Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
“ T his is ridiculous.”
Sunny glanced over her shoulder at Reid who was crouched behind her in the dark. She hadn’t planned on volunteering to help him figure out what was going on with Sophie. Especially when she didn’t like the man and he had made it perfectly clear he didn’t like her. But the look of desperation in his eyes when talking about Sophie touched something in her heart. While he might not like her and she might not like him, it was obvious he cared for Sophie and was struggling to be a good guardian.
What kind of a person would she be if she ignored his plea for help?
Not to mention that it gave her something else to think about beside an empty gallery that needed to be filled with artwork.
“Lower your voice,” she said in a hushed whisper. “Do you want Sophie to hear us?” She turned back to the trailer and the window they’d been waiting to open for the last twenty minutes.
She felt Reid shift behind her. His scent wafted over her as it had been doing ever since they’d crouched down in their hiding spot. It had taken her a while to figure out all the components. Definitely, horse and leather, but there were also hints of Irish Spring soap, Downy fabric softener, and some kind of musky cologne. The night of the party, there had been no cologne. She was positive. And she would have thought that if he wore cologne, he would wear it to a party. So why not then and why tonight when all he was going to be doing was spying on his niece?
Before she could come up with an answer, his warm breath fell against her ear and her panties melted. She’d always had this weird thing with her ears. It was like they were directly connected to her lady parts. Of course, not one man she had dated had figured that out. So there was no way Reid knew he was making her wet just by speaking low and sexy.
“This is a bad plan. I’m not going to hide in the dark like some silly teenager spying on my niece.”
She tried to nonchalantly scoot away from him before her panties incinerated. “It’s not spying. It’s merely keeping a teen from doing something she really shouldn’t be doing.”
He shifted closer, his breath on her ear feeling at least ten degrees hotter and his manly scent twice as consuming. “Which I can do by simply confronting her about the texts I found on her phone.”
“And like I told you numerous times, that will only tick her off even more and make her want to get back at you by having sex with JC. We need to get more information before we decide what to do.”
“We?”
“Fine. You. And could you back off a little? You’re crowding me.”
“In case you didn’t notice there’s not a lot of room behind this rock. If I move farther away, Sophie will spot me when she climbs out the window. If she climbs out the window. I’m not so sure you know what you’re talking about.”
She turned to him, then wished she hadn’t. He was close. So close the brim of his cowboy hat brushed the top of her head. She tried to scoot back, but the rock was behind her. So all she could do was stare into his gold-drenched eyes and try to act like she didn’t feel like a stick of butter left out in the hot sun.
“Believe me, I know what I’m talking about. I’ve snuck out of more windows than I can count.”
Those eyes narrowed. “What? Did you try to sneak out of every window in the big ol’ mansion you grew up in?”
She wanted to laugh, but she wasn’t about to let Reid know how she grew up. “I’ve always loved a good challenge . . . or maybe more of a good thrill.”
There was a subtle shift that happened as soon as the words left her mouth. A shift she could sense more than see. A charged undercurrent filled the space between them. No man had ever made her tremble in her life and yet there was no other way to describe the quiver that ran through her as she looked into his eyes that had turned from a champagne gold to a molten gold.
“Are you cold?” he asked in a husky whisper.
Cold? She was about as far from cold as a person could get. She was burning up. Burning up with want for the man crouched in front of her. When his work-roughened hands closed around her bare arms and rubbed up and down, the trembling turned into more of a quaking.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t like her and she didn’t much like him. She wanted him and she was tired of acting like she didn’t. Angling her head beneath the brim of his hat, she moved toward those stern lips that had parted on a soft exhalation.
But before she could taste them, Reid’s head jerked up and his eyes widened. “Shit! Sophie.” He pushed her down behind the rock.
She’d had men on top of her before, but never with so much awareness. Her brain seemed to register it all at once. The sculpted planes of his chest pressed against her cheek, the cold hardness of his belt buckle pressed against her stomach, the tensing of his thighs on either side of her hips as he held most of his weight off her.
She had wanted him to touch her and, now that he was, she should be burning up with desire. But strangely enough, her desire had faded to a low throb while another emotion consumed her.
Calm.
Sunny had never been calm in her life. But that was the only way to describe the feeling that settled over her as she listened to the strong thump of Reid’s heart beneath her ear. The closest she’d come to the feeling had been when she’d tried float therapy and spent time in an enclosed pod of warm water, just floating there and listening to her own heartbeat. But that had only calmed the antsy feelings inside her for a few minutes before she’d freaked out and buzzed for the attendant to let her out.
But there were no antsy feelings now. All she felt was a strong sense of security. Like nothing could ever harm her as long as she remained right where she was.
Which explained why she felt so disappointed when Reid pushed to his feet.
“Come on.” He helped her up. “She’s headed to Cooper Springs. As soon as I find out who this JC kid is, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind.”
She was so dazed by her strange reaction to being in Reid’s arms that it took a moment for his words to register. By the time they did, he was heading into the trees and she had to race to catch up with him.
She grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop. “You can’t just go charging in there and cause a scene.”
“So I should just let her have sex with some yahoo?”
“No.” She nibbled on her thumbnail. “We need to stop them without turning it into another thing you have to discipline her for.”
“She should be disciplined for sneaking out.”
She sighed. “Look, I know you think I’m just a spoiled rich girl. But I’ve been in Sophie’s shoes. I know what it’s like to feel like your guardians don’t care about you.”
“I care about Sophie!”
Sunny shushed him. “I know you do, but she doesn’t feel that. So you have to lighten up a little. In fact, it might be best if you let me handle this and you go on back to the trailer.”
“Let you handle it? You’re not her guardian.”
“Exactly. So I can be more of her friend. And kids listen to friends more than they do parents.”
He studied her with those penetrating eyes for a long moment before he nodded. “Okay.”
She blinked. “Okay?”
“You have to be better at talking to her than I am. But I’m not going back to the trailer.”
“Fine. But stay out of sight. I think I might have a plan.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course you do.” He hesitated. “Did you hear that?”
She listened. “I don’t hear anything.”
He shook his head. “It was probably just the wind. So what’s your plan?”
She smiled. “I’m just going to be ditzy me.” She winked at him before she turned and headed through the trees. As she grew closer to Cooper Springs, doubts started to sneak in.
What was she doing? She didn’t know anything about raising kids? Especially when she’d had such bad parental examples. But when she stepped through the trees and saw two figures standing by the edge of the springs, she knew she couldn’t back out now. Sunny had had sex too soon and still regretted it. She had to at least try to help Sophie make a better decision.
She quietly moved closer so she could hear what they were saying.
“. . . but I thought this was what you wanted,” JC said.
“It is,” Sophie replied. “But you didn’t have to jump on me as soon as I showed up and start ripping my clothes off.”
“I ripped your shirt?”
“Well, no, but you could have the way you were pawing me.”
“Okay . . . well . . . then maybe we should take our shirts off.”
“Yeah, maybe.” But Sophie made no move to take off her shirt. And she jumped back when JC yanked his T-shirt over his head, making it quite obvious that she was having second thoughts about her decision.
Sunny knew exactly how she felt. All her life, she had jumped into things without thinking them through. More than once, she’d wished someone had been there to stop her. Not hesitating, Sunny strode out of the shadow of the trees, then stopped suddenly as if totally surprised.
“Oh!” She placed a hand on her chest. “Y’all scared me half to death. Sophie? Hey!” She walked over and pulled the young girl into her arms. She could feel her body shaking. Since it wasn’t cold, Sunny figured it had more to do with nerves than temperature. She rubbed her back a few times before she drew away and smiled. “So I guess y’all had the same idea I had—a late-night swim.” She cocked an eyebrow at JC who looked like he was about to pee his pants.
“Uhh . . . yeah . . . we were just going for a swim.”
Sunny held out a hand. “Hey, I’m Sunny Whitlock. And you are?”
The kid moved his shirt to his other hand and gave Sunny’s hand a brief shake. “Jared Carmichael.”
“Nice to meet you, Jared. I hope you don’t mind me crashing your swimming party.”
“Uhh . . . no . . . actually, I was just getting ready to go.” He pulled on his shirt. “I have baseball practice early tomorrow morning.” He lifted a hand at Sophie. “See you later, Sophie.”
Sophie didn’t say a word until Jared was gone. Then she melted down on the ground and covered her face with her hands. “Nothing goes the way I plan. Nothing!”
Sunny sat down on a nearby rock. “I know what you mean. None of my plans worked out the way I’d hoped either.”
Sophie lowered her hands and looked at her with stunned disbelief. “What are you talking about? Everything goes your way. You have tons of money and a big family who adores you and throws you the best birthday party ever and gave you your own cute apartment and your very own gallery. You have everything!”
“It does look that way, doesn’t it? But just because something looks perfect that doesn’t mean it is.”
Sophie rolled her eyes. “So what’s so unperfect about your life? Did you break a nail this morning? Ran out of the flavored coffee you like?”
“I don’t like coffee.” She held out her hands. “And as you can see, I chew my nails to the quick—a nervous habit I can’t seem to break.”
“What do you have to be nervous about?”
She hesitated before she spoke the truth. “My family finding out I’m nothing but a fraud and all the paintings I said I sold are actually in a storage unit in Houston growing dust.”
That seemed to get the smug look off Sophie’s face. “You lied to your family?”
“Don’t act so shocked. I believe you’ve been lying to your uncle about everything.”
“That’s different. I’m a teenager. You’re an adult.”
“Adults lie too. They’re just better at hiding it.”
Sophie scowled. “If you were so good at lying, my uncle never would have found out about me running you off the road.”
“That was my bad—not because I told people, but for lying in the first place. That was wrong. We should have told your uncle the truth about what happened. You driving while texting could get people killed—you included. You needed to be held accountable for your actions.”
“Well, I was. I can’t have my cellphone for an entire month. Which I think is way too harsh.”
“If you had run someone off the road and killed them, the penalty would be even harsher.”
Sophie huffed. “You sound like my uncle.”
“Well, he’s right.”
Sophie glared at her. “So now you’re siding with him? Just so you know, he thinks you’re an entitled rich girl who doesn’t know the value of money and is too stupid to come out of the rain.”
Sunny couldn’t help glancing back at the trees. “He said that?”
“Yeah, and a lot of other mean things too. So I wouldn’t be siding with him if I was you. He hates everyone. He just likes horses and stupid cows.” Sophie got to her feet and picked up a pebble, throwing it with all her might at the springs. It made a big splash before sinking to the bottom. “And he really hates kids.”
“Maybe he doesn’t hate kids. Maybe he just doesn’t understand them.” Sunny got to her feet and picked up a pebble. With a flick of her wrist, she tossed it at the springs and watched as it skipped across the glassy surface in moonlit ripples.
“Hey, how did you do that?”
“My brother Corbin taught me. It’s all in the flip of the wrist.” Sunny picked up another flat rock and held it out. “Hold it like this and try again.”
Sophie took the rock and tried again. It skipped once before sinking. “It sounds like your brother is fun.”
“Actually, Corbin was a lot like your uncle before he met his wife, Belle. He didn’t have a lot of time for fun. He was too busy trying to make money to take care of me.”
Sophie turned and stared at her. “Where were your parents?”
She skipped another stone. “My parents are two people who really don’t like kids . . . or each other for that matter. When they got in fights and separated, they would pawn me and Corbin off on whatever relative would take us.”
“That’s shitty.”
Sunny nodded. “Yep. It was pretty shitty. You think moving once and having to make friends at a new school is tough, try doing it eight times.”
“Eight times?”
“It might have been seven. I lost count. But it doesn’t matter. What matters is that your uncle didn’t try to pawn you off, Sophie—even when he doesn’t understand the first thing about taking care of a teenager. He kept you and he’s trying his best to make you happy and give you a good life. So maybe you could help him out a little and try not to be so hard on him.”
“Why do I have to be the one who is nice to him? Why can’t he be nice to me? He’s the adult. I’m just a kid who feels all . . . icky inside. And I don’t know why!” She burst out in tears.
Sunny pulled her into her arms and spoke in a soft voice. “Oh, honey, don’t cry. You feel all icky inside because your mama died and you’ve been thrust into this new life with an uncle you don’t really know. Not to mention, you have a bunch of teenage hormones racing around inside you, making you feel anxious and confused. But take it from someone who knows, doing bad things isn’t going to make you feel better . . . at least not in the long run. It might make you feel better at the time, but then it just makes you feel more icky.”
Sophie drew back, her cheeks wet with tears. “What bad things did you do?”
Sunny hesitated, wondering just how much she should share with Sophie. She had already shared too much. But then she realized if she were going to help the teenager, she’d have to gain her trust. And the only way to do that was to be completely honest.
“I painted an extra t on the But on the Nothin’ But Muffins sign and then almost peed my pants laughing when people drove by and did a double take.”
Sophie’s eyes widened before a giggle escaped. It was nice to see the solemn teenager smile. “You did that?”
She nodded. “I also stole a pair of the mayor’s huge heart-covered boxer shorts off his clothesline and hoisted them up the flagpole at the town hall.” When Sophie laughed harder, she continued. “And I stole Mrs. Stokes’s Cadillac out of her driveway and parked it out in the middle of Mr. Milford’s corn maze—I had a driver’s license and wasn’t texting while I did it, I might add.”
“Oh my gosh, you were a hellion.”
“Something I’m not proud of, Sophie. I did a lot of things I regret.” She hesitated. “One of them was having sex before I was ready. Now I don’t know what you were doing here tonight with that boy, but whatever it was, you didn’t look like you were ready for it.”
Sophie looked away and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. “I just wanted someone to like me.”
“Yeah, well, like and lust are two different things, honey. If you get them confused, you’ll only end up getting hurt. Take my word for it.”
Sophie looked back at her and nodded. “Please don’t tell Uncle Reid. He doesn’t even know I snuck out. In fact, I better get back before he discovers I’m gone.”
Sunny should have let her go, but Sophie seemed so alone and lost, she couldn’t do it. Sunny knew the feeling of not knowing where you belong in the world. Or if you belong in the world.
“Wait, Sophie.” When she turned, Sunny shrugged. “Since you already snuck out, it seems a shame not to do something a little wild.”
“Like what?”
Sunny smiled. “Have you ever gone skinny-dipping beneath a—” She looked at the sky. “Semi-full moon?”