Reluctant Love, Part One

Chapter Two

Alex

I stood by the side of my truck waiting for Sophia to finish with work. I knew that she didn’t have a vehicle by the fact that the parking lot was empty, save for Marsha’s car.

It had been forever since I’d saved up enough to stop working at the diner. Not a day had gone by that I hadn’t thought of Sophia, though. It had gotten so bad that I’d previously stopped coming to the restaurant simply because I knew that seeing her would only serve to make me sad that she wasn’t mine.

And now she was single again. I hadn’t come here tonight with specific hopes of seeing her. I just happened to be lucky.

She walked out of the restaurant and was in the middle of pulling out her phone when I spoke. “Gonna call for a ride?”

She looked up like she was startled. But then she squinted and her face relaxed when she realized that it was just me. She sighed. “Alex, don’t you know better than to be standing around being creepy in a lonely parking lot?”

I chuckled and scratched at my cheek. “It’s not that lonely,” I said and looked around. There were no cars around and the main road was practically dead at this time of night.

“Right, and a pig just won Miss Tennessee,” she replied and shook her head.

I laughed and walked over to her. “Got a ride?”

She crossed her arms against the chill of the night. “Yeah, I was gonna catch a ride with Marsha.”

Just then, Marsha walked out of the diner, turning to lock the door behind her.

The image brought back memories of a time that was so long ago yet felt like it was just yesterday. I looked back to Sophia.

“You can take a ride with me if you’d like,” I offered.

She smirked up at me and tossed her head to the side. “And what are your intentions, Mr. Alex?”

“Oh, my intentions are nothing short of terrible, Miss Sophia,” I replied.

She laughed, making me smile. “I’ve missed you being around here. Things have been boring ever since.”

I rolled my eyes. “Well apparently, they haven’t been so bad. You’re still here.”

She didn’t hide the color that came up to her face. “I’m still here because, well, there’s nothing much more out there for a girl like me.”

An idea struck me just as Marsha was coming up to us. “Oh, actually, there’s job opening on the ranch right next to mine if you’d like to take up that position.”

“What position?” Marsha asked, looking between us. Alarm flared in Sophia’s eyes when she looked back at me. I could tell that a new job was not something that she wanted to discuss at the moment—especially now that Marsha was around.

“A new sex position,” I replied, taking the attention away from her.

Both ladies turned their heads to me. Sophia’s face was alight with either amusement or shame and Marsha looked about two seconds from laughing her heart out.

Sophia was the one to speak first. “I—uh—that wasn’t—"

“Well, if that’s what you’re chatting about, I guess I’ll leave you to it,” Marsha said and began walking away. “I’ll be in the car waiting.”

Sophia looked to me and I smirked down at her. “You’re welcome,” I said.

She shook her head and turned to Marsha. “Actually, Marsh, I think I’ll get a ride with Alex.”

“Two rides,” I added. “If we’re counting that she’ll be probably be riding my—” I toppled over when she landed a punch to my stomach. “I was gonna say horse,” I managed to wheeze out through the pain in my abdomen.

She smiled and continued waving at Marsha like I didn’t even exist. “Sure you were,” she muttered.

“Are you sure?” Marsha was asking. “Doesn’t seem like you two are doing very much getting along right now.”

Sophia tossed her hand forward at the wrist. “Oh, we’re fine. He’s just feeling a little upset. Aren’t you, Alex?”

After I’d slowly managed to stand back up straight, I looked at her with high brows then at Marsha. “If I show up dead in the morning, Sophia’s the killer and I want her arrested immediately.”

I pointed a finger at her and that seemed to be my mistake. She bent it causing me to pull my hand closer but she wouldn’t let go. She was then tucked under my chin, fighting me for my own finger.

Her jet-black hair smelled like cherry blossoms and strawberries. She smelled divine. Idly, I wondered what it would be like for me to wrap her hair around my wrists as I—

“Don’t point at me,” she snapped, moving around like she was the bull and I was the fighter.

“Would you rather I did something else instead?” I smiled when I pulled my hand well above her head so that she was pressed against my chest looking up at me now. “I’ve always had a thing for feisty women.”

Her cheeks blushed furiously. She’d gained some weight since I’d last seen her. So much so that her hips had filled out and her chest had grown a bit more too. Though her waist was smaller than the rest of her body, her stomach didn’t seem to be flat by any means. She looked rounder and more delicious. I wondered if she tasted better than she looked.

I was glad for the fact that she pushed away from me after that. She might’ve felt me hardening just from her touch.

“I’ll leave you two kids to it,” Marsha waved us off and turned back to walk toward her car. “And Sophia, try not to murder the poor boy.”

She laughed it off. “No promises.”

“Goodnight, Marsha,” I called. “Just in case that’s the last time that I ever get to say it.”

I could see the older woman’s shoulders shaking as she rounded the front of her car.

Sophia snapped her head to me and sent a death glare in my direction. I stuck my tongue out at her. Her eyes lingered on it for a second. Oh, so that was where her thoughts had taken her. I let my tongue roll over my bottom lip then bit it slightly. I could see her throat work as she swallowed.

“Dirty girl,” I said and began walking back toward the truck.

“W—I didn’t do—or say—anything,” she said as she raced to catch up with me.

I laughed. “You didn’t have to. I can see your thoughts as clear as day written all over your face.”

I was willing to bet that if I turned around at that moment, I’d see her blushing. She’d never been one to do that a lot, but seemed to be doing a lot of that tonight. Idly, I wondered why that was.