Hot Item

CHAPTER SEVEN

SOPHIE LOOKED at the man she’d known all her life. Suddenly Spencer’s hair seemed grayer, the grooves in his face deeper.

“I don’t know you at all,” she said, the disappointment growing inside her.

He’d always treated her differently than her sisters, with more affection and respect, as if he’d sensed how much she’d needed his attention. But in light of all she’d learned in the past few days, she no longer took pride in his special treatment. Not after the pain she’d heard in Riley’s voice and seen in his eyes.

“You know me better than most,” Spencer said, his voice grim.

“That’s not saying much, now is it?” Within the offices of Athletes Only and at home among family, nobody held back any punches. Sophie wasn’t about to do so now. “As far as work goes, I need you home if you still want a business to return to.” She filled him in on the details and problems he’d left behind. “Now for the rest. Keeping your sexual preferences private is one thing. Denying your only son is another. How could you?”

He paused, as if searching for a way to explain. “It’s all part and parcel of the same thing. Do you think that boy deserved my baggage? The news was bound to come out someday. Don’t you think he deserves to be known for his achievements and not his father’s issues?”

“You’re saying you denied him in order to spare him potential embarrassment?” She shook her head in disbelief.

“Didn’t he just admit as much by asking me not to acknowledge him now?”

“He did no such thing!” Sophie pounded her fist on a metal desk, her frustration mounting. “If you’d done right by him all along, this wouldn’t be an issue. His stepfather would have worked his way around any pitfalls as Riley grew up. Instead you left a bombshell for them all to deal with whenever it might explode. You set Riley up as a boy who wasn’t worthy of his father’s love and now he’s a man who thinks he never will be. He’s standing by the only family he’s known and that’s admirable, but at what expense?” She blew out a puff of air, knowing that anything she said couldn’t change the past.

“I did what I thought was best. That’s what parents do for their children. Someday you’ll see that for yourself.”

She doubted she’d have that chance given her hangups, but that wasn’t her concern right now. “I can’t imagine what it’s been like to keep your secrets,” she said, softening her tone. “But I hope you’ll find a way to fix things, if not for yourself then for Riley.”

“The best thing I can do is to give him what he asked for. Nothing.”

Sophie swallowed hard. “I disagree. Statistics show that children need their parents.”

His hand cupped her shoulder in the fatherly way he’d always done. “Statistics aren’t emotions. That’s something else you need to learn for yourself.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but Darla and Rose interrupted them, the commotion they caused disrupting the entire precinct. Both women wore wet bikinis covered by towels. Their makeup ran beneath their eyes and their hair was matted around their heads.

Sophie sighed. Riley might want to deny this part of the family, but they were vibrant and chaotic, independent and refreshing, much like Riley himself. And something told her that he needed them if he was ever going to release the hold he kept on his heart.

LEAVING SPENCER with the convicts, Riley and Sophie drove home in silence. Either she knew better than to ask questions about how he was feeling or she was equally disturbed herself. Either way, they’d gotten what they came for, Riley thought. It was time to go home.

But not before he finished the night with Sophie. She entered the house ahead of him and immediately headed for the kitchen and pulled a bottle of chilled wine from the fridge.

“I noticed this in here earlier.” She scrounged around for a corkscrew and opened the bottle like a pro. “I don’t know about you, but I could definitely use a drink.”

“Make mine a double.”

She laughed and held out his filled glass. “To…” She trailed off.

“To us,” he said, unable to think of anything he’d rather drink to.

She clinked her glass against his. “To us.” In her eyes he saw longing and desire.

What he didn’t see was a woman who’d demand more than he could give and that surprised him. Then again everything about Sophie shocked and pleased him. He never knew what to expect next except an innate understanding of him, something nobody had had before.

She took an extra long sip of her drink.

“That rough a night?”

She swallowed another. “I told Spencer off,” she said, looking down into her glass. “I let him know he was dead wrong in the choices he’d made regarding you.” She swirled the liquid around and around. “I said I didn’t know him at all.”

He paused, his glass at his lips, and swallowed the dry white wine. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“You and Spencer have a special relationship. He means a lot to you, yet you let him have it. Why?”

She raised soft eyes, revealing too much. “Because you’ve come to mean something to me, too.”

He reached out and lifted the glass from her hands, placing it on the counter. Then lacing their fingers, he pulled her close.

“Sophie?”

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

Her smile warmed him straight to his toes. After meeting Spencer, he thought he’d never be warm again. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, pressing her lips against his.

He groaned and, cupping her face in his hands, he tilted her head and deepened the kiss. He needed this. He needed her.

He thrust his tongue inside her mouth and she moaned aloud, her small hips gyrating against him, seeking relief he knew he could give. Relief he needed, as well.

Unable to wait, he lifted her into his arms and headed for the bedroom.

“I knew when I met you that you were the kind of guy to sweep a girl off her feet.”

“Only the right girl,” he said, nuzzling her neck in part to inhale her fragrant scent and in part to stop any further talking.

Sophie shut her eyes and savored the moment. They’d found Spencer, which took a huge weight off her shoulders, and she was alone with Riley, which made everything right in her world at this moment.

He lay her down on the bed and settled his body over hers, kissing her hard, as if he couldn’t get enough. She returned each nip and lick, each touch and move.

But this time when they removed their clothes and he tried to press himself on top of her, she was ready. Oh, she knew he could give intense pleasure, but this time she wanted to be in control.

Pushing him onto his back, she grabbed his hand and placed that arm above him so his fingers gripped the post on the headboard, then she secured the other hand. “I’m trusting you not to move those hands,” she said, eyeing him warily.

“And if I do?” His eyes sparkled with sizzling defiance.

She shook her head. “Don’t make me have to tie you up, Mr. Nash.”

He laughed. “Now that would definitely be something worth trying. For tonight though, I promise to be good, but only because I already proved myself right.” He winked.

She didn’t care what the reason was. She had him at her mercy. Her body tightened at the thought and, without further talk, she straddled his thighs.

He stood thick and erect and she bent her head, taking him into her mouth. He tasted salty and male as she moved her lips up and down over his hardened member. His hips bucked and he grew impossibly harder.

Suddenly he lifted her, pulling her over him. “Another minute and I’ll explode, and something tells me you’d rather I be inside you when I come.” Arousal and need darkened his face and beckoned to her. He quickly reached for protection, then sheathed himself and stared, waiting for her to take control.

Once again, he understood her. Words wouldn’t come, so she spoke with her body instead. Poising herself over him, she slid down hard at the same time he pushed up and into her.

He filled her completely and her breath caught in her throat, the emotion of the moment taking her by surprise. Then his hands wrapped around her waist.

“Ride me,” he said, his words a command she couldn’t deny.

She closed her eyes and rocked her body against his, a movement guaranteed to bring her to orgasm. Except this time when she did, not only did he come along for the ride but so, she feared, did her heart.

THE MORNING ARRIVED too quickly, especially when the persistent ring of the doorbell woke Riley from a deep sleep. Considering the events of the night before, he wasn’t surprised he’d slept so soundly. He was, however, surprised he’d stayed in bed with Sophie.

He usually preferred to sleep alone.

Since she was no longer beside him and her side of the bed was cold, he figured she was handling the door. He took a few minutes to pull on his jeans, brush his teeth and splash cold water on his face before seeing which of his relatives had decided to pay them an early-morning visit. His money was on Amy.

He was wrong. As he stepped out of the bedroom, he heard Darla’s distinctive voice coming from the kitchen.

“I’m just so embarrassed. I came to apologize and of course to thank you for trying to bail us out.”

“People make mistakes,” Sophie said. “And of course we came to help. You don’t need to thank us.”

Riley could envision Sophie patting Darla’s hand and reassuring her. Instead of joining them, he hung back.

“Some people make more mistakes than others. In our family it seems to be genetic.”

“Lay off the alcohol, stop throwing parties and you and Rose should be fine,” Sophie said, laughing. “I think the police just wanted to teach you a lesson.”

“There were hookers in the tank with us,” his aunt said dramatically.

Riley bit the inside of his cheek.

“But when I spoke of mistakes, I wasn’t talking about last night’s,” Darla said. “I was talking about Riley.”

He froze, every muscle in his body taut.

“No child is a mistake,” Sophie said to Darla, her voice frosty.

Despite everything, he smiled. This feisty woman had come to his defense again.

“Oh my! I didn’t mean that at all. Goodness, what you must think of me. Then again I haven’t given you much reason to think anything good-”

Darla was rambling again, Riley thought. But she wasn’t condemning him for being born.

He stepped into the kitchen, joining Sophie and sparing her from having to deal with Darla alone.

“Why don’t you tell us what you meant?” he said, with more patience and warmth than he was feeling.

Darla forced a smile. She didn’t look well this morning. In fact she looked hungover and embarrassed, but she’d cleaned up since last night and without the heavy makeup, he realized she was a very attractive woman.

“I shouldn’t have pretended not to know who you were yesterday. That’s what I meant when I mentioned making mistakes.” She glanced down.

Sophie took that moment to slip her hand into his. The silent but sweet gesture of caring and support filled him with gratitude.

He glanced at his aunt. “Go on. Please,” he said gently. “I’d really like to understand.”

Darla swallowed hard. “Well, your father was always somewhat of…an individual. He did things his own way.”

Sophie chuckled. “Like father like son, apparently.”

“It would seem so.” The older woman eased herself into one of the kitchen chairs and gripped the armrests. “Except in Spencer’s case, he was an athlete, a guy who loved everything masculine and sports oriented-including other men. It just wasn’t an accepted thing back then.” She shook her head. “So he did what I suspect many gay people did. He tried not to be what he really was.”

“And that’s when he met my mother?”

Darla nodded. “Rose and I hoped he could make it work. He hoped he could make it work. He loved her, he really did.”

“He just couldn’t be in love with her,” Sophie murmured.

“Exactly. This isn’t my story to tell, but that’s exactly why I pretended not to know who you were yesterday. It’s what Spencer always did and I thought it wasn’t my place to change things.”

“Amy did,” Riley said.

“Amy’s smarter than I am. Anyway, that’s behind us now. I want to know you, Riley. I want us to try to be some sort of family.”

Riley stepped closer to this strange but obviously loving woman. “I am not angry with you. I couldn’t be. You didn’t put this whole thing in motion, like you said. But…”

She glanced up. “What?”

He hated to hurt her, but what choice did he have? “But things have to go on as they always were.” They couldn’t have the relationship she wanted.

No family barbecues, no bailing her out of jail, no getting to know each other. He went on to explain about his mother and stepfather, the family who’d raised him and the career aspirations that couldn’t possibly accommodate these wacky, eccentric, unconventional people related to Riley by blood.

Darla nodded. Then she said all the right things and claimed to understand. But when she left, her shoulders were slumped and her eyes damp. He’d disappointed her in a soul-deep way, something Riley understood all too well.

He turned to Sophie. “How the hell did I become the bad guy?” He’d only requested they maintain the status quo, something her brother had put into place.

She touched his arm. “Hey. Everyone involved here understands the idea of protecting family. Look how Darla just protected Spencer. She won’t hold this against you.”

“I don’t care if she does.” The words slipped out before he could censor them.

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you. Still, you did what you had to do,” she said with complete understanding.

“And now we can leave. I’ll see about a flight home.”

“I already did. There’s nothing until tomorrow. I booked us an early flight in the morning.” She shrugged. “It’s the best I could do.”

He paced the kitchen, uncomfortable in this house and in his own skin. “I can’t spend the day here wondering if any of the family is going to show up,” he said, more to himself than to Sophie.

“If it helps, Spencer’s already left. He went standby and was able to take the earliest flight to New York.”

He exhaled hard. At least he wouldn’t have to run into his father.

“I could be persuaded to walk Worth Avenue,” Sophie said of the ritzy street in Palm Beach lined with exclusive shops.

He laughed. “I’d rather play strip poker with Darla and Rose.” The pathetic thing was, they’d probably be more than willing. “As long as we’re in Florida, let’s go to the beach.”

“Buy me a piña colada and I could be persuaded-after I check in at the office.” Sophie grinned, a sinful smile full of sex and promise.

After last night, he knew she would make good. “Darlin’, I’ll buy you anything you want.” Because with Sophie, he knew he could put this entire father mess out of his head while she drove him out of his mind.

WAVES RUSHED against the shore and water lapped at his feet. They’d driven to Fort Lauderdale, to a beach by one of the bigger hotels. Abandoning their shoes, they walked along the edge of the water, hand in hand.

“I am loving this,” Sophie murmured.

Curling his toes into the damp sand, he had to agree. “Which part of this?” he asked, curious about what made Sophie tick.

“The relaxing part.” She closed her eyes and bent down, feeling the cool water between her fingers.

Her lips lifted in a smile, the euphoria on her face nearly orgasmic and Riley’s body tightened with the knowledge that he’d had her. And he needed to have her again.

She stood, hands on her hips, her jeans rolled up above her calves. “Spencer’s home and holding down the fort at the agency, and Cindy’s assured me things on the PR side are under control. I have twenty-four hours to do absolutely nothing. I suddenly feel free.” Arms out at her sides, she spun around, much like a child in a playground.

He stood back and watched, enjoying the moment.

She stopped spinning and stood in front of him, out of breath and laughing. “As much as I hate to admit you were right, the beach was an excellent idea.”

He grinned. “I’m always right.” Thanks to her, Riley had put the confrontation with Spencer behind him and was also beginning to unwind.

A speedboat passed by them, the motion of the boat causing large waves in its wake.

“Look.” Riley pointed up into the sky where people were floating in the air above the water. “Parasailing. There’s nothing like it.”

Sophie shaded her eyes from the sun and studied the person nearly in the clouds.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“Just that I’ve never done anything so daring.”

Riley glanced from the sandy beach up to the clear blue sky. “No time like the present to start.” They’d passed the rental area when they’d entered the beach.

“Oh no.” She shook her head, the curls she’d let go natural today blowing around her. “It’s one thing to want to do it. It’s another to actually go up there.” She shuddered at the thought.

But he could see the temptation in her eyes, the desire to try and the building determination in her expression. He stepped around her and pulled her into his arms the way he’d been dying to all day.

He snuggled his face in the crook of her neck and inhaled deeply, the scent of beach and her fruity shampoo assaulting his senses. “They have tandem parasailing. You wouldn’t have to be alone.”

The thought of rising above the clouds with Sophie snuggled close to his body had other parts of him rising as well. “What do you say?”

“Well…”

He sensed her hesitation came from the fear of being out of control. “I’ll keep my arms tight around you, like this.” As he drew her even closer, his groin pressed up against her and he swallowed a groan. “I promise to keep you safe.”

She let out a soft laugh. “If safe feels anything like this, I’m not sure I can trust you,” she murmured. “But what the hell. Take me on an adventure.”

He hadn’t thought she’d take him up on his suggestion. She wasn’t anything like the uptight woman he’d originally pegged her to be, her ability to surprise without bounds.

He glanced at her cuffed jeans. She wore a swimsuit underneath, but for now she was wading without a care. A far cry from the conservative woman in The Hot Zone offices. And one he liked a whole lot more.

An hour and a half later, they were on a boat in the ocean, being buckled and harnessed, Riley strapped in behind Sophie for parasailing. Sophie had taken up over half an hour questioning the owner of the company about his safety record, licenses and asking for details about the water sport and what kept them in the air.

He’d folded his arms across his chest and let her go at it. His only contribution was to shoot the poor man a pitying look.

Riley was coming to understand that for Sophie to give up control, she needed to compensate with complete understanding.

A few clouds had filled the sky, but the weather was still picture perfect for liftoff. “Now remember to bend your knees when you come in for a landing,” the instructor said, and pulled on the straps to double-check the security. Then he stepped back.

Riley held on to the support rope as the big man released the pulley and raised them into the air. With each passing second, they left safety and terra firma farther and farther behind.

His heart raced, much as it did after throwing a successful touchdown pass in the Super Bowl. “Isn’t this freaking awesome?”

Sophie laughed, and he heard the sheer terror shaking her voice.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against him. “Relax and enjoy,” he whispered in her ear.

“Easy for you to say.”

He stroked the side of her head, caressing the throbbing pulse point in her temple. “I’m proud of you,” he told her. Proud of her determination, spirit and courage, even if it was wavering now.

“My parents died in a plane crash.”

He took the words like a punch in the gut. Though he knew she’d been orphaned, he hadn’t known the details.

Though Spencer had abandoned him, Riley had always possessed the knowledge that his father was alive. For a while he’d lived for the opportunity to make Spencer proud. Even when he’d given up on ever having a relationship with the man, he’d known Spencer was living somewhere in this world. Until now, he would never have believed the thought would bring any sort of comfort. He realized now, it had.

He wanted to be the one to help Sophie work through some of the effects of her tragic loss. “So what’s it feel like to let go?”

“Good question.” Sophie looked over the vast ocean, the smattering of tiny-looking homes and the Southern landscape, so different from home.

Up in the air, away from the land, her life and her problems seemed very far away. Riley was her only anchor and she leaned into him, giving him her trust as completely as she’d given him her body last night.

She’d never have believed she could throw caution away so easily or enjoy it so much. Now that she had, she allowed herself to embrace the sensation if only for the moment. “I feel free,” she called out, suddenly giddy with laughter.

The scary part was that she owed it to this man who, like everyone else in her life, would soon be gone.