Wine and Scenery (Citizen Soldier Book 7)

by Donna Michaels

  “Christ. Not that again.”

  “Yes, that again.” Ben’s gaze turned serious. “You’ve punished yourself enough. And for something that wasn’t your fault. Let it go. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy Sophia.”

  How could he even contemplate being with such an amazing woman, when he’d let the woman he loved down? When he let her become a prisoner in a loveless marriage? He should’ve rescued her. Should’ve done more, instead of abiding by her wishes.

  Last thing he needed was a woman in his life, messing with his head again.

  “I’m not looking for a relationship, Ben.” He hadn’t gone down that road since Jinan.

  His buddy chuckled. “Never said you were. And it’s not what I was suggesting.”

  It wasn’t? He frowned. “Then why are you pushing me toward Sophia?”

  “Because, once-upon-a-time, you had fun with her. She made you laugh. Made you forget to be miserable.”

  True. The woman had certainly done that. A smile tugged his lips. “She’s easy to be around.”

  “Then do it. Be around her. Enjoy her.”

  He scratched his temple. “She’s only here for the summer.”

  “All the more reason to let go and enjoy the moment.” Ben grinned.

  Let go and enjoy the moment…

  Something Ryder hadn’t done in a long time. In fact, the last woman he’d ever let his guard down for was Sophia. And Ben was right, the no-strings woman had put a smile on his face long after she’d gone back to her life in the city.

  But she’d also caused a few other thoughts to trickle into his brain. Like catching a train to visit her. Which—thank God—he’d never followed through on. Lord knew he hadn’t been ready for anything like that back then.

  Hell, he wasn’t ready for that right now.

  “No.” He shook his head. “There’s no reason to start anything. It’s better that way.”

  And safer.

  “Yeah. Heaven forbid you should have wild, no-strings-attached sex for a few months. That would be dumb.” Ben nodded and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “Way to dodge that bullet, buddy.” Then he walked to the parking lot laughing.

  Asshole.

  Ryder entered the building, shaking his head. His buddy was an idiot.

  He also had a point.

  What was to stop him and Sophia from picking up where they’d left off? Nothing but his survival instinct.

  Too bad it was strong. And yelling at him to back away from the sexy New Yorker.

  But as he walked into the design room, backing away from the woman was the last thing on his mind. He found her up on a ladder wearing cutoffs, boots, and a tank top that lifted up, exposing a strip of creamy skin.

  Ah, hell. He was in big fucking trouble.

  She wore a tool belt on her hips, emphasizing her curves, and he didn’t think he’d seen anything so damn hot in his life. But it was the way she handled the drill in her hand that made him harder than the cinder block wall she was drilling into.

  Son-of-a-bitch…he was so screwed.

  Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he should say something, or at the very least, get his mind out of the gutter—his sister and baby niece were in the building. Without realizing it, he’d moved closer, and damn…seeing those mile-long legs, and from that angle, reminded him of Sophia’s flexibility, and one hell of an interesting position they’d explored in his former cabin.

  He had several more he’d like to explore with her. Now.

  As if sensing his presence, she stopped drilling and glanced down, rocking backward a little with a startled gasp. “Ryder. Sorry. Didn’t know you were here.”

  Heart dropping into his stomach, he immediately grabbed the ladder. “Where’s your spotter?”

  “Excuse me?” She frowned down at him.

  “Your spotter,” he repeated, working to get his heartbeat back under control. “You shouldn’t be on a ladder without one.”

  Her gaze narrowed a second before her chin lifted. “Well, you’re here now. You can spot me while I finish up this last screw.” And without waiting for him to reply, she turned around and completed securing a large whiteboard to the wall. “There.” She grinned, elbow on her hip, drill in her hand, looking so at-ease with the tool, he wondered if she slept with the damn thing under her pillow.

  And because he had a tool he’d love for her to handle, he forced the dangerous thought from his mind and tried to pretend nothing was wrong. “You can come down now.”

  Her grin increased. “I know. I kind of like this angle.”

  Her playful tone did funny things to his chest.

  “Me, too.” He let his gaze trail slowly up her bare legs. “But if you don’t get down, I won’t be responsible for what others might stumble on if they walked in here.”

  Heaven help him, a wicked gleam entered her eyes and she stepped down a few rungs, putting him eye-level with the promised land.

  “Is that better?”

  Fuck, yeah. That was great. And he would’ve told her, but he forgot how to speak. His mind fogged over. No doubt because he had no blood left in his brain. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

  Didn’t work.

  She stepped down onto the next rung. “Or would you rather this?”

  His gaze was now even with mouth-watering cleavage, two beautiful breasts, and a pair of pert nipples, visible under her top, telling him she was just as aroused.

  None of that helped his situation.

  He swallowed past his dry throat and forced his gaze to meet hers. “This isn’t smart.”

  “True.” She nodded, and came down the rest of the way.

  It would’ve been good, except for the fact he still held onto the ladder. With a death grip. It was ironic how his defense for keeping his hands off her did little to keep hers off him.

  Palms on his chest, she hesitated, and he found himself holding his breath to see if she was going to push him away or pull him close. God help him, he was equally terrified of both.

  Chapter Eight

  Gaze still glued to his, she trembled against him. Unaware of how it happened, Ryder had her trapped between the ladder and his body, as he continued to grip the sides. But he failed to resist dipping down to drag his mouth up her throat.

  “This is a bad idea,” he murmured against her skin, loving how she sucked in a breath and clutched his shirt.

  “Then this is probably bad, too,” she muttered a second before rocking into him.

  Damn, that felt good.

  She must’ve thought so too, because she did it again. And yet again.

  His mouth was halfway across her jaw, needing to taste her hot kiss when he heard a voice approaching in the hall.

  Shit. Lea.

  Pushing away from the ladder, he took several steps back from Sophia’s sweet body just as his sister walked in, cradling her baby.

  “Good. I caught you.” Lea smiled.

  Unsure of her meaning, he decided to ignore it, and focused instead on his cute niece. “Wow, Lea, every time I see Melody, she’s grown.”

  “I know. I’m afraid to blink.” His sister smiled, walking up to him with the baby. “Want to hold her?”

  He held his hands up and stepped back. “No. Not a good idea. Think I’ll wait until she’s walking around before I attempt that.”

  “Well, I’d love to hold her,” Sophia said, stepping close. “She’s even more beautiful in person, Lea.”

  “Thank you.” His sister carefully transferred her daughter to the smiling woman.

  “You are just a cutie pie, aren’t you?” Sophia cradled his niece, talking soft and sweet as she gently rocked back and forth.

  An ache appeared in his chest and intensified the longer he watched the beautiful woman holding the tiny baby. He was having trouble breathing. And dammit, now his ears were ringing.

  “Are you going to get that?” his sister asked, pointing to his pocket. “Your phone?”

  Phone?

  Right. Damn. That was
what was ringing. He pulled it from his pocket and answered on his way to the hall, hoping it hadn’t disturbed his niece too much. “Yeah?”

  “Ryder? You there, son?” His father’s voice hit his ear.

  He stilled. “Yeah. What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. It’s that stupid door to the stock room. It fell off.”

  Closing his eyes, he rubbed his temple and quickly ran his schedule through his brain. “I have two meetings this morning. Can you put it aside?” he asked, opening his eyes. “I’ll stop by sometime this afternoon.”

  “That’ll work,” his dad said. “Thanks. Sorry to take you away from work.”

  He frowned. “It’s okay, Dad. Don’t ever hesitate to call.”

  “Thanks, son. I’ll see you later.”

  The line went dead. Ryder shoved the phone back in his pocket and re-entered the room. Once again, his chest took a direct blow.

  Sophia stood there with the sweetest, softest look on her face as she lowered her head to brush her lips over the baby’s forehead. She’d make a great mom. The woman was caring and fun. Someone you could count on.

  Unlike him.

  His stomach rippled as if punched. What the hell was he doing with her? He had no business messing with someone so nice.

  Too nice for the likes of him.

  From now on, he was going to have to make sure he was never in this room with her alone. It was jinxed. Or an enabler. Both times he’d found himself alone with the woman he’d been unable to keep his lips off her.

  Not going to happen again.

  ***

  Sophia wasn’t sure if it was the phone call or his sister’s presence that caused the change in Ryder. He’d left room as Mr. I’m-going-to-knock-your-socks-off, but returned as Mr. Indifferent.

  Dammit.

  Just when she thought she’d gotten through, he closed up. Too bad, because she’d made progress, playfully peeling away a few layers to get to the man she’d had fun with years ago. For a few minutes, he’d appeared, burning her up from the inside out.

  Now, it was square one all over again.

  “You’re obviously no stranger to children,” Lea said, regaining her attention.

  She smiled down at the cutie in her arms. “True. My oldest brother has a little girl who’s three and a little boy who’s one. I helped my sister-in-law out as much as possible when my brother was deployed.”

  “What branch is he in?” Ryder asked.

  “Marines,” she replied. “At least, he was. He resigned his commission.”

  Lea nodded. “That’ll be easier on his wife. I don’t look forward to Ben leaving in March.”

  “He’ll be fine,” Ryder said, stepping close to brush his finger over the baby’s soft hair. “You all will.”

  A lump the size of a cinder block lodged itself in Sophia’s throat. It didn’t take much for her to imagine him looking so tenderly at his own baby.

  Whoa. Now that was a dangerous thought.

  “Hey, guys. Look over here,” Lea said, and when Sophia and Ryder glanced at her, the woman snapped a picture. “Thanks. I want to send it to Brandi.”

  She gave herself a mental shake. Time to give the baby back to her momma, and get to work. “Thanks for bringing Melody here for me to meet her.”

  “No problem.” Lea held out her arms, and Sophia handed over the yawning baby, who started to fuss. “She got to see her Uncle Ryder, too.”

  A smile actually curved his mouth, but he remained silent.

  “Are you leaving now?” Sophia asked. “We can walk you out. I just need to change quickly before we head to the college.”

  “Thanks, but it’s almost time to nurse her,” Lea said. “So, if you don’t mind, I might stick around in here to do that before I leave.”

  “Of course.” She unfolded a metal chair and set it by the table for Lea, then grabbed the folder with her sketches and shoved them in her purse. “Ready?” she asked Ryder. “I left my dress in the lobby bathroom, so I could change on the way out.”

  When he nodded and motioned with his hand for her to lead the way, she grabbed her purse and headed out the door. He was very quiet.

  Too quiet.

  Not at all like the sexy man, pressing her against the ladder with his hot, hard body.

  But somehow, someway, she was determined to peel those layers back and free Mr. Knock-your-socks-off, whether Ryder liked it or not.

  ***

  Almost a week had passed since Ryder was alone with Sophia. In any room. He told himself it was a good thing. It kept him from making a mistake they might both regret. Although, every time he found himself recalling their embraces, the only regret he had was not spending more time with her—alone.

  Overall, he’d seen her four times that week. Three were at the theater, and one was lunch at the diner with the gang. Each time, they’d been surrounded by people. Safe. No chance of screwing up again.

  But that didn’t stop him from thinking about it. Hell, no. Especially when she paired those shorts with boots and that sexy tool belt. Even now, his veins heated just thinking about her luscious silhouette.

  But luckily, they’d had volunteers to guide. And so far, things were going great in that department. His team was constructing the sets, her team was painting them and adding details. It was a good system. They already had one set completely finished, and half of another.

  But, he wasn’t going to think about the theater. Wasn’t going to think about Sophia. He wasn’t even going to think about work, even though, by some miracle, he’d managed to win both bids that week. Nope. Tonight, he was going to concentrate on enjoying the Mets game with Ethan and Ben on Ethan’s big screen TV. It was the closest thing to actually being at the game.

  It was Thursday, so the women were out having their chocolate fest, which left their husbands free to enjoy sports, like back in the old days.

  Smiling, he carried three boxes of pizza—his one addiction—through the resort, to a special entrance Brandi had created for the Wyne family’s private residence section. He shifted the boxes to one hand and knocked on the door. Man, he could almost taste the cold beer in Ethan’s fridge. But it wasn’t Ethan who answered the door. It was Phoebe.

  “Hey, Ryder. Come on in.” She smiled and stepped aside, wearing a pretty black dress.

  He raised a brow. “Hi, Phoebe. You look nice. Didn’t expect to see you here. Was your chocolate thing canceled?” He entered, but waited for her to proceed him down the hall that led to the open-concept kitchen family room.

  She laughed. “Sort of.”

  An uneasy feeling crept up his spine, then branched out over his shoulders when they reached the family room. Ethan and Ben were there, without T-shirt, jeans, and beer. They wore suits, and stood next to his sister—also wearing a black dress.

  “What’s going on?” He walked further into the room, where he noticed Sophia, leaning against the kitchen island near a bottle of wine and large chocolate cake with cherries on top. Her hair was down, and fell in waves over her bare shoulders. Awareness spread through him at sickening speed. She wore a dress too, but not a fancy black one. It was a casual one, with flowers printed all over.

  He had the urge to pick each and every one.

  She smirked. “We’ve been dumped for a show.”

  “Not dumped, exactly,” Lea said, coming closer. “Phoebe managed to snag tickets last minute to Hamilton. And Ben and I haven’t been out together without the baby since she was born, so…we have to go. We need to go.”

  Ben walked over and slipped an arm around his wife. “Whatever she wants, she gets.”

  “Feel free to stay here and watch the game, though,” Ethan told him, moving to his wife’s side.

  Phoebe turned to Sophia. “Same with you. Enjoy the wine and chocolate. Elle wasn’t going to make it tonight anyway, so I sent some over to her, too. There was no need for either of you to miss out.”

  “Thanks.” Sophia nodded. “Enjoy the show. It’s amazing.�
��

  Lea’s eyes rounded. “Oh my God, did you get to see Lin perform?”

  She nodded. “Yes. He was fantastic.”

  Ryder had no idea what they were talking about, and he could tell by the way his buddies’ eyes glazed over they joined him in the clueless population.

  “I did, too. But I’m excited to see it again,” Phoebe said, hooking her arm through her husband’s. “We should get going or we’ll miss the first act.”

  Twenty seconds later, he stood in the family room alone, staring at Sophia.

  “So, that just happened,” she said with a grin. “What game were you here to watch?”

  “Mets.”

  Her eyes widened. “The Mets are on tonight? Sweet.” Grinning, she grabbed the wine and cake, then moved to the fridge, where she managed to grab a beer. “Keiffer’s TV isn’t quite as big as this one.” She nodded toward the gorgeous monster on the wall. “But, you’re more than welcome to come up and watch the game with me. I’ll even share some of my chocolate, if you’ll give up a few slices of that pizza.”

  “You like the Mets?” he asked inanely.

  She snickered. “Hello? I’m from Queens. Of course I love the Mets.” Grin still in place, she strode past him and headed up the stairs. Halfway there, she turned to look over her shoulder at him. “Are you coming?”

  Because he wanted to come with her…literally, he knew he should tell her no. It was the smart thing to do. Watching the game with her, in a private condo, with their out-of-control chemistry, was not a good idea. It was a bad one. In fact, it was downright dumb.

  So why did he nod and ascend the stairs behind her?

  Because he was fucking stupid.

  Chapter Nine

  No, it was because she had the beer and the TV, and the game started in four minutes, he silently argued with himself. And he continued to stick to that as they sat on her couch and enjoyed the food and drink and first five innings of the game.

  “Ah, come on, ump.” She shot to her feet. “He was out. Are you kidding me?” Her eyes blazed as she turned to him, mouth open, brow furrowed. “Do you believe that?