by Joanna Sims
Luke fought to refocus. He willed his body to cooperate; he shifted his concentration from his frustration to the fluttering feel of Sophia’s heart beating against his body. Luke rested his chin on Sophia’s head; heard her sigh and relax into his arms even more.
He wanted to push Sophia away; he wanted to pull her closer. He felt as if he had lost his mind in Sophia’s arms. Perhaps he had...
“What was that?” Luke untangled himself from Sophia’s arms and held her away from him. He looked down at her stomach.
Sophia looked up at him and smiled. “That was Danny.” The surprised look on Luke’s face made her laugh. “He kicked. You must have felt it because we were close.”
“Is that normal?”
The moment was broken; she stepped away from him. “Perfectly normal.”
“So, he’s okay?” Luke asked.
It was the first time he’d shown real concern for the baby, and it made Sophia soften toward Luke in a way that she hadn’t known was possible.
“Sure. He kicks me all the time. And often when I don’t want him to.” She continued to smile up at him. Then, she added with a laugh, “It seems whenever I’m ready to rest, that’s when he decides it’s time to do somersaults.”
Luke’s expression changed from concerned to neutral. With a definitive nod, he turned away from Sophia. “I’m going to check on Ranger.”
“Okay.” She tried very hard to stop her disappointment from reflecting in her tone. For whatever reason, Sophia didn’t want this moment with Luke to end.
“I’ll be back,” Luke threw over his shoulder as he disappeared into the hall.
For a moment, Sophia didn’t move. She had just shared an extremely intimate hug with Luke, and the experience had left her feeling odd. Luke hadn’t even hugged her at the wedding. He had shaken her hand, for crying out loud. And now this? It was a shock to the system.
The truth was undeniable: she had loved every minute she had been in Luke’s arms. He was strong and warm and hugged her back as if he meant it. For a split second, she had imagined she was with Daniel, but surprisingly, that moment was fleeting. There was no denying Luke. He was a force to be reckoned with.
Danny kicked her again and it drew her attention back to her baby. She rubbed her hands over her belly and smiled down at her rambunctious son. “Like father like son, eh, Danny boy? You just can’t stand it if you aren’t the center of attention.”
* * *
Luke let Ranger out of the bathroom, then went to his room and closed the door firmly behind him. He locked the door and rested his forehead against it. He had to get out of the kitchen fast. His body refused to stop thinking about making love to Sophia, and the last thing he needed was for Sophia to notice the obvious bulge in his pants.
There wouldn’t be any way to explain that one away.
Luke shut the blinds, shut the adjoining bathroom door and spread out on the bed. The kitten curled up in a ball on the pillow, while Luke let out a frustrated growl. His body wasn’t giving up. He was still aroused, and it was starting to hurt.
A cold shower was the only plausible solution.
Luke stripped off his clothes and let the frigid water pelt his skin. Luke looked down at his body in disbelief. His problem refused to go away. What had Sophia done to him?
“Come on!” he said through gritted teeth. He closed his eyes and leaned back so the water could pound him on the chest.
If this didn’t work, he was going to have to get rid of it the old-fashioned way. He had been without a woman for too long; he wanted Sophia too much. Under the circumstances, it was a horrible combination.
It took longer than he would have liked, but the freezing water did the trick. Luke stepped out of the shower, dried off, yanked on some boxer-briefs and flopped back onto the bed. He didn’t bother to finish dressing or bandaging his wound. He just wanted a minute to get his head straight. Being around Sophia was driving him nuts. More times than he’d like to admit, he had thought about walking away from her. Anything would be easier than this. He’d rather be dropped into a hot zone from a perfectly good plane one hundred times a day than spend the next week sorting things out with Sophia. It was just too damn hard not to let her see how he felt about her. It was a minute-by-minute struggle not to just get it out in the open and let the chips fall where they may.
But he knew he couldn’t do that. He had to keep himself under control no matter what. His feelings couldn’t matter. He had his whole family to consider.
He had Dan’s son to consider.
Luke rubbed his hands over his face. That kick was the first time it had truly sunk in that Sophia was carrying a real person inside her. Of course, he could see that she was pregnant; he could see the fullness of her breasts, the roundness of her belly. Her face was fuller, yet still incredibly beautiful. He could easily see the changes, but for some reason, it took feeling it, feeling the baby move, for the whole thing to become real.
That kick came at the right time. It helped him get his head clear, helped him get his brain back on track and back into reality.
As Luke was lulled to sleep by the rhythmic sound of Ranger purring in his ear, he felt more determined than ever not to screw things up with Sophia. More than ever, Luke wanted to get to know that little boy who had just given him a swift kick in the gut. That kick had done more than just wake Luke up; that kick had made him fall in love for the second time in his life. Luke was head over heels crazy about little Danny. Bottom line.
* * *
Sophia checked her cell phone. One missed call. It must have gone straight to voice mail; it hadn’t bothered to ring. “Stupid reception,” she said bitterly as she punched the buttons and pulled up her missed calls list.
“Allie.” Sophia read the name out loud. Allie was her best friend and one of her most valuable “baby” assets. Allie had three children of her own and had an extremely busy career as a speech-language pathologist. She was Sophia’s inspiration to find a balance between motherhood and work in her own life.
Sophia dialed Allie’s number on the landline and waited while it rang.
Allie picked up the phone on the third ring. “Where have you been? Why didn’t you answer your phone? You’re supposed to have it with you at all times! All times!” That was just like Allie; forceful, to the point. “I’ve been worried sick, thank you very much. You could’ve been carried away by thieves, carved up and left on the side of the road, for all I knew!”
“Thanks for the graphic image, Al.” Sophia leaned against the counter. “The reception is a nightmare here. This is the home phone number. Use that if you need to get ahold of me.”
Allie retorted, “Thanks for making me panic, lady! I was just about to make a call.”
Sophia smiled. “Who were you going to call?”
“I don’t know,” Allie snapped, but Sophia knew her well enough to know she was starting to soften. “There has to be someone you can call out there in the middle of absolutely nowhere.” According to Allie, if there wasn’t an outlet mall within a ten-mile radius, the place wasn’t civilized. “Could the National Guard reach you out there?”
Sophia laughed. Allie always made her laugh. “I’m in Montana, Al...not the jungle. Half of Hollywood lives out here.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Does that make it safe? Is L.A. safe? I don’t think so. But you’ve gotten me way off the point. You’re out there, in the middle of nowhere, pregnant, alone...”
Sophia interjected. “Not alone.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Is the family back early?”
“No,” Sophia said, dragging out the word for a while.
“Who’s there?” Allie asked suspiciously. “You haven’t picked up a hitchhiker or are feeding some homeless guy, are you?”
“Okay... That’s something you would totally do...”
Allie chuckled. “That’s true. I would. But I’m not eight months pregnant and stranded in the middle of nowhere.” Every tim
e Allie said the phrase “in the middle of nowhere,” she had to really emphasize it. “Who’s out there with you?”
“Luke’s here.”
Another pause. “Luke? As in Daniel’s brother, Luke?”
“Yes.”
“You’re kidding.”
“No. He showed up the day after Thanksgiving.”
She didn’t have to see Allie to know that her eyebrows were raised at the juicy news. “Wow. So how’s that going? If I remember correctly, the two of you are like oil and water.”
Sophia smiled. She supposed her rocky relationship with Luke wasn’t exactly a well-kept secret. “We still are...sort of. He’s making an effort to get along with me...”
“Are you making an effort to get along with him?” Allie interjected.
“Yes. Of course. For my son’s sake, if for nothing else.”
“You know what...?”
“What?”
“I’m really glad to hear it. Luke could be incredibly important in your son’s life. Your son has an advantage that most children who lose a father don’t have. His uncle is a twin. Danny can actually see what his father looks like, what he sounds like, and I have no doubt that Luke is full of stories about Daniel.”
“You’re right. I think Luke feels the same way. And, I have to tell you, there’s a lot about Luke I never knew....”
“Like...?”
“Like he isn’t as much of a...jerk...as I once thought. He’s actually quite...” Sophia paused to think of the right word to fill in the blank. “Nice.”
“I never thought he was a jerk, anyway. He was always very polite to me. And I loved to see him in his uniform. Handsome. If I hadn’t been married at the time, I would have insisted that man show me a good time....”
“Allie!” Sophia said, caught off guard. “Really?”
“Oh, please...like you haven’t noticed how handsome Luke is? You married his twin.”
“Yeah, but I never really thought of Luke in that way. Daniel was the handsome one, at least to me he was. Besides, Luke was always a pain in my neck....”
“Like the little boy who pulls on the girls’ pigtails in school...”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know... When we were little, boys were always mean to the girls they liked. It’s the same with Luke. I always thought he had a thing for you.”
Sophia’s stomach twisted into a knot. “That’s crazy. Luke doesn’t have a thing for me. Trust me! I would know.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’re blind as a bat when it comes to stuff like that. You have absolutely no radar for that sort of thing whatsoever. I, on the other hand, do. And, I tell you, Luke has always had a thing for you. I saw him giving you ‘the look’ a couple of times.”
“What ‘look’?”
“The look. Like he’s trying to imagine what you look like naked kind of look!”
That made Sophia laugh out loud. “Now I know you’re delusional. Have you been getting enough rest? Are you sleep deprived? Taking any new medications I should be aware of?”
“You can laugh all you want, Soph. But I’m serious. Luke has feelings for you.”
Sophia shrugged off Allie’s words. Usually her friend did have an uncanny ability to spot stuff like that, but this time she had to be way off base. Luke didn’t have a thing for her. No way.
Allie spent the next half hour giving Sophia Boston highlights, which only made Sophia more homesick for her life back home. She couldn’t wait to get back to her city and make a new life with her son.
“Tell Luke ‘hi’ for me. Oh, and tell him the next time he’s in town to bring his uniform and I’ll let him take me out on a date,” Allie said with a laugh. “You have to love a man in uniform. And I’ve always had a soft spot for marines. Especially sexy marines like Luke.”
For some inexplicable reason, Sophia’s gut clenched at the thought of Luke and Allie dating. Allie was just joking around, but she didn’t like the idea one bit. She’d never cared one iota before; she sure as heck shouldn’t care now! And yet...she did.
To Allie she said, “I’ll tell him.”
To herself, she said, get a grip, Sophia!
After she hung up, Sophia went into the library and sat down in her favorite double chair. She pulled a blanket over her legs and stared into the fireplace. It was chilly in the room, and she found herself wishing Luke would reappear and build a fire for the both of them. She wanted the warmth of a fire and Luke’s company. A couple of times she thought about getting up and building the fire herself, but she didn’t want to take the job away from Luke. He seemed to like filling that role, and she enjoyed watching him.
As she waited for Luke, her mind drifted to the conversation she had earlier with Allie. She still couldn’t understand where the jealousy had come from, but it was undeniable. And for some inexplicable reason she hadn’t told Allie about the hug she had shared with Luke. That wasn’t like her at all; normally she confided stuff like that to her best friend. This time, she hadn’t. She had wanted to keep the moment she had shared with Luke and her reaction to the moment to herself.
“You look like you could use a fire.” Luke walked into the room followed by Ranger.
Sophia leaned her head back against the chair. “I was hoping you’d come down soon.”
“Why didn’t you come get me?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you. Figured you were resting.” She shrugged one shoulder. “And I was being incredibly lazy. I could have easily done it myself....”
Luke leaned his cane against the couch before he threw a couple of logs into the fireplace. He interrupted her. “You shouldn’t have to do stuff like that while I’m here. That’s my job. If you need something, don’t hesitate to ask. Are we clear?”
“Okay,” she agreed with a faint smile. His bossy tone, which normally set her teeth on edge, didn’t seem to bother her this time. It felt good to have Luke looking after her. She twisted her wedding ring as she watched Luke build the fire.
After the fire was lit, Luke sat down on the couch. “Listen, I hope I didn’t overstep some invisible line earlier. I’m trying to stay on your good side.”
“You didn’t. Trust me. If I knew you were hug-friendly, I might have attacked you the first day you arrived!”
That got a half smile and a chuckle out of Luke. He winked at her, and something about that wink made her heart skip a beat. “Consider me officially open for business.”
Chapter Six
Sophia couldn’t seem to get enough of Luke’s company. After they enjoyed the fire they went for a walk, which was absolute heaven for her. She loved the outdoors, and with Luke’s arm to hold on to she had navigated the icy porch stairs, and the icy patches on the ground, without a second thought. She hadn’t felt that invigorated in a week, and by the time they had returned to the house she had a renewed sense of purpose. The walls didn’t seem to be closing in on her any longer.
Now that it was just the two of them it was easy to see how compatible they were together. And they seemed to gravitate toward the same part of the house: they both loved to sit in the library in front of the fire. So, after dinner, Luke headed toward the library to throw some more logs on the fire, and she found herself hurrying her movements to get back to Luke more quickly.
She could imagine Daniel looking down on her and smiling right now. He would have a hard time believing his eyes, but he would have been thrilled. Next to her, Luke had been Daniel’s best friend, and it always hurt him that the two of them didn’t get along.
“It took this to bring us together, my love,” Sophia said softly as she pulled the mugs out of the cabinet. “I wish you were here to see it.”
But, the truth was, if Daniel had been here, she and Luke would still be keeping their distance from each other. It had taken a tragedy; it had taken them losing the most important person in both of their lives for them to put aside their petty differences.
Better late than never, she supposed.
“Here, I got it....” Luke reached out for his cup.
Sophia shook her head and smiled at the kitten. “What are you doing, stinker?”
Luke sank down into his spot on the couch and took a sip of his black coffee. As usual, Sophia had it right. The fact that she remembered his likes and dislikes didn’t surprise him anymore; it just made him feel good. It let him know, for the first time, that he was a part of Sophia’s life. He mattered, and had always mattered enough for her to take notice of, and remember, small details about him.
Sophia sank down into her favorite chair across from the couch and put up her feet. The fire was just starting to crackle and she could feel the warmth of the blaze on her face as it took the chill off the room. “Ah. This is perfect. Thank you.” She took a sip of her tea before she added, “This is becoming a regular thing for us, isn’t it?”
“Seems that way.” Luke’s eyes were on her in the dimly lit room. “Thanks for the coffee.”
“You’re welcome.” She heard the sincerity in her own voice. She had actually started to enjoy bringing small pleasures into Luke’s life. At first it was just to stave off boredom, but it had quickly become something she enjoyed doing. That made her smile.
Luke noticed the small smile and asked, “What?”
Sophia shook her head softy. “I was just thinking about how civil we are with each other now. We’ve been like oil and water for years, and now...”
“Not so much,” Luke filled in.
“Yes. Not so much,” Sophia said before she brought her cup up to her lips and blew on the hot liquid. “Daniel would be proud of us, don’t you think?”