Chapter 1
Sophie Holbrook-Grayson shoved the last remnants of her clothes in her travel bag before shrugging into her navy blue wool coat, meticulously fastening each button. Locating her cell on the nightstand, she skimmed over the touchscreen and dialed a number all too familiar to her. As she waited for an answer, she grabbed her laptop bag and swept it over her shoulder, her travel bag following suit. She took hold of her suitcase and just before she departed, she assessed her dorm room one last time assuring that she left nothing behind.
Certain that she’d packed everything, she closed the door behind her and headed down Wexler Hall, passing students she wouldn’t see until mid-January of next year. Sophie waved goodbye to those she knew as she pushed the glass door open.
"Hello?" was the breathless reply two minutes later from the person on the other line.
"Where are you?" Exiting the sleek black car parked out front, the chauffeur made haste and quickly grabbed Sophie’s bag, all except for her laptop carrier, which she carried with her. Just before entering the interior of the car the doors to Wexler Hall burst open, revealing a tall, blond haired man, with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder and a wide smile for Sophie.
"Sorry, I had to take care of a few things." He handed the chauffeur his solitary bag before following Sophie inside the warm interior of the luxury car, soundly closing the door behind him.
"I thought you'd changed your mind." Pocketing her cell, Sophie reached over and dialed the temperature knob a few degrees higher, immediately a blanket of warmth enveloped them. She took off her coat before giving her guest her undivided attention.
"Did you want me to change my mind?" Devastatingly green eyes stared back at her, acute and focused, their intensity never ceased to astound Sophie.
Those emerald eyes had been the very first thing Sophie had noticed about Andrew the first time she'd seen him in Mr. Alpine's biology lab. Andrew Hunter had been her second semester biology T.A. and out of almost every girl in the class of fifty or so students, who'd believed themselves besotted by the ruggedly handsome man, none had been more so than Sophie.
It'd taken two weeks, however, after their initial introduction for Sophie to muster the courage to approach Andrew, and, even then, she'd needed to come up with a logical excuse to get him to even acknowledge her presence. So she'd purposely failed one of her labs and once class had ended, Andrew had asked her to stay a few minutes. As nervous as she’d been that day, nothing could've possibly stopped her from getting to know Andrew.
With a noncommittal shrug, Sophie looked away. "You could've gone with Allie; I would've understood."
He chuckled, setting his moss green eyes on her. "You're a bad liar. You hate Allie and had I decided to spend the holidays with her, you would've never spoken to me again." The dreaded ex-girlfriend who could never let go, Allison Grant, was a thorn in their fledgling relationship.
After their breakup, she'd dubbed herself Andrew's best friend and as such she was a constant presence in their lives, a malignant pest who refused to go away. Andrew found her antics amusing while Sophie thought she was a pain in the ass. Allie was one of the few things that they didn’t agree on.
"Your number would've been deleted right about now and your clothes soaked in bleach, waiting for you in the snow."
"Ouch," Andrew leaned forward with a wounded smile, "didn't know you were so vindictive."
Just before she succumbed to the onslaught of Andrew's kiss, Sophie grinned and whispered, "You have no idea."
Like their first kiss all those months ago, Sophie’s heart thundered against her chest, the sweet anticipation paid off the very moment Andrew's tongue coaxed her lips apart sensually seducing her own into compliance. It was languorous kiss, filled with sweeping tongues and teasing lips and when it was over Sophie breathlessly sighed and pressed her forehead to Andrew's. "It's a good thing you're a good kisser, otherwise, you'd be one very sorry boyfriend."
Andrew caressed her cheek. "I've never seen this side of you; you're usually so reserved. It's hard to know what's going on in that pretty head of yours."
"Would you rather I keep my mouth shut?"
"No, I like seeing you jealous and emotional; it means you actually care about this old man,” Andrew lightly teased and released Sophie when she pulled away.
"If I didn't care, I wouldn't have invited you to my parents' home for the holidays," she said candidly, smiling to soften her response. "I've never brought a guy home with me, should be interesting."
"What have you told them about me?" he queried.
Sophie looked away with stained cheeks. "Not much, just that you've lasted longer than the rest."