Guarding Sophie

by Julie Brannagh

  She took a deep breath as she opened the bathroom door. “Kyle?” she called out. “It’s all yours.”

  He’d dimmed the lights, but left the lamp on the nightstand on for her. He was already in the bed. She tried not to stare at his tanned, smooth chest as he reached out to spread the blankets down for her. “I wasn’t sure which side you’d like,” he said.

  “This is fine.”

  “Don’t you need to use the bathroom?” she asked.

  “It can wait,” he said.

  She scrambled up on a surprisingly tall mattress and pulled the blankets up to her chest as she sank into the pillows he’d propped up for her.

  “I should have asked you if you wanted to go downstairs and have a glass of wine or a snack,” he said.

  She rolled over to face him. “I really loved meeting your friends, but maybe another time,” she said.

  There were so many things she wanted to say, but she wasn’t sure where to start. He was feet away from her. This was supposed to be two friends getting some badly needed sleep, but her heart beat faster as she wondered if he was naked in the bed. He wouldn’t strip off all his clothes in front of her. Would he?

  She felt her face getting hot as she reached over to shut off the lamp on the nightstand.

  “You don’t need the light, do you?”

  “Nope. I’m good,” he said.

  Seconds later, the only illumination in the room was the still-burning fire.

  “Should we be sleeping while it’s still burning?” she said.

  “It’s not going to hurt us. There’s a screen in front of the fireplace.” His hand brushed hers under the blankets, and she jumped. “Sorry.”

  “I—I wasn’t expecting that.”

  He reached out and took her hand. “Maybe we should get some sleep. You must be exhausted.”

  “It was a pretty crazy day,” she said. He was close, she wanted him, and she couldn’t seem to do anything about it.

  He leaned closer to her. “Hey. Give me a kiss, and we’ll say goodnight.”

  His mouth was soft on hers, the most fleeting of kisses. She craved more. Maybe he didn’t. His arms wrapped around her. He reached up to smooth the hair off her face.

  “Goodnight, sweet Sophie,” he said.

  It came out in a rush. All the years she’d wondered what might have happened between them instead of what didn’t, the fact he was with her in a big, soft bed in the most beautiful room she’d ever stayed in, the reality that she might never have another night like this. She wanted him. Maybe she should say so.

  “I want to kiss you,” she said and pushed him onto his back. She braced herself on her hands so she could look into his face. He stroked one big hand down her back, slowly.

  “Okay,” he said. She was lying on him, but he didn’t seem to object. She could feel the cotton shorts he wore against her upper thighs.

  “You’re fine with that?”

  “Hell yes.” She saw his grin in the firelight. She ran her fingers through the thick, wavy espresso-brown tumble of his hair. She reached under her pillow to grab the little foil packet she’d stashed there when she got into the bed and waved it at him a bit. His eyes sparkled.

  “I have some too,” he said. He reached up to stroke her hair. “Are you telling me we’re about to use at least one of them?”

  “Yes,” she said, and to her surprise, he rolled her onto her back, tipped her chin up, and sealed his mouth over hers with one smooth motion. Their tongues tangled until she told herself it wasn’t a race. They had all night. And she’d wanted to kiss him for years now.

  She tasted the beer he’d had a while ago as he explored her mouth. She wrapped her arms around him and snaked one leg around his. He was muscular but slender; his job required speed more than bulk. She pulled him into her with both hands.

  His voice was low and amused. “You know I’m going to have to kiss every last one of those freckles on your nose.”

  “There’s more all over me too,” she said.

  “Lucky me,” he said.

  Her cotton nightshirt hit the floor seconds later. They luxuriated in each other, in the big, soft bed, the crackling of the fire, and the smooth slide of skin against skin. He kissed every freckle he could find, working his way back up from her toes. The stubble on his chin tickled the tender skin on her inner thighs.

  He pushed her legs up and over his shoulders. “I think there’s a freckle there,” he said. “I’d better kiss it too.”

  And he did.

  KYLE AWOKE TO his cell phone ringing in the middle of the night. He and Sophie had exhausted each other. The fire had burned to coals after they finally fell asleep. He slid out of her arms, pulling the blankets up to her shoulders so she wouldn’t be chilled as he got out of bed in search of his pants.

  The ringing stopped and started again. If he didn’t grab it, it would wake her up. The best part of last night was the way she had relaxed against him before she fell asleep, the warm puffs of her breath against his chest as she drifted off.

  He’d told her the truth about his family. She’d told him what really happened before she decided to leave Cocoa Beach. He wanted her to stay in Noel, but he understood why she might not when she told him she couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else getting hurt because they’d gotten in Peter’s way.

  “The cops will catch him. I know they will,” he’d told her.

  “They might not. What if I can never go home?”

  He wanted to say, “Then we’ll have each other.” It was a little early for that. After the night they’d had, though, maybe they needed to talk about it. Tomorrow morning was soon enough.

  His hand closed over his pants, and he yanked his phone out of the pocket. He turned his back toward the bed and clicked the phone on to see if he had messages. Maybe he should go in the bathroom to listen to the voice mail he saw. Nobody was calling him in the middle of the night unless it was important.

  He hurried into the bathroom, pushing the door mostly closed behind him and hitting Volume Down on his phone. Hopefully, she’d sleep. And he’d be back in bed with her as soon as possible.

  “Hey, Kyle, this is Detective Martinez from the Noel PD. We found a stolen car on one of the roads about a mile from your place, and Peter Hutchinson’s fingerprints are in it. If he’s on foot, he could be almost anywhere in Noel by now.” The officer let out a long breath. “You might need to stay away from your house for another day or two. Ms. Hayes is not going to be able to go into work until we catch the suspect. One of the officers here has a brother who works for Seattle PD and has asked if we could borrow a police dog for a few hours to see if we can get a scent. We’ll keep you updated. If you have any questions, call me back.”

  He wanted Sophie to stay somewhere safe. They’d be fine at Abendblume while his teammates were here. He rubbed his face with one hand. He had to think of something else he could do to help her, or at the very least, keep her safe until the cops caught Peter.

  He took care of the usual bedtime preparations, shut off the bathroom light and made his way back to the bed, setting his phone to Vibrate before he put it on the nightstand and slid in next to Sophie. He reached out to pull her to his side again.

  Her voice was sleepy. “Is everything okay?”

  “Everything’s fine,” he assured her.

  She snuggled into him again. He lay awake as he wondered what he could do. He had to keep her safe. Somehow.

  Chapter Eleven

  KYLE WALKED INTO the inn’s breakfast room to find most of his teammates already there the next morning. The girlfriends, wives, and kids were evidently still sleeping. The inn’s staff was buzzing around the tables like they were on roller skates. Considering the fact most of these guys hadn’t stayed at the inn last night, they were sticking large-denomination bills into the servers’ hands to pay for their breakfasts. He accepted a cup of coffee from the woman serving and sat down at Drew McCoy’s table.

  “Where were you last night?” Dr
ew said. “We played poker.”

  “Do you have any money left?” Kyle asked.

  “It’s a good thing my wife has a job,” Drew said.

  “Shii-yeeeet. He cleaned everyone else out,” Derrick said.

  “Where’s your wife?”

  “Still sleeping. And she’s going to sleep as long as she wants. Directly after that, she’s going to go get a pedicure with the women and lay out by the pool with Megan Reed. She’s carrying my child. That’s enough work,” Derrick said.

  Seth Taylor leaned over from a table farther away. “Does she know you weighed almost eleven pounds when you were born?”

  “Hell no. And we’re not discussing that with her, are we? We’re getting a little running in this morning instead.” Derrick pointed at his plate, which was heaped with small, puffed pancakes drizzled with syrup. “Gotta run off these applesk—what the hell are they called?”

  “Ableskivers,” Seth Taylor called out. “I need one of those pans so I can make them at home.”

  “You don’t cook,” Zach said.

  “Oh, yes I do. Jillian loves it when I cook for her.” Seth tried to hide his smile behind one hand.

  The other men, who were shoveling in food as quickly as it appeared in front of them, nodded and grunted.

  Kade Harrison glanced up from his breakfast. “You never told us where you were last night.”

  “Why the hell would you care?” Kyle asked.

  “It’s always good to be in the know,” Kade said. He took a swig of orange juice.

  “Sophie was tired, so we both hit the sack.”

  Zach Anderson glanced in Kyle’s direction and raised one eyebrow, but didn’t comment. Thirty men were silent for a minute or so.

  “Sophie, hmm?” Tom Reed said.

  Kyle had been battling for playing time with Jeff, another wide receiver, since the moment he got off the plane in Seattle. Jeff gave him a nod.

  “I talked to her a little last night. Nice lady, Carlson.” He stared into Kyle’s eyes. “Don’t fuck it up.”

  Hoots of laughter and applause rang out from Kyle’s teammates.

  “So, who bet with Carlson this season, besides me?” Caleb asked nobody in particular.

  “He’s into it for big money,” Terrell told the room. “Big money.”

  “I knew her in high school. It’s nothing serious,” Kyle said.

  This brought on even louder laughter and fist-bumps from his teammates.

  “If this keeps up, Morrison’s going to have to take it like a man and get married too. He’ll be the only one left,” Zach said.

  “Caleb’s still not hitched.”

  “Might as well be,” Caleb said. “Whitney’s the one. I’m waiting for her to graduate from college like I promised her brother, and then I’m going to propose.”

  “Why don’t you pay her tuition and get married now?” Jeff said.

  Zach’s eyes narrowed. “I told my sisters that I didn’t want them to marry until they graduate from college. It’s nonnegotiable.”

  “Oh, now it’s on,” Derrick said. “Maybe we should change the subject.”

  Kyle took another sip of coffee and cleared his throat. “So, what are you guys up to this afternoon?”

  “Maybe a nap,” Zach said.

  “Reed invited us to the hotel swimming pool,” Seth said.

  “Kendall wants to go on a hike by the river,” Drew said. “Brandon and Emily McKenna told us about it.”

  Tom Reed let out a loud bark of laughter. “You might ask them about the Cub Scout troop they met along the trail sometime.”

  “What do you need, Carlson?” Derrick said.

  “The police still haven’t arrested Sophie’s stalker. She’s calling in sick, but I thought I’d hang around a little at the store in case the guy walks in.” It wasn’t like Kyle got a good look at Peter, but he’d discovered via text message that the cops were going to have some plainclothes guys there. The police also told him they were bringing in officers from other jurisdictions to help. Peter was considered armed and dangerous.

  He wasn’t trying to do the police’s job. Maybe he was nuts, but he’d make sure Sophie was safe this afternoon and then he’d go ask the cops if there was anything he could do to help.

  “Want us to come with?”

  “It might be dangerous—”

  “Dangerous for whom?” Kade said. “Certainly not for us. That guy steps one foot in that store, and he’s going to be sorry.”

  “She’s not going to be there?” Drew said.

  “She’s not. I am. She was supposed to work from noon to four. Don’t worry about it.” Kyle let out a long breath. “He might have a gun. I was mostly going to show up because I can outrun the plainclothes guys.” He pushed an ableskiver around his plate with his fork.

  “Lunchtime,” Zach said. “I’m not afraid of him. If the cops show us a picture of the asshole, we can trade off while we’re here.”

  “It’s great you’re offering, but you all have families. Really—”

  “You’d do it for any of us.”

  Kyle glanced around the room at thirty nodding heads. He hoped he hadn’t made a terrible mistake.

  TWO DAYS LATER, the cops were still looking for Peter, and there’d been a sighting in the Noel Foods parking lot last night. Sophie had been scheduled for the four-to-midnight shift. In other words, Peter somehow knew when she was working and was hiding out in the parking lot, hoping to grab her when nobody else was around. The police chased him, but he managed to elude them.

  Abendblume was gorgeous, comfortable, and safe, but she was climbing the walls. She also realized that the longer the search for Peter went on, the worse it was for the Noel Police Department. She had to do something.

  She’d grabbed the detective’s business card out of her purse, dialed her number, and waited for her to answer.

  “Detective Diaz,” the woman said.

  “Hi. This is Sophie Hayes, and I am wondering if the Noel PD would be interested in an idea.”

  The detective listened to Sophie’s plan. “You’re aware this is quite a bit of risk for you,” she said.

  “Yes, but this needs to end,” Sophie said. It would end if she went somewhere else, but Peter would still be lurking around, and someone was going to get hurt if she didn’t take a chance.

  “Let me talk to the guys,” Detective Diaz said. “I’ll talk to your boss at Noel Foods too. Let’s see what we could put together.”

  Twenty-four hours later, it was set. Sophie was going to work today in an attempt to lure Peter into the store. The police department would have plainclothes officers inside Noel Foods while she was there. Detective Diaz was also going to be at another register feet from Sophie’s. Mitch and the police were working together. According to the seniors who spent their afternoons at the big square table, everyone in town knew about Peter, and he wasn’t getting away this time.

  “Are you sure?” Kyle said for the fifteenth time this morning. “It’s dangerous.”

  “I have to do this,” Sophie said. “They’ll have police everywhere. Mitch sealed off all other entrances to the store too. If Peter walks in there, hopefully, the police can catch him before he tries to hurt me or anyone else.” She wrapped her arms around herself. “I just want this to be over.”

  He held out his arms to her. “I’ll be there too.”

  “I’ll be fine. I don’t want you to get hurt,” she said. “Don’t you have a practice or something with the other guys?”

  “Later. Right now, we’re catching that asshole.”

  She was pretty sure he had something up his sleeve, but she wasn’t going to ask what it was, and she was positive he wouldn’t tell her anyway.

  Sophie pocketed her room key and descended the stairs to the entryway. Kyle was driving her to work. He’d probably hang around there too. Hopefully, the seniors would be at their usual table. Their teasing and banter would make the four hours pass quickly too. She felt a twinge of guilt as she consi
dered they might be in danger too.

  Kyle was waiting for her at the foot of the stairs. “Ready?”

  “I think so.”

  He reached out for her hand. “It’s going to be fine. Everyone at the store knows, the place is crawling with cops, and if they call 911, there will be even more of them.”

  “I wonder how long this is going to go on before everyone gets sick of it.”

  Kyle opened the car door for her. “They all want you to be safe.”

  SOPHIE WAITED NERVOUSLY at her check stand for customers and accepted a few hugs from the seniors drifting in for their early-afternoon coffee and a card game. She saw a couple of half-gallon plastic jugs that appeared to be full of homemade liqueur too. Enid had been busy. As long as the older people weren’t driving, maybe it wasn’t that big of a deal.

  The police had tried to get the seniors to hang out somewhere else for the day.

  “And miss this?” Clara said. “No, thank you.”

  Detective Diaz gave her the thumbs-up from the next check stand over. A couple of guys with earpieces were walking through the store with carts already.

  Sophie’s boss approached and reached out to pat her on the back. “Sophie, it’s all going to be fine. They’ll catch him.”

  “I feel like such a burden on everyone.”

  “You’d do the same for them. This is a small town. We stick together. And we take care of our own.” Mitch gave her a nod. “If he walks in the door, you grab the intercom and say ‘Fire.’ Got it?”

  She nodded.

  “Let’s have a good day.” He pretended not to see the homemade liqueur jugs on the seniors’ table as he walked back to his office.