by Deb Lee
“I—”
“Why don’t you come with me today? Get your mind off things. I really want you to meet a friend of mine.” He caressed the soft skin between her thumb and forefinger.
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Trust me, Sapphire. Stop worrying. I promise to bring you back by curfew and if there are any further concerns with the girls, we will come straight back and I will personally find a way off this ship. Even if I have to highjack a lifeboat and row all the way.” He cupped her chin in his fingers. “Okay?”
“That’s so sweet!” Natalia chirped.
Ryan returned a polite smile, but gripped Sophie’s elbow and moved several feet away.
“Call me,” Natalia said, grinning like the Cheshire cat.
“Isn’t there some rule against the staff hitting on the guests?”
Ryan smirked. “You’re not jealous, are you?”
“You’re not keeping her number, are you?”
Ryan laughed and dug the paper from his pocket. He glanced at Natalia, who was busy with another guest, and dumped it in the potted ficus next to them.
Sophie couldn’t keep the sides of her lips from curving upward or the heat in her core from swelling. She only wished she could take back her earlier words. How could she have been so far off base? He cared about the girls. About their concerns. And that very likely meant he’d care just as much about keeping the café for them. The sincerity in his voice suddenly jump-started her vision of her future. Yes, you can father my children.
“Do you trust me?”
Sophie swallowed. He traced his fingers up her arms in a zigzag pattern until they found her hair. He threaded his fingers through, interlacing them together behind her neck. He gently brought her face to his, and she could taste his breath with each word he enunciated. She shuttered. Of course, she wanted to trust him. But could she?
“Come with me.” He kissed her forehead then her nose and then the side of her lips. “I promise you’ll have fun.” He slowly drew his fingers from her neck and cupped her cheeks in his hands, luring her in so close she could see her reflection through his deep-set cerulean eyes.
“Ryan,” she started, but hesitated. And when she put her hands on his chest she surprised herself when she gripped the fabric rather than pushed. His warm breath released a hint of mint and sweetness and his eyes locked on hers.
“Shhh.” He claimed her lips with his.
She heard herself moan. It wasn’t a leg-lifting sort of kiss, but rather more of the leg-buckling, fall into a coma kind.
He adjusted his grip to hold a lock of her hair, and she felt his other hand skim down her back until it settled just above her hip. He firmed his grasp, drawing her against him, his body as strong as an iron anchor. He pushed deeper into the kiss and her mouth opened under his, giving as much as she took. He tasted sweet and savory. A fully satisfying rush.
The kiss was as persuasive as it was convicting. Her lips tingled as they separated and Sophie could feel the heat from his breath as it quickened her own. Her heart thumped erratically, and a delightful shiver of want ran through her. When he broke the kiss, he pressed his soft lips against the side of her mouth once. And then again.
Her breath quivered and she couldn’t tell where her bubble ended and his started. They were in a searing bubble together. His kiss wrapped her whole body in a warm hug she desperately needed. He kissed her until she thought she could see her star through his eyes. Until she trusted him again.
She broke for air, remembering how all this started. “So, nothing happened with those girls last night?” she said with a tantalizing tone.
He softly pulled her away just enough so their noses brushed together. Sophie’s insides tingled beneath the feel of his warm breath. “No,” he said.
He pressed his lips into hers, but she kept her hands against his chest, staving him off. She believed him. And yet, she wanted him to tell her again. “You’re sure?”
“I’m not that guy, Sophie. It’s been a long time since that guy was around.”
“I know.” The pit of her stomach whirled. But in the best sort of way.
His eyes remained locked on to hers, the desire for another kiss swirling between them.
“Let’s go to the island.”
Sophie nodded. “And no other girls, right?”
Ryan grinned. “Trust me. I don’t frolic with girls when there is a woman to be serious with.”
Chapter 26
Thirty-eight minutes after Ryan’s kiss deprived Sophie of enough oxygen to set her back a few nonessential brain cells, she waited impatiently for him at the debarking bridge. He needed a quick shower after his run, though Sophie tried to convince him it was not necessary. For some reason, he didn’t share her opinion of how incredibly delicious his perspiring body smelled.
Her phone buzzed. It was Charlie.
“Finally.” She pressed the phone to her ear. “Charlie.”
“Hey.”
“What’s the status on the vermin?”
“They’re gone. Your friend is awesome.”
Sophie sighed in relief. “Good.”
“But, Sophie, they were so cute. And really tame. Your guy thought they might be someone’s pets. There was a little brown and cream colored one. Can I keep—”
“No!”
“But he was so cute.”
“If it stays then you go.”
Charlie sighed. “Fine.”
“Good. You sure you’re okay?”
“Yes. Stop worrying about us. Go have fun. Let loose a little. Get drunk or be irresponsible for once.”
Charlie laughed and that sound sent a calmness through her. It untangled the knot in her stomach. “Okay. Sorry Tanya was such a tool. I’ll kill her when I get back.”
“No killing necessary. You don’t do prison orange well, or so Donovan would say.”
Sophie sighed and smiled. The smile was for Charlie; the sigh was because deep down, Sophie wasn’t sure how she felt about Charlie handling the crisis without her there. It bugged her. And she didn’t know why. “Okay, sweetie, you sound like you have it all under control. I’m still going to try and get home.”
“Don’t.”
Sophie pulled her brows together. “Why not? I should be there. What if next time it’s not rats in the café, but vipers, or massive, prowling tigers?”
Charlie’s laugh burst through the phone. “Don’t worry. If I see any snakes, I’ll burn the place down.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Goodbye, Sophie. Go play in the sand and we’ll keep the fire extinguishers on hand.” Charlie paused. “Unless there’s a viper. Then it’s poof.”
Charlie disconnected before Sophie could argue. She held the phone in front of her face and scowled. “Rude.”
“What’s rude?” Ryan’s smooth voice came up behind her.
“Charlie.” Sophie turned. Ryan was dressed in a button-down shirt and cargo shorts, looking every bit as yummy as a mouth-watering dessert. He had a dozen red roses in one hand and a brown paper bag with a bottle of scotch in the other. She recognized the red label on the bottle’s neck as scotch. Sophie raised her eyebrows, her insides buzzing with excitement.
He stepped aside to give her a path toward the tender that would lead them to Catalina Island. “Are you ready?” Luckily there was no line so they could board right away.
Ryan’s fresh shower smell coupled with his cologne kicked her heart into turbo speed. “I am.”
He wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her toward tender.
Sophie eyed his other hand and raised a brow.
He must have read her expression because he said, “Actually, these aren’t for you.”
“Oh,” she said
, almost disappointed. But then again, scotch wasn’t her thing and roses hinted at assumptions she wasn’t ready to have assumed.
“Don’t worry. I peg you for more of a wine girl.” He gave her his crooked smile, making her lightheaded. At this rate, she’d need a pacemaker to get through the remainder of the cruise. “I’ll explain later,” he said.
Sophie nodded.
“Be back by six-thirty p.m.,” the crewmember reminded guests as they loaded the shuttle.
Ryan took Sophie’s hand. His palm was warm and strong. She didn’t need his help down the steps, but it felt nice to hold him. Ryan led her toward an open bench seat. “Did you get everything squared away with the—uh—uninvited guests?”
Sophie sat and Ryan slid in next to her, placing his flowers and scotch on his opposite side. He reached his arm around the back of the seat and Sophie allowed herself to fold into him. Her insides praised her with a friendly burst of excitement. “I did, thank you.”
“That’s good. What did you do?”
“What any other thirty-one-year-old girl would do. I Googled the crap out of the situation.”
Ryan nodded. “Clever.”
“Turns out little beady-eyed critters can’t resist peanut butter.”
“And what’d you do with the bodies?”
“Had them removed. Far, far away.”
“That’s too bad.” Ryan mused.
Sophie scowled. “Filthy, disease-filled rodents spell horror for the food industry.”
He smiled wryly. “I can promise you one thing.” Ryan fixed a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. “Rats are awesome. You just don’t have any boys to show you.”
“Nope, nope, disgusting, and just nope.”
“They’re actually pretty smart.”
“Maybe. Charlie said they seemed tame and actually wanted to keep one. That was vetoed real quick.”
“You think they were placed?”
Sophie shook her head. “I think me being here and not there is a big mistake.”
Ryan’s brows creased. He teased the back of Sophie’s hair and gently pulled her closer to him. “I hope it’s not all that bad.”
Sophie bit her lower lip and allowed herself to lean in. Her belly swirled as he threaded his fingers through her hair and found the nape of her neck. He gently caressed her skin with the pad of his thumb, making her body heat. Like a tropical waterfall, the thrill of his touch sent chills cascading down her back.
It took a second, but Sophie finally found her voice. “No, not so bad.”
She turned her head into the wind. The salty air swept her hair into her face, whipping and stinging her cheeks like little pinpricks. She watched the waves approach the boat, then dive under it as they neared the dock where they would climb a narrow ramp to the island. Now that the rats were gone and the girls were okay, she could breathe. A cloud of financial doom loomed over the future of the café. But for the moment, while she was on this beautiful island with a man who made her heart beat out of her chest, she would relax.
Chapter 27
Ryan paid the driver, whose car was actually a golf cart, and waved goodbye.
“Where are we?” Sophie asked.
“This is a very special place to me.”
“Okay.” Sophie had a note of hesitation in her voice.
Ryan had purposely been slight on the details of their destination. He’d also been slight on mentioning his promotion. He knew that was something he needed to tell her. He owed her the truth, but that could wait until later today.
The cruise ship had its formal dinner tonight and Ryan hoped to tell her then.
Today was about visiting Tia and surprising Sophie with the farm. He wanted to let her experience the same awe he felt when he first visited. It had been years since he’d seen Tia, and though dropping in unannounced wasn’t initially part of his plan, plans had change.
He tried to gauge Sophie’s expression to get a feel for her thoughts. This part of the island was very different from the horseshoe shaped alcove, peppered with sailboats where they made port. The entire island was like a funnel with million-dollar homes stacked on top of each other on the outer edge and a forest of trees in the center.
Most of the roads were so narrow they only allowed one car at a time, but the route near the golf course and Wrigley’s Memorial didn’t make claustrophobic people nervous. Tia’s small farm was just off the golf course’s beaten path.
Not clear whether Sophie’s silence was due to apprehension of her whereabouts or him, he took her hand and led her forward.
“How do you know the people here?” Sophie murmured, staring at the sturdy, 1930s Portuguese-style bungalow, sitting in the middle of farmland. “It’s mesmerizing.”
It had that effect on him, too, when he’d first seen it. “I lived here for a time. Played ball across the island at Joe Machado Field when it was first built.”
Sadie’s apprehension made sense. The farm was big enough to appear intimidating but small enough to seem out of place. The house was about thirteen shades of red and brown, with a wraparound porch straight from the Gone with the Wind era. Three ceiling fans hung beneath the overhang with wires poking out from every possible crevice. The tattered, wooden corral that he’d helped build had been replaced with a new white plastic one. The barn’s original red paint had faded to rust orange. Dry-rot had settled in the barn’s eaves, but other than that, it was the same.
“Are we expected?” She clung to Ryan’s arm. He like that. He also liked how her sweet perfume lingered.
“No,” he finally answered as a horse neighed in the distance. “But Tia’s always home.”
“Isn’t it rude to drop in unannounced?”
“Don’t worry,” he said, brushing his arm against hers.
“How do you know this lady? Is she an old, um, acquaintance? I think most girls pass on scotch. You probably should have brought a sweet red if you wanted to impress.”
Are we jealous now? “Oh, Tia’s no lady,” he assured.
“So, you’re bringing flowers to a guy?”
Ryan snorted. “Not unless it’s for his wake. But no, Tia is most definitely a woman, hence the name Tia.”
“But you don’t have any aunts.”
He guffawed under his breath. “True. But you asked if she was a lady. Don’t get caught calling her that.” Ryan took Sophie by the hand again. “No, Tia is like a mom to me. And she always treated me like her own.”
Sophie stiffened at that comparison, and Ryan hoped he didn’t dredge up any raw emotions. That was their one common deep-rooted pain. He squeezed her hand again, suddenly missing his mom. He stared at the barn he helped restore. “I used to spend the summers here with my family. And then after my mother passed away, my dad sent me here for the summers before I went away to college. Ryan grimaced. More like my dad dumped me here after I officially became his greatest disappointment.
Sophie bit her lip. “I’m sorry.”
Ryan waved his hand. “I’m not. It’s in the past, as they say, right?”
Sophie somberly stared at the barn. “Your past is part of who you are.”
Ryan squeezed her fingers. “Don’t get all philosophical on me.”
Sophie stopped dead, tugging her hand out of his.
Ryan almost stumbled over her. “What’s wrong?”
“I think you should have your reconnection moment without me. I’m just going to wait back here, okay?”
Her hesitance was not lost on him. He never considered she might be uncomfortable. He nodded. “Okay, I’ll be just a minute.” He kissed her knuckles and grinned. “You’ll love Tia, I promise. She’s a different sort of flavor. I’ll be right back.”
Ryan headed for the front porch. His thoughts lost in the memories he built while working
the farm. Hauling hay, scooping manure, mastering tools, the nights spent reading sports almanacs and stargazing on the beach.
He was almost to the porch when he heard the faint sound of fast-approaching hooves clomping against the dusty earth. He whipped around to see Sophie gazing in another direction. “Sophie, look out!”
And no one, especially Ryan, could have predicted the sequence of events that followed. A loud bleating cry, the blur of a wire-haired creature, the blue, flannel pattern jumpsuit it wore. The goat, no bigger than a cocker spaniel, headed directly for Sophie.
Ryan dropped the roses and scotch. “Sophie!”
~ ~ ~
At the sound of her name, Sophie lurched back. Too late. She registered the pounding of hooves as way too close. She tried to run, but her sheer fright and forward motion had her tripping over her own feet, landing face first in the dirt before she had a chance to see what had jumped on her.
It nuzzled her neck, then nibbled on the collar of her shirt. “Ficus! Get it off, get it off!”
The thing leapt off her back and licked her face. Its coarse tongue exfoliated her forehead, then nibbled her scalp.
Sophie pushed up to her knees but the goat didn’t see that as a deterrent.
Not. One. Bit.
It slid its slimy, and somewhat hairy, tongue across her forehead, ensuring it conquered its quest to lick every bit of dead skin off her face.
“Fligggh,” she managed. It dipped its head from side to side, sliding that long tongue through the strands of hair that fell in front her face.
“Oh! For the love of all things . . .” Sophie finally found her bearings and flew to her feet where she had a hard time distinguishing the thing’s godawful bleat from Ryan’s laugh. “Are you seriously laughing at me?”
“Hey, hey. Shoo. Get away.” Ryan’s laugh echoed across the entire farm, and had Sophie not been dusting herself off and fixing her hair, she might have socked him.