Very much like Sophia.
Three
S
ophia hadn’t expected to see Logan in the chili place. She’d been looking forward to sharing the meal with Luke, without any fuss or anxiety. All-you-can-suffer chili sounded like a great plan, but all-you-can-suffer Logan—not so good.
Luke whispered in Sophia’s ear as they approached the table. “I swear I didn’t know he was going to be here.”
“I know,” she assured him. In the short time since she’d been reacquainted with Luke, she was sure that he wouldn’t have set her up like this.
“We won’t stay. Just say hello.”
“No, Luke,” she said, “I won’t have you avoiding your brother because of me.”
“Logan won’t care if we find another table.”
“But I do.”
Sophia feared she’d caused a rift between the brothers already. One way or another, she would have to find a way to be civil around Logan, for everyone’s sake.
“Hello to both of you,” Ward said once they arrived at his and Logan’s booth. “I see you’re introducing Ms. Sophia to the fine dining in town.”
“I am. Doesn’t get finer than Kickin’,” Luke said to Ward with a smile, before turning his attention to Logan.
He sipped his beer, and then nodded an acknowledgment to his brother.
She wouldn’t allow Logan to ignore her and opted to be the bigger person. “It’s good to see you again, Ward. And you, too, Logan.”
Logan slanted a look her way, his gaze landing on the bodice of her coral dress. He refused to make eye contact with her, as if she wasn’t worthy of any more of his attention than that. “Sophia.”
Idiot.
“I’m having me a second bowl of Number Three,” Ward said, in an attempt to ease the tension at the table. “The higher the number, the higher the heat level. Only goes up to five. But I’m not that brave.”
“I think three’s pretty brave,” Sophia said. Kickin’ Kitchen wasn’t around when she lived here, and now her interest was piqued. Her Spanish ancestry and mother’s heavy hand with spices gave her a taste for daring foods.
“Beginner’s start at Number One and pretty much stay there for a few years,” Logan said smugly, eyeing her with a challenge in his eyes. “Some can’t even handle that.”
Sophia straightened to her full height. Mr. High and Mighty actually volunteered something more than a grunt. She shot her chin out, and took the bait. But she planned for him to be the one eating crow. “I bet I could handle Number Three.”
Logan stopped drinking his beer long enough to say, “That I’d like to see.”
“Whoa, Sophia,” Luke said with a shake of the head. “I just graduated to Three a few months ago.”
Ward gave her a skeptical look.
Sophia took Logan’s challenge. “I’d be happy to prove you wrong.”
The waitress came sprinting by to deliver a round of drinks to the booth. “You folks need a table?” she asked Luke. “’Cause we’re getting slammed. It’s a twenty-minute wait.”
“That’s fine. We’ll wait,” Luke said with a firm nod, clearly protecting Sophia. “Slade. Table for two.”
Logan set his beer bottle down with a thud and his dark eyes sharpened on her. “Chickening out?”
Luke shook his head at Sophia, his eyes darkening with caution, but it was too late for his warning. Her mind was made up. For one, she wouldn’t let Luke baby her and, two, Logan needed to be put in his place. When Ward rose to offer her a seat, she lowered down and slid across the booth, making room for him to sit beside her.
“I’m not chickening out,” she said triumphantly to Logan, and then turned to flash Ward a generous smile. “Thank you, kind sir.”
Ward nodded, color rising up on his neck. “Welcome.”
Logan’s mouth twitched, and he sighed with resignation as he made room for his brother in the booth. “Yeah, sure. Why not.”
“Cancel that table for two,” Luke said to the waitress as he took a seat beside Logan. “Looks like we’ll be joining them.”
“Sure thing. I’ll be back in a sec with menus.”
Before the waitress turned away, Luke stopped her with a gentle command. “No need. We know what we want.” Luke met with Sophia’s eyes once again. She nodded, giving the waitress her order. “I’ll have a Number Three.”
“Make that two Number Threes,” Luke said with a sigh, “and two beers.”
“No beer for me,” Sophia said. “I’ll have water.”
The waitress made a mental note.
“You’d best bring three glasses of ice water then, for starters,” Ward said, looking a bit concerned. “Those habaneros will drain the last ounce of moisture from your mouth.”
“Sure, I’ll be back with waters, beer and two Number Threes.” The waitress moved on and Sophia found herself facing Logan directly across the booth.
It wasn’t a hard picture, seeing the two Slade cowboys sitting side by side. They had similar good looks. The biggest difference was that Luke’s eyes were blue, like his mother’s, and his hair was a sandy color, rather than Logan’s dark brown. But the men were worlds apart in personality traits.
Luke inclined his head toward Sophia. “Beer might have quenched your thirst better.”
“I don’t drink.”
“Ever?” Luke asked, looking a little astonished. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“You couldn’t possibly know,” she said quietly, holding in her anguish. Luke didn’t know everything there was to know about the grown-up woman she’d become, unlike Logan, who
thought
he knew everything about her. “My father was an alcoholic,” she explained, “and I’ve never found a taste for the stuff. It’s my way of rebelling.”
Not that she felt obligated to give a reason, but her father’s story was a constant reminder of the pitfalls and fragile nature of the human spirit and she especially wanted Logan to understand that her life hadn’t been all peaches and cream. His family didn’t have a monopoly on heartache. Despite being married to a loving beautiful woman, Sophia’s father had left her mother with a three-year-old child to raise. As an adult it was still pretty hard for her to rationalize his actions, though she’d tried hard to work through being fatherless most of her life. Alberto Montrose chose a love affair with liquor that ultimately ruined him. The last Sophia had heard, which was more than ten years ago, her father had been seen wandering the streets of San Francisco, ragged and homeless. Liquor
was
his wife, child, addiction and downfall, all rolled up into one.
“Enough said,” Luke announced, wearing a compassionate expression. “Water is underrated anyway.”
“Yeah, you can’t live without it,” Ward offered needlessly.
Logan chuckled, and sipped his beer, watching her as if she were a spectacle. “Your stomach’s gonna rebel in a few minutes.”
This time Luke wasn’t disagreeing. “You’re in for it, Sophia. But you always were a daredevil. That much I do know.”
“Me? What about wrestling bucking broncos for five years of your life?”
“Six,” Ward and Luke said in unison.
“And I wasn’t wrestling with them, darlin’. I rode them for nine seconds at a time.”
“Most times, it was five seconds in the saddle, and the rest of the time on the ground, eating the horse’s dust,” Logan offered, happy to give Luke a bad time.
“Eating dust may be easier than eating Number Threes.”
Sophia gave the men an eye-roll and shook her head. “I will consider myself properly warned by all three of you. I promise you I’ll hold my own.”
She moved her long hair to one shoulder and shuffled in her seat, adjusting to the booth’s cushion to get more comfortable. Logan watched her movements, his gaze flicking over her body until their eyes finally met in a daring stare. A hot sprinkle of desire spread through her belly like warm sugar. For the slightest pinch of time, Sophia spotted a glimmer of admiration in his eyes for what she was about to do. Which, in her estimation, wasn’t all that admirable. She would eat a bowl of Kickin’ chili. How hard would that be?
And in that moment, no matter how much she hated to admit it, she saw Logan in a different light. She saw him as someone who could match her spirit, someone she might enjoy being around and someone who could fill the gaping void threatening to swallow her up. A shell that no one, not even a wonderful man like Luke, could ever fill.
“What the hell?” Ward jerked in his seat and all heads turned his way. “Pardon me, miss.” Apology touched his eyes as he briefly glanced at her, before pulling his cell phone out of his pocket. “Darn vibrating thing. Always shocks the vinegar outta me.”
Logan’s short laugh flashed a smile that cut deep ridges into each side of his mouth. Sophia took a quick breath and focused on Ward rather than allow that warm-sugar sensation to spread any further. She reminded herself that Logan hated her.
Ward glanced at the phone’s screen. “It’s a call from Hunter. He wouldn’t be calling if it weren’t important.”
Logan said, “Go ahead and answer it, Ward.”
Ward spoke to his son, nodding his head and saying “uh-huh, uh-huh,” about half a dozen times. He finished his conversation with, “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
Ward set the phone back into his pocket as he spoke. “My boy needs help at the ranch. Skylar is foaling early. He’s thinking it’s gonna be a difficult delivery. Luke, she’s your favorite mare. You coming with me?”
Ward rose from his seat. Luke did, too, blinking away the fear on his face. “Yeah, I’d better see to her.”
From what Sophia gathered, no one on the ranch knew more about horses than Luke. He had a natural way with them. Even Ward, Sunset Ranch’s head wrangler, seemed to look to Luke for help.
“Sorry, Soph. I’ve got to go. We almost lost her last time she foaled.”
“Okay, I understand,” Sophia said, grabbing her clutch purse, “I’ll go with you.”
“No,” Luke said. “You stay and eat your dinner. I know you’re hungry. Your meal is coming.”
“But I, uh—” Sophia looked from Logan’s unreadable expression to Luke. “I don’t have to—”
“For Pete’s sake, woman,” Logan said with a shake of the head. “I won’t bite. Ward can drive to the ranch with Luke. I’ll take you home later. After you eat your Number Three.”
“But—”
“Are you chickening out again?”
“No!”
“Okay, then.” Logan slid his brother a reassuring look. “You go on. Don’t worry about anything but saving Skylar and her foal.”
“Play nice,” Luke said, pointing his finger at Logan.
“Get outta here,” Logan said, grabbing for his beer with a casual shrug, as if to say he didn’t have anything to worry about.
Luke didn’t budge. “Logan.”
“Damn it, you have my word.”
Finally satisfied, Luke nodded. “Fair enough. I’m sorry, Sophia,” Luke said. “But Logan will get you home safely. I’ve really gotta run.”
Ward had already excused himself and was waiting for Luke by the entranceway. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me. I only hope it goes well for the mare.” Luke met up with Ward and the two men exited the café in a hurry. And just like that, Sophia found herself alone with Logan Slade.
* * *
He was stuck with Sophia for the rest of the night. Hell, a man could do much worse than entertaining a gorgeous woman with a killer body for the evening. She was a damn sight better to look at than the antique cast-iron pots and pans hanging on the wall. A damn sight more appealing than rusted tricycles and red wagons that littered the shelves circling the perimeter of the café. She sure had every man in the joint giving her the eye and giving him a solid way-to-go look as they scanned the booth. Logan would be on his best behavior tonight. Not because he’d eased up on his thinking about Sophia, but because he’d given his brother his word. For Luke’s sake, Logan would treat Sophia kindly.
After a long minute of silence, she asked, “Do you think the mare will be okay?”
He blew out a breath. “Don’t know. Birthing can be tricky at times. Skylar is a trouper though. She’s strong and if anyone can help her, it’d be Luke.”
“That’s what I’ve heard. Luke knows a lot about horses.”
“He does,” Logan said, keeping his tone light. If the woman wanted to praise his brother to high heaven tonight, he wouldn’t stop her. He wouldn’t like it much, but he wouldn’t stop her. The two of them were already thick as thieves again.
His brother’s relationship with Sophia had always irked him. Logan was the oldest of the three boys—Justin being the youngest. Logan had been very close to Luke until Sophia had gotten in the way. Ever since their friendship had developed, Logan felt like he’d been left out in the cold. Montrose women had managed to shred Slade family loyalty. It shouldn’t be so, but Luke couldn’t see it any more than his father had. Their blindness left a bitter taste in Logan’s mouth, sharper than the chili he’d just polished off. His only consolation was that Shelby was heading toward the table with Sophia’s burn-as-it-goes-down chili on her tray. “Your chili’s coming up.”
The waitress set the bowl in front of Sophia. Spicy aromatic scents of peppers, onions and cilantro drifted to his side of the table. “Thanks, Shelby.”
“You got it.” She shot him another sweet smile before walking away.
Sophia took her time, opening her cloth napkin and placing it on her lap. Then she lifted her lashes and those brilliant amber eyes surrounded with flecks of gold fell on him. “Smells delicious,” she said.
“That’s why we’re here.”
The second he said “we,” his pulse pounded in his ears and images popped into his head of the two of them, really playing nice. For anyone in the café watching, it might appear that they were on a date.
It’d be a cold day in hell, he thought, yet he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Sophia dipped into the chili and came up with a rounded spoonful with cheese dripping off the sides. Steam shot straight up for half a yard then disappeared into the air. Sophia pursed her lips and blew gently, her mouth forming a small
O
to whisper away the heat.
Logan’s Adam’s apple bobbed in his throat. His damn body pinched tight, and he sat mesmerized as Sophia prepared to take her first bite of ass-kicking chili. Logan had never thought of chili and sex together, but now, that’s all he could think about. Watching her take her first bite, swallow, then gaze up at him, looking satisfied and accomplished, gave him a sexual thrill that he’d never experienced before. It was beyond crazy and like a fool, he grinned.