Beyond Bliss (25 page)

“I hope this isn’t too nosy, but I’d really like to know more about you.  I know school keeps you busy, but what do you do for fun?  Are you seeing anyone?”

Even though Sean wasn’t in her line of sight, she could swear he stiffened in his seat next to her.

Grace rolled her eyes.  “I’m sorry, but do you have any idea what dating in this city is like?  I wouldn’t do it even if I had the time,” she shuddered. 

“Soph, if you really knew her, you wouldn’t ask the question,” Sean offered without solicitation.

“What?”  All traces of warmth had melted from Grace’s expression as she now stared at Sean, head-on. 

“You heard me,” he shrugged.

“I did.  My hearing works perfectly fine, unlike your unfortunate brain cells.  What did you mean by it, Holden?” she snapped.

Sophie looked toward Lucas for help, but he just shook his head at her.  “Leave it,” he mouthed. 

“You should have seen the last guy she brought around.  Funny when someone is picky but happens to have no taste,” he sneered. 

“And you have taste?” Grace shot back.  “The last woman, and let me tell you Holden, I’m being generous when I use that word because it implies she’s got something of a brain, couldn’t even remember her own middle name!”

“She never used it,” he defended weakly.  “Besides, you don’t see her around anymore now, do you?”

Grace shot him a look of pure disdain.  “And I’ve never been to Idaho, nor do I have any interest in it, but I can remember that Boise is the capital—and the fact that we don’t see any of your bimbos around doesn’t mean anything.  You get more traffic than Grand Central station.”

He looked at her challengingly.  “Jealous you didn’t get a chance to pass through my station?”

Sophie sputtered, right as she’d taken a sip of wine.  Horrified, she watched as dark red spots spread slowly across the white napkin she’d rushed to cover her mouth. 

Ten seconds later, she realized that had been nothing as she watched a stream of red, translucent liquid arch gracefully through the air from the mouth of the wine bottle before landing on the dark hair, handsome face, Ferragamo tie, and pristine white Oxford shirt of one Mr. Sean Holden. 

Chapter Twenty-Two

“I am so sorry Sophie.  You must think I’m bat-shit crazy,” Grace apologized.

An hour and a half after the disastrous but successful dinner, Sophie balanced the phone between her shoulder and ear as she slathered on moisturizer over her freshly washed face. 

“Please don’t apologize.  Number one, you didn’t get any wine on me, number two, he clearly deserved it, and number three, it seemed like he was angling for it anyway.  He did mention something about sangria and how soft his hair was afterward.”

Grace groaned on the other line.  “I’m really, really sorry,” she emphasized. 

Sophie laughed.  “Please no more apologies.  Honestly, when I got up this morning, I figured I’d be going to sleep with a book or a movie.  This was seriously better, as far as entertainment goes.” 

“Well, feel free to toss a bottle on my brother.  Of the wine, that is, not the actual bottle,” she clarified.  “I can’t believe he sprung this on you like that.  He should have given you some warning.  Come to mention it, he should have given me some warning the Darth Vader was coming to dinner.  Too bad I didn’t think of getting him.”

She giggled before a yawn overtook her.  “Maybe we can catch up sometime later, without the men?  How does brunch this weekend sound?  You can meet my friend Liz.  I have a feeling you two would really get along.”

“Heavenly, let me just make sure I don’t have to be at the hospital.  By the way, when you meet my parents at the gala, could you please not mention anything about the wine tossing?”

*****

“I really like your sister,” she murmured sleepily against the skin of his shoulder.

His arms wrapped protectively around her, and she settled into his embrace.  “Told you so.”

“Always so sure of yourself,” she mumbled without any real heat.

His lips pressed against her forehead.  “You know it,” he whispered.  “Got you, didn’t I?”

“Against my better judgment.”  Her words held that soft lilt that usually meant she was seconds away from passing out, and he felt a moment’s remorse.  She’d been working a grueling schedule, not to mention keeping up with his off-the-clock demands.

And once again, she’d given him more than he could have hoped for.

It had been wrong to spring dinner on her like that, but the plans really had been spur of the moment, and he’d wanted her to meet his sister. 

Not that he needed his family’s approval, but he needed them to see what he saw when they looked at her. 

Grace had called while Sophie had been in the shower. “You screw this up bro, I’m giving you something worse than coal in your stocking at Christmas.”

Never had he more welcomed a threat from his sister, but her joking words left him with a dark sense of foreboding.

All he could do was hope Sophie wouldn’t run when he told her the truth about their connection.

He listened to the faint tick of the clock on the wall, staring into the darkness as his hands traveled up and down Sophie’s back in a slow, soothing rhythm. 

Her breathing finally evened, and his own eyes were about to shut.  Sophie mumbled something, barely coherent.

His eyes flew wide open. 

It couldn’t be a mistake.  He couldn’t have misheard. 

“Love you too Sophie,” he whispered in reply.

*****

“If I’m carrying twins, you should buy stock in the company that makes the Rabbit, because I’m totally cutting off Mark’s dick,” Liz griped. 

Sophie suppressed a laugh while her mother huffed disapprovingly.  “No one would ever guess she had a graduate degree with a gutter mouth like that.”

Unfazed, Liz continued to examine her bump in the mirror.  “Jeannie, don’t knock it until you try it.  It’s the Mercedes of vibrators.  I can recommend a few different models if you want.”

Her mother’s face reddened further, and Sophie quickly interjected before steam erupted from her ears.  “Mom, would you mind going down to the gift shop and picking up some bobby pins?”

“Your hair is already done,” her mother pointed out, her face still mottled.

“I know, but it feels like it’s going to fall down.  I just want to be on the safe side,” she fibbed. 

“Fine.”   Jeanine Harlow let out a deep sigh and shot one more dirty look at Liz before she left the suite. 

Sophie turned to her best friend and tried to keep a straight face.  “You have to stop antagonizing her like that.”

Liz shrugged.  “It’s funny when she forgets to be mad at me and starts talking to me again instead of referring to me like I’m not even here.    The old bat loves me, and you know it.”

Her lips twitched.  “Seriously Liz, recommending sex toys to my mom?” 

“Even you have to admit Jeannie can use some sexy time.  By the way she kept batting her eyelashes and flirting with Harry, I think she’s about to get herself some too.  But seriously, Soph—I’m way too big for four months.  I’ve either got gestational diabetes or I’m cooking twinkies here.”

Sophie’s eyes were drawn once more to Liz’s belly.  She was much larger than she should be at this point. 

“Double the blessings?”

“Fu- fudge that.  Seriously Sophie, one unexpected baby is more than enough to deal with.  Mark better be prepared to invest in some seriously reconstructive tit surgery if I have to feed two of his spawn at the same time.  Don’t you laugh at me, Sophie Harlow, it’s bad karma.   I bet you Mr. Tall, Dark, Handsome, Rich, and Well-Endowed has super sperm too.  Just you wait your turn,” she said darkly. 

Sophie stopped laughing and glared.  “It’s not like that, and you know it.”

“It totally is like that and you know it—and even if it wasn’t like that, I’d force you into a shotgun marriage.  Any man who can turn your dragon of a mother into a fluffy little kitten is marriage material.”

Lucas had charmed the nylons off her mother when he’d picked her up from the airport and brought her to the hotel, although Sophie wasn’t sure how much of her mother’s softened exterior was due to Harry.

She’d noticed her mother exchanging more than one warm look with Lucas’s handsome older driver.  She chose to ignore Liz’s comments on Lucas and moved to deflect.

“I think Mom’s loosening up has more to do with Harry to be honest.”

She knew she’d been successful when Liz’s eyes gleamed wickedly.

“You think Mama Jeannie and Harry will really hook up?  What if they get married?  How would it work if you and Lucas got married?  His driver turns into his father-in-law?  Hah!” Liz carefully settled herself on the bed, pointing the remote to the HDTV mounted on the wall and turned it on the news.

Sophie’s lips twitched as she turned back to the floor length mirror and examined her reflection.  Green silk hugged her curves, starting in a sweetheart neckline.  The bodice was fitted, sleeveless, and the material flowed effortlessly in simple lines which tapered at her trim waist and gently flared over her hips before falling straight to her ankles.  The dress had a deep slit beginning just below her mid thigh only visible when she moved.

When she’d seen the dress displayed in a store window of a small boutique in Soho, her mind flashed with the night in Hawaii, when he’d sent a dress, almost exactly the same material and color, up to her room.

The night where everything had changed between them.

She’d walked into the boutique and ten minutes later, walked out with the dress carefully wrapped in fine tissue paper, nestled in a plain cream shopping bag.

Smoothing her hands over her hips, she wondered if it would remind him of those nights they’d spent in a tropical paradise too. 

“You look fu—freaking gorgeous.  Mr. Tall, Handsome, and Well-endowed won’t be able to tear his eyes away from you,” Liz piped up from her perch on the bed. 

Sophie turned, frowning.  “How’d you know that?  I never told you anything about his um, his—“she stuttered, her face heating both at the topic of conversation and visuals of Lucas’s appendage.

Liz smirked.  “You just did, honey child.  Besides, it’s not hard to imagine he’d be packing.  Look at him—tall, large hands, feet— you can practically smell the testosterone dripping off him.”

Sophie opened her mouth to respond just as her mother swept into the room with a small paper bag in her hands.  She shut her mouth, but gave Liz a warning look as she went to retrieve the bobby pins her mother had pulled out and thrust at her. 

“Sorry it took so long,” she said breathlessly.

Sophie hadn’t even realized her mother had been gone for almost twenty minutes.  The trip down to the hotel’s store on the ground level and back should have taken less than ten minutes.  She arched an eye at her mother, noticing that her cheeks were pink in a way that had nothing to do with blusher. 

  “I couldn’t find them in the convenience shop, but I ran into Harry downstairs and he offered to take me to the drugstore.”

Liz’s eyes danced, and she stayed silent—but not for long.

“Jeannie, you’re blushing like a schoolgirl who just had her first tussle in the backseat of a car.  Is that all Harry offered you?  Can’t blame you.  The man’s a silver fox.”

Fascinated, Sophie stared at her mother as the color deepened on her cheeks while her mouth worked soundlessly, opening and closing without words.  She’d never seen her mother react this way towards a man or shy away from a verbal sparring match with Liz.  Her interest was more than piqued, but she decided to take pity on her.  

“If everyone’s ready, we can head downstairs now.  I think the cocktail hour started fifteen minutes ago.”

Relief swept across her mother’s expression.  “Wonderful.  I’ll just touch up my makeup.  I wouldn’t want to hold you up.  Why don’t you and Liz head downstairs.  I’ll meet you there.”

This time, Liz joined in on the staring.  Blushing aside, Jeannie’s makeup was immaculate.  The only thing that needed a touch up was her lipstick, but a thirty second application wouldn’t hold them up time-wise.  A wicked glint entered Liz’s eyes and she opened her mouth to say something.

But she was unable to deliver the witty one-liner because just as she stared to speak, she felt something prick her scalp.  “Ouch!”

She rubbed at the sore spot, and when she looked up she saw Sophie standing only a few inches away, a mischievous smile tugging at her lips.  “There, your hair is perfect now.  You had a little piece falling out.  Let’s go grab something to munch on, I’m sure you’re starving Liz.  Mom, we’ll see you downstairs.”

Grumbling under her breath, Liz took the hint and hoisted herself off the bed.  Sophie grabbed both evening clutches from the bureau before she turned expectantly at her friend.  

Liz had her eyes on Jeannie, who was looking in her makeup bag. More than familiar with Liz's expression when she wasn’t through talking, Sophie grabbed her hand before Liz could speak and dragged her out of the hotel suite Lucas had comped for them that evening.

She didn’t let go until they reached the elevators. After she pushed the button to go down, she regarded her best friend.