Authors: Vanessa Devereaux
She sat on the floor and pulled it onto her lap. He hadn’t asked her to marry him. She thought he would as soon as she’d turned eighteen
,
but he hadn’t.
Sophie had pressured him
,
and that’s when he’d tol
d her he thought they should go
to college and get an education before they settled down.
She
had
bought the bridal magazine as a way of hinting to him that she was ready. He had never seen it because the day after she’d been to the bookstore to buy it, she’d met Travis when
he’d checked into Mountainview. He’d stayed two months while he was working on a project for one of his
senior
classes at the
University
of
Washington
.
Sophie took a deep breath and opened up the page she’d dog eared. She’d even
picked out the dress she’d wear
when she married Wade.
Sophie put the magazine and photos back in the box, not wanting to
dwell on them
a minute longer
. She
took off her clothes and slipped into
the swimsuit. As she expected it was a tight fit. As well as being slightly fuller now, especial
ly in the breast area,
she might have grown an inch or two as well.
Still it would have to do. She grabbed a towel
and headed down into the guest area. She peeked around the corner. Grans had been right. There wasn’t anybody about
at
this time of the day. She hurried over to the tub, turned it on
,
and climbed over the side and got in.
Ma
ybe when she made a fortune with
her design business she’d think about install
ing
one of these into her t
ownhouse. Yeah, out on the deck where she’d have a view of
Puget
Sound
, even
if
she would need binoculars to see it.
She closed her eyes and rested
her head back. Nothing like
soothing hot water to take the tension out of your body.
If only it c
ould take the sadness out of my
heart
,
too
.
Wade would be din
ing with her and Grans
later today,
and
she hoped neither of them
would
raise
the topic of what he and Cathy did last night. Just the to
pic of Cathy would be deadly
.
Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose, suddenly seeing an image of Cathy spread
-
eagle with Wade moving up and down between her legs. More than likely he was a wonderful lover. He probably gave her an orgasm each time they had sex.
She shook her head.
Why am I torturing myself like this?
But no matter how much she tried she could
n’t
get the image of Wade and Cathy
both
naked and having sex out of her mind.
“Forget about him
,
” she said under her breath.
“Forget about who, Soph?”
Sophie opened her eyes and looked up to see Wade standing there looking more handsome than the day before.
“That looks very inviting,” he said. “You mind if I join you?”
****
He hadn’t expected to find Sophie in the hot tub when he’d taken a short cut through the guest area. He’d heard the tub bubbling, seen some stream rising up from it
,
and as
sumed some guests were soaking there.
Wade had almost tripped over his own feet when
he’d noticed Sophie sitting in there. Her hair
was tied up in a
ponytail;
her face
was
free of makeup
,
and
he had to say
it
was as gorgeous as the on
e with blusher and mascara. Her eyes had been closed, her chin in the air…she’d looked like the
stuff dreams, or a
t least his dreams
,
were made of.
“Sorry if I startled you,” he said.
“No, I was just miles away thinking.”
“Anything in particular? I mean I heard you say forget about him when I walked up to you.”
“Just reciting a line from a song I was thinking about. It’s been in my head all day.”
“Not a crying in your beer song by any chance”
Sophie smiled. “Nope, a happy one.”
“Doesn’t sound like it if she has to forget about him.”
He grinned and then put his nose in the air.
“Is that h
uckleberry pie I smell cooking?”
“Grans sai
d she was going to make all our
favorites.”
“So that m
eans we’re having chicken fried
steak, country mashed potatoes and…
“Green beans,” said Sophie finishing his sentence.
Wade rubbed his stomach. “This cowboy is feeling hungry all ready.”
“You didn’t get enough last night…food I mean.”
“It was good
,
but nothing like your grandmother’s homemade goodies
–
which reminds me I should find her
,
so we can start talking about the case. You
r
fingers look like they’re puck
er
ing. I think you should get out of there.”
“I will in a minute or so.”
“Why don’t you do it right now so I
can
hold the towel for you?”
“It’s okay.”
“No, really. You know my dad raised me to be a gentleman.”
He lifted the towel as Sophie stood.
Had he totally lost his senses?
The swimsuit was a good
size too small for her. Her butt
cheeks hung below the hem
,
and her breasts spilled over the top. A darkish hue
where the water had made the suit transparent appeared on her mound. He
bit his lip.
He wrapped the towel around her shoulders, intending to let go
so she could take over
,
but instead he held it there and squeezed her.
“Wade.”
“What?”
he whispered in her ear.
“Do you think this is a good idea?”
“What?”
“You know what?”
“You know I have to kiss you, don’t you?”
“Yes, but …
”
He didn’t want to
hear buts or whys
,
or
even
becauses today
. He put his lips on hers and pulled her in clo
se. The towel fell to the floor as
her
water-
dr
enched body pressed into his. H
e didn’t care that his jean
s and shirt were getting
sopping
wet
.
Her skin was like silk as he ran his hands up and down her bac
k, feeling each of her vertebra
rub against his hands.
She placed her arms around
the nape of his neck. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
Wade lowered his hands and rested them on her cute li
ttle ass. She’d had a flat bottom
when she was a kid
,
but now it was womanly, shapely and oh yeah, just right for doing this. He put a hand over each cheek and squeezed them
,
which forced her body
to curve
into his.
He was rock hard again
,
and he wanted her to know what she did to him. Maybe he should carry her upstairs to her old roo
m and make love to her. They’d wind back the clock
and pretend the last eight years
had
never happened.
It sounded like the best idea he’d had in a long time.
Wade hooked his finger under one of the straps of he
r swimsuit and was about to ease
it off her sh
oulder when someone coughed
loudly behind them.
Julie Rogers
stood there
h
olding a mug of coffee and was
obviously on her way back to reception from the kitchen.
Sophie p
ulled away and then stepped back from Wade
, almost slipping on some water that had splashed on the floor when she gotten out of the tub.
“Sorry to disturb you
,
but I could see the two of you all the way out in the garde
n. Maybe you should get a room. We have four of them available tonight.”
Sophie had tur
ned crimson
,
and Wade guessed by the burning sensation in his cheeks, he
had
,
too.
Without saying another word Julie was gone.
“Good thing she came along when she did,” said Sophie. She wrapped the towel tightly around her shoulders.
“I was thinking
just
the opposite.”
“Wade, I don’t think we can be alone from now on. Who knows where this sort of thing can
lead to?”
With that Sophie turned around and walked away.
Wade turned the whirlpool off
, hearing just a deadly silence now,
and looked out of the window.
Not be alone with Sophie. That’s all he wanted to do. And as for Cathy. He hadn’t wanted to hurt her last night
,
so he’d made the excuse he didn’t have a condom and he was too tired to go and buy more. He was about to tell her that he wouldn’t be taking her to the police fundraising dance after a
ll because he had work to do. However,
she’d shown him
the dress
she’d bought especially for the occasion
,
and a friend was coming into town to look after Max.
H
e’d felt bad enough
that
he’d made some lame excuse about the condoms
,
and then knowing she’d spent money for a dress
,
he’d left things as they were. He’d
made a promise to himself that aft
er the dance he’d sit
down with Cathy and tell her that
while he thought she was a nice
person
who’d
he’d be glad to have as one of his friends
,
he didn’t see a future for them.
Sure, he might be making a mistake
. When
he’d first met Cathy, he
had
liked her well enough to think the like could turn into love.
That wasn’t to be. Once
he’d set eyes on Sophie again, he knew he could only ever truly love one woman. Maybe she’d want him
;
maybe she wouldn’t. Perhaps they’d have a fling
,
and they’d be do
ne
.
Right now that was fine with him. He’d rather have one night with Sophie and a lifetime of hurt
than
live the rest of
his days with a woman who didn’t
light up his heart the way Sophie did. Cathy would understand. He knew she would
.
He
hoped a guy would come along for her and have feelings for her like he had for his Soph.
Everyone deserved that.
“Wade.”
He turned around to see Emily standing there wearing an apron.
“Hi
,
Emily. How you doing today?”
“I’m fine. I didn’t know yo
u’d arrived. Did you see Sophie?”
“Yes, she was using the hot tub
,
but I think she’s gone up to change.”
“Why don’t you come through and have some lemonade
?
And
I m
ade your favorite Beehive cake to go with it.”
She put her arm around him and walked him through to the owner’s apartment.
****
After the incident at the hot tub, Sophie was reluctant to go back downstairs. She knew Wade would be there with her grandmother. Plus, he was staying for dinner. If Julie hadn’t come along when she had, Sophie knew she would have let Wade make love to her right there on the tiled floor around the tub.
That would have been embarrassing and awkward to say the least.
Good thing her swimsuit had been wet because it had hidden the telltale signs of her excitement when Wade had grabbed her as
s. His erection had been strong and
urgent when it had
pushed into her belly. She
’d
creamed
the second he’d come in contact with her. At first she’d put it down to not having sex for
what seemed like forever
,
but truth was Wade did
,
and always would
, excite
her
like no other man on earth.