9. Chapter 9
Chapter 9
T he following morning was unusually quiet in Stone’s condo as he sat broodily looking out at the city.
He’d not been surprised at being pulled from duty. Ever since meeting Sophie, his glitching magic had magnified.
What had started as nothing more than minor sputters and random sparkles had grown into weather glitches and power outages when he and Sophie touched. The council, who tracked these things, had decided action was needed. No fieldwork of any kind for him until the matter was resolved.
Stone had never abandoned an assignment, and for the first time to be his protection of Sophie made him irritable. Somehow in the two short weeks of working with her, his opinion of her had shifted.
He no longer thought of her as an annoying fluff assignment. Her laughter, her relentless optimism, the way she looked at the world as if it were a book filled with endless adventures—they had completely disarmed him.
His phone lit up. He grabbed it and grinned when he saw who’d sent him a text.
Sophie: Good morning. Ms. Birdie lined up three perfect candidates for my first columns. Looks like I won’t need a bodyguard for now. How are things with your family?
Stone hesitated, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. He hated texting. If one wasn’t careful it ended up being nothing but an on-going chat that wasted precious time.
Then again, he had asked her to keep him abreast of what Ms. Birdie had wanted to speak about just in case it had nothing to do with him being pulled from bodyguard duty.
Stone: News here too. Off duty for a bit. Trigger Finger Fumble.
He made the term up. To reveal the true name given to his injury, Wand Rub, would be to reveal his secret.
Sophie: Trigger Finger Fumble? That sounds too adorable for your grumpy ass. If I were you, I’d tell everyone you have tactical twitch. Of course, once you resume bodyguard duty, we’ll for sure refer to it as something cutesy to stay with your cover.
Stone chuckled softly, the sound surprising him. He typed a response.
Stone: Like what?
He could live with tactical twitch. In fact, that’s exactly what he would start using.
Sophie: Snuggle Sprain. Nuzzle Niggle. Caress Crick.
His eyes paused over the last two words. The phrase’s reference both unmistakable and startling. Then again, she was the same woman who’d pronounced her intent to break his romance cherry. So why be startled over implied finger fucking?
The thought of caressing her sex caused him to harden—an involuntary reaction. He was used to maintaining control, his emotions and physical responses disciplined from years of training. Yet here he was, affected by a simple text, a hint of innuendo from Sophie stirring something within him that he hadn’t anticipated.
It was unsettling, how she could make him think of things beyond the professional boundaries they were supposed to maintain.
A new message came through.
Sophie: You still there? Or have you perished from your injury? Trigger Finger Fumble isn’t fatal, is it?
Stone: It’s survivable.
Sophie: Good to know. Now that we’re not professionally involved—at least for the next couple of months or so—what are your thoughts on our remaining reading buddies?
Technically, she was right; they were no longer professionally involved. But also technically, he was on deck—injury permitting—to be her bodyguard once she started interviewing some of the more unsavory sorts.
They were in morally gray waters. He didn’t do gray. He did black or white. Right or wrong. Good or bad.
Stone: I have none.
Sophie: I was hoping you’d say that. Our next book will be: The Magnolia Chronicles by Kate Canterbary. What do you say we reconvene this chat thread in say—a week?
Stone: Did I say yes?
Sophie: You didn’t say no. Drats. I lost track of the time. Got to go. Duty calls. Talk in a week. Yours in all things romance books, Sophie
Stone hesitated, his finger hovering. Normally, he’d not allow himself to be manipulated. But he wasn’t opposed to her plan. And agreeing to be her book buddy was not the same as agreeing to that damn torrid fling she’d mentioned. It was a safe reason to experience more of Sophie E. Clark. What did the E. even stand for? He felt like he should know.
Stone: Okay, Stone Cold
CHAPTER
One week later, Sophie pulled her copy of The Magnolia Chronicles off her bookshelf and settled on the couch with her phone.
Sophie: Testing. Testing. Stone Cold are you there? Over and out.
Sophie waited to see if Stone responded. She found herself oddly nervous, realizing she cared a little too much about his reply. Caring too much about a guy with a never getting married stance would be to risk forfeiting her fairytale ending.
Stone: I thought you’d never ask.
Sophie: I’ll be honest, I’m a lot relieved right now that you replied.
They’d not set a time to reconvene, only that they would in one week. She’d meant to text him a time but had been sidetracked with the interviewing of her first book boyfriend candidate, his brother, which had been a blast. Her first column for Naked Runway was now off her plate.
Stone: Relieved?
Sophie: I thought you might have decided to ghost me. I can be a little pushy when I really want something, and I sort of ambushed you into being my reading buddy.
She hesitated before sending, wondering if she was too honest. Stone had a way of making her feel exposed, in a way that was both exhilarating and terrifying.
Stone: Speaking of that. Why exactly did you want me to be your partner in reading crime? Don’t you have a whole club of romance readers at your fingertips?
Sophie: Absolutely. In fact, my best friend, Donna and I met last night to discuss book boyfriends who excelled at dirty talk.
Stone: Explain.
Sophie: Dirty talking book boyfriends is a whole other side-trope of book boyfriends.
Stone: And you like them?
Sophie: I’ve never had a dirty-talking lover, so they intrigue me. I’d probably fall off my stilettoes if a guy ever ordered me to get down on my knees.
She blushed just typing that, imagining Stone being that guy. Her heart sped up, and she had to remind herself falling for him would be the worst idea.
Stone: Maybe if you broadened your horizons and ventured away from your cinnamon roll heroes, you’d get your dirty-talking cherry burst.
Sophie: As with all decisions in life, there are pros and cons one must weigh. What did you think of the meet cute in The Magnolia Chronicles?
Stone: You mean their Sunday dinner?
Sophie: I do.
Stone: It reminded me of something that would happen at one of our family Sunday dinners. I can clearly imagine Clarabelle doing that to any one of us boys. Even though we’ve all taken a blood oath to never marry, she’s determined to see each of us revoke that oath.
There it was again. The reminder that Stone wasn’t the forever kind. She wished she could ignore how much it hurt to hear it.
Sophie: A blood oath sounds extreme. Then again, declaring never to marry is also extreme. Maybe it does require a monumental action to seal the deal.
Stone: Why did you want us to read The Magnolia Chronicles?
Sophie: Because its hero falls under the recently single hero trope, and my next column covers that one.
Stone: Readers like heroes with broken hearts?
Sophie: Adore them.
She bit her lip, resisting the urge to tell Stone he’d become her new favorite kind of hero. The broody grump.
Stone: How did your interview with Ryder go? He clammed up when I asked him.
Sophie: He told me all your secrets.
Stone: I doubt that very much.
The certainty in his reply made her pause. What secrets could he be hiding? Was it something about his past, or perhaps a vulnerability he kept well-guarded? There were so many chapters to him she hadn’t yet read. She pushed away her speculations and focused on teasing him instead.
Sophie: He told me you’re afraid of the dark, still break out in pimples when you eat greasy food, and you can’t pick up a woman in a bar to save your ass .
Stone: LMAO. Tell me about the interview .
Sophie: You’ll have to wait and read about it in my first column just like everyone else. How’s your Trigger Finger Fumble?
Stone: We’re now calling it Tactical Twitch, and the healing process is slow. What’s your tee say today?
Sophie: We believe in the power of the book boyfriend.
She sent him a screen shot of her T-shirt.
Sophie: It’s one of the slogans of the Book Boyfriend Connoisseurs Club.
Stone: Our company slogan is: Guardians of the Innocent.
Sophie: Want me to make you a tee with that on it?
Stone: We try not to let the bad guys know who we are.
Sophie: Gotcha. Care if I try out on you a few of the interview questions I’m considering adding to my book boyfriend questionnaire?
Stone: Are you asking to have your way with me?
Sophie: OMG. You made a joke. There’s hope for you yet.
No reply. Her heart skipped a beat, wondering if she’d said too much.
Sophie: I’m going to take your lack of a reply as a yes to my request. Here’s my first question: If your love life had a hashtag, what would it be?
Stone: #Dirtytalker.
Sophie: Ha. Ha. Be still my heart. What’s in your nightstand drawer?
Damn, she probably shouldn’t have mentioned her heart.
Stone: My passport. A picture of my brothers and I on our gotcha day with Clarabelle. And an item I’m not willing to name at this moment.
Sophie: Let me guess. Condoms, handcuffs, blindfolds…am I warm?
She sent it before she could overthink. Imagining him squirming on the other side of the screen made her grin.
Stone: Duty calls. What book are we reading for next week?
Did duty call, or had her light-hearted flirting shut him down? At least he’d asked about next week’s book. That was a good sign.
Sophie: Anyone But The Billionaire by Sara L. Hudson
Stone: Got it. Is there a secret handshake or anything we do to officially close our book buddy meeting?
Sophie: Since we’re not meeting in person, it will have to be secret words instead of a handshake. How about—Keep the bookmarks handy.
Stone: Or—and hear me out on this one—Dog Ears for the Win.
Sophie: Please tell me you don’t bend the pages to keep your place in a book.
The mere thought made her shudder.
Stone: Ok. I won’t tell you that.
Sophie: Deep Sigh. You truly are not book boyfriend material.
Silence.
She grimaced. The comment had been meant to reassure him she wouldn’t fall for him. Time to end this chat before she blurt-typed something stupid.
Sophie: Keep the bookmarks handy, Sophie the Page-Turner Princess
Thirty seconds later he replied.
Why had it taken him so long?
Stone: Keep the bookmarks handy, Stone the Reader.