Sophie's Playboy (35 page)
Authors: Natalie J. Damschroder
- 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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