room with the phone.
As Sophie walked back to the kitchen, she knew what she needed to do. Armed with the lawyer’s name, it shouldn’t be too hard to get his phone number. And then she’d call and find out what she could do to help.
She finished making lunch for the staff. After she’d finished eating lunch with them, she got on her laptop and looked up Dan Montclair. His phone number was as easy to find as she’d thought, and in a few minutes she had his receptionist on the phone. The woman wouldn’t put Sophie through to Dan but did take a message.
While she was prepping for dinner an hour later, the phone rang. Dan had called her back. “You said you wanted to talk about Rhys Blackwell?” he said.
“Yes. I want to know if there’s anything I can do to help with his case.”
“There’s just one problem with that, Ms. Teisburg. Rhys asked me to keep you out of things. He wants to protect you.”
Sophie hadn’t expected that. “But if there’s something I can do to help, I want to do it. Nobody could really think Rhys would do something like this.”
“I agree.” He paused. “Look, why don’t we meet for coffee? There’s probably nothing you can help with, but at the moment, I’ll take all the help I can get.”
“Even if Rhys disapproves?”
“If it gets him acquitted? Yeah.”
They spent the next few minutes arranging when and where to meet, and then hung up.
When Rhys called that evening, Sophie felt a little guilty about not mentioning her conversation with Dan–but not guilty enough to ‘fess up to it. Instead, she tried, unsuccessfully, to get him to talk about the negotiations.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to know,” Rhys said. “It’s that when I’m talking with you I’m actually able to stop thinking about all that. And I like that. That’s what happened with the trial, too. I should have told you about it. Then you wouldn’t have been blindsided. But I prefer talking to you about other stuff. Less stressful stuff.”
Crazy About Curves: 10 Luscious Reads Page 87
