Page 74 of Head Over Heels

“Of course I am, now what are you going to do about it?” Charlie’s voice was full of smugness.

Ryder played with the mouse on his desk, thinking. He needed to make a decision, right here. Right now. He was either in or he was out.

He thought of her, looking up at him with those big brown eyes, the kitchen at Maddie’s that night, the way she took a sledgehammer to the garage door and yelled at the television.

He thought of Cheryl, the kind of woman he’d been attempting to date since he moved to Revival. He hadn’t even remembered to call her. How could he with Sophie on his mind? How could any woman compare to Sophie when she was right next door?

Yeah, she’d leave. As much as he’d love to delude himself, Sophie wouldn’t stay in Revival. So, yes, he’d crash and burn and go down in a blaze, but so what? Women like Sophie came around once in a lifetime. Better to have her for six months than never have her at all.

He’d made a promise, one he had to stick to, but that didn’t mean he had to make it particularly easy for her.

He sat forward and put his elbows on his desk. “First, I’m going to give her a chance to miss me, and then I’m going to take her on a double date with Bill and Cheryl.”

A slow smile spread across Charlie’s face. He nodded. “Interesting strategy.”

He shrugged. “With Sophie, it’s got to be.”

* * *

After a miserable day, she drove up the driveway to find Ryder, shirtless, cutting his hedges. As he clipped away with big garden shears, she gritted her teeth. His muscles flexed and bunched in the late afternoon sun, making her mouth water and her heart ache. She’d done the right thing, she could tell because the words had been so hard to say. She lay against the steering wheel and watched him.

Skin golden, he gleamed with sweat.

Her mouth watered.

He swung to look at her.

Across the yard, their eyes met.

She held her breath.

They said nothing.

He nodded.

She nodded.

Finally, she got out of the car. She didn’t have the energy to fight with the garage door, so she grabbed her bag from the passenger’s seat and started the trek to the house when he called, “Sophie.”

Her heart leapt into her throat as her body surged in response to her name. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”

With the shears he pointed at her car. “It’s supposed to rain tonight.” Then he turned back toward his task without a backward glance.

Her shoulders sagged. She watched the way his shoulder blades moved under his skin, fighting the urge to drop her stuff and touch him. She dragged her attention away and trudged inside, sagging against the now-closed door. She’d deal with the car later, after he’d gone and no longer presented such a temptation.

Throat tight, she closed her eyes. All she wanted was to cross the yard and tackle him to the ground. Snarl and bait him until he consumed her.

She wanted something else too. Only, she had no name for what it was she craved. All she knew was he was the man to give it to her.

It was in the way he looked at her. Like he had plans. Understood things. Like he wasn’t afraid to satisfy her.

She banged her head softly against the door. She was doing the right thing. If it hurt like this now, what would it feel like after months?

She took a couple of deep breaths and dropped her work bag on the kitchen table before digging her cell phone out of her purse. She needed to call Penelope. Her logical, practical friend who’d agree with all of Sophie’s sound, adult reasoning.

She pressed her name and kicked off her shoes before padding into the bedroom. The phone rang and she unzipped her dress, shrugging out of it and lying down on the bed when Penelope answered.

The second she heard her friend’s voice, tears slipped from the corners of her eyes. “Pen?”