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  “What do you mean?” He couldn’t imagine being lonely with a spouse and child.

  She shrugged and fiddled with a strap on the edge of the stroller’s hood. “When I was younger and I thought about kids, I always pictured you as the father. And I could see you running around the yard with our kids, teaching them to throw a ball.”

  Parker’s chest clenched. He’d pictured the same thing more times than he cared to remember. “Well, you married Jarrod, so now he can teach your kid to throw a ball. Assuming he knows how.”

  “I don’t know if he does or not. He never spends any time with Brice. Or me.”

  He wanted to say something cold and obnoxious like “too bad” or “you made your bed…” but all he could manage was “I’m sorry.”

  Chrissie gave a rueful laugh. “No, I’m sorry. I really am.”

  The church bells rang in the distance and Parker realized it was five o’clock. “Look, I’ve gotta get going.”

  “Okay.” Chrissie stood up, straightening her shorts. “I’ve got to run errands and get home. Thanks. For getting the stroller for me.”

  “No problem.Take care of yourself, Chrissie.” He turned and walked away, glad she didn’t call him back again. He had nothing left to say.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Sophie looked at the clock for the third time in five minutes. Parker was never late for anything but he’d been due to arrive home an hour ago and he was nowhere in sight. She tried his phone but again it went straight to voicemail. Stop worrying—he’s fine.

  She scolded herself, not just for worrying that maybe something was wrong, but for worrying about who he was with. Ever since the week before, when he’d told her about running into Chrissie and how unhappy she seemed, Sophie had a nagging feeling she couldn’t shake. What if he’s still in love with her? What if he wants to rescue her? She knew Parker. He hated seeing people in distress. What if… It was too horrible to think about, yet she couldn’t shake the thoughts. He’d never do that to me. Would he? She was about to dial again when her phone rang. Oh, thank God.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey. Sorry I didn’t call.”

  “That’s okay. Where are you? We’re gonna be really late.” Her stomach turned over as she waited for his reply.

  “Yeah, about that.” Parker paused. “I can’t go.”

  Oh my God. Her heart pounded its way into her throat.

  “What do you mean you can’t go? Joey’s gonna kill us if we miss his housewarming party.”

  “I know, I know. There was an accident at one of the job sites today. One of the guys fell off a ladder. He’s gonna be fine, but I’m at the hospital with him, and he’s definitely gonna need a cast. His folks are out of town, so I’m gonna stay and then drive him home and make sure he’s all right.”

  “Oh no. I’m sorry. One of your college workers?” As sad as she was to hear that someone had been hurt, she couldn’t keep relief from sweeping over her. He’s not with Chrissie. And I’m going to hell for being thankful for that instead of worried about the guy who fell off a ladder. Dammit. When did I become this person?

  “Yeah, the newbie.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll call Joey and explain. We’ll go see his new place another night.”

  “That’s crazy. You go. I know you’re dying to finally see the house. Hell, you should be, you helped him pick out half the damn furniture for the place. Besides, he’s counting on you to bring the desserts.”

  “Shit.” She looked at the stack of boxes from Mangiano’s. She’d been so worried about Parker she’d almost forgotten.

  “Go, you’ll have fun. If I get out of the hospital in the next few hours, I’ll swing by. If not, you can tell me all about it when you get home.”

  “Are you sure?” She didn’t know anyone else who’d been invited and really wasn’t looking forward to going by herself.

  “Positive. Have a good time and tell Joey I’m sorry. I’ll get there if I can but based on the wait time in this ER I’ll tell you right now it doesn’t look good.”

  “Either way I’ll see you at your place later, right?”

  “Can’t wait.”

  Sophie hung up with a sigh. Stop being so selfish. And stop being so distrustful. Jesus.

  The drive to Joey’s took almost forty-five minutes, but she managed not to get lost. As she pulled up to the house, she drew in a deep breath. She’d seen pictures on his phone, but the photos hadn’t done it justice. She’d known Joey had always wanted a nice house. Even as a kid he’d talked about the day he’d be able to afford one. But this wasn’t just a house—it was a showpiece. Modern. Tall. All angles and glass. It was an architectural dream.

  Sophie rang the doorbell, wondering if she was underdressed. Joey answered wearing a fitted black T-shirt and faded jeans, barefoot. Not underdressed.

  “Hey.” He gave her a broad smile and took the shopping bags from her hands as he pulled her into a hug.

  “Sorry I’m late,” she said, glancing around. No one else appeared to be there.

  “You’re not, really. I told everyone else to get here later. I wanted some time to show you and Parker around.”

  “Well, it’s just me.”

  “I know. He called. Too bad. But I’m glad you’re here.”

  “You’re glad dessert’s here,” she teased.

  “You’re better than dessert,” he said, kissing the side of her head. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

  Sophie took in the high ceilings and the wall of windows in the enormous great room. “It’s beautiful. It looks even more amazing than it did in the pictures.”

  “Thanks. Wait ’til you get a load of the kitchen.”

  She followed him through an arched doorway into what was easily the coolest kitchen she’d ever seen. The entire back wall was brick. An enormous center island sat in the middle of the room. It had chairs on one side and open shelving on each end. The eight-burner stove had a grill in the middle, and there were double wall ovens in addition to the two beneath the stovetop.

  “Good God, Joey. You could cook for the entire team.”

  Joey grinned at her. “I plan to. And my whole family. Can you see my mother in this kitchen? She’ll think she’s died and gone to heaven.”

  “I always loved your mother’s cooking.”

  “Then you’re gonna love tonight’s meal. She taught me well.”

  Sophie took in the pots simmering on the stove. “It smells great. What’d you make?”

  “I’ve got lasagna and eggplant parm in the oven, pepperoni bread, extra sauce for dipping and a bunch of antipasto platters in the fridge. And I grilled up a bunch of sausage and peppers. I’m having some other stuff catered in, but I wanted to be in charge of the Italian food.”

  “To make sure it’s right.” Sophie laughed when he nodded. She couldn’t get over how much he’d cooked. “Geez, Joey. If this whole baseball thing doesn’t work out, you should start catering weddings. Not enough good Italian caterers around, if you ask me.”

  Joey laughed, the sound deep and rich. “You’d hire me, eh?”

  “In a heartbeat.”

  “I wouldn’t mind working under you.” He gave her a wink that reminded her of flirty high school Joey.

  Sophie rolled her eyes. “You need me to help with anything?”

  “I was just gonna make a batch of margaritas. I was trying to get this new blender to work when you showed up.”

  “Is that the one from the late-night infomercials?” She’d seen it advertised but had never seen one in person. It was enormous. And she knew it cost around five hundred bucks.

  “Yep. Supposed to be good for everything from soup to ice cream, and I’m sure it will be if I can get the damn thing set up right.”

  “I don’t suppose you read the instructions.”

  Joey raised an eyebrow. “Why the hell would I do that?”

  Sighing, she picked up the manual and started flipping through it. She glanced from the diagram to the m
achine. “May I?” she asked.

  “Be my guest.” Joey stepped aside.

  Sophie lifted the glass pitcher out of the base, turned it a quarter turn, set it back down and heard it click into place. “Voila.”

  “Seriously?”

  “Try it.”

  Joey hit the start button and, sure enough, the ingredients started to whir together. “Damn. You’ve got the magic touch.” He lifted the lid off and added ice cubes then reached for a long tamper.

  “Don’t think you should do that,” she said.

  “No it’s fine, it’s not long enough to reach the blades. It just prevents everything from getting jammed up.” He reached for another handful of ice.

  “That’s not what I meant, I think it’s too—” Before she could finish talking, he let go of the handful of ice and the blender sent up a large spray of strawberry margarita, splattering the center island and both of them. “Full.”

  “Shit.” Joey slammed his finger on the button, stopping the machine.

  Sophie looked down at the red streaks on her shirt, wiping the back of her hand across her wet cheek.

  “Sorry,” Joey said, his face breaking into a grin as he licked margarita off the side of his mouth. “At least it tastes good.”

  Sophie laughed and smacked him.

  “What? It does.” His eyes sparkled with mischief.

  He chuckled and reached behind his head, whipping off his wet shirt. Before she could stop herself, her eyes raked over his bare chest. Tan, perfectly sculpted muscles, trail of silky black hair pointing straight down into his low-slung jeans. She looked away as quickly as she could but Joey turned her face toward him.

  “Here,” he said, wiping her cheek with a dry part of his T-shirt.

  His touch was so gentle, so innocent, she held still. When he leaned toward her, she honestly thought he was just taking a closer look. Before she knew what was happening, he pressed his lips to hers. Her brain tried to process what was happening as his mouth moved against hers, his hand cupping the back of her head.

  What the fuck? She pulled away, nearly tripping over one of the black-lacquered bar stools behind her.

  She stared at him, unable to believe that he’d just kissed her.

  His eyes were dark as onyx as he held her gaze. “I should probably apologize but I can’t. I’ve wanted to do that for years.”

  Sophie found her voice. “What?”

  “Come on, Soph. All those years in school. You must have known Parker and I were both into you.”

  Sophie took another step backward, wondering if she should sit down or leave. “What?” was still all she could manage to say.

  “I’m trying to be happy for you guys, but it kills me sometimes, watching you together.”

  “Have you lost your mind?” Sophie grabbed a kitchen towel off the counter and started wiping at her arms.

  “More like I found my nerve. Do you know you’re the only girl I’ve ever had a thing for who I didn’t go after? I always told myself it was because we were friends. Truth is I was afraid you’d shoot me down.”

  She gaped at him. He can’t really be saying this. Joey Nardo could and always had been able to have any woman he wanted.

  “Be honest with me, Soph. Did you ever think about it? About me?”

  She felt her cheeks heat. Of course she had. No woman could seriously deny that she’d ever had impure thoughts about Joey. But that didn’t matter. “That’s not the point.”

  Joey’s eyes lit up and a crazy-handsome smile spread across his lips. “So you have?”

  Sophie shook her head. “No. I mean yes, but not now.”

  He stepped toward her, his fingers grazing her arm. “I can’t think of a better time.”

  “Stop,” she said, grateful when his hand froze then pulled away.

  His brow furrowed. “We—”

  “No.” She stopped him before he could say anything else. “We can’t anything. Joey I’m in love with Parker. I love him. I can’t even think about anyone else. At all.”

  Joey flinched a little at her words, but he nodded. “You really love him?”

  Sophie felt as if her heart might burst. “Totally.”

  His eyes searched hers and his expression softened. She knew he saw that she was telling the God’s-honest truth. He sighed and raked his hand through his thick black hair. “He’s a lucky guy.”

  Lucky wasn’t a word she thought of when she thought of Parker. He’d had more hardships than anyone else she’d ever known.

  “I’m serious,” Joey said. “Women like you don’t come along every day. Believe me, I’ve dated enough to know for sure.”

  Sophie couldn’t help but laugh. “That you have.”

  “What can I say? You set the bar pretty high.”

  “I’m trying to be pissed off at you. Stop saying nice shit.”

  Joey chuckled. “Just being honest. Speaking of which, you’re gonna tell him about this, aren’t you?”

  Oh crap. That was not a conversation she was looking forward to having. “We promised we’d never lie to each other.”

  “And I suppose that includes lies of omission?”

  Joey looked remorseful enough she wanted to tell him no. Instead of smooth, together, suave Joey, he looked like a little boy again. A boy who knew he might be at risk of losing his best friend.

  “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “Hey, I’m the one who’s sorry. I should have kept my mouth shut.”

  Sophie had the urge to throw her arms around him and give him a hug. He clearly knew he’d made a mistake and felt like an ass about it. She hated the thought of coming between him and Parker. She loved them both, she just loved Parker in a completely different way. “I think I better go.”

  Joey closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Can’t even convince you to stay for some food? My friends will be here any minute. You’ll be perfectly safe, I promise. I’ve reached my quota of stupid moves for the day.”

  “Maybe the whole week.” She smiled. “I really oughta go.”

  “You want a dry shirt to change into?”

  “No, thanks. A little margarita never hurt anyone.”

  Sophie dialed Parker’s cell as soon as she got into the car. Please pick up. He answered on the third ring. “Oh good, where are you?”

  “Still at the emergency room. He’s in x-ray. What’s up?”

  “I just wanted to tell you I’m heading home.”

  “Already? What’s wrong?”

  She closed her eyes. “Nothing, I just decided it wasn’t really my scene so I only stayed a little bit.” Not really a lie.

  “Are you all right?”

  She could tell Parker knew something was up. “I’m fine. How much longer do you think you’ll be tied up at the hospital?”

  “Hard to say. At least a few more hours, I imagine. Do you need me to come home now? I can get one of the other guys to drive him if you need me.” Now he sounded really worried.

  “No, absolutely not. I’m fine. Just come over when you get home, okay? I’ll leave the light on.”

  “You sure you’re okay? You sound funny.”

  “I’m great. I just miss you.”

  Sophie’s mind raced for the entire drive home. I can’t believe he kissed me. Shit. Parker’s going to flip out. Do I tell him? I have to tell him. If I don’t tell him, I’m lying. And if Joey ever told him and I hadn’t said anything, that would be even worse. Shit. Shit. Shit. She knew he’d be furious with Joey. Would he be mad at her too?

  Her stomach turned over with dread. Had she led Joey on? Made him think she wanted him to kiss her? She’d never thought of herself as a seductress. Hell, she’d never even thought Joey ever thought of her that way.

  As soon as she got home, she showered, hoping the warm water would help clear her head in addition to removing the evidence of the evening from her body. It didn’t work. She pulled on shorts and an oversized T-shirt. Not knowing what else to do, she dialed Cindy’s number.

&nbs
p; Cindy picked up after the second ring. “What’s up, Buttercup? I thought you had your big major league party tonight.”

  “I did.”

  “Are you okay? You sound weird.”

  Sophie groaned. “I’m more than weird. I’m a mess.”

  “What’s wrong?” Cindy’s singsong tone turned serious.

  Sophie spilled the events of the evening to her trying not to miss any details. Cindy remained so silent Sophie thought the call had dropped. “You still there?”

  “Oh, I’m here. I’m just imagining a kiss with Joey Nardo.”

  “Cin, stop it. I need your advice.”

  “Sorry. Advice. Right.”

  “Well?” Sophie tapped a pencil on her desk impatiently. “What do I do?”

  “Sophie you know as well as I do that you’re going to tell Parker everything. A—you’re a terrible liar and—B—the dude’s supposed to be his best friend and he just broke the biggest guy-code rule.”

  Sophie blew out a breath. “I know.”

  “He has a right to know. And you did the right thing. You were straight with Joey and you got the hell out of there before anything else happened. You get extra points from me for that because, honestly, if Joey Nardo wanted to sleep with me, I’d fuck first, think later.”

  “Not if you were in love.”

  Cindy giggled. “You must be really, really in love.”

  “I am. Shit. I just heard a car door. Parker’s here.”

  “Good luck, sweetie. You can do this. Just be honest and make sure you tell him that you turned him down flat.”

  “I did.”

  “I know that, and you know that—just make sure Parker knows it.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Parker was closing the kitchen door behind him when Sophie walked into the room. She loved that they were both at the point where they were comfortable entering each other’s homes without knocking. He smiled the second he saw her.

  “You okay?” he asked, walking straight over and pushing her hair behind her ear as he leaned in for a kiss.

  She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, wanting to keep kissing him all night rather than having to tell him about her evening.