Wade (Big Sky Lawmen Book 2) Read online

Well, he’d found a dancing partner. That was a good start.

  Wade wondered who it was. He couldn’t see because his father’s back was still toward him, and with his dad’s large size, Wade couldn’t see around him. However, at that very second he swung around, and Wade did a double take.

  Sophie.

  His dad was slow dancing with Sophie. Not that he wasn’t allowed to, put what were they doing together? How did they get together?

  Wade casually moved Cathy around so it didn’t seem like he was staring at Sophie and his father.

  “Isn’t that your dad and Sophie?”

  “Yes, yes, it is,” Wade said.

  “What’s she doing here, doing with him?”

  “That’s what I’m wondering…not that it’s any of my business,” said Wade.

  “They look kinda cute, don’t you think? Look at the way he’s holding her. Wade, you might end up with your old girlfriend as your step-mother. Wouldn’t that be funny?”

  Wade didn’t see an ounce of humor in it. His dad with Sophie?

  Not in a million years.

  However, he could only watch as Sophie threw her head back and laughed, and then his dad laughed before giving her a squeeze.

  He’d seen enough. He was putting a stop to his father’s foolish behavior before it got out of hand and everyone in Glacier Valley started gossiping about his antics with a girl young enough to be his daughter.

  “Let’s go over and say hello,” Wade said.

  “They probably don’t need us disturbing their time together.”

  “It would be rude if we didn’t.”

  He grabbed Cathy’s hand and pulled her over to where Sophie and his dad were twirling around to the beat of the music.

  Neither of them saw him approaching, which in Wade’s books wasn’t a good sign.

  Wade coughed.

  “Well, son, hello. I didn’t see you. Cathy, you having a good time?”

  “I was,” she said.

  “I ran into Sophie at Nelson’s. We enjoyed a banana split, and then she kindly agreed to come here with me; and we’re dancing off some calories. Not that she needs to. She looks pretty good as she is,” said Bob.

  “Sophie, seeing you’re here and that we haven’t danced for years, how about it?” Wade put out his hand out to her. “You don’t mind me cutting in, Pops?”

  “Not at all. As long as you give me my partner back straight after. Cathy, it looks like it’s you and me.”

  “Wade, just the one dance with Sophie okay?” she whispered in his ear.

  She took Bob’s arm, and they walked away.

  Sophie offered her hand to Wade, but instead he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her in close. She took the cue and rested both her hands on his chest as they moved slowly from side to side.

  Wade looked down at her. She wasn’t dressed half as fancy as the rest of the women here tonight, but she was a million times more beautiful. She glanced up at him as if she knew he was observing her, mentally complimenting her. She stared back at him with those beautiful blue eyes. The luscious pink lips he was so desperate to kiss again. And yes, he was aroused, causing his cock to push against her tummy.

  “You know this is for you, don’t you?”

  “What?” she asked.

  “My erection. I know you can feel it.”

  “It’s not left over from dancing with Cathy?” He shook his head. “Just you, always you.”

  “Oh Wade, what are we going to do?”

  “Soph, I have the answer. Wait here, and I’ll be right back.” Wade made his way through the other couples until he found Cathy and his dad, who were now standing by the edge of the dance floor.

  “You want your dance partner back?” asked his dad.

  “I do, and Cathy, can we step outside and talk?”

  She knitted her eyebrows together and didn’t seem to budge, so he took hold of her elbow and maneuvered her to the door, which he opened, then nodded for her to walk through it. Once they were out in the foyer, Wade took a deep breath. This wasn’t easy, but then being in a relationship you knew you shouldn’t be in wasn’t simple either.

  “Cathy, the last few months have been fun. I’ve really enjoyed your company and being around Max, too.”

  He took another deep breath. He hoped he could do this without her getting upset or hurt, but it needed to be done right here, right now.

  “Cathy, there’s no easy way to say this, but I can’t be in a relationship with you anymore.”

  “You’re breaking up with me, here at this dance?”

  He nodded. No more words would come out of his mouth.

  “It’s because of her, isn’t it?”

  “If you mean Sophie, yes and no. She’s just made me realize that you and I aren’t right for one another. As friends, and yes, I do hope we can remain friends, but as lovers, no. I can never give you my heart, and that would be wrong of me to make you believe otherwise.”

  Cathy looked at him, almost through him but didn’t say anything.

  “I’ll get my dad to run you home.”

  He was expecting her to say something, but instead she turned and headed to the ladies’ restroom.

  Wade walked back into the dance and strolled over to his dad, who was now talking to another one of the ex-cops there tonight.

  “Dad, could you do me a favor and run Cathy home? She’s in the ladies’ restroom right now.”

  “Sure, Wade, but is anything wrong?”

  “I’ll tell you later, but right now I have to go to Sophie.” Wade found her by herself on the edge of the dance floor. Without saying anything he swept her into his arms and kissed her.

  She pulled away. “Wade, are you sure we should be doing this? I mean Cathy – you shouldn’t be…”

  Wade put his finger on her lips. “I just broke up with her. And you’re right, let’s get out of public viewing.”

  There was a room at the back where people were checking their coats. A private office where they could go and talk. He didn’t want to rush her, but at the same time he wanted them to just get there without any interruptions and people stopping to talk to them.

  He pulled her inside and switched on the light.

  Wade opened his mouth ready to talk, but now they were on their own there was only one thing he could do and that was kiss her.

  Sophie opened her mouth to him as soon as his lips touched hers. She flung her arms around his shoulders, and their bodies melted into one another. He backed her up against the wall as his tongue glided over her bottom lip before invading her mouth. They’d never kissed like this ever before, and he liked it.

  His cock pulsated. All he wanted to do was make love to her, but this would be their first time. And he didn’t relish the idea of them fucking on a tiled floor or a table top. However, as he felt her hard little nipples poking into his chest and then sensed her hands slide over his chest and belly, it was looking like their maiden “let’s go all the way” adventure would be happening very soon.

  He tugged at her t-shirt, pulling its hem out of her jeans. With that freed, he slid his hand up under the fabric and inched his fingers along her skin under he reached her right breast.

  She groaned when his finger found her nipple. Wade gave it a slight tug and then a pinch. She groaned again. He hoped from pleasure and not pain.

  Lost in frenzy, he engulfed her breast with his whole hand as he slid his tongue along her top lip. As he squeezed her breast she playfully bit his bottom lip.

  Her breast was beautiful, well, by what he could feel of it.

  They finally stopped kissing and looked at one another. She put her hands on either side of his face.

  “I never stopped loving you. No matter how I tried to convince myself I had...” He shook his head. “Deep in my heart I knew I hadn’t and would love you to the moment I took my last breath.”

  “Oh Wade. I should never have married Travis. The times I’ve tossed and turned in my bed and thought that. If we could only rev
erse time and do it right.”

  She stroked his cheeks with her knuckles.

  “I want you so bad it hurts me, physically and mentally.”

  He tugged at the button on her jeans, opening them up and then pulled down the zipper.

  Wade wanted to take her out of this room, carry her to his bed where he’d make love to her until neither of them could move a muscle, but shit, his cock was like a rocket about to launch and head to the moon. He’d never make the SUV, let alone the house.

  He kissed her again as he put his hands on either side of her pants and gave them a tug downwards.

  Seeing her pink lace undies did nothing to quell his urgent need to get inside her pussy. He wanted to rip them off her, part her legs, and in he’d slide. Instead he pulled them down hoping it would give her enough room to part her legs for him.

  She bit his lip again as he slid his hands between her inner thighs.

  “Soph, can you open your legs for me?”

  She murmured something, and next thing he knew his hand had slid inwards sandwiched between the softest skin he’d ever felt. Although they’d never made love before they had done some messing around. Him touching her folds, running his fingers over her slit. Her holding his dick in her hand but never bringing him to climax. Back in those days he’d been a virgin and hadn’t known that it was a lady’s clit that needed attention first. Hell, he hadn’t even known where he’d find it until he’d checked out a book from the library.

  He eased his finger through Sophie’s curls. Her clit was hot, throbbed, and he knew it was waiting for his caress.

  They stopped kissing as he passed his finger over the now engorged nub. She moaned.

  “Does my Soph want me to bring her to climax?”

  She ran her hands down his chest. “Wade, you’d better do just that now that you’ve started.”

  Wade got harder, if that was possible, as he slid his finger back and forth over her clit. Her hips thrust toward him, and her whimpers got louder. Her breath grew faster, urgent, and at that point he remembered he didn’t have a condom on him.

  Never mind. This was Soph, and he knew she was safe. She wasn’t a person to take risks, and neither was he, so she had no fear about that.

  And as far as getting her pregnant, he’d like nothing more.

  “Wade, Wade,” she whispered pounding her folds over his hand until she finally screamed out and fell into his arms.

  “Oh Soph, you’re so beautiful when you come.”

  “Hold me because my legs are weak.”

  He hugged her to him.

  “I don’t have a condom.”

  “It’s okay. I trust you, and don’t worry about babies because I’m on the Pill.”

  It was her turn to open up his jeans and tug them and his boxers down his legs. She kicked off her own ones along with her panties and looked at him.

  “You really okay with this?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  He picked her up, thinking if they couldn’t get to a bed, a table would do. He sat her carefully down, knowing that in a few minutes he would be inside his Soph and on his way to paradise.

  He spread her legs, wrapped them around him…

  “You son of a bitch. I might have guessed this would happen. She is the reason you broke up with me!”

  He’d been so lost in the moment that he hadn’t heard the door open, let alone known that Cathy was standing right behind him.

  He turned around and couldn’t get out the way of her raised hand quick enough. She smacked him around the face and head. It stung, and it felt like one of her rings had bitten into his cheekbone.

  Sophie screamed and jumped off the table.

  “I’ll deal with you in a minute, you little bitch.”

  Cathy lifted her hand again, but this time Wade managed to raise his arm up to defend himself before the second blow reached him.

  Sophie put her t-shirt around her lower body and stood looking like every bit of color had drained from her face.

  Wade didn’t want to hurt Cathy because she was right. He’d broken things off with her because of Sophie, and he guessed if he didn’t keep a tight grip on her she could hurt him, hurt Soph, which was the last thing he wanted.

  “Cathy, I’m so sorry,” he said. “It’s just that Sophie and I have a history, and…”

  “This is so humiliating. You bring me to the dance, then you tell me it’s over, and when I come looking for you I find you’re about to do the wild thing with her!”

  “I’m beyond words, so I don’t know how to put this right even if I could.”

  His dad now stood at the door as Cathy burst into tears and pushed by him on her way out.

  Wade wiped his face because he sensed he was bleeding. He looked at his fingers, and just as he thought, they were tinged with red.

  “You might be needing these,” said his dad, throwing his jeans and boxers at him.

  Wade caught them and quickly slipped them back on. Poor Sophie was backed against the wall doing her best to hide.

  “So you stole my date. I should be pissed off like Cathy is.”

  Wade didn’t know whether his dad was joking or not. But when he burst out laughing, Wade sighed with relief.

  “Geez, you two. It was obvious this was going to happen, so you should have got yourself a room and had sex somewhere more private than this.”

  Chapter Nine

  Besides the time Wade had caught her and Travis in her bed, Sophie had never been so embarrassed and regretful in all her life. She pulled on her panties and jeans and then readjusted her bra where Wade had pushed one of the cups over her breast, and then put her t-shirt back on.

  She sat down on the nearest chair, her legs and hands shaking.

  Partly because of Cathy bursting in on them and hitting Wade. Secondly, she and Wade had been that close to finally having sex. She couldn’t remember wanting something so badly in all her life. Not just because of the physical pleasure it would bring her but because it was Wade who was about to make love to her.

  Sophie ran her hands through her hair. Wade had taken off after Cathy, and he’d told Sophie to wait for him. Maybe she shouldn’t. She probably should find Wade, find Cathy, and apologize. However, Wade was right about one thing. When the two of them were together good sense went straight out the window. She nibbled on the nail of her index finger. She hadn’t done that for a long time, and damn, she’d been growing them out so nicely.

  Hearing a noise out in the hallway, she looked up to see Wade standing in the door way, blood still oozing from the gash on his cheek. She was the one who deserved that trophy, not him. She should have stayed away from the dance tonight, not accepted Wade’s invitation to go someplace to talk. She definitely shouldn’t have kissed him back. The last one, well, no woman was that strong.

  “Did you find Cathy?” asked Sophie.

  He shook his head. “I even tried calling her cell, but she’s not answering. I think maybe it’s best that I let her calm down tonight.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “It’s not your fault. And don’t feel so bad because even if you hadn’t come back to Glacier Valley I wasn’t sure I saw a future for us.”

  Sophie looked at him.

  “You made me realize that for certain,” he said.

  “Oh Wade…I.”

  He lifted his hand to stop her saying any more. “You coming home to Glacier Valley is a blessing in disguise. It’s better I figured that out before I thought about marrying her and being miserable for the rest of my life and probably making her unhappy, too.”

  Was he just saying that to make her feel better? No, Wade was the kind of guy who never hid his feelings. A straight shooter if ever there was one.

  “I think you should get your face looked at,” said Sophie.

  “You mean because it’s ugly.”

  Sophie laughed. “Nope, but it’s still bleeding. Here let me take a look. Sit down where I can check you out.”

  He walked
to the chair and sat. Some blood had splattered onto his white shirt. She tilted Wade’s head back slightly so the light hit his cheekbone.

  “Maybe you should go to the ER and have them look at it.”

  “Nope, certainly not.”

  “You’re not scared, are you?”

  He slapped her butt. “If I’m going to have a nurse look at it, I want it to be you.”

  “I’m an interior designer, not a doctor.”

  “You could always pretend to be my nurse.”

  “Wade Linley. You are a bad boy.”

  “How about you come home with me and tend to my injuries?”

  “You know if I do that what’s going to happen between us?”

  “That’s what I’m counting on. Like Pops said we should have found somewhere private to have sex.”

  “What about Grans?”

  “I love Emily, but I’m not having sex with her.”

  “Wade Linley.” Sophie slapped him across the arm. “I meant to say I’m supposed to be home for her not having sex with you.”

  Wade reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He handed it to her. “Call your grandmother and tell her not to worry and that I got a little hurt and you’re helping me. Tell her not to wait up for you.”

  Sophie took it from him, at first hesitating but then realized she was putty in his hands. Always had been, always would be. And not to mention her panties were drenched at just the thought of having Wade deep inside her. She was guessing he’d be the best lover in the whole world.

  She punched in the numbers and looked at Wade as the number rang.

  “Hi, Grans.”

  “Sophie, where have you been? Nelson’s closed over an hour ago. You run into old friends or what?”

  “Actually it’s Wade I’m with. He had a slight accident, and I’m going to check him out at his house.”

  “Oh goodness me. Nothing serious is it? He didn’t get hurt doing any private eye work?”

  Wade must have heard her comment, and he pulled a face. “No, Grans, nothing like that.”

  “Isn’t Cathy there for him?”

  “Nope, she went home.”

  “Oh dear, hope everything’s okay between them. Okay, Sophie, do you have your key because I lock all the doors in about thirty minutes?”