15. Chapter 15
Chapter 15
S ophie stood in her compact office, poring over the large planning board that dominated one wall. She was reworking the strategy for the remaining nine columns. It wasn’t that she believed the plan required an overhaul, but this morning, Ms. Birdie had sent her an urgent message asking her to present another outline of her plan, this time with a tighter focus—one that allowed for all the interviews to be completed in one month.
Sophie couldn’t help but think the one-month thing had something to do with Stone. Had he formally requested to be done babysitting her? On the bright side, if she completed all the interviews within the month, the candidates could all participate in the bachelor auction that was coming up soon.
On the other bright side, being done in a month meant kicking her grumpy shadow out of her life once and for all. Only, there was a slight problem. And it absolutely wasn’t that she couldn’t stop thinking of the kiss. Because she could…if she wanted to. She just hadn’t wanted to, yet.
The problem was Sophie wasn’t good with details. She was more of a big-picture person.
She liked the freedom to dream of new possibilities over being committed to just one path. Not possible if she had to pick her men in the next couple of days and line up interviews ASAP.
Sophie pushed her worries away. Things would work out the way they were meant to—they always did. Right now, all she needed to worry about was preparing a detailed list of the full names of those who had nominated a guy for her consideration and giving it to Ms. Birdie.
The magazine’s owner had given Sophie an edict that if the person nominating another did so under the pseudonym anonymous, Sophie was to toss the nomination.
This sucked big time because there were some excellent nominations that fell in that unfortunate category.
Especially for the sketchy background nominations where ninety-nine percent of the nominations fell under the category anonymous. This also presented Sophie with another problem. Frankie had insisted that Mr. Sketchy—whoever he turned out to be since Antonio was a hard no—be featured in next month’s edition of Naked Runway.
Currently, Sophie was mapping out qualified leads on color-coded index cards, each hue representing a different type of book boyfriend. Strands of colorful yarn connected the cards, creating a vibrant spiderweb that would eventually help her chart her and Stone’s day-to-day journeys across Manhattan over the next month.
A sudden knock at the door spun her around, half-expecting to find a delivery person burdened with the life-size cardboard cutouts of her book heroes. Each figure was a crafted replica of how the members of the Book Boyfriend Connoisseurs Club imagined the protagonists from the featured books would look. She was particularly excited to lay her eyes on the life-size Miles from Emily Henry’s Funny Story. That character had been living in her daydreams ever since chatting about him with Stone.
Instead of a delivery person, Stone stood there…just as rugged and unyielding as always.
“Hi.” Her gaze darted across his face, searching for any signs of regret from their kiss. Was that why he was here? Had he come to quit? Remind her for the gazillionth time that he was a bachelor for life? That would explain the intense stare. “You’re not dressed for the job,” she blurted.
He cocked his head. “You gave me the day off.”
“Oh, right. Sorry.” What was it about him that made her say stupid things? “Then why are you here? Did you miss me?” Like that. That was a stupid thing. Of course he hadn’t missed her. Gah.
“Like a toothache,” he deadpanned.
“Very funny. I’m not that bad.”
“You’re right. You’re not,” Stone said, looking almost contrite. “Ms. Birdie sent—” He paused mid-sentence as Sophie stepped aside.
She followed his gaze and realized she’d given him his first clear view of her elaborate boyfriend board. “Do you like it?” she asked, sounding like a proud momma.
“Ms. Birdie mentioned your board, but words didn’t do it justice.” He edged closer, his shoulder grazing hers in the cramped space, and he scanned the detailed connections on the board. They heard the loud sound of a car backfiring somewhere, down on the streets below.
“I know it looks chaotic, but it helps me organize my thoughts,” Sophie explained, watching his reaction closely.
Instead of replying directly, Stone plucked a tiny sticky note from the board and read the scribbled words aloud. “Don’t fall in love with him.” He turned to her, one eyebrow arching. “Who’s him?”
“One of the Cinnamon Roll candidates,” Sophie admitted, her cheeks warm with embarrassment. “The nomination described him as almost too perfect to be real.”
“And if he turns out to be everything promised, you don’t want to fall in love with him?” Stone asked, a hint of teasing underlying his serious tone.
She shrugged. “At least not until after the auction. Ms. Birdie was clear—all these guys must agree to remain on the market to be featured and to participate in the auction next month.”
“Why not just buy him at auction if you fall for him?” Stone suggested, his voice laced with a blend of humor and practicality.
“Because all my disposable income is currently helping to keep Poppie in his apartment.” And bribing the superintendent not to toss him out because he’d forgotten to pay last month’s rent on time.
“That’s a good granddaughter of you. He’s lucky.”
“I’m the lucky one. He took me in when I had nowhere else to go.”
“Then you’re both very lucky to have each other.”
“Highly agree. He’s the one who taught me to live my best life,” she said, then paused. Was she revealing too much? She didn’t want Stone to think she was hinting for help or pity or that she was a flake. “Did you drop by for a reason?”
Stone’s expression went extra-grumpy.
“What? What is it?” she exclaimed. “Just spit it out. If you’ve come to tell me you’ve given your one-month notice, I’ve already figured that much out.”
“There’s a credible threat against you. We need to discuss your security,” he said, his voice not quite as steady as normal.
“Like on a scale of one to ten, with one being it won’t happen and ten being it’s happening, where does credible fall on the scale?” she asked.
“Eight,” Stone replied immediately. “Until the threat is eliminated, I’ve been instructed to ensure you have constant protection.”
“The threat is actually against me?” Sophie asked, her mind reeling.
He nodded.
Panic fluttered in her chest. Stone had once mentioned—in a variation of his standard I’m never falling in love spiel—that threats against him could lead to threats against those he loved. Would the same hold for threats against her? Was Poppie in danger? Of course they would, and Poppie would be.
Damn it. Poppie had survived the danger she’d inadvertently brought to his doorstep with her last boyfriend, and now she’d brought danger to Poppie again. Things were—
Stone must have seen she was spiraling because he quickly offered, “I have a secure two-bedroom condo. I propose you move in temporarily, and I can keep a closer watch on you there.”
“I can’t just leave Poppie, especially not now,” Sophie said. There had to be a better solution. But what? Think. Think. Think.
“I was afraid you’d say that.” Stone ran his fingers through his curls. “The only other option is for me to move in with you.”
An image of what that would look like instantly formed. Nope. Nope, nope, nope . “What’s your backup plan? You said you always have a backup plan?”
He blinked. “That was my backup plan.”
“Oh. Surely, you can handle the threat without completely disrupting our lives. Like what if I added additional locks to my door, and a security system, one that includes cameras?”
“That’s something we can work toward, but until it’s in place and approved by Ms. Birdie, you and I are stuck together,” Stone asserted, his tone leaving zilch room for argument.
Sophie sighed. Time to switch gears. Figure out who’d made the threat. “It’s probably Antonio. The idiot’s way of making sure if I do happen to have a backup copy of the image of him, I never share it.”
“Do you have a backup copy?”
“No.”
He nodded. “He is the obvious suspect. Which is a little too easy from where I stand, but I’ll investigate the possibility as soon as I get your word you won’t leave your office until I return to pick you up and take you home.”
If it wasn’t Antonio, then who? Some weirdo who had heard about her mission? But why? “How long will you be?”
“Not long. Do you have plans? A date?”
“Of course I don’t have a date. I’m supposed to be your girlfriend for the foreseeable future.”
“Right. Right,” he said, sounding distracted.
“I don’t like to leave Poppie unattended for more than three or four hours. Sometimes he gets confused if I’m not there to anchor him. I planned to head home by three.”
Stone glanced at his watch. “I can make that work. I need to go home, grab a go bag, and fill my partners in on the situation. They can dig into the threat while I get what we need to make your place more secure. Until then, stay put.”
“Deal,” Sophie said. “And Stone, thanks for understanding.”
“No problem. It’s what I’ve been hired to do.”
“Speaking of that, Poppie will think my boyfriend has moved in with me. You’re going to have to sell the sweet guy persona. I refuse to allow him to worry one moment that I’ve fallen for the wrong type of guy again or that my life is in danger.”
“Sweet guy. Got it. Anything else?”
“Don’t be too sweet. I don’t want his heart to be crushed when we split.”
“What’s considered too sweet?”
“Roses. Daisies are fine. You can cook but try not to look too efficient. And no nicknames. He’s a sucker for nicknames. Sort of like I am with grand gestures.”
“Got it.”
“And you’re going to have to come up with a good reason why it’s been two months since our last date.”