The first time he had ever laid eyes on Sophia, she was working behind a fragrance counter in a local department store. She had been talking with a customer, a perfume bottle loosely held in her hand. Her hair was swept up into a haphazard twist and her lovely face was completely devoid of makeup. The sight of her throwing her head back as she laughed stopped him in his tracks. She laughed without reservation; her positive energy sucked him in. He couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. In an instant, he was crazy, head over heels for her, and he had been ever since.
Luke glanced over at the adjoining bathroom door that led to Sophia’s bedroom. He had heard her moving around a couple of hours ago, so he knew she was already downstairs. He reached over and checked to make sure the door was locked before he pulled the first fragrance bottle down.
“Stalker,” Luke said quietly to himself with a self-effacing half smile. He popped the top off the first bottle and brought it up to his nose. The minute the perfume reached his senses, he thought “Sophia.” To Luke, Sophia always smelled like something he wanted to eat. She never wore the same fragrance two days in a row, but she did have a lineup of favorites, and Luke recognized them all.
One by one, Luke spent a moment with each of Sophia’s fragrances. Each one conjured up a memory of Sophia. From Luke’s vantage point, Dan had won the ultimate prize the day he married her. Luke snapped the top onto the last bottle and got back to the business of shaving the stubble off his face. He moved his head side to side and checked out the goatee that was taking shape. A couple of days more and it might actually look like something. He wondered if Sophia would like him with it. The minute that thought crossed his mind, he gripped each side of the sink, dropped his head and shook it.
Unacceptable, Brand!
The sooner he got back to his life in the corps, the better off he’d be. He didn’t make sense in civilian clothes. He sure as hell didn’t make sense when he was around Sophia; he needed to figure out a way to shove his feelings back into place. He had been doing it for years; it should be second nature. But it wasn’t. Keeping his heart closed to Sophia was like trying to stop his lungs from wanting to take in air. Whenever she was near him, he had an overwhelming urge to hold her face in his hands, look into those sweet hazel-green eyes and tell her that he loved her. That he had always loved her. Which would, of course, be the worst mistake of his life. His confession would freak Sophia out, and any plans he had to play a big role in his nephew’s life would get eighty-sixed. He couldn’t risk that happening. He just couldn’t risk it.
Luke stared down his own image in the mirror. “Maintain your military bearing, marine. That’s all you have to do. Maintain your military bearing.”
Luke pushed himself away from the sink and headed downstairs. Sophia smiled at him in greeting. She was on the phone; she mouthed the name “Tyler” and raised her eyebrows at him. He shook his head. There were five kids in the Brand clan, including him. Tyler was the middle child; he was sandwiched between two sets of twins; Dan and Luke were the oldest, and Jordan and Josephine were the youngest. Out of the three boys and two girls, Tyler had turned out to be the only true rancher in the bunch. He took after their dad, from his tall, lanky build to his love for the land. Luke was proud of him, looked forward to seeing him, but he wasn’t ready for a reunion just yet. His entire focus was on Sophia. The rest of the family had to take a backseat.
“Okay.” Sophia said into the phone after a pause. “Thanks for checking up on me. Tell your mom and dad that I’m fine. Danny and I are doing just fine.” She rested her hand on her stomach as she spoke those words. “Okay. I’m glad your uncle’s feeling better. And listen, have some fun while you’re there. Stop worrying about me. I’ll see you when you guys get back. All right. Bye, Tyler.”
Sophia hung up the phone. “You could have at least told Tyler you’re here. He’s as tight-lipped as you are.”
“And ruin the surprise?”
Luke said this with a deadpan expression. She could rarely read him, and this time was no different, but something in her gut told her that Luke’s early arrival didn’t have much to do with surprising his family. She just couldn’t figure out what else it could be.
She put the kettle on for tea. “I already got the third degree from my parents this morning...again. They want me to have this baby in Boston. I can’t really blame them, this is their first grandchild. But this is your parents’ first grandchild, too. And I don’t know...I think it’s more important for your parents because this is Daniel’s son.”
“No matter what you do, someone’s always gonna be ticked off.” Luke shrugged. “Do what’s best for you, make yourself happy; everyone else will fall in formation. Or not.”
Sophia smiled faintly. “You’re right. Not always easy to do, though. For me, anyway. Coffee?”
Luke nodded. She brought him a cup of black coffee. He was surprised she remembered that he didn’t take cream and sugar.
“Eggs okay?”
“I wish you’d stop waiting on me.”
“I wish you’d stop giving me a hard time about something I want to do. You’re actually doing me a favor. My days are packed in Boston with clients and meetings, friends, shopping. I’m used to being on my BlackBerry all of the time at home. I swear I’m having serious withdrawal because the reception is so bad here. I actually have to stand up on the window seat in my room and smash myself up against the wall in order to get just one lousy bar! I have to find stuff to do here, or I swear to you I’ll go stark raving mad.” She pulled eggs out of the fridge and located a pan. “I mean, your family’s great. Your mom, your dad, Tyler...all of them. They’ve been wonderful to me. But I’m a city girl. I’m used to keeping up the pace all day long. Coming and going as I please. Out here, I feel like I’m stuck in slow motion.” She paused from her task for a minute so she could punctuate her words with her hands. “Quite frankly, it’s driving me nuts. There are only so many sunsets I can admire, so much foliage I can appreciate. I never thought I’d hear myself say this, but bring on the traffic and the noise.” She dug in the cabinet for a bag of decaffeinated green tea. “And I can only hope that your parents aren’t going to want me to make this a permanent situation once Danny is born.”
Luke nodded. His mom just might try to convince Sophia to stay. His mom was all about family, and she would want to see Dan’s son grow. “It’s gotta be tough to be away from your business. Who’s taking care of your clients while you’re away?” Luke asked, before he took a sip of coffee.
Sophia started to scramble the eggs, just how he liked them. Another thing she had remembered about him. Dan only ate his fried.
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, leaving the business. I’ve had horrible abandonment issues. What kind of therapist abandons her patients? Luckily I have a great group of therapists in our office who were willing to take on my patients. I still feel bad, though. Like I’m letting them down. Especially during the holidays. I’m booked between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. A lot of depression.” Sophia took the kettle off the stove and poured the piping-hot water over the tea bag.
“Dealing with your family can do that to a person.” Luke nodded.
“The holidays are a tough time. People get depressed if they have to spend time with family, and then other people get depressed if they don’t have family to make them miserable during the holidays. Either way, the holidays are a therapist’s busy season. Kind of like tax season for CPAs.” Sophia put the finished eggs on a plate and brought them to Luke. “Here ya go.”
“Tax time’s probably busy for you, too.”
That made Sophia smile. Lately, Luke had been having that effect on her. She liked it. “Come to think of it, I do get a boost during April.”
When Sophia leaned over to set the plate on the table, her arm brushed against Luke’s. The sensation of his skin against hers set off an instantaneous chain reaction; the fine hairs on her arm stood straight up on end, and wherever his