Fall for You (9 page)

He shook his head. He
was still breathing hard. “No, this was for you.”

Sophie started to protest. “But…”

Max took that moment to bump his head into her thigh. She glanced at him and swore he almost had a look of, “Okay, that'll be enough of that.” Her dog looked like a pissed off chaperone.

Reality started setting in and she was appalled at her wanton behavior.

Reed saw her expression change. Her eyes lost the
glaze of satisfaction and took on a subtle look of shame.

“
Sophie, don't. Whatever you're thinking, stop now. There is absolutely nothing wrong with what we did.”

“
But, won't this…I don't know? Complicate things?”

“
We're consenting adults. So, we got a little carried away…”

She interrupted. “A little carried away? You tell me you want to get to know me and I ride you like a…a shameless hussy!”

“
Shameless hussy?”

“
Yes!”

"Sophie?"

“
What?”

“
If I'm good, will you promise to be a shameless hussy again?”

Reed lifted her up and set her next to him on the couch. “We'll be seeing each other on the job but I promise to behave myself. Unless you want me to misbehave, because I'm all for that too.”

He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and gave her a swift kiss on the lips. Reed gathered
his clipboard and left her copy of the estimate on the table. He stood and scratched Max behind the ear.

After subtly adjusting himself, Reed walked to the door and said, “I'm going to go
for now
while I still can. Call me if Tracy has a problem with the estimate.” He flashed a devilish grin. “Then again, call me if she doesn't. See you soon, Sophie.”

When Reed's truck pulled out of the driveway,
Max watched from the living room window until his tail lights were out of sight. He came back to Sophie, who was still sitting on the couch trying to regroup from what just happened. Her dog put his head on her lap and looked up at her.

“
You really like him don't you?”

Max raised his head and wagged his tail energetically.

Sophie sighed. “Me too, buddy.” She gave Max a few strokes through the
fluffy fur on his head. “So what are we going to do about it?”

Max silently stared up at her. His tail slowed to a gentle swish against the carpet. Sophie exhaled a long breath and fell back against the cushions.

“
That's what I thought. You don't know either.”

“
Do you think if I turn off the AC they'd take off their shirts?” Tracy whispered this to Sophie as they stood behind the counter. Reed and Ben were carrying in lumber to build the frame for the wall.

They both sighed at the same time.

Sophie laughed. “Turn off the AC? I seriously considered turning on the heat.”

Reed looked up when he heard Sophie's laughter. When his eyes met hers,
there was such a knowing look that Sophie felt herself blush. He smiled like he knew the path of her thoughts, then turned back to the stack of two by fours.

Tracy caught the exchange and raised her eyebrows.

“
Whoa. What did I miss? Don't you dare say 'nothing' because that was something! There was some serious eye sexing going on there.”

Sophie pulled her toward the back and shushed her. “Eye
sexing? No, there wasn't!”

“
Sophie Marie, 'fess up. What happened?”

“
Nothing!”

“
I told you not to say that! Let's hear it.” Tracy looked at her for a moment, then the light bulb lit.

“
You slept with him!”

“
I did not!”
Not exactly, anyway.

“
Why does he look at you like he's seen you naked and wants to see it again?”

“
He hasn't seen me naked!”
Yet

Tracy wasn't convinced. “What happened?”

Sophie gave up in defeat. “When he brought the estimate over last night, things got a little…carried away.”

Looking intrigued, Tracy asked, “How carried away? And did it involve more sugar?”

She didn't know how to word it. “Carried away as in…an orgasm with clothes on?” Sophie didn't know why she phrased it as a question. There was no doubt. It was exactly what happened.

Damn. I'm way too old
to keep blushing like this.

Tracy grinned wickedly at her. “His, yours, or both?”

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure the guys were still out of earshot, Sophie whispered, “Mine.”

“
And you didn't tell me? Why didn't you tell me?”

Sophie nervously tried to tuck her hair behind her ear before realizing it was already pulled back in a ponytail. “I don't know. I guess because I'm still sorting
it out in my head. Besides, he works for us now.”

Tracy looked at her like she was speaking Swahili. “What's there to sort out? You're overthinking things, Sophie. Anyway, he's building a wall, not baking cookies with you. Reed's not working for us permanently so if you're worried about ethics, forget it.
”

Biting her lip, she confessed, “He says he wants to get to know me again.”

Tracy peeked
over Sophie's shoulder and grinned. “I'd say he hit the ground running.” Sophie couldn't stop thinking about what could become a serious issue. “What about his mom? That woman hates me with a passion!”

“
Do you want my advice?”

She knew Tracy was going to give it to her whether she wanted it or not.

“
Yes. Well, I guess so.”

“
Let him get to know you again. You're not a teenager anymore. If his
mom gets bitchy, tell her where to go! Reed is a grown man anyway. He'll like everything there is to know about Sophie Brandon, the woman.” She winked. “Besides, from the looks of it, he likes you enough already. Go with it and enjoy yourself.”

“
Go with it?”

“
Yes, ma'am. Go with it.”

They went back up front to where the men were working on the wall frame. Reed was marking and measuring as he
had a one-sided conversation with Ben. Ben, for his part, seemed to be listening but only shrugged or nodded at Reed while they worked.

Sophie saw Ben sneak a glance or two at Tracy when he thought no one was looking. It was sort of sweet. Still waters ran deep with that one. Reed peeked over at her a time or two, but there was nothing sneaky about it. He didn't hide his interest in her at all.

Keeping his promise to behave himself, he did his job and remained professional. But from the sexy looks he kept giving her, Sophie knew that sooner or later there would be some misbehaving. She just didn't know which one of them would misbehave first.

* * * *

By nine o'clock the guys had yet to call it a day. Tracy had already gone upstairs to experiment with a new cupcake recipe before heading
to bed. Sophie sat at her table in the back and caught up on paperwork. She also scheduled the orders that still needed to be filled on her calendar. From the way her workload was piling up, Sophie was going to have to hire someone part-time to help run the counter. Soon. The long hours were catching up to her and she was exhausted.

Even with the whirring noise of the saw and the popping of the
nail gun, her eyelids began to droop. Before she knew it, a hand was on her shoulder gently shaking her awake.

“
Sophie? Honey, you need to go home and get some rest.” Reed leaned over her and moved her hair out of her face.

How long had she been asleep?

“
What time is it?” She tried to stifle a yawn and failed. Sophie hoped to God she didn't have an impression of a keyboard on her face. She
rubbed at her cheek just to make sure. Reed stood up and checked the time on his phone. “It's almost ten o'clock. Ben and I still have about an hour's worth of work before we're done for the night.”

Earlier, Sophie was going to wait for them to finish for the evening and then lock up behind them. Now, she didn't think she could wait another hour. She knew Max had to go out and she needed to be
up at four.

Reed seemed to sense her dilemma. “Sophie, I don't know how comfortable you are with this, but if you have a spare set of keys for the shop, Ben and I can lock up when we're done.”

She was so tired, Sophie had to think about where she put them.

Reed mistook her hesitancy for doubt.

“
You can trust us, Soph. Ben and I have worked plenty of night jobs before. We usually get a set
of keys from the owner and lock up after ourselves every night. It's more convenient for everyone.”

Sophie stood and rummaged in her purse. Once she found her key ring, she removed the ones for the bakery. She gave him a sleepy smile and placed the keys in his hand.

“
Of course I trust you. I wouldn't have hired you if I didn't. Take my keys since I have a spare set at home.”

Reed took hold
of her hand and placed it over his heart. He had sawdust on his shirt, but Sophie didn't mind the rough texture under her palm. Her fingers flexed a bit over the hard muscle underneath it. She just couldn't help herself.
As usual.

A dark five o'clock shadow grazed his jaw and made his lips look fuller against the contrast of it. He embodied the sexy stereotype for a handyman fantasy. Only sexier.
His light brown eyes looked down at her as if he were making a solemn vow.

“
Thank you for trusting me. We'll clean up our work and make sure the doors are locked up tight. When we're finished with the entire job, the keys will be returned to you immediately. Oh, and speaking of keys, remind Tracy to remove that key from under her mat.”

“
I told her about the yahoos.” That made Reed's lips quirk
up. “I'm not sure she did it though. Maybe you could tell Ben to talk some sense into her. I think she likes him a little bit.” Reed squeezed her hand and placed it to his lips for a soft kiss. “A little bit, huh? I have a feeling he might like her a little bit too, but I'm more interested in how much
you
like
me
.”

Sophie stood on her tiptoes and put her other arm around his neck to pull him
down to her. When their lips met, she kissed him until he held her so tightly that she was practically lifted off the floor. After they broke apart, they were both breathing hard. She settled back on her feet and rubbed a hand down his chest to his stomach. His abs tightened like they had last night. Sophie made a mental note that he was sensitive there.

She turned to gather her purse and laptop
and walked around Reed. Sophie smiled at him from the door. “I think it's safe to say that it's more than a little bit. Good-night, Reed. I'll see you tomorrow.”

“
Oh, no you don't!” He took her laptop from her and ushered her through the door. “You can't kiss a man stupid and not expect him to walk you to your car.” Reed waited for her to open her car door, then handed the computer back to her.
Before Sophie could get behind the wheel, he placed his hands on either side of her and boxed her in. “Besides, this gives me another chance to kiss you good-night.” He leaned down and touched his lips to hers in a slow erotic slide. It was hot and utterly consuming. It was also over much too quickly for her peace of mind.

After one more soft kiss, he moved far enough away for her to close the
door. “Be careful driving home.” Sophie stared up at him and shook her head at the smug look on his face. He knew that this time she was the one who'd gotten kissed stupid.

“
Good-night.” She started the engine and hoped like hell she didn't look as loopy as she felt.

* * * *

A few days later, Reed checked in at his office to make sure everything was running on schedule.

Keith was sitting in
his chair fielding a phone call. “No, tell him we're not breaking ground there until Friday. I don't care if he wants it done sooner. We have schedules for a reason.” There was a pause as he listened. “Fine, I'll be back at the site around two o'clock. Tell him to come see me at the mobile office and I'll tell him myself.”

He hung up the phone and looked at his brother. Keith scrubbed a hand
through his shaggy blond hair in frustration. “I'm telling you Reed, I hate this shit. I like it better when you're in charge.”

Reed took a seat. “Keith, don't sweat it. You're doing a good job and the Falls Condos are going up right on schedule. You can handle this one on your own.”

Keith sighed, “I'd rather be hammering something.” He gave a sly grin. “Speaking of hammering something, how's
it going with Sophie?”

Reed was out of his chair before he knew it. He glared at Keith. “Don't you ever talk about her like that!”

He put his hands up in a sign of surrender. “Okay! Sorry man, I didn't know you were serious about her.”

Reed tried to get his temper under control. “You don't talk about a woman like that.”

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. “This is a new side of you. Usually,
when it comes to women, you could take them or leave them. Personally, I like to take them, then leave them.” He laughed at his own joke but sobered when Reed didn't laugh too. “But seriously, I'm sorry. I didn't know.”

Sighing, Reed ran a hand over his face. “I didn't mean to overreact. When it comes to Sophie, I…” For once he was at a loss for words. “I don't know what the hell I'm thinking.
It's just different with her. Got it?”

Keith answered. “Got it.” He broke the tension with, “So, do you get free cookies? If you do, man, send some my way.” Making a disgusted grimace, he said, “Mom forced the ones that she made on me and after one bite, I couldn't do another. It got stuck in my throat when I tried to swallow it. I swear it's because my body didn't recognize it as food.” Keith
took a sip of coffee as if to rinse out the remembered taste. “For once, I couldn't eat something and I don't think she believed me when I told her I was full.” Then his expression brightened. “But I did remind her how much you like cookies.”