The Bachelor Pact (63 page)

"One of Lance's shirts that he left here."

"Oh, perfect."

"I couldn't resist." Sophie sighed. "It smells like Lance, Maddie. I'm so pathetic."

"No, you're not; you're my best friend, and I want you to be happy. Now go on."

Sophie wiped at a drop of condensation on her diet Coke can. "Lance said he came to apologize for hurting my feelings; then he acted all weird."

"Weird how?"

"Like he might have changed his mind about us being together."

"I told you." Maddie clapped her hands. "The rules are working."

"I haven't been trying to trap him, Mad, but he looked so handsome, and I was almost naked in his shirt, and then he kissed me, and, well... things got way out of hand."

"But I told you to play aloof." Maddie sounded distressed.

"I couldn't help myself. I poured him a glass of wine, and I had one, but we never got to it, because he is so hot and, well, he said 'please.' "

Maddie's laughter bubbled over the line. "Lance can be charming when he's not being all macho, overprotective, bossy, and big brotherly."

Sophie wanted to laugh, but the memory of Lance's hands on her stirred an ache deep inside her. Nothing brotherly about his touches...

"So how far did you go? Rule number five—getting sweaty and half-naked is allowed, but no consummation, right?"

"Actually, there would have been consummation if Peter hadn't shown up when he did. We were on the floor behind the couch, but I didn't care, and Lucy and Reid ran in behind him... it was so embarrassing."

"I can imagine Reid and Lance in a standoff with your friend Peter. A volcano erupted, huh?"

"Lance controlled himself, but he wasn't happy, and I had no idea how to explain Peter, especially when he claimed to have come here for my 'Long-lost Lovers' episode today."

"This just gets better and better." Maddie lowered her voice to a whisper. "Then what happened?"

Sophie chugged her soda. "I asked Lance to leave so I could talk to Peter."

Maddie roared. "Perfect. I bet Lance was awake all night wondering what you were doing."

"You don't think I made a major mistake, then?"

"Are you kidding? I couldn't have scripted it better myself, Sophie."

She hadn't been playing, simply trying to give herself time to concoct a believable story.

"Now, Sophie, just remember, stick to the plan. Keep making him swim in circles, and when you think the time is right, go ahead to rule number six: Snag him with the line, and don't let go."

"In other words, keep him sated."

"Right," Maddie chimed.

Sophie smiled, thankful for her best friend's encouragement. She desperately wanted to hurry up and get to the sated part.

* * *

Lance had finally come up with a plan. A corny one perhaps, but it was the best he could manage, considering he was sleep-deprived, sex-starved, and brain-impaired. He would set his scheme in motion tonight.

That is, provided the milksop black panther loverboy wasn't there to interfere. The mere thought of him cranked Lance's blood pressure up to the boiling point.

By the time he arrived at Sophie's house that morning, she had already left. He wondered if she'd intentionally done so to avoid him, but knew she had to prepare for the show.

Long-lost Lovers.

Was Peter going to be one of the success stories of the reunion episode?

Needing to work his frustration out of his system, he installed the new thermal-pane windows in the kitchen. Earlier he'd stopped by Maddie's, reviewed some of the decorating plans she and Sophie had made, and picked up the special stained glass Sophie wanted installed in the kitchen bay window. Maddie had admitted that she and Sophie were on the fence about the decorative piece due to costs, but Lance decided he'd adjust the figures so it would work. If Sophie wanted the stained glass, she would have it.

She didn't have to know that he'd waive a fee or two....

By the time Sophie's show aired, he had the stained glass in place, and had applied the first coat of paint on the kitchen walls. Sophie had chosen a pale yellow, which gave the room a bigger feel, especially with the bay window letting in natural light. She'd selected a Wedgwood-blue faux-marble paint finish for the dining room to match the blue granite counters, and he'd seen the mixture of blues, reds, and yellows she and Maddie planned to use in the living room.

Needing a lunch break anyway, he grabbed his bottled tea and sandwich from the cooler and sat down to watch the show.

The familiar music for
Sophie Knows
sang through the stage speakers; the cameras panned the audience, where he noticed Lucy and Peter sitting, and then zoomed in on Sophie as she entered. As always, she was stunning. Dressed in a silky-looking vee-necked black tank with a wide striped sash tied around her tiny waist and one of those funky black skirts that was split and angled up the sides of her legs, she sucked the wind from his lungs. Her makeup was always flawless, her appearance model-gorgeous. Once again, he wondered how a developer like himself would ever live up to her perfection.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today we have the final episode in our singles series—we're here to reunite a few long-lost lovers."

The audience clapped, and Lance bit off a piece of his dry sandwich, wondering how many long-lost lovers Sophie had in her past. After all, she'd never talked much about herself and her life before Savannah and the
Sophie Knows
show. On the show she played a part; here at home he'd glimpsed a more vulnerable woman. He'd seen her choices in her home, seen her without makeup, almost seen her without her clothes. What was the real Sophie Lane like underneath the show persona?

He made a mental note that if his plan worked and she accepted his date, he'd find out all he could about the real Sophie.

* * *

Agitation tightened Sophie's nerves as she forced herself through the show. Deseree had called suggesting she pop in to visit her and Lucy, then fly back with Lucy on Sunday. Sophie had stalled, claiming she was so swamped with the renovations she didn't have time for company. She'd also stalled Peter as a guest with the promise that she'd arranged a meeting for him with the talent scout. Actually, she'd asked her secretary to handle the details.

"Our first guest is Amy Price." Sophie gestured toward the thirty-year-old woman. "Tell us your story, Amy."

The slender mother of two fidgeted with her hands. "I'm here to reunite with my first love. He and I dated in high school, but when college rolled around, we went our separate ways."

"How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"Twelve years."

"And what's happened in your life since then?"

Amy chewed at her lipstick. "I dropped out of college when I got pregnant. I married the baby's father, but it didn't work out."

"You're divorced then?"

She nodded, staring down at her hands. "My heart was always with Jay."

"Did you try to find him?"

"I was afraid." A small nervous laugh escaped her. "We parted bitterly. I wanted to forget college, and marry him after high school, but he thought we should both get our educations."

"He sounds like a smart guy."

"He is, and he was right." Her head lifted a notch. "After my divorce, I went back to school and finished a business degree. Now I'm a computer consultant at a company here in Savannah."

"Well, let's bring Jay out and see what he has to say."

Seconds later, a tall, fair-haired man appeared with a rose in his hand and a smile on his face. "Amy, is it really you?"

Sophie's chest squeezed with emotions as the couple embraced. "I take it you're open to starting a relationship with Amy?" she finally asked.

"I've never forgotten her," Jay admitted as he pulled away slightly. Moisture filled his eyes. "And yes, I want us to see where it leads this time."

The audience clapped and cheered while Amy and Jay claimed side chairs and began to converse.

The next couple didn't quite work out. The man had recently gotten involved with another woman, so the timing was off. Sophie couldn't help but wonder if the timing had been off with Lance. Maybe ten years from now Lance would want to get serious....

The third couple were in their eighties. Sophie had never seen anything so touching. They had apparently been lost to each other during World War II. He had been a soldier, and she'd been told he died in combat.

"I gave Erma a promise ring when we were fifteen," Horace said. "Took me four months to save up for it, making minimum wages back then."

Erma pulled a small valentine keepsake box from her purse. "And I kept it all these years. I couldn't quite believe you were dead."

"I was a war prisoner," Horace explained. "Fifteen years. By the time I returned to the States, I was shell-shocked, broken down. Then I heard Erma had married. But I kept all the letters she wrote me while I was overseas."

Erma sniffled. "I had a few good years with my husband, but he died in a mine explosion in 'fifty-nine." She lifted a hankie and dabbed at her eyes. "But I still thought of you, Horace. You were my first love."

"And you never married, Horace?" Sophie asked, her own voice quavering with tears.

"No, my heart was set on Erma." He lifted her hand in his and kissed her gnarled fingers.

She lifted a shaky hand to touch the white hair at his temple. "And my heart still belongs to you, Horace."

The two embraced, and Sophie's heart squeezed. Their story reminded Sophie of the star-crossed lovers who were supposedly trapped within her house. What would it be like to have a man love you until you were old and gray?

Would she ever have that kind of undying love?

* * *

The remainder of the day Lance worked with a vengeance, determined to have the second coat on the kitchen walls and one layer of glossy white on the molding and trim. As usual, Sophie's cat had greeted him with a hiss, although he had brought along a cat toy. Jazzy had stared at it suspiciously and retreated up the stairs. Rome wasn't built in a day, he reminded himself. He wouldn't win the cat over in one either. But at least they had come to some terms: They tolerated the other being in the house, although their truce had yet to extend to sharing the same room.

A few minutes before five, when he expected Sophie home, he arranged his surprise, frowning when that Peter guy left a message saying he'd call back. He sneaked a peek at the card accompanying the flowers on her table and frowned—George. The man was definitely pursuing her. And the hulky football player had called three times.

Feeling foolish but determined to follow through with his plan, Lance wrote a suggestions for dates on six slips of paper, then slipped each of the notes inside a balloon, blew up the balloons, and tied one to each diet Coke in the six-pack. Each time Sophie popped a balloon, he'd take her on the date suggested in the note.

Whoever said Lance Summers wasn't romantic...?

Chapter 15

After the show, Sophie was exhausted, but she had to deal with Peter. Her secretary had phoned the talent scout who'd appeared on the show and arranged an appointment for him. She also had a message from her agent. The L.A. producer had phoned again about the reality-show offer, and a second offer from a producer at CNN sounded intriguing. They were looking for a special feature newscaster. Hmm. Maybe.

Still, she stalled and told her agent she'd think about it.

When Lucy popped in, she told her about the offers. "Lucy, you go with Peter and watch him."

"Sure." Lucy fluffed her curls. "I might get discovered myself."

Sophie pinched the bridge of her nose. "Make sure he doesn't reveal my identity."

"You're making way too much out of this, Soph. If your audience knew about your Diva act, it might boost your ratings. Have you ever thought of that?""My ratings are fine, I have job offers in L.A. and Atlanta, and I'm going into syndication, remember?" More people were going to see her, more people who might recognize her... her dyed hair might not be enough. "You really want to be on television?" Sophie asked, vying for another strategy.

Lucy scrunched up her eyes. "Why not? You don't think I'm talented enough?"

Heavens, she'd hurt her sister's feelings. "You're gorgeous and talented," Sophie said. "But making it in television is rough, Lucy." Sophie bit her tongue. "You've seen what it did to Deseree. After dancing, she tried making it in the acting world."

"Maybe she didn't have a choice," Lucy said.

"There are always choices," Sophie countered. "Deseree didn't look hard enough."

"And maybe you're not looking hard enough to see why she made those choices."

Sophie jerked her head up, surprised by Lucy's antagonistic tone. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Lucy twisted a strand of hair around her finger. "Deseree obviously didn't have the confidence you did. Maybe she felt trapped."

Sophie understood about feeling trapped—hadn't
she
felt trapped by circumstances when she was young? All those times when Deseree hadn't come home at night and she'd been left to soothe Lucy's worries. All those days she'd pretended to the other kids at school that her mother wasn't the call girl they knew her to be. Sophie had invented so many lies she hadn't been able to keep them straight. Just like now, her head was spinning from trying to continue the charade. "We've had this argument before," Sophie said. "I know she had it rough growing up, Lucy, but so did we. I simply want a better life for both of us. I want you to go back to school, get a degree—"