by Behon, Susan
By noon, she was blissfully horizontal and sound asleep on Tracy's couch.
Chapter 10
“What do you mean there's no meeting today?” Reed may have asked that in a voice a tad too loud for the denizens of the Madison Falls Town Hall, but he couldn't believe his ears. This had to be a mistake.
The flustered young receptionist with the tight auburn bun pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and checked her computer screen again. “I'm sorry, Mr. Sutton, but there isn't another MFLIC meeting until Tuesday, the twenty-ninth.”
“Tuesday, the twenty-ninth? That isn't a regular meeting time is it?” Knowing it was futile, Reed asked the next question anyway. “So, there is no one from the MFLIC here?”
“No, sir.”
“No one at all?” This didn't make any sense.
“No, sir.”
“Are there any other meetings here today involving Dot Sutton?” His last ditch thought was that his mom ordered the cookies for a different meeting.
She tapped a few more keys. “No, sir. I'm sorry. Maybe you could call her?”
The annoyed woman turned away and tried to look busy typing, effectively tuning out Reed and any more of his questions.
* * * *
Sophie was going to be seriously pissed off and Reed didn't blame her one bit. He had to fix what he could while she was still sleeping. Before he did that, he had to get some answers from the only person who had them. Reed went to the source and called his mom.
Dot answered on the third ring. “Hello, Reed. How are you?”
“Hey, Mom.” He got straight to the point. “I have a question. Did you order cookies from Sophie Brandon?”
“Yes, I did, dear. Why?” She sounded surprised by the question.
“Why? Because I'm sitting at the town hall with fifteen dozen cookies and no one here to pay for them.”
There was a slight pause as if she were trying to gather her thoughts or God forbid, get her story straight. “Reed, why are you delivering cookies? Shouldn't you be at work?” Dot sounded mildly admonishing.
Reed gritted his teeth. “I'm here because you ordered them for today.”
“But why do you have them?”
“I was helping Sophie.”
Sounding a tad snide, she asked, “What kind of business is she running? Why can't she make her own deliveries?”
Reed rubbed at his temples to ease the tension building there. It didn't work.
“No, Mom. Not when she's staying up all night baking a few hundred cookies that you ordered for today by noon. You're not the only one who ordered cookies. She's exhausted.” Reed took a deep breath and decided to start over. “Look, Mom, you made a cookie order from Sophie, right?”
Dot replied, “First of all, I don't like your tone. To answer your question, yes, Reed, I did. But I'm telling you, I didn't order fifteen dozen for Thursday. That's absurd. Why would I order that many? I ordered five dozen for Tuesday after next. As a matter of fact, I remember distinctly ordering five dozen root beer float cookies. I tried a sample and thought the ladies would like them.”
If it had been any other day, he might be convinced she was telling the truth.
“Mom, Sophie had the order form. She said it was for today.”
“Yes, I understand that but didn't you say that she was exhausted?” His mom was holding on to her story with both hands. “Maybe she wrote the order incorrectly, which is a shame because I still need those cookies for the twenty-ninth. Tell Sophie that when you see her, please. If she can't do it, I'll take my business elsewhere.”
Her voice held not one drop of remorse or sympathy.
“Fine, I'll tell her.” Reed gritted out. “What am I supposed to do with all of these cookies?”
Obviously, she didn't consider that her problem. “You don't have to do anything with them. It's her mistake so take them back to her. She sells cookies for a living. I'm sure she'll figure it out.”
At that point, Reed said his goodbyes and got off the phone before he said something he knew he would regret later.
* * * *
Keith looked up in surprise when Reed walked in carrying a stack of cookie boxes.
“Doesn't Dad normally do this on Friday? Reed, he only brings about half of that. Not that I'm complaining, but what's going on?”
Reed set the cookies on a side table and put his hands on his hips. “I'm taking over for him this week. Grab what you want and take the rest over to the crew. Tell them they did a great job staying on track this week.”
Keith stared over at him. “Why do you look like you want to kick someone's ass?” He put his hands up in a show of innocence. “For the record, whatever it is, it wasn't me. Well, it might have been me but I've been too busy to piss off anyone.” Then he added, “At least on purpose.”
Opening the box, Reed took a handful of cookies and headed out the door. “Remember, send these over to the crew as soon as you can.”
Before he could leave, Keith stopped him. “Wait! What's going on with you?”
Reed forced his lips into a smile to put him at ease. “Nothing I can't fix.”
“What?”
“Never mind. I gotta go. See ya.”
Keith gave a nod and headed for the cookies.
* * * *
Sophie woke to the feel of a large, warm hand gently stroking her cheek. It felt solid and comforting, so she nuzzled into it. She was drifting back to sleep when she heard a man's voice. “Sophie, sweetheart, wake up.” It was a nice voice. It reminded her of Reed. Wait a minute. This was either another great dream or there was a man in Tracy's apartment!
Sophie shot up so fast she almost knocked heads with him. He dodged back in just enough time to avoid a collision. Then she got a good look at his face and realized it really was Reed.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?” The adrenaline rush cleared away the cobwebs in a hurry.
He was crouched down on the floor next to the couch looking sexy as sin. He was wearing a crimson red T-shirt and faded jeans. He smelled like a combination of citrus cologne and fabric softener. Sophie never thought of Reed doing laundry, but she wouldn't mind seeing it. A gorgeous image of a shirtless Reed washing clothes flashed in her mind. Maybe he could lose the pants too. Hey, clothes get dirty…
“Sophie.”
She reluctantly stopped staring at his gorgeous chest to get with the conversation.
“Hmmmm?”
Reed raised his palm, showing off a house key. “Told you any yahoo could get in here.”
Sophie sat all the way up and moved over so he could sit next to her. “Are you a yahoo, then?”
He shook his head. “No, I'm not just any yahoo, now. This yahoo comes bearing good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”
Sophie hated when people asked her that. Who seriously wanted to hear bad news?
From Reed's expression, it was serious.
Putting off the inevitable, Sophie tried to lighten the mood.
“Is this where you say, 'the good news is I don't have a girlfriend, but the bad news is that I have a boyfriend?' That's not a thing to tell a woman when she just wakes up.”
Reed breathed out a startled laugh. “What?” He began with, “No, I…” Then went with, “You're kidding, right?”
“Yes. I am. But the look on your face is priceless.”
“Remind me later to prove that I like women, you in particular.” He took her hand and laced his fingers through hers so they were palm to palm.
“So, the good news is that the cookies were delivered.”
“That's a relief! What's the bad news? If the cookies made it on time, there shouldn't be a problem.”
“They weren't delivered to the MFLIC meeting.”
She stood corrected.
“Why not? I thought you said they were delivered.” She pulled away and angled so she could see his face.
Reed didn't look happy. His brows were lowered and his mouth was set in a firm line.
“There was no meeting. No one was there. The next meeting isn't until Tuesday, almost two weeks from now.”
Sophie immediately shot off the couch and turned to face him. “What do you mean there was no meeting? I don't understand. Your mom told me herself that the meeting was today and to deliver fifteen dozen cookies. I made a hell of a lot more than fifteen dozen damn cookies last night, Reed!”
Shaking his head, Reed told her, “I know and I'm sorry to hear that. I talked to my mom after I found out. According to her, the order got mixed up. She said that you must have misunderstood her.”
Sophie's voice rose an octave higher and gained in volume. “Misunderstood? How the hell do you misunderstand someone saying, 'I need these by tomorrow?'“
Standing up as well, Reed told her even worse news. “That's not all. Mom insists she ordered five dozen root beer cookies that she still wants by the twenty-ninth.”
Mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, Sophie was at a loss for words. It took her a minute. “Now she only wants root beer float cookies? You're not joking?”
He gave his head a slight shake in the negative
Sophie didn't know whether to laugh or cry. All of that work was for nothing. She did not mix up that order. Dot Sutton was seriously screwing with her. On top of that, if Sophie wanted to keep the MFLIC's business, she would have to make that conniving woman the root beer float cookies too.
Reed stood a few feet away appearing braced for any type of blow up. It wasn't his fault even though she knew Dot did this as a power play.
“Do you believe her?” She peered expectantly into his eyes, waiting to hear that he thought she confused the order too.
To her surprise, he said, “No. I don't know what's going on, but I believe you took the order correctly. It doesn't make sense to me either.”
It made perfect sense to Sophie. Dot was trying to keep her away from Reed by messing with her livelihood.
A new thought occurred to her. “Where were the cookies delivered?”
“Sutton Construction.”
“You bought all of those cookies?”
Reed shrugged. “Dad brings some in on Friday. I gave them to the crew a day early.” Sophie sank back down onto Tracy's couch. “Reed, that was more than double what your dad buys and you know it. I appreciate what you did, but you shouldn't have to pay for them.”
Sitting down next to her, Reed took Sophie's hand in both of his. “My crew ate them so I paid for them.” He ducked his head down to look her in the eye. “Trust me, Sophie, it wasn't a hardship. Buying a double order was an excellent morale booster for my workers. Besides, you shouldn't have to take the loss or try to resell something when my buying them was the perfect solution.”
She was going on less than three hours of sleep so it was hard to keep her eyes from welling up with tears for the second time today. Her emotions were so close to the surface right now. Anger, frustration, fatigue, and gratitude were a potent combination of feelings. Sophie wouldn't cry. Not now. She didn't have the time.
“You know Sophie, you don't need to make that other order. If I were you, I would cancel on her.”
She pulled her hand free to get her shoes on to go back to work. “I can't. If I cancel, I lose future orders with any of the MFLIC members. My credibility will be suspect so I have to make them.” Dot Sutton knew that and was manipulating her.
“Right now, I have to get downstairs so I can finish out the day. Sarah was kind enough to fill in, but she needs to get back to the bar.”
Reed helped her stand and put his arms around her waist. “Since you're my boss, I have to ask for a favor. Can I have the night off?”
“Of course. Why?”
“I know someone who's had a bad day and I want to make it better.”
“Me?”
He grinned. “Yeah, you. How about you catch a nap after work and then I'll come over later?” His smile turned sexy. “I promise to take your mind off cookies.”
“In that case, absolutely.” Her day was already looking up.
“Call me when you wake up.” Reed handed Tracy's key back to Sophie. “Told you about those yahoos, didn't I?”
He opened the door for her and checked the lock. “See you soon, Sophie.”
Chapter 11
Under the circumstances, Reed thought Sophie handled the bad news rather well. He'd braced himself for a bigger blow up considering how hard she worked and how tired she'd been. It was like a punch to the gut when he saw tears well up in her eyes, but Sophie didn't cry. She'd only even raised her voice a little bit. What happened to her hadn't been fair but instead of giving in to her feelings, she straightened her spine and went back to work.
Sophie Brandon was an amazing woman.
He didn't want to lose her now.
At the town hall, Reed had had a small hope that there was a logical explanation for the mix-up. He knew Sophie was telling the truth, so that left his mom as the person responsible for this clusterfuck.
What would motivate someone to pull a dirty trick like that? It didn't make sense, but he wouldn't bother talking to her anymore today. He'd deal with his mom tomorrow after he cooled off.
Tonight, his main concern was Sophie. Reed would try to make it up to her. He wanted to ease that worried look in her eyes and put a smile back on her face.
If he had any hope for a relationship with her, Reed was going to have to break out the big guns. Time to talk to the person who knew her best.
* * * *
A small nap with Max did wonders for Sophie's mood. At least she no longer felt homicidal. That was a bonus. Now that they were both awake, Max wouldn't let her out of his sight. He was suffering from a slight case of separation anxiety. Her poor puppy dog followed her everywhere as she went around the house trying to get ready for Reed's visit. It was cute at first, but Sophie was starting to trip over him. At this rate, they were both going to end up getting hurt.
She stroked his fur and bent down to talk to him. “I'm sorry, buddy. I had to work. I didn't want to leave you, but I'm home now. Everything's okay.”
Max gazed at her with big loving eyes and thumped his tail in response. She walked to her dresser and instead of following her, he hopped up on the bed to watch her find something to wear.
Now for the hard part. Sophie wasn't sure she had any sexy bras and panties that matched. The only clean underwear she had were, oh no, “days of the week” panties. Seriously? Add the bananas and cartoon monkeys covering them and her chances of looking sexy were shot. The bright side, if you could call it that, was that these panties had a matching bra. Of course they did. That should drive Reed wild with lust. Sophie didn't have time to do laundry so it looked like she would be sporting the “Thursday” monkey panties. She hoped she got points for wearing the right undies on the right day.
Of course, it would be irrelevant if he didn't have sex in mind. Reed didn't say he was coming over to ravish her. That was wishful thinking on her part. Technically, he said that he wanted to make her feel better. Some good ravishing would definitely do the trick. Sophie would even settle for a foot rub and some ice cream. Maybe just the ice cream.
Time was wasting so she grabbed her monkey underwear and headed for the shower. Max stayed put.
* * * *
By the time Reed got there she was as ready as she could get, wearing an indigo blue tank top and white denim shorts. Cute but not overly fancy. The main reason Sophie picked the top was because the yellow bananas all over her bra didn't show through the dark blue material. Just in case he wasn't here to see her bra. Or ravish her.
Max was with her when she opened the door for him. This time, Max minded his manners and sat still instead of jumping all over him. Reed's hands were full so it was lucky that her dog behaved.
“Reed, what is all this?” Sophie led him to the dining room table where he set everything down. He looked gorgeous in a black fitted T-shirt and jeans that were light blue. He was clean-shaven and his dar
k brown hair was a little messy in the front. It looked like he'd tunneled his fingers through it. She wanted to run her fingers along his scalp and mess up the rest of it, preferably while kissing him.
Reed held up a quart of peanut butter passion ice cream. “Tracy said that this was your favorite. It's still pretty hot outside so it's a little melted. I want you to be able to enjoy it so we need to get it in the freezer before it turns into soup.”
She wanted to kiss him for his thoughtfulness, but Sophie didn't want her ice cream to go to waste either. It was a tough choice, but she headed for the kitchen to put the carton in the freezer. When she came back into the dining room, Reed held out a bouquet of pale pink roses. “These aren't nearly as beautiful as you, but I wanted you to have them anyway.”
Another favorite!
This time Sophie stood on her tiptoes and was about to pull him down for a kiss when she smelled…pizza? How did he manage to hide that?
Max had already figured it out since he was parked right in front of the table. Reed lifted the lid with the Pizza Palace logo to show her a pizza with ground sausage and extra cheese, also her favorite.
“You had quite the conversation with Tracy.” Sophie was impressed.
Reed looked pleased with himself. “Tracy was very informative. Are you hungry?”
Sophie wasn't until she smelled the delectable aroma of the pizza. She grinned. “Oh, absolutely! I'll get some paper plates and napkins.” While she was in the kitchen, Sophie put her flowers in some water.
When she came back out with a few drinks too, Reed was standing in the living room next to the coffee table. He had a two candles lit and placed in the middle of the table. “I thought we could have a candlelight dinner out here.”
“I'd like that.” She tossed some throw pillows on the floor next to the table. He led her to one and sat across from her. Sophie took a bite of her pizza and practically moaned. “Mmm, so good.” The sausage was spicy and the sauce was sweet. It was the perfect combination of flavors. She chewed and smiled at the same time, which wasn't easy.