by Joanna Sims
Luke cracked a smile. “That was next.”
Sophia held out the stocking in front of her. “Can you tell that I cried all over it?”
“It’s fine.”
“You didn’t even look.”
“What do you want me to look at?”
“I want you to look at the stocking. What’s the matter with you? Could you focus for one second? Why are you being so difficult? Just look at the stupid stocking, already.”
Luke looked at the stocking.
“Well?” she prompted.
“It’s fine.”
She sighed in exasperation and waved it at him. “Just put it back where you found it, will you? I just pray that your mother doesn’t notice, but we both know that Barbara Brand notices absolutely everything! And if she does I will throw you right under the bus without any hesitation or guilt!”
Luke dropped the stocking on top of the pile. “You’d do that, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, I would.”
“I always knew you had a mean streak, Soph. I always knew.”
Luke sat down beside her and the mood in the room lost the humorous edge. Luke’s eyes swept her face, his sharp, blue eyes concerned.
“What was that crying stuff all about, anyway?”
She let out a long breath. “Self-pity. Plain and simple. I started to think about my son and all of the Christmases we were going to have without Daniel...” She shrugged and sniffed loudly. “There are a lot of mental roads I know better than to let myself travel down, because in the end, feeling sorry for myself doesn’t change anything, you know? But knowing better and actually not doing something are two entirely different things.”
Luke slid his arm around her shoulder, gripped her shoulder tightly and pulled her into his body. “I’m proud of you.”
Sophia found herself sinking into his hard, warm body without a second thought. She tipped her head back. “You’re...proud of...me?”
“You bet.”
“Why?”
“You’re a tough woman and you’re handling this situation like a marine....”
“Well, thank you, Captain.” This was a compliment of epic proportions coming from Luke.
“Except when you’re leaking all over the couch,” Luke added as he gave her arm a squeeze. “Then, you’re just another weepy dame.”
She pulled back and punched him on the arm. “Thanks a lot, Brand. You know, you aren’t exactly good at the ‘providing comfort’ thing. You almost rubbed my nose right off my face with that stocking!”
“In my own defense, I don’t have a lot of practice. My men don’t typically cry. But, if one of them did, I sure as hell wouldn’t gently wipe away his tears.”
“Hey...gentle is a matter of opinion.”
“You’re just a chick. What do you know?”
“I know if someone is trying to rub my nose right off my face, I can tell you that!”
Luke glanced over at her. “You’re never going to let me live that one down, are you?”
“I doubt it,” she said easily. “Hey! Perhaps you should pack some Christmas stockings in with your gear just in case one of your men has a moment.”
“I’ll put it in the suggestion box.”
“See that you do,” Sophia bantered. “Do you think I could become an honorary marine for submitting a winning suggestion like that? I could literally change the face of the military.”
“Sergeant Sophia Brand,” Luke played along.
“Ooh-rah,” she said with a smile.
He tugged on her ponytail. “Ooh-rah.”
They smiled at each other for a moment and then Sophia’s stomach growled loudly. They both looked down at her belly.
“Lunch?” she asked.
“That works.”
Sophia accepted his offered hand. “You know...I was about to go stark raving mad just before you arrived. At that point, I was glad to see any sign of human life...” She paused.
Luke filled in the rest for her. “Even me.”
Sophia glanced up at him to gauge his mood and then she laughed. He was teasing the both of them. “Yes. Even you. And I wouldn’t have thought it could be possible, Luke, given our rather rocky past... But I’m having a great time with you, and I’m glad that you came home early to see me.” She stopped at the threshold of the room to look up at him. “I really am.”
Luke met her gaze. He knew that he had to stop closing his heart to her, so he said, “I’m glad to be here with you too, Sophia. There’s no place on earth I’d rather be than right here with you now.”
She planted her hands on her hips. “Not even back with your men?”
“Not even back with my men.”
Sophia was once again caught off guard by Luke’s words. She had been teasing him, but his response had been serious.
“You keep me on my toes, Brand, that’s for sure. Just when I think I have you figured out, you say something that surprises me.” She smiled up at him, before she began to walk toward the kitchen.
Luke reached out and grabbed her wrist. He tugged it gently to get her to stop. She looked over her shoulder questioningly. He had a mischievous twinkle in his striking blue eyes as he glanced upward. She followed his eyes up to the sprig of mistletoe.
She felt a blush race up her neck to her cheeks. Her heart started to beat in the most ridiculous way. Did he mean to kiss her? Did she mean to let him?
She tried to make light of the situation. “What would your girlfriends, plural, think?” She tried to keep her tone casual, but she heard an annoying waver in her voice.
Luke quirked up his lip and his eyes radiated a heat that she had never experienced before from him. No wonder the women threw themselves at Luke. When he turned that gaze on her, she started to forget herself and felt inclined to melt into his arms.
“I’m not going to make love to you, Sophia.” When he said “make love,” a shiver raced right up her spine. “It’s just a kiss.”
“Between friends,” she said on a rush of air; she wished that her heartbeat would slow down. Something odd flickered in his eyes, but it came and went before she could pin down the emotion.
“Something like that,” Luke murmured as he brought her hand up to his lips. Sophia watched him press his mouth to the back of her hand.
The moment came and went quickly, and when he released her hand, she felt like a real lunatic. She couldn’t believe that she actually thought Luke was going to kiss her on the mouth. Of course, he wasn’t going to do that! And she was glad that he hadn’t. Sort of...
That simple kiss had made her feel sensations in places throughout her body that hadn’t been revved up since Daniel last touched her. It was unnerving and exciting all at the same time. She had the distinct feeling that Luke knew how to love a woman’s body like nobody’s business. Allie was right: Luke was a seriously sensual, sexy, handsome man.
How could she have missed that?
Why was she noticing now?
Chapter Eight
Several days had passed since Luke had kissed her beneath the mistletoe, and Sophia couldn’t seem to stop thinking about the sensation of his lips pressed against her skin. It had been an innocent gesture that had left an indelible mark on her brain.
Of course, Luke hadn’t meant anything by it. And yet... Her pulse would quicken whenever her mind replayed the moment over again. And she hated to admit it, but the moment was never far from her mind. Her brain had conjured a slow-motion image of his piercing blue eyes as he bent his head down to press his lips to her hand.
His eyes had locked on hers, drew her in and held her motionless with their intensity.
Once Luke locked his eyes on you, he had you. It was the first time she had felt the power of his gaze; it was magnetic. Animalistic. That one look had made her heart race in a way it hadn’t raced in a very long time. Perhaps not ever. She felt a tingle in her stomach whenever she remembered the feel of his warm breath as it brushed across the back of her hand just before his lips made conta
ct with her skin. The minute his lips had touched her, goose bumps had cropped up on both of her arms and she had involuntarily sucked in her breath. Even now, if she closed her eyes, she could still imagine the soft tickling sensation the stiff hair of his goatee created as it brushed past her knuckles.
And she closed her eyes often.
Reliving that innocent kiss had become somewhat of a favorite pastime. Had she conjured up all of this romantic euphoria out of boredom or grief? She couldn’t be certain. All she knew was that for the past couple of days, Luke had made all of her bells and whistles go off, and she flat-out enjoyed it. Enjoyment laced with a heavy dose of guilt.
“You okay?’
Sophia opened her eyes; Luke was staring at her over his paper. They had fallen into a comfortable routine; Luke with his coffee, she with her tea. He would read the paper while she wrote out endless items on her to-do list. Luke had blended in with her daily routine seamlessly.
He seemed to fit her in a way she hadn’t imagined possible. He wasn’t Daniel, and yet he fit her just as well, in his own unique way.
“I’m fine,” she replied quickly, irritated with herself that Luke had caught her daydreaming about that stupid kiss. And, to make matters worse, she hadn’t been able to get Allie’s words out of her mind. She couldn’t stop herself from trying to catch Luke giving her “the look.” She had caught Luke looking at her many times, but never with “the look.” Most of the time the “look” he was giving her was one of curiosity, because he was probably wondering why every time he looked up, she was staring at him.
Damn Allie for sticking that ridiculous idea in her brain!
She looked back at her list and tried to shove the kiss back into the recesses of her mind. She wrote another item on the list and then stared at the words she had written.
Take Luke to Daniel’s grave.
She stared at Luke and tapped her pencil on the paper while she thought. Finally, she made a decisive circle around the latest item and drew an arrow to point to the top of the list.
Luke had been home for nearly a week and he had yet to make any mention of visiting Daniel’s grave. His family was due home in a day. And just as Luke thought it best that their reunion be a private event, she knew that it should be just the two of them present the first time Luke visited his brother’s grave.
It needed to be done.
“What now?” Luke asked in an exasperated tone. He had bent the corner of the paper down and was examining her through slightly narrowed eyes.
“What do you mean?”
“I know that look; I know that tapping. Whatever’s on that psychologist’s mind of yours, just spit it out so I can deal with it.”
He was blunt, so she was blunt.
“We need to go visit Daniel’s grave.”
Everything in Luke’s body tensed. Sophia was watching him closely; she saw his jaw clench and the pallor of his face whiten. The long scar that ran along the edge of his jaw became more prominent. He studied her for a moment before he snapped the paper back into place and returned to his article.
She wasn’t about to be deterred by him. She knew that Luke was good at intimidating people; he was a soldier first and a man second. But he didn’t intimidate her. And he was going to visit Daniel’s grave if she had to drag him there herself!
She had always believed in divine intervention, and she realized now that Luke was here to help her cope with Daniel’s death, and in return, she was here to help him. And she intended to do just that.
“It needs to be done,” she said, before she drained the rest of the tea from her cup.
He ignored her and she didn’t care. She had put off her discussion with him about the nightmare he had experienced several nights before, but she couldn’t put this off. It was just too important.
She stood up, rinsed out her cup at the sink before she returned to the table. She scooped up Ranger, who had been upside down on the table between them, gave him a scratch on his chops and then put him down on the ground.
“No time like the present.” She stood next to Luke. He didn’t bother to look at her.
Silly man! He actually was under the mistaken impression that she was going to give up!
She poked his shoulder with her finger, which got a snarl out of him but no verbal response.
She poked him again. This time he sighed heavily, dropped the paper and glared at her.
“Are you trying to pick a fight with me?” he asked, disgruntled.
Sophia crossed her arms over her chest. “Do you want a fight?” She threw the question back at him. Her tone was razor sharp.
He leaned back a bit, his eyes still narrowed. “Maybe.”
She didn’t back off. “Fight all you want, Lucas. You’re going to go see your brother. It needs to be done, and it’s going to be done today!”
Luke picked up her list, glanced at it and then tossed it back onto the table. “Why? Because you have it written down on your damned list?”
Sophia had zero intention of budging. Luke needed to see Daniel. It needed to be real for him. And it needed to be done without a crowd.
Sophia set her jaw. “You’re going, Luke. Your father gassed the truck up for me before they left, and you only need your right leg to drive. There isn’t one good reason why we shouldn’t go.”
Luke pushed back from the table abruptly and stood up. She saw him wince slightly when he put full weight down on his left leg. “I can think of plenty,” he said in a low, controlled voice.
She cocked her head to the side. His eyes were narrowed, and so were hers. “Name one.”
He clamped his mouth shut and said nothing. She knew she was pushing him, that he was uncomfortable. But his discomfort would grow a thousandfold if he saw Daniel’s grave for the first time with his entire family as witnesses. He needed to go now, and she wasn’t going to stop until he agreed.
He’d thank her later. Most likely.
After a minute of Luke staring her down, he said in measured words, “Why do you always have to do this, Sophia? Why can’t you leave well enough alone? Were we getting along too well, is that it? Too calm for you? You had to get in there and stir up the pot?”
“Don’t try to put the blame on me so you can avoid this,” she retorted. “I’m not doing this to pick a fight with you because I’m bored.” She waved her hands when she talked. “I’m doing this to help you, for all the thanks I’m getting!”
He grabbed for his cane and moved away from the table. “Thanks,” he said with a large dose of sarcasm.
“You’re welcome,” she snapped back as she followed behind him. “Let’s get ready to go.”
Luke stopped abruptly, spun around, and she nearly bumped into him. They were face-to-face. She had her hands on her hips; he wore a scowl.
She nodded her head toward the cane. “You know, it doesn’t do a whole heck of a lot of good being held in your hand like that. It actually has to touch the ground for it to be effective.”
He ignored her comment and said through gritted teeth, “I’m not going.”
“Yeah,” she said easily, “you are.”
Luke gave her a look that she supposed was meant to stop her in her tracks. He turned back to the stairs with a frustrated growl.
At the bottom of the stairs she said, “You have to do this, Luke.”
Luke paused on the third step and she waited. Finally, he turned back around. His handsome face was hard and tense. “Why are you pushing this?”
“You need to see Daniel’s grave,” she said simply, quietly.
“Why?
“It won’t be real until you do.”
Luke ran his hand over his head in a frustrated gesture. He pinned her with his bright blue eyes. “Did it ever occur to you that I don’t want it to be real?”
“Yes.”
“It occurred to you?”
“Yes! It’s what I do for a living, for crying out loud.”
He moved down one step. “If it occurred to you, the
n why are you pushing me so damn hard?”
“I’m doing this for you.”
“You’re doing this for me?” His eyes were blazing. “This kind of favor I can do without!”
“No, you can’t!” Sophia raised her voice and waved her arm toward the door. “Do you think that I wanted to watch them bury my husband? No! I didn’t! But it needed to be done. I needed to see it, Luke, so I didn’t spend the rest of my days waiting for him to come walking back through that door! You have to stop pretending that he’s just away, on a trip. He’s not away on a trip! He’s gone!”
“I know that.”
“Do you?”
“Yes,” he said in an oddly quiet voice.
“Do you?” she repeated more forcefully.
“Yes!”
“Have you even cried for him, Luke?”
He looked at her as if she was crazy. “I’m a marine.”
“He was your twin!” she snapped back. “Marine or not, you need to say goodbye to him. You need to cry for him. Of all the stupid things we teach our boys in this country, that men don’t cry is about the most idiotic!”
“What in the hell do you think it will prove? You think that if I cry for Dan I won’t feel like someone has yanked out half my guts? It doesn’t work that way, sweetheart!”
“Don’t you patronize me, Lucas Brand! I’m not your ‘sweetheart,’ I’m your friend, and I deserve a little respect from you.”
When the word friend came out of her mouth, Luke felt his stomach clench into a tight knot. No matter how many times he told himself to think of her that way, he couldn’t. Even now, when she was ticking him off beyond belief, he wanted her. His body ached for her. Especially now, when she was riled up and her lovely face was flushed pink with emotion, and her hazel eyes had turned a dark shade of forest green.
She was everything he wanted in a woman: strong, independent, incredibly smart, and sexier now than she had ever been. She wasn’t intimidated by him. She wasn’t afraid to stand up to him, or call him on his crap. It was a turn-on. His hands wanted to strip her down and stroke every silken inch of her curvaceous body. That was his idea of heaven on Earth.