True to her words the interior was brilliantly painted and well lit. The front room was large and though sparsely decorated there was a touch of artful taste in the furniture. The front room had a high desk that nearly concealed a short graying woman who stood to see who opened the door. Sophia left his side and went to the desk. “Hi, Laura.” From behind the desk, a tall man who was equally graying with a light gray sweater stood. He stood three inches taller than the woman. “Oh, George is here too. Good morning.” “Morning Sophia. You’re here a little late today.” “Yeah, sorry about that. I brought someone with me today, he’s going to help,” she replied as she gestured towards where Matt stood watching her with a quizzical expression on his face. “Help?” he echoed. She winked at him in reply and turned to Laura who was staring at Matt with a dazed look on her face. She glanced at Sophia for a moment then turned back to Matt as though trying to remember something. Then she grabbe
Sophia laughed at the near high-pitched tone of his voice. “It’s not a daycare, it’s a shelter for dogs.” She swung the metal door and the whines and barks became louder as furry bodies attached themselves to the thin metal bars that prevented them from slipping out of their kennels. Sophia left his side and started to fiddle with the keys that unlocked each kennel. Crouching low in front of the first one she slipped her hand in and rubbed the snout of a Golden retriever that was eagerly trying to lick her hand.“Hi, honey,” she crooned as she slipped a key into the keyhole and opened the door. The golden was quick to latch itself on her leg, trying to reach up to bump its nose against the hand that Sophia held out. As she struggled to pry the dog’s claws off her Laura breezed past him and took the keys from her, releasing the other dogs. There were about 8 in number and they all clustered around Sophia who was laughing hard as she tried to free herself from their eager paws. Laura le
After two grueling hours of pure torture, Matt was ready to shake Sophia until he wiped that smug smile from her face. He should be offended. In truth, his pride was hurt. He wasn’t used to being on the receiving end of discomfort but Sophia was now putting him in that situation. After the dogs were groomed and fed, she led them out into the open space again and played with them. She flitted around him, all smiles, as she told him he was doing great when she urged him to join her in the game ball game she played with the dogs. There was a vast difference in her demeanor as compared to when he invited her to the Emeralds Elite, she seemed more comfortable here than she did there. In fact, she barely spent twenty minutes with him before she left but here she seemed to be a lot at ease and laughed as he awkwardly tried to dodge tripping over furry bodies running around and between his legs.He should be angry. Usually, he was in charge, he set the dates, picked the place, pleased the wom
She slipped the shoe off his feet and set it aside. He watched her fingers as he worked on the lace of his other shoe and handed it to her. She had nice fingers and he imagined them wrapped around his cock. When she looked up at him his cock strained against his pants and he longed to pull her closer to sample her luscious lips. “I hope they don’t stink,” she said as she pushed the shoes aside. He had to force the image of her naked beneath him away from his mind and its place was the German shepherd that had tried to pee on him. “I can get rid of them if they do.” She raised her brow as she stood. “I’m sure you can,” there was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “It’s not like they cost hundreds of…” “Thousands actually.” “Okay,” she drawled. “Expensive shoes. But Bobby doesn’t seem to care about that.” Laughing she bent to pick up the dog that was tugging at one of his shoes. Picking the shoes she took them away to what he guessed was the bathroom and in the time she was gone he to
She tried to step out of his hold grateful for the distraction but his grip on her waist was firm and his eyes lingered on her lips as he held the phone to his ear.“What is it?” he spoke without taking his eyes off her. He listened to the voice at the other end for a moment then his mouth thinned into a hard line. “I didn’t send for you.” He waited again as he listened to the voice on the other side and with everyone second that passed the heat in his eyes dissolved until his eyes became ice blue still he held her against him.Sophia dropped her hand from his chest awkwardly looking down at his shoes which she still held until he ended the call and slipped his phone back into his pocket.“I have to go,” he said. There was a trace of disappointment in his voice. He took his shoes from her with one hand while the other slid slowly away from her waist.“Oh.” Why did she sound disappointed too?His finger traced the edge of her chin. “I will not forget you, Sophia.”And he left with his
Wednesday brought the rain. Ice-cold wind blew against the Lowe property, above dark clouds covered the sky promising even more rain. Regardless of the gloomy weather excitement coursed through Matt’s veins as he sat in the back seat of his car with his secretary beside him reading reports of his company’s achievements in the past week. He could barely hear what Lawrence was saying. His eyes were drawn to the other cars pulling into the Lowe property, each held company owners and representatives seeking to gain control of the Lowe family business.The car in front of him was Noel Greer’s. Middle-aged, tall athletic figure with striking good looks, three times divorced. Noel was old in the business and from Matt’s earliest memories he remembered the rivalry between him and his father. After his father’s death, there were speculations of Noel’s involvement in the murder but those speculations were simply rumors that died down eventually. Not that Matt cared much about the rumors, for al
“Good night you guys,” Sophia called out to Nate and Mike as they went in the opposite direction. She was beyond tired as she opened the door to her apartment. Bobby cracked an eye open as she put on the lights but made no attempts to rise from his bed for pets. She took off her shoes and crouched in front of him. “Hey, little guy. Aren’t you happy to see me?” He wagged his tail and lazily licked her hand before going back to sleep. Laughing she patted his head and stood. Phone in hand, going through her messages as she went to the kitchen for some water she stopped at a message from her sister. ‘I’m dying, Sophia. Will that get you to come over?’ Sophia rolled her eyes at Abigail’s theatrics. She knew from her sister’s husband that she was doing well. Abigail’s exaggerations were one of the reasons she avoided her sister’s calls and messages. Shaking her head she started to drop her phone on the counter when it buzzed. It was Matt. Willing her treacherous heart to slow down she
“I swear you buy every orange juice in stock, Sophia,” Rosa said to her as they set their lunches on the table. “I still don’t get why you only drink orange juice.” Sophia picked up the bottle of orange juice and took off the cap. “Because vitamin C aids the absorption of calcium and calcium helps you grow taller.” Mike, Stella and Rosa burst into laughter. Sophia ignored them even though they were drawing the attention of other people to their table. She glanced at Nate who was smiling but wasn’t joining the others to laugh maniacally. “You are not going to laugh?” she asked through clenched teeth, holding back her own laughter. “I mean you’re not wrong…” “Where did you hear that?” Stella asked gripping the edge of the lunch table trying to keep from falling off. Shrugging Sophia picked up her sandwich and took a bite. “My elder sister. She used to tease me about my height. You guys stop being silly,” she said trying to keep a stern face. “Besides, orange juice is delicious.”