Recaptured Dreams (5 page)

“Oh, darling.” Anne Marie tugged her close. “You can’t think about that. Connor was taken from this world far too soon, but it didn’t change what your mum always wanted for you. It’s only now he’s gone that she fights harder for it. That’s all.”

“Yeah. I only wish…” Sophia exhaled roughly. She wished for a lot of things. An understanding mother. To see her brother’s beaming smile. To not feel so constricted in her life. There had to be something in her past—in her forgotten memory—that would help her fill the strange void in her chest that left her so restless and agitated. And unhappy. She was losing the battle to live the life she wanted and didn’t even know
what
life that was.

“Wishes can come true, you know,” Anne Marie whispered.

Sophia laughed. “Only in fairy tales.”

Her friend’s green eyes twinkled. “Fairy tales are what you make them. No matter what, remember what I said: just be true to yourself, Sophia.”

Sophia smiled as she moved off the bed and glanced into her closet…and the heaping pile of clothes and shoes cascading from the mound hiding her luggage. “I suppose you’re right. I have certainly made a mess in there whilst I let off steam, haven’t I?”

“No worries about that now.” Anne Marie scurried to Sophia’s side. “I have a question for you.”

Sophia gave an uneasy nod.

“Right. Now, I’m not quite sure what happened with you at the party last night, because when we left you looked a little beside yourself.” Anne Marie paused, and Sophia’s cheeks went hot.

Everything about the previous night had put Sophia on edge, keeping her tangled the next day. And dreaming about some to-die-for man, who was also probably crazy, at the same time her mother picked away at her future was just not a good combination.

Anne Marie leveled a stare at Sophia. “Anything you want to mention?”

Sophia attempted to hide both the embarrassment and excitement on her face. She failed.

“You snogged him, didn’t you? I knew it; I just knew it. Tell me all about it.”

Sophia’s cheeks grew even hotter. When had the universe flipped upside down and decided to give Sophia her fantasy man on a platter? Who was he,
really?
Sophia had been with men before, but no one—absolutely no one—made her feel like he had in such a short amount of time. She chided herself for her forward behavior yet still relished in the way it made her body grow with enticement.

“I knew it! Was it good?” Anne Marie asked when Sophia didn’t answer.

Sophia shrugged and paced the room. “It wasn’t like that. Well…it, um…” How could she explain this to her best friend without sounding like a hormone-driven teenager? Goodness, how could she even explain it to herself? “Yes, I kissed him. Well, really, he kissed me.” Sophia couldn’t help the sly smile that crept across her face.

“And?”

“I let the kiss go further than I should have.”

“Did you—”

“Heavens, no! Oh! I made a bloody mess of myself. I practically threw myself on him once it started, and had I not come back down to reality, it would have been just like that.”

“Really? The kiss was that good?”

Sophia nodded, still ashamed and yet oddly satisfied. Well, not satisfied in the way she wanted to be, but satisfied he had wanted her—though she still couldn’t fathom why.

“Well then—” Anne Marie took Sophia’s hand “—what in the devil stopped you?”

“What?”

“What stopped you? Why didn’t you let the feelings take you?”

Sophia sighed.

Take me.

Oh, Sophia had wanted Xavier to take her, all right. On the balcony, in the dark, on a gleaming summer night. A bed would have been fine, too.

What
had
stopped her? Anne Marie had always told Sophia that she didn’t reach out or risk enough to find some of the things she was missing. Maybe she’d missed her chance with Xavier because she’d been too afraid. Afraid of her response to him and afraid he might have actually known her.

“Quite frankly,” Sophia said, “I’m concerned where my feelings would have led. Actually, I know exactly where they would have, and I honestly think I would have liked it. Maybe even loved it.” Sophia shook her head in dismay. “Plus,” she said as her voice dropped to a whisper, “I think he knows me.”

“What do you mean, ‘knows’ you?”

“He knew my name.”

Anne Marie rocked back.
“And?”

Sophia huffed. “And what? I’d spent all of five minutes in his presence and he knows my name? Is he bloody psychic?”

Anne Marie waved off Sophia’s comment. “Dear, did you forget that you and I were talking outside at the show before he came out?”

Her face crinkled. “So?”

“Who’s to say he didn’t overhear me say your name?”

Sophia’s body tensed. Had Anne Marie called her by her name that night? At that moment outside? Possibly. Her lip curled downward, and her eyes slid back to Anne Marie’s. “I’ll go with you on that one. But he said other things to make me think the contrary.”

“Like what?”

“Well, he said something about the dress I was wearing being made with me in mind. And then he said something about waiting too long to have me in his arms.”

Anne Marie’s eyebrow shot up. “So?”

“What do you mean, ‘so’?”

“Those are called pick-up lines, Sophia. He was hitting on you, darling.”

Sophia frowned. She hadn’t considered that. Instead, she’d had a ridiculous thought for just a brief moment that maybe Xavier was a part of the past she’d been searching for.

“You’re probably right,” Sophia said. “I’ve never been to America.”

Anna Marie flashed a smile. “That doesn’t mean he’s never been here, Sophia.”

She hadn’t thought of that either. She hadn’t seemed to think about many things since last night; her mind got so muddy when she thought of Xavier.

“True,” Sophia said. “But I think I’d remember him.” His face. His smell. His presence.

“What if it was before the accident?”

Sophia’s insides churned. She should’ve thought of that, too. Part of her held out hope that was true. The same part that warmed at the mere thought him. She shook her head. “I wish it was the case. But I’m certain he would have said something, right?”

“Yes, you’re probably right. So then, it’s just as I said; he was simply hitting on you.”

Sophia sighed in relief—or was it regret? “It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s probably halfway around the world right now.”

“So that’s it, then? You won’t see him again?”

“See who again?” Katherine asked as she walked into Sophia’s room without so much as a knock.

“Oh, no one, Mother,” Sophia said. “You could knock, you know.”

Katherine’s lips formed a thin line. “If you want privacy, close the door all the way. Now, who are you seeing again?”

Sophia crossed her arms. “I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Then who is this gentleman you’re discussing?”

Arguing would do no good, so Sophia just said his name, hoping that alone would quell her mother’s curiosity.

The color slowly drained from Katherine’s face. “Xavier Cain, you said?”

“Mother?” Sophia asked as she grabbed Katherine’s arm. “Are you okay?”

Katherine shook her head and put on weak smile. “Yes, dear. Just fine. Um…” She paused, seemingly uneasy with her words. “Where did you meet this Mr. Cain?”

“Last night at the fashion show.”

“Is he…American, by chance?”

Sophia arched her brow in confusion. “Yes, he is. Why?”

“Nothing, dear, nothing. Xavier isn’t a common British name, that’s all. He sounds foreign. Are you going to see him again?”

“Doubtful. He’s the designer for XS and was only here for the fashion show—”

“
He’s
the XS designer?” Her hand fluttered to her mouth. “But that’s your favorite line.”

Sophia nodded slowly. “Of course. Why do you sound surprised?”

Katherine stared blankly at Sophia.

After several beats of silence, Sophia continued, “It doesn’t matter anyway. I’m sure he’s on his way back to the States as we speak.” That thought put a weight on her heart. A heavy one.

Katherine cleared her throat. “All right then. That’s probably best. Fashion designers surely aren’t easy keepers. Trouncing all over the world with beautiful girls and such.”

Sophia snorted. “That’s a fine thing to say. You don’t even know him.”

“And after less than twenty-four hours you do?” her mother retorted. “Besides, I don’t need to know him. I know the type.”

“The type? The type, is it?” Sophia threw her hands up in the air. “It’s always something with you, isn’t it?”

“Don’t raise your voice, young lady.”

“Please, why? Why do you do this?”

“Because it’s my job to protect you,” Katherine said stiffly.

“Really?” Sophia raised her voice. “Didn’t you just say earlier you
didn’t
protect me? That you do all of this out of love? Which is it,
Mother?”

Katherine lifted her chin but said nothing.

“That’s what I thought.” Sophia’s voice was tired. “It’s both. Sometimes I think you fancy your lifestyle better than your relationships. I don’t need your guidance; I’m a grown woman. And if I wanted to date Xavier Cain, I would.”

As the words rolled off her lips, Sophia realized the truth in them. Xavier was barely more than a stranger, but she wanted to be wrapped in his embrace. In his bed. She wanted to look into those crystal eyes—the ones she swore she saw her future in. Foolish? Maybe, but it’d be worth a risk.

“Sophia—”

“Please leave before we both say something we shall regret.” Sophia motioned for the door as Katherine stood with a blank expression on her face.

“Well then,” Katherine finally said as she turned to walk out the door. “I’ll go—but don’t forget about the charity event tonight.”

Sophia spun around and sprawled her body out across her bed. It sank beneath her weight and almost folded around her like a comforting touch. Something her mother never really gave her. It was like they were a hundred years apart instead of just twenty-five.

Anne Marie broke the silence. “What was that all about?”

“That,” Sophia said as she raised her hand up from the bed and waved it back and forth, “was the norm. We do that several times a day.”

“I still think you should come stay with me.”

“Maybe you’re right. It would be good for me to get out from under Mother’s roof for a while. This summer has been harder than the rest.” Sophia ran her hands over the silky comforter. “It’s irritating I won’t be able to touch my trust until I’m thirty. It makes it impossible to move out. I’ve been so focused on my studies, I can’t realistically work to earn enough to live elsewhere. Without my trust, I have to rely on my wretched mother. And if she had it her way, I’d be volunteering for those ghastly balls and dinners left and right or she’d arrange for me to have a job as a secretary for someone she knows who didn’t expect me to actually doing any real work.” She blew out an exasperated breath. “Getting a proper job and moving out of this place will have to wait until I finish uni.” To Sophia, it felt like her mother held her hostage.

“Or…you could bypass all of that by coming to live with me.”

“I don’t know why I didn’t think of that sooner, but you’re right. It’s time to get out from under her thumb. You won’t mind having an unemployed vagrant live with you?”

“Ha, of course not, darling. Just so long as it’s you and not someone else. Which gives me an idea,” Anne Marie said as she sat next to Sophia. “I think we should go to Opal tonight.”

“I can’t.” Sophia propped herself up on her elbows, pushing away all those sore feelings her mother always managed to drag up. “The last place I feel like going is a night club. Plus, I promised I would go to this charity dinner auction at the St. Pancras Renaissance.”

“Do you think that’s a good idea after the way you two have been arguing?”

“Not really,” Sophia said as she sat upright and pushed her hair out of her face, “but the auction is fashion-based, with designer clothing and such, so I’ll have fun no matter what.”

“Well,” Anne Marie said with a smile, “I think you need some good, fashionable company then, don’t you think?”

“Why, yes.” Sophia flashed a grin. “I think you may be right.”

Chapter Four

X
AVIER
S
KETCHED
A
CROSS
T
HE
P
AD
of paper, seeking the perfect dress to finish off his collection for New York’s
Spring is in the Air
fashion show in a couple months. It was a show for people new to the fashion world, and since he was one of their “success” stories from years past, they’d invited him back to show others what determination and skill could do. Not that his mind was in the right place at the moment. He clenched his eyes, unable to concentrate on the design as much as the pounding in his head.