The Bachelor Pact (58 page)

"Don't you want that coffee, Reid?"

He shook his head. "Probably cold by now."

"We could warm it back up." Lucy smiled sweetly.

Reid's face contorted as if in pain. "Uh, rain check."

She followed him outside and closed the door to offer them privacy and him a chance to change his mind.

"Er, I'm sorry—"

"Don't you dare say it. The only thing I'm sorry about is that your brother interrupted us." Lucy dropped the afghan again and folded her arms across her bosom, well aware it enhanced her generous chest and that Reid could see the wet spots where his mouth had been earlier.

He jerked the afghan back around her shoulders to cover her. "Lucy, about Lance." His breath quickened; then his gaze dropped down to his work boots. "That's really the reason I came. I don't know if you realize it, but my brother has it bad for your sister."

Lucy chewed on her lip. "He certainly has an odd way of showing it."

"I know. He's confused and probably scared right now—"

"Scared of Sophie?" Lucy laughed. "Sophie's the nicest, most fantastic woman in the world. And she's worked damn hard to get where she is—"

"Whoa." He held up a hand. "I didn't say anything bad about your sister."

"Good, because there is nothing bad to say." Even if Sophie had been a showgirl in Vegas and their mother had been a hooker.

"That's just it. I came by to see if you'd help me get them together."

Lucy coughed, shocked. "You want them to be together?"

Reid shrugged. "Well, I want Lance to get her out of his system."

"Excuse me?"

"You know, they've got this sexual chemistry stuff going on, so they might as well work it out."

"You mean like we were doing before your brother barged in?"

He actually blushed. "Well, yeah."

She ran a finger along his chin, wondering at the small scar underneath. "So we are going to finish?"

Reid rocked back on the heels of his boots. "That's probably not a good idea. Lance doesn't want me to get involved with you."

How dare Lance tell Reid to stay away from her? "What does he have against me and Sophie? Aren't we good enough for the Summers men?"

He looked completely rattled. "Uh... I, that's not what I meant."

She jutted out her hip, anger swelling inside. She'd been right: Lance was the wrong guy for Sophie.
The sexist, macho, overprotective, overbearing pig...

"So are you going to do what Lance says?"

"I... I don't know. I need time to think."

Lucy seethed. Maybe he'd let his brother tell him what to do. But she had never allowed a man to order her around before, and she sure as heck wouldn't start now. In fact, she'd cast another spell tonight to sabotage Sophie's feelings for Lance. And maybe she'd seduce Reid to get revenge on his brother. After all, they didn't call revenge sweet for nothing.

And seducing Reid definitely wouldn't be painful....

* * *

Sophie's station manager cornered her before the show. "Sophie, I have great news."

She glanced up from her notes. "What is it?"

"This singles series has increased ratings so much that
Sophie Knows
is going into syndication." He clasped her arms. "Isn't that wonderful? People all over the United States will be watching you!"

Excitement budded in her chest along with a moment of trepidation. More exposure meant... more exposure. The more people who saw her, the higher the chances that someone would recognize her from her prior life and spill the beans.

Still anxious a few minutes later when the show began, she became even more agitated when Lucy flounced in wearing a black leather miniskirt and red camisole top. "Hey, Soph, listen, you got a couple of phone calls after you left this morning. First, Rory Dalton left a message, said he'd be back next week and he'll call you."

Great.

"And then you had two calls from that dating service. Both guys sounded like possibilities." Lucy referred to the tiny notebook she'd extricated from her purse. "I went ahead and accepted on your behalf; hope that's okay—"

Sophie opened her mouth to argue, but Lucy rattled on in excitement.

"You're meeting date number one at Wet Willie's at six for cocktails." She paused and giggled. "He had some kind of science degree that I didn't recognize, so to be on the safe side, no dinner. Then at nine, you're meeting date number two, a yummy-sounding lawyer, at Windows on the River."

Sophie gaped at her sister. "You fixed me up with two men in one night?"

"Yeah, isn't it wonderful? You might meet Mr. Right tonight and be able to forget Lance."

She could only hope.

"Don't worry, though. I'll call midway through both dates, so if you need an out, I'll be your emergency excuse to leave."

Sophie grimaced. "I hate playing games like this."

"Hey, it's a great code. Heaven knows it's saved me from millions of horrific evenings." Lucy chewed her nail. "Oh, and Soph, I talked to Deseree. She wants to come and see us together."

Panic tightened Sophie's chest. "I'll call her tonight. Sounds important."

She was probably shacking up with a new man. The producer motioned at the time, so Sophie ushered Lucy toward the front of the stage to get seated. Over the next hour she suffered through the episode on speed dating. Each person essentially had five minutes to talk to someone before moving to the next. In that short time, they had to decide if they wanted to date the other person. She felt as if they were cattle being moved through a slaughter house. Scant seconds into the dating interviews, she wished for a crash course in marketing, since success with the service seemed to depend on the ability to sell yourself in a five-minute pitch to a stranger.

The bell dinged and she watched as the men chosen to participate in the session played musical chairs between the tables of women.

Guy #1: "Hi, Sophie. Evan Wainscott."

His smile was dazzling, his suit imported, his posture confident. She exchanged greetings and listened to his spiel, vying for optimism.

"I'm a stockbroker, own a house here in Savannah as well as one in Naples, where I vacation three months in the winter. I play tennis and golf every weekend, work late hours, and entertain business clients most nights. I enjoy spending time with a wide variety of women. I've been married twice, but neither worked out. I'm still open, though, and want to share my wealth with a companion who likes to travel."

Okay, he was wealthy—but cocky, to boot. A workaholic. Probably a womanizer. It was a plus that he'd been married, meaning he wasn't opposed to the institution, but he obviously couldn't make it stick. The womanizer part no doubt interfered....

Guy #2: "Hey, Sophie, hon. Name's Billy Bob Waddel." He looped his thumbs around his suspenders and patted himself. "What you see is what you get."

What she saw was an overweight, uneducated man with smoke-stained teeth and a habit of adjusting his genitals.

"I'm an honest, hardworking man, drive a truck for a hospital, haul away wastes. You know, it's pretty specialized work when you deal with body parts that could be contaminated...."

Sophie coughed and tuned out the rest of the gory details.

Guy #3: "Hello, Sophie. My name is Edward. I'm a talent scout. Visiting Savannah on a recruiting trip, doing auditions, combining work with a little sightseeing. I'd love for you to show me around."

They chatted about Savannah for a minute or two; then Sophie commented, "Your job must be interesting. Do you represent anyone I might recognize?"

He shrugged his bony shoulders. "Not unless you're familiar with the Vegas showgirl scene."

Sophie pressed herself back into her chair, the need to run flooding her. She'd thought the man's name seemed familiar when she'd seen it on the program.

He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes. "As a matter of fact, you remind me of a dancer I used to watch out there, had this great act at the—"

The buzzer dinged, cutting him off.
Thank God.

Five more minutes and the man might have recognized her. And that would have been disastrous.

* * *

Lance had worked all day finishing the cabinets in Sophie's kitchen. McDaniels hadn't accepted or returned his calls.

Sighing in frustration, he tried the man's office again, but the recorder kicked on.
Damn.

A hissing sound broke the quiet, and he paused. It was the third time today he'd heard a strange noise from upstairs, almost like soft footsteps. The ghosts?

No, he didn't believe there were star-crossed lovers trapped in this house. The noise was probably Sophie's cat creating havoc somewhere. As if the little devil sensed Lance's thoughts, she appeared, perching herself at the doorway, her big, furry tail swishing back and forth, her eyes beady as if she were monitoring Lance's every move. His nerves tingled. Sophie's pet was a damn
watchcat.

Speaking of nervous, he checked the clock. He had an appointment at the sleep clinic at seven, and had wondered all day what kind of tests he'd be forced to endure.

He'd best clean up for the night and face it. He didn't like leaving a mess behind him, especially in the kitchen. The clutter would make it difficult for Sophie to cook dinner, and what would he do if she tripped over a board or nail and injured herself? The rest of her house was so neat and orderly, the renovations must be driving her crazy. She'd be happy with the Victorian hardware, though. At least she should be; when the original stuff she'd ordered hadn't arrived, he'd managed to upgrade the hardware. In fact, he'd simply written it in at the same price, knowing a few cents here and there wouldn't make a difference to him, but the higher-quality materials would add to the house's value and appearance. And he could always use Sophie's house and Sophie as a reference.

He gathered the loose nails and his tools, nearly tripping over that silver case of Lucy's as he hauled things out the back door. Lucy obviously didn't believe in picking up after herself. The door swung back, though, and his foot hit the end of the case, sending it careening down the back steps. The lewd contents spilled everywhere. Shaking his head at the menagerie, he gathered the items quickly and stuffed them in the case, embarrassed to touch the cucumber-shaped dildo. A chocolate-scented pair of pasties lay at his feet. He bent to retrieve them when Sophie rushed around the corner. He jerked up and they bumped into each other. Her gaze fell to the pasties in his hand.

Heat seared his face. "I... they fell out of the case. I was picking them up."

She smiled and nodded as if he'd invented an excuse.

He dropped the pasties as if they were a hot potato, but his foot knocked the case and an odd buzzing noise reverberated from the inside. Blast it all to hell, what in the world was making that sound? "I'm cleaning up, going to get out of your way."

Her bright green eyes locked with his. "You're not in my way, Lance."

He focused on her mouth. "I... I have somewhere to be." He refused to tell her he had an appointment at a sleep clinic because visions of her were keeping him awake at night.

Her mouth tightened. "No problem. I have a date, too."

A date—he hadn't said anything about a date.

The buzzing continued, vibrating from the case, adding to the tension between them. Probably that ridiculous cucumber.

Disappointment momentarily flickered on her face; then she brushed by him. "I'd better get changed."

He nodded. "I guess I'd better go."

"Lance?"

He hesitated. "Yeah?"

"You're doing a wonderful job on the house. I can't tell you how much your attention to detail means to me."

He nodded. For some reason this project meant more to him than any in a long time. Maybe because the house was old and had fallen into disrepair; maybe because it held so much potential.

Certainly not because it belonged to Sophie.

* * *

An hour later Lance lay in a hospital bed naked save for his boxer shorts, socks, and the hospital gown the clinic had given him, several electrodes attached to his body. The clinic was sophisticated and his room wasn't nearly as sterile as he'd imagined it would be. They had given him a nice blanket and tried to make him cozy and comfortable, but Lance still couldn't relax. Maybe it was nerves, but he was freezing his balls off, and the bright lights pierced his eyes, giving him a headache. He had no idea how anyone could fall asleep knowing they were being filmed and monitored. And there were other staff members behind the glass window, making notes, hooking other patients up to the electrodes....

Earlier he'd filled out paperwork, and had to admit the humiliating truth; that he was not only sleep-deprived but sex-deprived, and that the woman he wanted to sleep with but wouldn't allow himself to bed was the reason he couldn't sleep.

The doctor had given him a skeptical look, then described their standard procedure, although he'd admitted that Lance's condition might not warrant a complete study. He had given him a physical exam though, to rule out any obvious health problems, like a cold or fever.

They would test his breathing, his physical condition, heart arrhythmia, then determine whether his insomnia was related to physical problems or, as the doctor had subtly put it, some kind of psychological disorder.

Or perhaps he was worried about impotence.

Not his problem, he assured the doctor, although again, the doc had looked at him skeptically as if perhaps he'd been defensive and had reacted a little too quickly.

He closed his eyes, and was grateful the assistant dimmed the lights. Simply thinking about trying to go to sleep exhausted him.

What was Sophie doing while he lay here tormented by wanting her?

Chapter 12