Nobody But You Read online

  That made her smile, albeit grimly. “How do you know I didn’t?”

  “Because you’re smart, resourceful, and determined. If you’d wanted to kill him, he’d be dead. And there wouldn’t be a body.”

  Surprised again, she laughed. He got her. “You should remember that,” she said, and started to walk off.

  “You’re being cautious.”

  “I’m trying,” she said. “Join me, won’t you?”

  “Where’s the fun in that?”

  She stared at him. “Is that what we’re doing? Having fun?”

  His gaze met hers and held for a long moment. “Among other things.”

  She gulped.

  “What are you afraid of?” he asked quietly.

  “The list is long.”

  He shrugged. “Try me.”

  “Fine,” she said, ticking off the bullet points on her fingers. “Getting hurt. Trusting again.” She stopped and shook her head, feeling way too exposed.

  “I’ll never hurt you,” he said. “Ever. We’re both in this, eyes open. We know what this is and what it isn’t. I’ll never hurt you,” he repeated, taking a step closer. “And you can take that to the bank, Sophie. I’m a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them.”

  Her brain was on overload. It was just too much to process. “I’ve gotta go.” It took a moment for her feet to obey her brain, but eventually she did walk away, thinking, Holy cow, he was potent. She needed to remember that and stay out of his force field range.

  A few minutes later she got to the checkout just as Jacob was walking out the door of the store. The clerk was staring at his ass. “That is one fine specimen of man,” the woman said, taking a long sip from her bottle of water like she was parched. “I mean what kind of woman wouldn’t follow that man anywhere, no matter what job he lands for himself?”

  “He’s got a job,” Sophie said. “He’s military—”

  “I mean after the military.”

  “Maybe he’ll come back to doing what he’s doing now, lake patrol.”

  The clerk stared at Sophie for a beat and then burst out laughing. “Honey, that man’s as hot as they come, and badass to the core. But he don’t wear no badge.”

  Sophie blinked. “He’s not lake patrol?”

  “No way. No how.”

  She thought of how they’d met, when he’d made her move The Little Lucas that night. And the second night…Or when she’d asked if he was on duty…He’d let her make a fool of herself. I don’t lie, Soph, ever…Funny, but she’d actually believed him. Which made her the ass, not him.

  Chapter 13

  Sophie grinded her teeth as she unloaded the royals’ groceries in their mansion, cooked their dinner, and left. She’d told Jacob she’d bring him some dinner, but now all she wanted to do was roast him over an open fire.

  That night she didn’t go to his dock.

  Or the next night.

  The following morning she was called in to work for a local florist. The owner was Alexa, Lucas’s sister. Not wanting to turn down the work, Sophie hoofed it over there.

  Alexa sat behind the counter. Once upon a time she’d been nice and kind to Sophie, but that had stopped during her contentious divorce. Alexa didn’t greet her, just pointed to the huge bouquet on the counter. “Needs to get up to the resort, like, ten minutes ago. You’re going to have to rush it.”

  “To rush it, I’ll need to borrow a car,” Sophie said.

  Alexa sighed. “You haven’t gotten your own car yet?”

  “I had my own car,” Sophie said. “Your brother stole it.”

  “My brother bought it. You divorced him, Sophie. You don’t get to have your cake and eat it too.” But she pulled out a set of keys. “My Lexus. Take better care of it than you did your husband.”

  Biting her tongue, Sophie took the flowers and the keys. She glanced at the order slip and was shocked at how much Alexa was charging these days. She got the niggling thought that she could have supplied the flowers far cheaper and with better service too.

  She drove up to the resort, and carrying the flowers, made her way to the offices and asked for Kenna Kincaid, to whom the flowers were addressed, along with a card that said simply:

  Give me another chance…Best, Mitch

  Men, Sophie thought with an eye roll, and had to laugh to herself when Kenna Kincaid came out of an office and approached the bouquet like it was a lit fuse.

  Seemed she wasn’t the only one with man troubles.

  “Hell,” Kenna muttered. “It’d better not be from—” She let out a whoosh of air when she read the card. “Shit. It is.”

  Sophie smiled. “I’m guessing these flowers aren’t going to get your guy out of the doghouse.”

  “He’s not my guy, although he lives in the doghouse.” She picked up the flowers and dumped them into the trash bin on the side of the counter. “Don’t take that personally,” she said.

  “Nope,” Sophie said. “I’m just the delivery girl. Is Mitch as big a jerk as my ex?”

  Something crossed Kenna’s face. Guilt? “No,” she said finally. “He’s not a jerk at all. We had an accidental one-night thing not too long ago and…well, he’s just way too sure. And I’m not sure. I’m planning on keeping him on his toes for a while until I sort stuff out in my head. That’s the secret, I think, keeping a guy on his toes.”

  “Seems safer to do without,” Sophie said. “Smarter too.”

  “Maybe.” Kenna shrugged. “Probably. But I’m not all that smart when it comes to men.”

  “Hear, hear,” Sophie said, and turned to go.

  “Oh, wait. While you’re here, can we book your services for the Wounded Warriors event?”

  “Yes, of course,” Sophie said. “Just call the temp agency.”

  “You’re still with them? I thought maybe you were running your own gig.”

  Sophie felt something shift from deep within her. “No,” she said slowly, thinking how much the idea, one that had been lurking lately, appealed to her. “I’m not running my own concierge service.” She paused. “Yet.”

  Kenna smiled. “Keep me up to date on that.”

  “Oh, I most definitely will.” Sophie started to go, then hesitated. “Listen, I know Jacob’s hugely private, but there’s someone I bet he’d love to see at the Wounded Warriors event.” And then, hoping she wasn’t crossing a line, she told Kenna about Chris Marshall, how he’d been injured in the same explosion that had killed Brett.

  Kenna didn’t speak for a long moment, and Sophie took a step back. “You know what? Scratch that. I shouldn’t have said anything. I—”

  “Shut the front door.” Kenna grabbed her hand, lifting her face to Sophie’s. Her eyes were misty. “I’m so very glad you said something,” she said fiercely. “If Chris Marshall’s stateside, my brother Hud will find him.”

  Sophie nodded. “Thanks.”

  “No, thank you.” Kenna’s voice was soft and a little watery. “It’s so good to have him back, you know? But he’s still struggling with it a little bit. We could use all the help we can get to reach him.”

  Before she could ask what that meant, a guy came out of one of the offices wearing a cop uniform, and Sophie’s mind stuttered to a halt.

  Jacob.

  He glanced at Kenna and then at Sophie with a polite smile, and she instantly realized her mistake. This was Hudson Kincaid, Jacob’s twin. She let out a shaky exhale.

  Hud’s eyes warmed. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to give you a jolt. I forget that I look just like him.”

  Looked like him. Smiled like him. Sounded like him…

  Except their eyes were different. Hud was charming and…open. Jacob’s eyes were shuttered, and though he could just as easily charm when he chose to, Sophie got the impression he didn’t choose to all that often.

  “How’s he doing?” Hudson asked.

  Remembering that night they’d demolished that bottle of Scotch, when Jacob had told her about not being sure how to reconnect with his famil