by Rebecca Rose
“Hey, asshole!” He heard her say while getting out of the truck. “Couldn’t wait, could ya?”
Jake stifled a laugh then smiled when he heard the man’s response.
“Sophia, my love, there is no need to be nasty.”
“Oh, but I think there is.”
Jake came to stand behind her then rested a protective hand on her shoulder. The negative energy coming off of her was enough to have Jake thinking of a strategy on how to get her out of there if things got out of hand. A fantasy flirted in his head of her doing something that would warrant him flinging her over his shoulder. The thought of Sophie being pressed so firmly against him made parts of Jake’s body twitch.
“Jake this is Bruce. Bruce, Jake.”
When Bruce extended a hand, Jake looked at it with distaste. “Where’s her stuff?”
“Well, actually I wasn’t expecting you to come with someone, honey. I wanted to talk to you.”
“First, I’m not your honey, and second, we have nothing to talk about. Third, where’s my stuff, Bruce?”
Jake stepped in front of Sophie; his body tensed as his protective soldier instincts switched on. He crossed his arms and took it as a good sign when Bruce looked nervously at him. Mission to intimidate was accomplished. A smile lifted the corners of his mouth.
“I’d really like to speak to you alone, Sophia.” Bruce repeated while trying to look around Jake to see her.
He was stalling, and it became apparent Bruce had more on his mind then Sophie picking up her stuff. “Where’s her stuff, Bruce?” Jake drew out his name while flexing his massive arms at the same time.
Bruce stepped away from Jake and took Sophie by the arm. “I don’t want to talk in front of him.”
“Well, that’s too bad. What do you want?”
The impression of a wolf in sheep’s clothing came to mind when Bruce looked at Jake and gave a shaky smile. “Jake, right?” When Jake nodded, Bruce continued, “I’m not sure of your relationship with Lady Sophia, but I can assure you she’s not one to be tamed, and all this business with us was blown out of proportion. I don’t believe you know her well enough to understand the world could be hers if she got her affairs in order.”
Jake snickered. “You’re a funny guy, Bruce.” He glanced at Sophie, who stuck her tongue in her cheek and gave him a go for it nod. Admiration for her ability to stay calm filled him. “I was under the impression that you were the one who had the affairs.”
Bruce dithered for a moment. “We’re men here. You obviously respect the finer qualities of the body. You can’t tell me that you don’t have multiple prospects. As a human, I don’t believe we are meant to be with one woman.”
“Well… I can’t speak for all men, but I can tell you that Trixie’s been the only woman I’ve been around for a while. See, my family believes marriage is an oath two people take that’s for the rest of their lives. I guess what I’m saying is, I don’t understand your warped view of a relationship.” Jake took a step forward and Bruce stepped back. “Where’s her stuff?”
Bruce visibly swallowed. “In the garage. But I still want to talk to Sophia. I don’t know where all this bitterness is coming from. I don’t know what’s gotten into you. You’re so hostile lately. I’d really like a chance to make this up to you. We do so well together.”
Sophie laughed and sauntered toward the four-car garage. “In your dreams, Bruce. And you can drop the greater-than-thou act. You sound ridiculous.”
“You need me and you know it. You can’t even go onstage without a pep talk. Who’s going to do that for you? This guy?” He thumbed toward Jake as they all briskly walked to the garage. “I have a feeling here, honey, that he’s cheating you.”
“What?” Sophie and Jake asked in unison.
“He’s pulling you along while with this Trixie woman. What a preposterous name. It brings on visions of seedy motels and women of the night! Come on, listen to me, I know what’s right for you.”
Sophie’s ability to look so blandly at Bruce, as if she really didn’t care what he said because it was all bull, impressed Jake. He wanted to plant his fist in the man’s face but, like a good sergeant, he knew he needed to wait for her signal. So he watched as she, with more effort than necessary, pressed the code in for the garage door to open. As the door slowly slid ajar, her laughing gaze settled on Jake’s.
“You’re having fun, aren’t you?” Jake whispered in her ear.
“Maybe,” she replied.
But before the two of them could walk inside, Bruce jumped in front of her. “Come back to me. I’ve been miserable for months now.”
“Bruce, we broke up six months ago and your girlfriend is, what… eight months pregnant? Get out of my way.” Sophie walked around him and through the open door. Jake moved fast to her side when her body came to a sudden halt. The garage was empty except for a Mercedes.
“Honey,” Bruce hurried to explain, “I never thought you’d show up with someone, I—”
“You thought I’d come back to you.” Sophie’s fist rose and hit Bruce square in the eye. As Jake half-choked and half-laughed, she turned on her heels and walked away, yelling, “Keep it. I’ve lived without the stuff in that mausoleum for this long. I can live without it forever.”
Jake looked down at the pathetic, sobbing man on the floor of the garage. Bruce’s hands covered his eye as he yelled for Sophie. Pride filled Jake. She distanced herself from this ass of a man, and he had to admit that punch really turned him on. Amazed, he looked over and saw her hand on the handle of his truck door.
“You coming?” she asked with a smirk.
Jake jogged to the driver’s side and jumped in. “Damn, girl! I was so hopin’ to be the one to do that. But seeing your fist in his face was awesome.” He turned and smiled at her, then for the hell of it, cupped her face and laid a quick kiss on her forehead.
“You’re perverse, Jake. I like that.” She returned his smile while he started the truck. “I feel bad that you came all the way out here with me for nothing.”
“It wasn’t for nothing.” Jake pulled out of the drive and headed toward home. “You got to clock that son-of-a-bitch in the face.”
She laughed a little, “Why, yes, I did.”
“And feeling very proud of it.”
“Why wouldn’t I? My family taught me to put up with crap like that, and now that I’ve decided not to, it feels very liberating. My friend Kathy will be so proud. She hates him!”
“Your parents were for the two of you staying together?”
“My mother believes all men have their indiscretions. Although I don’t think my father ever has. Me? I feel that if someone loves you enough, they’d never think about doing something so despicable.”
“What does your mother think of that?”
“I’m crazy. And as soon as I stop acting like a child, I’ll be lucky if Bruce forgives me and takes me back.”
Jake swore. “I’m sorry, that’s not cool at all. You’d think she’d want more for you.”
“The women in my mother’s family are known for being doormats. I was one for too long. Bruce’s affairs were such an embarrassment I thought I’d die. I could hear people whispering behind my back during practice and backstage at performances. Theatre is intimate and everyone knows your business. It was all very sad.” She gave a wistful sigh, and Jake glanced at her. She looked hurt, and he wanted to take her in his arms to console her. His parents always let him know when they thought he was seeing someone who would be careless with his heart. They never steered him wrong, and he could trust them to always be there for him. The obvious strain Sophie had with her parents reminded Jake how truly lucky he was.
“Well, I would’ve never pictured you as a doormat. You certainly don’t punch like one.”
“Today’s the first time I’ve punched someone since grade school, and I did it twice. Should I be proud of that?”
When she touched his shoulder Jake felt a rush of adrenaline, and his libido did a li
ttle jump. Deciding to change the subject to distract himself seemed to be the safest thing to do. “I wouldn’t worry about it. How long did you dance for?”
“I was three when I started.”
“Did you quit?”
“I have a dance hall where I practice every morning. But I don’t dance professionally anymore.”
“That’s too bad. You didn’t quit because of what happened with Bruce, did you? ’Cause that’d be pathetic.”
“No.” She folded her arms across her chest and looked out the window.
“I didn’t mean to insult you. Just wondering why. I’m sure your parents have asked.”
“They have.”
When she said nothing else, Jake pulled into a restaurant. “I’m hungry, and it’s been a good twenty hours since I’ve been able to keep anything down. You coming?” She looked at him with reservations, so he reassured her. “I promise I won’t take advantage of you in there.” He held up two fingers in the Boy Scout pledge.
“You were never a Boy Scout.”
“Man, I was a Cub Scout, a Boy Scout, and an Eagle Scout, which is the highest honor,” he told her while flicking a finger down her nose.
“And now you drink and pass out on the manager’s couch. Were you partying for any particular reason?”
“My friend Mitch McCabe just had his first child. I told him I’d have a few for him.”
Her smile bloomed beautifully across her face, and the spray of freckles on her nose caught the sunlight.
He asked, “Has anyone ever told you that you look like—?”
“Don’t say it, Jake. I’m not big on being called cute.”
“I wasn’t going to say that. It’s just…” He reached out and touched her soft cheek. Her doll-like eyes grew bigger than he thought possible. He wanted to kiss her. It must have been written on his face, because Sophie moved into his touch. Jake dropped his hand as the warning bells sounded. It had been so long, he’d be lucky if he remembered how to kiss. “Why don’t we go in and get something to eat? All those physical altercations must have made you hungry.”
Leaving her no choice, Jake jumped out of the truck before she could say anything. He didn’t want to think of her as a woman or a prospective lover. Two years prior he had sworn to celibacy to help clear his mind and concentrate on what he needed to do next with his civilian life. Of course, he still hadn’t figured out what “next” was.
Sophie looped her arm through his. “I quit because I didn’t love it anymore. I hadn’t in a long time.” She stopped walking and pulled Jake so he’d look at her. “Just because you’re talented at something doesn’t mean it’s what you have to do for the rest of your life. My heart wasn’t in it long before Bruce’s affairs. He and my parents pushed me to stay.”
“I understand that.”
“Is that how it was in the military?”
“How’d you know I was in the armed forces?”
She rolled her eyes. “Jake, I saw you naked. There’s a tattoo on your upper right arm. Plus, there’s Marine stuff all over your truck.”
“Yeah, I guess it’s a little hard to hide, eh? I left for personal reasons.”
She saw a haunted look in his eyes before he began walking toward the entrance of the restaurant. Sophie sprinted to catch up. “Jake, I’m sorry.”
“Stop saying that. I think you’ve apologized three times in this conversation and none of them were warranted. Geez, you never even said you were sorry for punching me.”
“That’s because you deserved it.”
Her heart fluttered with excitement when he snickered at her. Jake had charisma and honesty, unlike most of the men Sophie knew. Her mind reeled back to when he touched her in the truck and the heat in his eyes when he stroked her cheek. She wondered what made him pull back so suddenly when it was obvious there was heat swilling between them. Was there a woman in his past, or something else?
“The only thing I deserve is a medal for not beating the living hell out of that ex of yours. Two, please,” he told the hostess.
“This way.” With a smile, the hostess showed them to a booth. “Here are your menus and your waitress will be with you in a moment.”
“Thank you.” Sophie slid into her seat. “Bruce can get under your skin very easily,” she told Jake.
“He’s a pompous ass.”
“I feel bad that I punched him.” Sophie picked up her menu and opened it. “You know, there was a time when walking into a place like this wouldn’t have happened. As a dancer you have to keep a strict diet.”
“I can’t imagine.”
“No, you can’t. And, seeing that I’m more filled out than most dancers, I really had to keep control.” She saw his eyes wander over her.
“I like your curves.”
Sophie smiled and took a chance at being flirtatious. “I like yours, too, Mr. Sanders.” At the faint color in his cheeks Sophie felt a power she hadn’t known a woman could possess. Testing, Sophie leaned over to let her breasts rest on the table. Her shirt swooped low at the collar and she knew she was giving Jake a nice view. “Tell me why you don’t have a woman.”
“I do. Her name is Trixie.” She saw the telltale signs of a nervous man when he swallowed hard.
“Ready to order?” their bubbly waitress with a big-toothed smile asked.
“Yes, I’ll have the chicken cobb salad and water,” Sophie said.
Jake smirked, “Livin’ dangerous with that one, Sophie. How about we order a meat lover’s pizza?”
Sophie placed her hand on her stomach. “Aggg, no thanks. I’d have to pick up ginger ale and antacids on the way home to settle my stomach. I’ll stick with the salad.”
“A large steak—medium to well—with mashed potatoes, no salad, and a pitcher of Coke,” Jake told the waitress with a wink.
“You do know that I made up Trixie, right?” Sophie asked Jake when the waitress left.
His eyes lit up and his laugh was joyful. “Really?”
“Really. I actually came up with that. Not the guy you were trying to beat earlier.”
“Are you flirting with me, Sophie?”
“Maybe. Why, is that wrong?”
Jake sat back and studied her. “I’m off the market.” His phone began to vibrate on the table and he picked it up. “Yup… No, everything is fine… Okay, talk to ya later.” Hanging up, he smiled at Sophie. “Dave wanted to make sure we were good.”
Sophie’s ever-inquisitive brain rewound to Jake telling Bruce the only woman he’d been around in a while was Trixie. “Really, off the market? Because at the bar the men were all talking about how you haven’t been laid in years.” She snorted when Jake gave her a bland stare. “There has to be a story here. Tell me.”
Jake played with the straw in his soda. “You don’t miss anything, do you? Maybe some other time I’ll spill my guts. Right now I don’t want to ruin our good moment.”
“Okay. Then tell me how you and your brother opened the Hungry Lion.” From his sad look, Sophie realized this man’s scars were deeper than the ones on his perfectly chiseled body—a body she desperately wanted to get her hands on.
“I was on leave from the war when my brother had been talkin’ about opening a restaurant. So, I thought, why not? I knew when I got home for good I’d need something to do.”
“What exactly do you do? Besides screw up the books?” Jake reached across the table and flicked her nose; she laughed and swatted his hand.
“I told you they were like that when I got them. I’m actually very good with my money. I just don’t have the head for business. How did you get involved in this type of thing?”
“I took business classes despite my parents’ and Bruce’s disapproval. I’m glad it’s paying off now that I quit dancing.”
“But you worked someplace else before us? Thank you,” he said to the waitress as she placed the food in front of him.
Sophie’s body heated as she watched Jake cut and then fork steak into his mouth. What would those
full masculine lips feel like on her breasts?
“Ummm… Yeah… The job really sucked, though. My boss was a total wretch. At first I didn’t want to leave because I knew my parents would say, ‘See? You need to be a dancer.’ But that’s not what I want. I like the accounting, advertising, and everything else that goes with it. Sounds silly, doesn’t it?”
“Nope.”
Sophie studied him for a few seconds. He was an intimidating man, yet she never felt threatened by him. When she looked deeper into his eyes, she realized he’d moved the conversation off of him and on to her.
“So, Jake.”
“Yes.”
“What is it you do for the business?”
He laughed heartily and wagged a finger at her. “You got me.”
“Yes, I did. You changed the subject very smoothly. Was that helpful in the Marines?”
“It came in handy. I don’t do anything for the business. For the last few years I’ve needed to take care of a few things. When Dave asked me to take over on the books, I suggested hiring someone.”
“You needed to take care of a few things.” Sophie took a large bite of her salad. She contemplated the man in front of her while taking her time chewing. “The last time I had to ‘take care of something,’ it was code for ‘myself.’ Did you find what you were looking for?”
“Maybe. You?”
She leaned forward, looked straight into his eyes, and said, “Yup.”
Chapter Four
“So what do you think of her?” Dave asked with a raised eyebrow.
Jake eyed his brother as he pumped iron. “What’s there to think?”
“What happened when you guys went out to eat?”
“Nothing, Dave.” Jake’s voice strained as he lifted one more time, and Dave helped him place the barbell in its rack. “We had a great conversation and that’s it.”
“A great conversation? Sounds kinda boring.”
Jake turned to his brother with a huff. “She asked if I’m involved with anyone,” he said while swiping sweat from his brow
“Really? What did you say?”