A Baby For Christmas. Joanna Sims

to the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. Sophia was back to her list, and back to ignoring him. It was strange. He hadn’t really gotten a good look at her after she came down from her nap. He could see now, in the light of the kitchen, that her eyes were puffy. Sophia had been crying.

      He felt like an even bigger jerk, if that was possible. He supposed it was possible, because he did.

      Sophia always seemed so tough. In control. In charge. But right now she appeared vulnerable. He didn’t know quite how to deal with this version of the woman he loved. He’d never encountered it before.

      “Sophia.” He said her name softly.

      She ignored him.

      Stubborn woman.

      “Sophia.” He said her name as he always wanted to, like a caress. This grabbed her attention. It got her to look up.

      “What?” Still a bite in her tone.

      “I’m sorry.”

      “For what? You don’t even know what you did wrong.”

      “Dammit, Sophia... Can you let a guy apologize without crucifying him?”

      Sophia put her pen down. Luke took this as a good sign. “First of all, an apology is useless if you don’t know what you’re apologizing for. Second of all, watch your mouth.”

      “First of all, it’s not easy switching from marine life to civilian life. I’m sorry about the profanity; all I can say is that I’m working on it.” Luke jammed his hands into his front pockets. He lowered his tone back to an acceptable level. “Second of all, I know what I’m apologizing for.”

      Sophia raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

      “Yes.”

      “What for?”

      “For being an insensitive jerk.”

      Sophia cocked her head and eyed him contemplatively. “For one thing.”

      That’s the Sophia he knew. The woman didn’t give an inch. Then again, neither did he. This time, he raised his eyebrow at her. “Are you going to let me finish?”

      Sophia waved her hand. “By all means. Please do.”

      Her defenses were still up. Luke could see it plain as day. He had been working to get her defenses down since the moment he had walked through the door, had even managed to make a bit of progress with her, and then in two seconds he was right back to square one. Less than square one!

      Nice going, Brand.

      Luke knew what he had to do. There wasn’t a choice. If he wanted to see that guarded look leave Sophia’s eyes, he was going to have to open up to her.

      “You know, sensitivity isn’t exactly a quality the Marines look for in a man,” Luke began.

      In spite of herself, Sophia felt like smiling at that comment. She didn’t actually do it, but she felt like it.

      Luke continued. “So, talking about feelings and sh...stuff like that isn’t my area of expertise. Never was, really. Dan was the talker. You know that.”