Sophie's Playboy (31 page)
Authors: Natalie J. Damschroder
293
Document Outline
- Amber Quill Press
- www.amberquill.com
- Copyright ©2005 by Natalie J. Damschroder
- NOTICE: This eBook is licensed to the original purchaser onl
- This eBook is displayed using 100% recycled electrons.
- Distributed by Fictionwise.com
- Sophie's Playboy
- by
- NATALIE J. DAMSCHRODER
- * * * *
- ISBN 1-59279-456-4
- Amber Quill Press, LLC
- www.amberquill.com
- Also By Natalie J. Damschroder
- Cat's Claw
- Elemental Passion
- Institutional Sex
- Kira's Best Friend
- The Passion Of Tanner Black
- The TreeKeeper
- DEDICATION
- For Nelson Damschroder, who has been my biggest supporter an
- CHAPTER 1
- "Of course, Mr. Monroe. Your order will be there tomorrow, i
- Sophie Macgregor listened to the old letch's response and tr
- "Goodbye, Mr. Monroe. Thank you for using MultiMicroTech." S
- "The top of the heap is dealing with the mulch, now?"
- Sophie sat up and smiled at her sister, Kira, who stood in t
- "Rescue!" Sophie flung her arms in the air, dumped her heads
- "Gotcha."
- "Quick. Before they send me another one." She ushered Kira a
- "Ah, freedom!" Sophie inhaled the unique scent of the city o
- "Since when do you handle customer complaints?" Kira asked.
- Sophie cuddled Joey against her shoulder. "Since always." Sh
- Kira paused in front of a boutique and Sophie frowned at the
- "That dress would be stunning on you," Kira said.
- Sophie stared at the five hundred dollar cocktail gown. It w
- "Nah."
- They continued on a few blocks and settled at their usual ta
- Sophie nibbled a spinach leaf and eyed the couple across fro
- Kira tossed her napkin to the table. "Okay, what's wrong?"
- Sophie popped a mangled mandarin orange into her mouth. "Wha
- Kira studied her, handing Joey the rattle he'd dropped witho
- "How is that?"
- "Dissatisfied. Confused. Like my world was tilting and every
- "No. It's not the same." Sophie interrupted Kira as she star
- Kira barked a laugh. The baby jerked and stared at his mothe
- "Sophie, don't you remember what we went through? Darcy's fa
- Sophie sighed. "I know all that, Keer. I meant, your obstacl
- Kira wasn't looking at her and didn't seem to be listening.
- Kira pointed at something in the street. "There's a good sta
- Sophie twisted. A city bus idled at the curb across the stre
- "Yeah, right. That'll change my life."
- "It would be fun, anyway. You love to talk."
- Sophie glared. Kira grinned. "Just what is wrong with your l
- "I can't eat hamburgers," Sophie grumped.
- "Don't pout. I'm nursing." Kira nodded at Sophie's wilted sa
- She was right. It was all her choice. She sighed and shoved
- Kira shook her head, but her smile wouldn't go away, even as
- "Where? At the country club?"
- Kira laughed. "Sure. Don't you remember what I told you last
- "No."
- "That you would fall for a playboy."
- Biff Cornwall, one of those playboys, flashed into her mind.
- "Brie's younger than you. She has plenty of time."
- "Oh, and I don't?" The whole conversation was stupid. Sophie
- But Kira was so unperturbed, so at peace as she lifted Joey
- "It's been a while since you've come home for a visit," Kira
- Sophie shook her head. There was a reason she hadn't been ho
- Another bus went by with one of those stupid billboards on t
- Sophie ignored her.
- * * * *
- Parker Cornwall loved to golf. Some found that absurd. Golfi
- But every once in a while Parker was able to golf for fun. T
- He lifted his driver over his head and stretched. "Who's joi
- "Some friend of Darlene's."
- Parker grunted. Jason's fiancée was a certified socialite, b
- "Here they come."
- Parker turned and saw the two women coming down the walk. Da
- They drew closer and he recognized the curves under the cons
- Sophie Macgregor.
- "Hey, Biff!" Darlene leaned up to kiss his cheek and Parker
- Most of what she did made him want to kiss her.
- He stepped back as Darlene set up her first drive. Sophie st
- "Shooters!" Darlene stomped her foot and pouted. Jason comfo
- Parker lusted after Sophie.
- He still hadn't unstuck his tongue to say anything to her. W
- "Yeah, who'd have thought it? Sophie the Shark and Darlene t
- If Sophie had heard the jab, though, she ignored it and them
- Her first flaw.
- The foursome made small talk as they walked. Parker watched
- He didn't know why he was so obsessed with Sophie. He didn't
- Sophie also played great golf, and was smart enough not to m
- "Have you had a chance to look at the proposal I sent over?"
- He shrugged. "I glanced at it. It's not that enticing."
- She bristled and he hid a smile. "Not enticing? If we can ge
- And she was off. Parker was actually grateful as they approa
- * * * *
- Sophie couldn't keep her mouth shut. She didn't know what pr
- Biff moved ahead of her to find his ball, which had rolled o
- "Honey, you won't catch Biff Cornwall that way."
- Sophie frowned at Darlene. "What are you talking about?"
- The younger woman took a practice swing. "You're yammerin' o
- Sophie laughed, but it pained her that Darlene the Dimwit co
- "I'm not interested in Biff Cornwall," she assured Darlene.
- "O-kay-ee." Darlene shrugged. "Your loss." She moved ahead.
- Just like she wasn't interested in that radio promotion, rig
- Right.
- * * * *
- The radio station looked much like any other office, Sophie
- "I'm sorry, I didn't hear that." She hurried to catch up wit
- "This promotion has been a disaster," Stevie was saying over
- Thus ended the distraction of the nerves. They flared to lif
- The "on the air" light blinked off and Stevie shoved the stu
- The dark-haired woman on the other side of the glass—Sophie
- "Welcome back to WNRK! I'm Melina Van Horn, and this hour ou
- What the hell am I going to say? She couldn't very well rant
- Or could she?
- Melina aimed a finger at her and Sophie recognized it as "ta
- "Good afternoon, Boston, and welcome to the fifth circle of
- "Been on the highway lately? If you have, I'm sure you've no
- She paused and took a deep breath. "Wow, that feels good!" S
- Melina caught her eye and mouthed a name while holding up tw
- "Bruce, line two. What's your rant?"
- "Slow drivers in the left lane, Sophie. Why can't they get o
- "You've got a point there, Bruce. On the other hand, I get r
- "Hi, Sophie. I'm a state trooper, and I'd like to remind peo
- "Duly noted, Trooper John, and duly chastised, aren't we, Br
- "Sophie, that's great! You're doing great! Except for that '
- Sophie raised her eyebrows at him. "How much longer?"
- "About an hour. The next guy doesn't look like he's going to
- Sophie shrugged. "Sure." She was having fun.
- She lost track of time, and breaks, and callers. Topics fed
- "Thanks, Tonio, for your rant. Next caller is Parker. Whatch
- "I don't think your callers understand the purity of golf, S
- "What do you mean?"
- "The course isn't supposed to be perfect to each person's sp
- Sophie snorted. "Sport? Golf isn't a sport. It's outdoor pol
- "To some. But to others, it's more." He continued, and Sophi
- "Well, you have to admit, it's not very athletic," she said,
- "Not athletic? Haven't you ever golfed, woman? Try it. Nine
- "Yeah, the ones you use to get in and out of the cart." Meli
- The commercial came on, the "on the air" light blinked off,
- Stevie and Melina entered the room through opposite doors.
- "Great job!" Stevie grabbed her hand and pumped her arm. "Th
- "Four hours!" Sophie checked her watch. It had been four hou
- CHAPTER 2
- Sophie's good mood lasted through dinner, despite the consta
- "I caught your show today."
- "Yeah?" Miffed at his avoidance and not adult enough to pret
- "It was fun," he said. "Even if you don't know what you're t
- Something pinged in Sophie's brain and she tilted her head a
- "Despite that," he continued suavely, ignoring Vanessa White
- For one instant, one split second when her hormones had begu
- The instant vanished under the proprietary gleam of Vanessa'
- Sophie rolled her eyes at the sultry voice she knew Vanessa
- She wondered, though, as she slipped past and headed for the
- * * * *
- The call came out of the blue.
- Sophie had nearly forgotten about her little playtime on the
- "Why do you want me, again? You know I've never done this be
- "We got an overwhelming response to your show," Stevie expla
- Sophie tried to read the contract they'd handed her, but eve
- "I'll read the contract and consider your offer, then give y
- "Good enough." Stevie and George, the station manager, stood
- "We don't have enough female personalities here," she told S
- It didn't take Sophie long to decide. She read the contract,
- "Go for it!" her phantom sister said.
- "But what about Chuck and Dave? I owe them."
- "They've gotten what they paid for, Sophie. You don't owe th
- "I wanted something to change. Now that I'm getting it, I'm
- Sophie didn't need her sister to sort that one out. Everyone
- She and her lawyer attended another meeting at the station a
- "This is standard in every single contract," one of the stat
- Sophie signed the contract.
- She gave notice to MMT the next day. They begged and pleaded
- "Sorry, guys. That won't fix what's wrong."
- "Tell us how to fix it!" Dave ground his teeth in frustratio
- "I don't think we can, can we, Soph?"
- "No. It's not a problem with MMT. It's a problem with me." A
- Once she was done at MMT, she immediately went to work at WN
- For several hours a day she met with Melina to work out the
- "I don't want to rant for three hours," Sophie said two days
- Melina shifted on the beat-up sofa where they sat in the bre
- "You need something positive, then."
- "Right." Sophie got up to pace. "What's the opposite of a ra
- Melina scribbled as fast as Sophie talked. "We'll start the
- "Then I'll open the third hour with a rave. We won't let any
- "It's my job to keep the callers on track." The producer pul
- "A little of both, I think. We'll set a theme, but it might
- "How come you don't host a show?" Sophie asked. "You have th
- Melina laughed. "I didn't always speak so clearly. I came fr
- Sophie understood that, but couldn't empathize. She had ener
- "I thought you were Greek," she commented. "But Van Horn isn
- Melina smiled thinly. "No. My ex-husband was ... not Greek."
- "Think we got it?" Sophie asked, biting her lower lip.
- "Absolutely. You'll be fantastic." She waved over her should
- Sophie transferred her chewing from her tender lip to her ov
- * * * *
- "Good afternoon, and welcome to Rant and Rave! The talk show
- Sophie relaxed and settled into her chair. She lowered the m
- Melina signaled that she had a caller. Sophie nodded and smo
- "Kyle, you're on the air. What's your rant today?"
- "Garbage."
- "Well, that fits the theme. What about it?"
- "We're wasting it. It's a prime energy source. We have liter
- "That's fascinating stuff, Kyle, and information we did not
- Melina gave her a thumbs up and she shrugged. She hoped she
- Lissa went right into her rant. "I hate when the grocery cle
- "Hear, hear, Lissa. And it gets worse when they double bag."
- "Yeah! And you tell them not to and they ignore you like you
- The calls continued. From waste of supermarket bags came com
- Halfway through the second hour, Sophie got her first repeat
- "Thank you, Rick, for enlightening us. Melina, who's next?"
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