“Nah, I can type it in and by the time I’ve finished with my notes I have a picture in my head.”
“Balderdash.”
“Balder what?” he asked, his words almost lost in his laugh.
“It’s what my grandfather used to say. Means nonsense.”
He repeated the word slowly and then laughed. “You’re something, you know that?”
“I do,” she said with a clearly faked superior tone, then she started laughing too. “I think I like to write things down because it slows my thinking and gives my hands something to do.” She looked at him as he typed on the keyboard. “And I want to help you and I don’t know how,” she finally admitted, fiddling with her pen.
His hands stilled on the keys and then he looked at her. “You are helping.”
She believed him, even though she knew he’d not be able to explain either. Her stomach flipped and she recognized something she hadn’t felt in a very long time, much less trusted.She was attracted to this dangerous man, and if she wasn’t mistaken, he was attracted to her as well.
CHAPTER 9
Sophie watchedas Ephraim tapped away on the computer. He’d started making a list of men and women he’d worked for in the past that would have no compunction about targeting him for secrets he kept. While she trusted him to do the right thing, she also trusted him when he said he’d been loose with what he called the straight and narrow.
She got out her schedule book and studied it for a few minutes before making some calls and texts. Within fifteen minutes, she’d cleared the rest of the week and weekend. She’d have to work extra long days next week but right now, she didn’t want to have a repeat of the car chase they’d engaged in when she’d tried to work. Additionally, she couldn’t put others at risk and that would happen sooner or later.
A ping from the burner phone sent her pulse racing. According to Ephraim, only one other person had that number, his boss. And with him being married and having children, a message on Christmas day didn’t bode well for them.
Ephraim studied the phone’s screen for a few minutes then set the device down on the table beside the laptop. He turned toward Sophie and, with a grim expression, said, “We know why they’re targeting you.”
She sat up on the couch where she’d been trying to look busy with the planner and laid her book down. “Well?”
“Evidently, they saw us on the island, saw you helping me. They think we’re lovers and I’ve shared things with you. Secrets.”
It took a minute to sink in then she shrugged. “I sort of figured something along that line. We’ve been together almost nonstop since I found you on the island.”
“But if I’d had a BP guy come out when I first thought of it,” he started and she held up her hand to stop him.
“I insisted you didn’t. And it may not have made any difference anyway, if they thought we were together.”
They looked at each other for a moment and tension filled the room. Sophie had acknowledged her attraction to Ephraim and his expression confirmed her suspicions that he was in fact attracted to her. “It doesn’t have to mean a thing,” she murmured, realizing too late she’d said the words aloud.
Ephraim smiled wryly. “But it does, doesn’t it?” He stood from his seat at the counter and advanced on her. When he stood in front of her, he reached down and took her hand and pulled her to her feet. She resisted his tug on her hand, but he persisted until he had her in his arms and she dreaded the moment she’d have to tell him she didn’t want anything more than friendship. But he didn’t push her into a kiss, didn’t say anything. He just held her in a soft embrace, not tight and binding, but loose, giving her room to retreat if she needed.
They stood there, in front of the sofa for a short time, held in each other’s arms then he drew away and looked down at her. “I’m sorry I’ve pulled you into this.”
She shook her head and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “I made my choice days ago. You didn’t pull me into anything.”
He turned and looked at the computer then shut the laptop. “I don’t think I can concentrate on anything right now.”
She nodded and headed to the kitchen. “Let’s make some cocoa and watch sappy movies.”
They made the drinks with a powdered mix as Sophie told a story of her mother trying to make the homemade mix when she was a girl. “My father had tried to help her in the kitchen one time and accidently filled the sugar bowl with salt. She ended up using that in the hot cocoa. It was horrible!” she laughed at the memory. “We went to the powdered mix after that.”
“You said your parents are in South Carolina?”
She nodded and poured the heated mixture into two mugs. “Our family has lived in Florida for four generations, but when they decided to retire, they looked for a place closer to doctors and everything. My dad has some health issues, so they needed shorter drives. Anyway, they went instate and found out pretty quickly they didn’t like the increased traffic and vacation influx. So, they found a small community near the South Carolina shore and love it there. And best of all, they have less than an hour’s drive to specialists.”
She set the dirty pot in the sink and led the way to the sofa, where she sank down with the television remote in her hand. She looked up with a smile. “Action adventure Christmas movie or sappy Christmas movie?”
“You need ask?” he sat at the other end of the couch, unwilling to push the attraction that zinged between them. Along with that, he could feel a real current of fear from Sophie. He sincerely hoped it wasn’t because of the things he’d told her about his past. Even so, it was something they’d have to address, if he wanted to start a relationship with her, and he did.
“So, you grew up in Florida?” he asked and watched as she did some searching on the television for a movie.
