saucepan right where it had always been and set it on the stove. “You know, just because we’re pretending to be dating doesn’t mean you have to stay. You could say something came up with work.”
“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I missed your parents’ anniversary party?”
“How did you—never mind. It’s your job to know these things.”
Jake stepped closer, making it almost impossible for Sophia to keep her focus on the milk swirling in the small pan. “This is not part of my job.”
You’re not hoping that he’ll, I don’t know, have some crazy explanation and that you guys can pick up where you left off—
Maybe Theresa was right not to pass on the message that Jake had called, Sophia thought, suddenly worried she might end up doing exactly what her cousin feared. That she’d be willing to believe anything Jake said as long as it meant picking up where they left off. Did he know, she wondered in pained embarrassment, how close she’d been to falling into bed with him? That if he’d pressed just a little, she would have gladly given in? And did he think even now it might be that easy again? That she would be that easy … “What about the mugger?”
“What?”
“The would-be purse snatcher and your timely rescue. Was that part of the job? Did you hire him the same way someone hired you?”
“No! No, I did not hire that guy!” He swore beneath his breath. “I would never do anything to purposely hurt you or anyone.”
He’d purposely lied, purposely fooled her into coming far too close to falling for him, and if Jake didn’t know how much that had hurt, Sophia wasn’t about to tell him. Her thoughts were still spinning, and her mind didn’t know how to reconcile the man she thought she knew in St. Louis with the man she didn’t know at all standing in her mother’s kitchen. Unfortunately, judging by the awareness buzzing along her skin like an electrical current, her body didn’t care. Whenever, wherever, whoever Jake Cameron was, she wanted him.
Crossing her arms over her stomach, she pointed out, “I wasn’t hurt.”
“You were scared,” Jake said. “I wouldn’t have put you through that,” he vowed, his handsome face showing only sincerity and honesty.
She longed to believe him, to trust in every word he said. Which only proved she was an even bigger fool than Jake thought. “So it was only a coincidence then?” she mocked. “You showing up right when I most needed a hero?”
After the way Todd treated her—lying, cheating, turning his back when she needed him most—Sophia had longed to believe nice guys still existed in the world. And Jake had so perfectly fit the bill.
From the moment they met, she’d seen something in Jake. Something in the golden flecks in his eyes, the faint wrinkles at the corners, the crooked smile that showed a flash of straight, white teeth. Or maybe it had been the hint of his aftershave, a woodsy scent that reminded her of home—of comfort and safety—and she’d been so sure Jake Cameron was a man she could trust.
“I’m no hero, but I’m not a total jerk, either. It may not make any difference, but I care about you. If you don’t believe anything else, I need you to believe that.”
If he was acting, Jake deserved an Oscar, but Sophia was no longer willing to take anything at face value. “How am I supposed to believe anything you say after the lies you told?”
“I told you the truth before I left.”
Another thing that left her as confused and uncertain as everything that had gone on before … “Why did you tell me the truth? Why not just say you had to go out of town and leave it at that? It wouldn’t be the first time a guy stopped calling.”
“I didn’t want to lie to you.”
Tossing up her hands in exasperation, Sophia had to battle to keep from yelling, well aware of her parents sleeping down the hall. “You’d been lying to me all along!”
“That was the job. Once it was over and I had the information I needed, it was personal.” His gaze skimmed over her—from the top of her tousled head to the too-thin pink T-shirt and drawstring pajama bottoms she wore to her bare feet—striking sparks that reminded Sophia of just how personal things had almost been. “And I didn’t want to lie.”
His words wove a twisted kind of guy logic no woman could possibly comprehend, and Sophia didn’t even try to figure it out; she was far too busy trying to understand why an explanation that made no sense could still start to melt the defenses around her heart.
Sophia woke the next morning to the familiar sound of her cell phone. Eyes still closed, she reached toward the bedside table where she normally plugged the phone into its charger overnight. Her hand waved in thin air—no phone, no nightstand. Her eyes flew open and she remembered. Home, her parents, her brothers … Jake.
She groaned, tempted to pull the covers over her head and pretend the whole world away. But as Theresa’s ringtone continued to play, Sophia knew she might as well face the music. Rolling over to the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed, she pulled the phone from her purse and brought it back beneath the covers with her.
She barely managed a muffled hello before Theresa said, “You were supposed to call.”
“I know, Theresa, and I’m sorry. I am. It’s just that I got home and …”
Was Jake Cameron really here, in her childhood home, pretending to be her boyfriend? It seemed like so unreal that Sophia was afraid to say the words out loud in case it all turned out to be a dream. And, she admitted, even more afraid it wasn’t a dream …
“Let me guess,” her cousin filled in when Sophia trailed off in silence, “does Jake Cameron have anything to do with leaving you speechless?”
“How did—”
“Do you honestly think after the way my mother flaunted the fact that she’d met Jake before your parents that your mother wouldn’t call her to say he’s staying with them? With you? That your boyfriend is staying with you? Sophia—”
Struggling to push aside the blankets with one hand, she said, “I can explain, Theresa.” And she could … only the explanation that still sounded crazy in her own head would likely sound even more so to her cousin. “He arrived before I did, and of course, my parents welcomed him with open arms. They had no reason not to, thanks to me,” she tacked on quickly before Theresa could. “Jake played along because he didn’t want to say anything before I had a chance to talk to them.”
“So how did they take it?” her cousin asked, her voice filled with sympathy.
Sophia bit her lip before admitting, “We’re, um, kind of postponing that part of the truth until after the party.”
Anticipating her cousin’s reaction, Sophia held the phone well away from her ear. Even so, she heard Theresa’s response loud and clear. “What do you mean postponing? And who is we?”
“You don’t understand, Theresa. For the first time in years, my family is looking at me without a boatload of concern and worry in their eyes. Like they’re seeing me as Sophia instead of as their little Fifi.”
Theresa’s
