“Yes. I saw it this afternoon. It’s nice. I think they will be serving the barbecue there tonight. People can then go inside and be seated at a table or dine at one of the new tables outside.”
Excitement ran high. People not associated with the TCC came from miles around to watch what had gained a reputation as the best firework display in the state. Sophie would be happy to watch the fireworks from her little back porch and enjoy a little R & R at home instead.
“Okay. I’m finished. There are plenty of other volunteers to cover anything that might come up.”
Most of them only wanted to get a look inside the vast TCC clubhouse. Only a chosen few had ever seen the interior since it was established more than a hundred years ago. Only recently had the club begun to allow select women to become members and while Clay said it was a good thing, many members still didn’t like it.
With the warmth of his large hand on her lower back, Clay accompanied Sophie out of the building and to his car.
Once they were both seated in his Porsche Spyder, Clay looked toward her and smiled.
“I’ll pick you up at eight. The orchestra will be playing and the fireworks are slated to start at nine.”
His words brought up memories of the last time they’d attended a social function.
“I’m not going to the fireworks. I’ll just watch them from my house.”
“Then I’ll watch with you. I have to make an appearance at the club but I don’t have to stay long. Would nine o’clock be okay?”
“Clay, I’m tired and all I want is a quiet night starting with a hot soak in the tub. I imagine most of the women that will be here tonight would love your invitation.”
“I doubt you’re right about that, but at any rate I’m not asking them. I want you to come with me and see the fireworks from the club. I want you to be my guest.” His voice lowered. “I want to be with you.”
“We are together five, sometimes six days a week,” she said and laughed. “Surely you’re getting tired of my company by now.”
“Never.”
“Clay...” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to be with him. She dreamed of him every night and had recently begun to daydream about him at work, for heaven’s sake. It wasn’t that she cared about who in the town saw them together or the rumors of a relationship between them that had no doubt spread after the masked ball. After the gossip that had flown hot and heavy in her hometown, a love affair with a billionaire was nothing. But Clay didn’t know about those other rumors. And she wasn’t ready to tell him. She wasn’t ready to discuss that with anybody.
It had been really hard to carry on with her life after the night he made love to her two months ago. Seeing him every day in his office, answering his phone, taking his messages, being polite to the women who called him, making excuses when he wouldn’t call them back. He said there was no one else he wanted to talk to unless it was business. About half of the callers didn’t want to disclose their business to her. She’d tried and all they said was it was personal. When she filled the top of his desk with message slips, he had glanced over them before tossing them into the trash. At seeing her astonishment, he always responded with a quick wink and that smile that made her heart go ten times faster.
Eventually other rumors replaced the talk about her and Clay and since their relationship really had nowhere to go, she preferred to keep things just as they were.
“Sophie, it’s a fireworks display. We’ll probably eat hot dogs off paper plates—”
Her eyes flashed to his face to see if he was joking. The mischievous smile he fought to hide told her he was. “Not hardly.”
“And watch a beautiful display of lights in the sky while we dance.”
He rested his right hand on the stick shift of the elegant Porsche and caught her eyes with his. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I don’t want to make you the subject of the town’s gossips. But I do want to be with you where no phones or computers get in the way.”
He pulled the transmission into first gear. “At least think about it. “
She nodded and silently called herself every type of idiot.
In a vehicle that was known to go from zero to sixty in under three seconds, it didn’t take long to flash through town and pull up in front of her small cottage. Clay killed the engine and looked longingly at Sophie.
“Okay. Fine. If you’re going to make this a big deal, I’ll go.”
“I’ll pick you up at eight.” He flashed that sexy smile in her direction.
Sophie nodded. She didn’t know if Clay was smiling because he’d won the argument or because he was happy that she was going out with him that evening. In the long run it really didn’t matter. She would go. People would talk. She just hoped that the gossip would never reach anyone in her hometown in northern Indiana. Clay was worried about her reputation. He really should be worried about his own.
“Eight o’clock,” she confirmed. “Thanks for the ride home.”
He waited until she reached the front porch, then was out of sight before she closed the door. Cowboys did like their toys.
The new black stretch limo slowed as it came to a stop in front of the small blue-and-white cottage. Clay had invited Sophie to be his date for the Independence Day celebration and found himself holding his breath until she accepted. He knew several of the men who had called for her over the course of the week and he was pretty sure she’d not accepted any invitation. While he was not willing to commit to another woman—even Sophie—after his ex-fiancée, neither was he willing to take a chance another man would slip in between Sophie and him. She’d hesitantly accepted. In fact, since he had made love to her two months ago after the charity ball, she’d been as fleeting as a deer during hunting season. And so she should have been. Because he was pursuing her. And he would have her again. It was only a matter of time.
After getting out of the limo, he made his way toward the fence that separated her lawn from the street, opened and closed the gate and steeled himself to keep from running to her door. He had never been as infatuated with any woman as he was Sophie Prescott. She radiated sex from the top of her beautiful auburn hair to her rosy-red toenails and everything in between.
He knocked on the door. When she opened it, his mind took her in and his body responded. Sophie was stunning. Wearing a low-cut above-the-knee dress—consisting of layers of navy blue chiffon with tiny glittering rhinestones—and heels that sparkled, she looked stunning. Her long, deep auburn hair had been pulled back at the sides held by matching silver hairpins and diamond earrings. Real or not, it didn’t matter. She was spectacularly beautiful. His easy carriage began to stiffen and every muscle in his body suddenly went on high alert. He could feel the heat in his loins and wondered how in the hell he was going to get through this evening with Sophie beside him. He’d thought he was ready to show her a nice evening with fireworks, accompanying orchestra and dancing beneath the stars, but at the moment he could only picture her in his bed, the sheets tangled, their bodies hot and sweaty. The light perfume she wore blended perfectly with her own natural scent, which didn’t help the situation at all.
“You look...beautiful.” He stated the obvious, then cleared his throat, which had suddenly choked up.
“Thank you.” She grinned. “You don’t look half-bad yourself.”
Together they walked to the limo. He helped her inside and within seconds they were off. He could feel her eyes on him. It was as though she’d never seen him before. He had become accustomed to women reacting to him in different ways, especially since the accident. He was used to everything from starry-eyed fascination to desire, sometimes amazement and often a degree of fear. He’d always had a no-nonsense manner that worked well for him in the arena and subsequently in business. But this was Sophie. She saw through the bogus facade.
Unlike with most women he encountered, he couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. They had worked closely together for five years, were in and out of each other’s office for most of that time, eventually in and out of each other’s life. When she’d applied for the job, she was fresh out of college and felt the role of an administrative assistant would bring her training into play. He couldn’t understand how a degree in education would be put to good use if she became a secretary but he’d finally agreed to hire her on a temporary basis. It soon became apparent that he’d been right: she was more than qualified for the position.
His attraction to Sophie had been evident even then and looking back he didn’t understand why he’d ever become engaged to Veronica. She’d been born into money and prided herself on getting whatever she set her mind to. Clay had been fool enough to take the bait. He couldn’t believe half of what came out of her mouth but she had had her good points, primarily in the bedroom, and apparently, fool that he was, it had blinded him to see only what she wanted him to see. As his popularity grew along with his bank account, women like her had come out of the woodwork. As a man who’d come from nothing, he’d let his ego get in the way of his common sense.