Sophie's Playboy (35 page)

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Authors: Natalie J. Damschroder

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She surveyed him a moment, then glanced around the studio an
Melina gave them the one-minute tap on the window and Sophie
He was going to be alone with her this afternoon. She was co
Despite his distraction the first meeting went well. They us
Of course, they dared to ask him for more money. The meeting
He grabbed her shoulders to keep from knocking her over, and
"Very conservative, Soph," he finally said. "Haven't seen th
She followed him into his office and went straight to the so
"It seemed to call for it. Coming here, I mean. I haven't be
Parker handed her a mug and noticed that no blouse was visib
They pulled out the scripts for the ads and read silently fo
"The first one's pretty straightforward," Parker noted. "We'
Sophie flipped a couple of pages. "Yeah, this isn't as bad a
"So, how do you want to play it? Playful or serious? Are we
"Are you clueless, or crafty?" Sophie teased. She grinned at
He was going to do it. He had to do it. If he didn't kiss he
He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving hers.
Sophie swallowed hard and clenched one hand around the paper
She wanted the kiss she saw coming. She wanted it with every
His lips were closer. She hadn't moved, she was sure, so he
His mouth had almost, almost touched hers when she leaped to
"Where's the bathroom?"
Parker slumped back against the sofa again. "Down the hall.
She wet a paper towel and pressed it over her eyes. How on e
She leaned on the sink and slid the wet paper towel over the
But now that they'd had a taste of "them," she doubted the s
More importantly, she was doing something that was hers. She
So far, said a subversive little voice she labeled "Desire f
Plus, she was scared spitless.
"Okay, enough analysis," she told herself, not wanting to co
She did. Apparently, Parker had decided to do the same thing
Parker followed Sophie to the station in his Porsche—of cour
"Nice," he admired, running one of his long-fingered, gracef
"Sixty-six. It needed a lot of restoration. I finally got th
He looked up at her in shock. "Sell her? Never!"
Sophie shrugged. "She's expensive to keep up and I can't dri
She led the way into the station through the back door and t
The production manager's voice came through the headphones.
They looked at each other questioningly and what had happene
"Uh, guys? Do you want to do a run-through or not?"
They snapped their attention back to their individual script
"No, we're okay."
"Let's just get to it."
Sophie stumbled over her words the first two times they trie
That plan went up in smoke as Parker followed her. She swive
"That went well." He perched on the edge of her desk. Sophie
"Yep." She pulled out her list for the show and pretended to
"We have that L.A.B. in a couple of weeks."
"Yep."
"Can you come with me to my family's Fourth of July barbeque
If he thought she was that dumb ... She tilted her head. "No
Parker sighed. "Please? Mare wants to meet you."
"Who's Mare?"
"My sister. Her name's Mary, but she hates it so I call her
"Why does she want to meet me?"
"Because you're the first woman I've ever worked with like t
Melina poked her head around the corner. "Come on, you two!
They rushed to the studio and in the chaos of settling in, S
The way Parker beamed when she agreed to go, however, told h
* * * *
Sophie's first live action broadcast—or L.A.B.—on June thirt
Her attraction to him had grown exponentially with each four
He intrigued her and left her feeling more alive after every
She couldn't help but be nervous about this broadcast, thoug
Sophie spent too much time trying to figure out what to wear
"It's nice now, but it'll be ninety by the time we start bro
"Can't you just wear a station T-shirt and jeans?" Brie aske
"That's what I wear most days. We'll be in public, so Parker
"And attract."
Sophie didn't answer.
"I'm gonna come over when the seminar is done today," Briann
Oh, no. "The show is ending an hour and a half early," Sophi
"I'll make it. Unless I see Juanita. Then we might just go o
Sophie headed to the bathroom to grab some lotion for her le
"The sponsor paid for a two-and-a-half-hour broadcast," she
"That sucks."
Sophie went back into the bedroom. Hippo followed again, lit
"Yeah, right." Brianna leaned over and picked up the panting
Sophie choked on nothing and glared at her sister. "Where di
Brianna sighed and laid down on her side. Hippo curled up ag
"I barely want him as a friend, Brie."
"Come off it. You can't lie to me any better than Kira can.
"Puh-leeze." Sophie buttoned up her vest and tugged it into
She was about to leave the room when Brianna grabbed her han
"Seriously, Soph. Give him a chance. Don't cut him off just
Sophie consciously relaxed her tight muscles. "Most women ge
"You haven't been burned," Brie pointed out.
"Exactly. I haven't let anyone get close enough to try. But
Brianna smiled. "At least there's a chance he'll fall."
* * * *
Sophie met Parker and the engineer, Mark, at the station and
"Just stand there until I tell you to come in," he said.
"No one else could get me to obey so quickly," Sophie joked.
"Thanks for the info," Parker teased back. "I would never ha
Sophie gave him a mock punch in his biceps and had to stop h
Her mouth suddenly dry, she wandered over to a nearby refres
No. Goddamnit, no. I'm not that weak. She fought dizziness a
Mark settled them into their seats and got them situated, th
"Good afternoon, Boston, and welcome to Rant and Rave. I'm S
"Hi."
"—and we're broadcasting live from the grand opening celebra
Parker took over and talked about the ticket and concession
Melina, back at the station, went to commercial and Sophie g
"You okay?"
She tried to be nonchalant. "Sure. Why?"
"Just asking. You seem a bit off today."
"I'm fine. Thanks." She took off into the crowd, still witho
Parker watched her for a minute before he went back into the
"Parker, can you hear me?" Her voice was tinny in his earpho
"Gotcha, Soph."
"Melina?"
The producer came in clearer from the station. "Check."
"What's the count?"
"Five."
Parker could hear the broadcast now and waited for his cue.
"I'm here with Quintelle, a self-proclaimed movie buff who h
"Oh, I love the old war movies. They just have so much heart
"What else are you looking forward to?"
"Oh, probably just about everything. I love movies." He half
Sophie laughed. "Thanks, Quintelle." She moved through the c
"Thank God for jocks!" She handed Mark the headphones and mi
"And a half." Parker sat next to her and lifted her feet int
She looked completely exhausted, Parker thought, but relaxed
"DEEEE, dee dee dee, deh deh deh, de de de."
"Who's calling, Vincent Price?" Sophie asked lazily.
"Something like that," Parker murmured, flipping open his di
"Hi, Mare," he answered "What's up?"
"Parker, I'm sorry. Are you done with the show?"
"A few minutes ago."
Sophie opened her eyes and made a move to get up, but he kep
"I need to ask you to pick up the kids," Mare said. He barel
Maybe he still had a chance. "How long do you need me to sta
"Um, well, this meeting may go pretty late."
Parker sighed. Pretty late meant he was probably spending th
"Mark, are you done with us?" he called to the engineer. Aft
"I hope you don't have plans. I have to pick up my nephews b
Sophie shrugged. "No problem. You can all drop me at my car
They walked quickly to Parker's Toyota Sequoia. He noticed t
"It's nice to find a tall man who walks with his whole legs,
"How old are they?" she asked once Parker was in the truck.
"Four and seven." He checked traffic, then pulled out of the
"No problem. I'm not going anywhere." Sophie settled into th
It only took five minutes to get to the day care. They walke
"Hello, Parker," the serene-seeming older woman said. "Frick
"They the last ones?"
"Trina is still here. She's in the little girl's room. Mary
The smallest was now hanging by Parker's forearm. The only i
"I've been working later," he explained. "Radio show. Maybe
The woman's lips thinned further. "I've heard of it, Mr. Cor
Oo, Mr. Cornwall now. Sophie wondered what had happened to "
"It's hardly the type of show we'd play in a day care center
"Of course." He pulled his left arm up until the monkey-boy
The door behind them opened and a rumpled woman rushed in. "
Before Mrs. Persimmon could answer, the bathroom door opened
"There's my baby!" When the woman bent to hug her daughter,
"Hello, Diane."
The woman beamed up at Parker. She looked less exhausted whe
"Parker, hi! Long time no see. How's the show going?"
They made small talk as the gang maneuvered out the door. On
"How are Trina's treatments going?"
Diane stopped beaming. "As usual. She's starting to lose sta
Sophie watched the children and tried not to eavesdrop on th
"Here," Sophie heard him say. "It's magic."
Trina closed her fist around it, then put her hand in the po
"Thank you, Parker, Trina would love to see the boys when sh
She gathered her daughter and moved slowly across the parkin
"Hey, boys, calm down a minute." Parker crouched in front of
"How do you do?" Sophie asked, surprised when they held out
"I'm four!" yelled Josh.
"Wow! I'd have guessed six at least!" Sophie shook his hand,
"How old are you, Timmy?"
"I'm seven, ma'am," he answered with all the solemnity of a
"It's a pleasure to meet you both."
Timmy looked up at his uncle. "Partner? Is that, like, 'we'r
Sophie gasped and bit her lips to keep a giggle in. Timmy di
"Bobby has two dads, and they call each other 'partner.' Bob
Parker steered them all toward the truck and when Timmy fina
"Cool! Can we go to the radio station?"
"I wanna see the radio station!" Josh yelled. Sophie wondere
Parker looked at her apologetically and she lifted a shoulde
"You have to drop me off anyway. Might as well show them ins
The boys cheered and Parker shook his head as he climbed int
"If you guys are good and promise not to touch anything," So
"Really?"
Sophie adored the wide-eyed looks the kids gave her, and gri
He looked the way Jake looked when he watched Kira nurse his
Sophie turned away to cover up the rush of emotion she felt.
Parker was turning out to be everything she wanted in a man.
CHAPTER 7
The boys were even more hyper by the time they left the stat
"Who's hungry?" Parker called out when they exited the build
"Me! Me!"
"Memememememe!"
Sophie reluctantly backed away. The boys were delightful, an
"Where are you going, Sophie?" Josh rushed up and grabbed he
Sophie looked at her watch. It was past seven, but she had n
"Come on, Soph. I could use your help," Parker pleaded softl
"Where are we going?"
"Hooters," Parker said, laughing at Sophie's jaw drop. "I'm
"Hmph." She turned to the boys. "Where do you guys want to g
"Fire and Ice! Fire and Ice!"
"You game?" Parker asked.
"They like stir fry?"
"They get to pick their own food."
She shrugged. "Okay, then. Fire and Ice."
They piled back into the truck and soon were at the restaura
"Too hot for me," Sophie commented.
"You haven't tried it," Parker murmured, much too close to h

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