Sophie's Playboy (34 page)
Authors: Natalie J. Damschroder
- Stevie started to speak, but Melina stopped him with a hand
- "What, another puppy?" Sophie threw her hands in the air. "M
- They nodded. The station manager remained as stone-faced as
- Melina, who held the door for Sophie as she walked out, had
- Sheesh. She'd had no idea radio people could be so mysteriou
- Luckily, she didn't have long to wait for her surprise. Half
- The next day he filed suit against her.
- "The jerk is suing for half-a-million dollars. Half-a-millio
- The door opened quietly, but she didn't look up from her art
- "The evil attorney—and I know, that's a redundancy—has been
- She heard the click of the switch that turned on the second
- "Come on, Sophie, you can't put all the blame on the lawyers
- Sophie stared at the man on the other side of the console. H
- She doubted the station had realized just what a surprise th
- The man in front of her was Biff Cornwall.
- CHAPTER 5
- "Stupid people," she murmured, still staring. He grinned bac
- "What does that mean?" he asked.
- Sophie snapped back to herself. "Sure, juries give big award
- "So you think juries are stupid?" he asked.
- "Well, think about it. Attorneys don't want to pick people w
- "You're harsh, Sophie."
- "Well, there's one reason juries are equally to blame."
- "What's that?"
- "They hope to set a precedent so when they steal someone's T
- She closed her mike and leaned back in her chair. Melina was
- "How on earth did you find him?" She waved a hand at Parker.
- Stevie tugged at his shirt collar. "Well, we had to search—"
- "That's not important, Stevie," Parker interrupted. He didn'
- Sophie stared at Parker. Biff. Whatever. "You are so arrogan
- Biff had the nerve to look surprised. "Arrogant? About what?
- "Never mind." She waved her hand between them. "What the hel
- "You can call me Parker."
- "Where did Biff come from?"
- Melina tapped on the glass and motioned five seconds.
- "I'll explain later." Parker/Biff slid his headphones back o
- "Okay. Biff. Parker. What is going on? Start with your name—
- He somehow managed to maintain his air of arrogance even whi
- "My name is Parker Cornwall. My father was Biff Cornwall, an
- Sophie sat next to him. She was still frowning, and Parker w
- "Your father is dead?" she asked.
- The question seemed to come out of the blue. Parker forgot h
- "You said he was Biff Cornwall."
- "Oh. We're not that close."
- "So, should I call you Biff or Parker?" She tilted her head
- And maybe more.
- "Parker," he said, deliberately injecting intensity into the
- * * * *
- Sophie shivered every time she remembered Parker saying his
- "Stop it," she ordered, marching up the steps to the station
- She, Parker, Stevie, and Melina were meeting to discuss the
- That dating was out of the question.
- Sophie doubted that one was on the official agenda. If anyon
- Not again.
- The other three met her at the top of the stairs and turned
- "Am I late?" She glanced at her watch as they went down the
- "We thought it would be easier to talk at the diner," Melina
- "Ah." Sophie got it. When a big new advertiser came on board
- The diner, however, was quiet between the lunch and dinner r
- "Make sure you don't talk over each other," Stevie cautioned
- "We need a new hand signal," she joked. "Break it up." She p
- "Never insult the listeners, Parker, that's one of Sophie's
- "One of my biggest pet peeves," Sophie said. "You'll hear it
- Parker turned his attention to her. Sophie suddenly felt lik
- "Why do you care about insulting the listeners?" he asked. "
- "I want a little higher-class audience than the so-called 'b
- "We have a promo to record for one of the clients," Stevie w
- Uh, oh. "Build on what?"
- Cough. "Well, on the theme, so to speak, of the nature of th
- "What, exactly, is the nature of the advertiser's business?"
- Stevie flushed, then named a local hotel famed for its getaw
- More than uh, oh, Sophie thought. "And the nature of the ad
- Stevie shuffled his papers and avoided her gaze.
- "Stevie. The ad?"
- He sighed and slapped his papers onto the table. "The annive
- Sophie rolled her eyes. "If we just met, it can't be the ann
- "Well, it wouldn't be the real Sophie and Parker, you'd be a
- Sophie finally agreed to do the ad—and there would be more,
- "Sophie, the audience heard Parker courting you over the pho
- "But he's been quiet for two weeks!"
- "I was out of the country," Parker said. "I couldn't time th
- "The listeners won't notice it," Melina said. "They won't re
- Sophie folded her arms. Then she realized something and turn
- "None of the callers asked me about Parker during those whol
- Melina tried to look innocent. Stevie defended her. "We need
- "Fine." Sophie slammed her coffee mug to the table, not both
- Parker's tone was light when he said, "Ouch, Soph."
- She tried to hide her panic. Most people wouldn't understand
- Stevie fought valiantly to the end. "Sophie, if restaurants
- Sophie stood and started gathering her things. It was almost
- "Those are work. Not dating. I'll do what I need to for work
- "If we start really dating, then break up, one of us might h
- * * * *
- That afternoon's program went incredibly well given all the
- And toy he was, Parker couldn't deny it. Sophie played with
- If he didn't know better, he'd think she was flirting with h
- They'd wrapped the show and left the building before she spo
- "The show was good, wasn't it."
- Though she'd made it a statement, he answered anyway. "It wa
- Sophie chuckled. "You think he gets a bonus if ratings go up
- "Could be. It would be good business."
- "And you know all about good business, don't you?"
- Her derisive tone was back. Parker didn't know why she disli
- "I know about fun, too. Want to go get a drink?"
- She hesitated, eyes narrowed, lips pursed just enough to mak
- "Where?" she asked.
- "Victory."
- "What?" Her head jerked up and her eyes blazed in the late d
- "No, I mean Victory is where we're going." He took her arm a
- * * * *
- He'd been right, of course. Sophie hated that about him. But
- "Left! Right! Left!" She couldn't help yelling as she spun t
- Parker slid his paddle just a bit too far to the left and th
- "Yes!" Sophie jumped up and punched both fists over her head
- Parker sat back in his cushioned chair and lifted his whiske
- "So what?" Sophie gulped some of her rum and Coke and scanne
- "Come on." She tugged Parker out of his chair, which was imm
- "Come on, where?"
- He resisted her tugging so she pulled harder.
- "Come on let's play volleyball. We'll be on the same team an
- They did, but Sophie learned quickly the value of thinking a
- She could hear Parker breathing, grunting a little as he sla
- "Yes!" The computer team missed Parker's slam and they pause
- "Great set, Soph."
- Parker turned his head and she looked up into eyes that seem
- "Sophie." Her name was a whisper, almost unheard. The music
- "Ready!" the machine called to them and they swung back to t
- She missed the ball and the game ended.
- "Enter us for the high score," she told Parker and ran off t
- This would not do. Being here could be construed as breaking
- She stepped to the sink and turned on the water to wet a pap
- "He's not your type," she told her reflection. The words ran
- * * * *
- You moved too fast. Parker cursed and downed the last of his
- Which, admittedly, he really wanted to do.
- It had been over a hundred degrees in the shade today, and S
- What was he going to do? He worked with her now. Okay, so he
- Sophie was a challenge, and even the lightest-headed women k
- The bartender put a bowl of pretzel sticks in front of him a
- He reached across the guy next to him at the bar and grabbed
- When his thoughts began to slip into long-term consideration
- Sophie emerged from the bathroom and happiness rose without
- He was in deep trouble.
- * * * *
- Sophie was in trouble.
- She saw it coming across the main room the day after her out
- But her heart didn't care about definitions. It didn't care
- Hell.
- She hit the intercom button. "Melina, want to get dinner wit
- Double hell.
- Not only was she getting all worked up over a playboy, she w
- "Sure, Sophie. I'd enjoy that."
- Sophie figured she'd manage to get through the show, but she
- As the jingle took over, Parker removed his headphones. "Sop
- "Ready, Sophie?" Melina's entrance interrupted Parker. Sophi
- "Thank you. He was going to ask me to dinner and I was going
- "And that would be bad because...?" Melina slung her oversiz
- "Because I don't want him."
- Melina hooted. "Yes, it's very clear how much you don't want
- Sophie grimaced. "I hope he doesn't see it."
- "I doubt it. It's all over his, too."
- They turned the corner at the end of the block and Melina ge
- "Personally, I think it is wonderful. You two have a flammab
- Sophie eyed her. "If you think it's so great, why did you re
- Melina laughed. "It is also good to keep men guessing. A cha
- The aroma of exotic spices permeated the air and Sophie's st
- "Give me your honest opinion," Sophie said. "Is the show imp
- Melina chuckled at her analogy. "It is most definitely impro
- Sophie looked at the spicy food on her plate and suddenly di
- Melina shook her head as she swallowed. "Decisions are not m
- Sophie perked up. "What kind of schedule?"
- "Supplementals. You have three solo ads to tape this week, t
- "Already?" Sophie pictured the little production booth and h
- Melina winked. "Quite comfortably. You also have your first
- Sophie grinned. "Really? A live action broadcast? Stevie sai
- "Apparently the new independent movie house thinks you and P
- Sophie toyed with her curry and nibbled a slice of naan. She
- Well, the hangup was easy to explain. She'd start there.
- "When I had been working at MMT for about four months, one o
- "Were you?"
- "No! Ick." Chuck had never interested her that way. And in t
- "Anyway, it took a long time before everyone stopped resenti
- Melina nodded and swallowed her last bite. The bus boy repea
- A momentary flash of Sophie on a date with Stevie—the guy wh
- "He's not my boss, no. But people could still say that datin
- "Therefore the perception of your success being contingent u
- "Exactly."
- "Baloney."
- Sophie stared at her. Melina shrugged. "That is an excuse. Y
- Of course there was. Sophie hadn't really cared six years ag
- The loss of Parker could be devastating.
- Sophie didn't want to dive into that analysis. It was smart
- "Are you sick?" Sophie asked. Melina just shook her head. As
- They paid their bill and wandered onto the street. Boston at
- Restlessness be damned. She was happy, and she'd stay that w
- CHAPTER 6
- "Joe, I need to call you back," Parker told his vice preside
- Joe grunted his disapproval. Never a very cheerful man, he w
- Still, Parker was having difficulty keeping his mind on his
- "Biff, I don't care what your reasons are for doing this dam
- Parker rubbed at the throbbing in the center of his forehead
- He flipped his phone closed and shoved it into his pocket ju
- At the first break he snagged Sophie on her way out the door
- "Can we meet at my office tomorrow instead of here?"
- Sophie looked down at him and raised her left eyebrow again.
- Parker leaned back in the squeaky chair and stretched. "Of c
- "Well, yeah."
- He shook his head. No wonder she thought of him as a playboy
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