LITMIR.BIZ

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me that you never were, Logan. He’s my friend. And right now I really need a friend.”

      As Sophia brushed by him, her nostrils drank in his scent. Leather and musk would be forever imprinted on her brain. She had almost escaped the room when Logan spoke up. “What if I told you I’m green with jealousy over your friendship with my brother.”

      Sophia didn’t move a muscle. She stood half in, half out of her office, her throat constricting. His admission had stunned her.

      As a child, Logan had been the outsider, but purely of his own making. She and Luke would have welcomed him into their little friendship ring with open arms. But he’d never seen it that way. Logan had had a chip on his shoulder when it came to her. She’d always suspected Logan had thought she’d usurped his brother’s attention.

      She kept her back to him and spoke softly. “And what if I told you you could’ve been a part of our friendship? Luke adored his older brother and I would’ve accepted you as a friend.”

      She scurried out the door, fearing her own gentle heart. She couldn’t bear to see Logan’s expression now. A part of her hated him and a part of her felt sorry for the boy who’d been disillusioned so long ago.

      Dinner at Dusty’s Steakhouse was delicious and safe, Luke and Sophia having decided to leave the fire-alarm chili at Kickin’ for another night. Her friend had been true to form, charming and fun-loving, and they’d had a few laughs. It was good to see Luke’s health improve each day. But Sophia had been distracted all evening, struggling to keep her mind from jumping back to her conversation with Logan.

      “What’s wrong, Soph? Still can’t get my brother out of your system?” Luke put his good arm around her shoulder in the friendly way he had as they walked up the cottage path.

      “It’s not that … exactly.”

      “Then what is it?”

      She shrugged. She didn’t want to ruin the peace of the night by talking about her problems with Logan. “Nothing. Sorry if I haven’t been good company tonight.”

      “Don’t be putting words in my mouth, Sophia. The company’s fine. You’ve got something on your mind and I’d like to hear it.”

      Sophia stopped when she reached the entrance to the cottage. She turned to look into Luke’s sky-blue eyes, wondering if she should be discussing Logan with his younger brother. The two men hardly got along, but she knew they loved each other. She didn’t want to add fuel to the fire.

      “Okay, if you’re not going to tell me, let me guess. Logan said some other bonehead thing to you that’s got you upset.”

      Sophia sighed and shook her head. “Not really … this is different.”

      “I’m surprised you’re talking to him at all.”

      “You know I have to. Sunset Lodge is important to me. I can’t let my personal life get in the way of my work.”

      His eyes lit with mischief. “Honey, I’m amazed you haven’t slugged him yet, or kicked him in the—”

      “Seriously, Luke,” she said cutting him off. She’d never admit that the thought had crossed her mind to do both of those things to Logan in crazy fleeting moments of despair.

      “Seriously, Sophia.” Luke’s voice grew softer, a plea from one friend to another. “You gonna tell me what my brother said to you?”

      She looked away for a moment, nibbled on her lower lip and then finally answered Luke. “Logan admitted he was jealous of us when we were kids. I wasn’t going to bring it up but—”

      Disbelief and surprise crossed Luke’s expression as his voice rose in pitch. “He thought you and I were—”

      “No, no. Not in that way. He was jealous of our friendship. Did you know that?”

      Luke’s blond brows furrowed and he shook his head. “No, I never thought he gave a damn. Son of a gun. I thought we were too immature for him. He was always going on and on about how stupid we were, playing games, whispering secrets to each other. Doing things good friends do.”

      “Maybe he wanted to join us.”

      “Nah … I don’t think so.” Then Luke thought about it a moment. “But maybe.”

      Sophia nodded. “Yeah, maybe.”

      “If it was true, I’m kinda shocked he’d admit it to you now. It’s not like Logan to confess something like that. Maybe the hard-hearted guy is finally softening up a bit. Even King Kong had a soft spot for a beautiful woman.”

      Sophia smiled at the reference comparing Logan to a giant ape.

      “At least I made you smile.”

      She was grateful for Luke’s company, but the stresses of the past week had taken their toll on her stamina. She tried to cover up a yawn and failed.

      “You’re beat,” Luke said, stating the obvious.

      She was. “Dinner was delicious.”

      “And this time you didn’t wind up with a bellyache afterward.”

      “True.”

      She opened the front door and Luke stepped in behind her. She sent him an eye-roll and he just shrugged. “I’m outta here as soon as I find out where you hide the good stuff.”

      They’d had this disagreement in the restaurant, but in the end, Sophia agreed to let Luke inspect the cottage before he went home.

      He moved down the hallway. The sound of doors opening and closing made her shake her head. There hadn’t been any suspicious behavior or any more notes in days, thank goodness. Sophia was ready to put it all behind her. When Luke walked back into her parlor, he had a smile on his face. “Apparently you really don’t drink. Couldn’t even find a can of near beer.”

      “Thank you for checking. Now, let me get some sleep. I have a big day of meetings tomorrow and they start first thing in the morning.” Sophia rose on tiptoe. She touched her lips to his cheek in a chaste kiss. “Thanks for dinner.”

      Luke walked out the door and waited until he heard the click of the lock before bidding her farewell from her doorstep. “Sleep tight, Sophia.”

      “Good night, Luke.”

      It’s hard not to love Sophia.

      Gordon Gregory’s parting shot had stuck in Logan’s mind days after he’d sold Storm to the old geezer. Logan’s response to the man’s declaration had been an unintelligible grunt. He wasn’t going to discuss Sophia with him. He’d believed that Gregory had come to the ranch to stir up trouble, and when he’d left that day Logan had done an internet search regarding his marriage to Sophia. He found that at one point, Revealed magazine had splashed Sophia’s name across the front cover with a picture of her in full titillating Fantasy Follies costume. Logan had ground his teeth seeing her decked out in sequins barely covering her body with the old codger groping her waist.

      Now as he stared at that cover shot on his office computer, he saw something he hadn’t noticed before. When he’d looked at the picture, his focus had been on her body, shrink-wrapped into a showgirl’s costume. Hell, any man would go there. She was perfect in all ways that mattered to men and it was natural to look at her full breasts, small waist and slender, smooth legs. But what he hadn’t noticed before was the look in her eyes.

      He studied those amber eyes now. They gave her away. There wasn’t joy or contentment or even satisfaction on nabbing a rich man in those tawny depths. The photo revealed something entirely different. And for the first time since Sophia had come to Sunset Ranch, a shiver of cold dread worked its way down Logan’s spine.

      Logan had once made Sophia’s eyes beam with joy. He’d made her eyes glow with contentment. He’d seen a look of sheer satisfaction spread across her beautiful face.

      Marrying

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