Chapter Nine - Derrick

“Lawley, why don’t you get your sorry ass outta here,” Marcus called from his desk opposite mine.

I blinked back into reality, trying to stow away the thoughts of Sophia’s naked body as she straddled me the night before. It was impossible to keep my mind on work when she kept going through my head every few minutes. Apparently, Marcus had noticed…

He flashed me a goofy grin when I turned to face him. “You’re clearly not here. So why don’t you get outta here. I’ll cover your ass if Masters comes through.”

I glanced back at my computer screen. I was in the middle of reading a long document, but it was all turning into a blurry chunk of text, indiscernible as my mind drifted here and there. Before I could force myself to plow ahead, I took Marcus up on his offer. If I hurried I could get to Sophia’s show before the final number. I flicked the button to power down the monitor and hopped up from my seat. “All right. Thanks, man,” I said, shrugging back into my jacket.

Marcus and company waved me off as I bolted from the room.

I raced down to the auditorium and found the doors shut. Music spilled out into the hallway and I recognized Sophia’s crystal clear voice singing the final number. I opened the door and slipped into the back of the room. It was another packed house, not an empty seat in sight. I leaned against the back wall, knowing I was way too far away from the stage to catch Sophia’s attention so I closed my eyes and let her voice roll over me.

As the song reached the climax, someone tapped me on the shoulder, jolting me from the song. My eyes snapped open and beside me I found the woman from the first night Sophia and I had met. Her producer. Who was now wearing a charming smile. She crooked her finger at me, indicating she wanted me to follow her. I shot a look at Sophia on stage and then offered the producer a tight-lipped smile and followed her out into the hall.

“Sergeant Lawley,” she started, once we were out in the hallway, the sound of Sophia singing still soft in the background. “I was looking for you.”

“You were?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I’m Jenna, a producer on the TV special we’re shooting. Sophia thought you would be a good interview. I’m sure she told you about it?”

I glanced over at the closed door. “She didn’t, actually.”

“Oh,” Jenna replied, flapping a hand. “Must have slipped her mind. As you know, we are doing a TV special that will run for three nights. Nationwide. Prime time. It’s a pretty big deal. As part of that, my team and I are hand-selecting soldiers to interview about their time away and give them a chance to give a shout out to their family and friends back home. Sophia thought you would be willing to give us a few minutes.”

“Right…um, right now?”

“Sure! We could head to a private room and have you in and out.”

I weighed it for a moment. I really wanted to go back inside and see Sophia, maybe find a way backstage to see her as she stepped off the stage. But if she went out of her way to get me a spot on the show, I should probably take the opportunity. “All right, sounds fun.”

Jenna beamed and turned to lead me away. She wrapped her arm through mine. I bristled at her touch but let her continue to hang on my arm as we started back to a series of rooms that had been used mainly for storage as long as I’d been at the base. They’d been transformed into a miniature studio with a camera, special lighting fixtures, and an overstuffed chair and a low profile couch, all set up against a green screen background.

“We’re digitally piping in a background for the show,” Jenna explained as she followed my eyes to the green screen that covered most of the far wall. “It will make it look like the interviewees are in the middle of a Christmas tree farm with snow falling down and lights around the trees.”

I pocketed my hands. “Hmm. What a world, huh?”

Jenna laughed at my comment and busied herself with tapping buttons on a tablet. “Thanks for agreeing to do this interview, Sergeant Lawley,” Jenna purred, looking up long enough to point at the couch, indicating for me to take a seat. I glanced around before taking the seat, realizing we were alone in the room. There was no sign of the crew that usually followed closely on the woman’s heels.

Jenna set the tablet aside and doubled back to shut the heavy door.

I dragged my eyes back to Jenna, my mouth opening to ask where the rest of the crew was, but the words died in my throat as she stopped before me and leaned forward to brush something over my cheeks with a makeup brush. As she pressed her breasts in my face, I realized that the top three buttons on her blouse were undone and the cups of her bra were exposed. I darted my eyes away, wondering if she realized her error. Jenna smiled down at me as she finished brushing over my face. “Just a little powder to combat the shine.”

“Right,” I said, offering a hollow laugh. I’d seriously never worn any kind of makeup before and this was getting weird.

Jenna took her seat in the chair and crossed her legs. “Who would you like to address in your shout out section? Are you married?” she asked, dropping her eye to my left hand.

“No.”

A catlike expression crossed her face. “Dating anyone?”

I furrowed my brow. “No. Not at the moment…” Did she know about Sophia and me? Was that not allowed? Sophia hadn’t mentioned anything about it being a secret, but at the same time—I wasn’t even sure exactly what we were doing, so there wasn’t much point in telling anyone about it.

Even if I wanted to shout it from the rooftops that the brunette beauty on stage tonight was all mine.

At least for the next week.

After that…I wasn’t sure what would happen with us, and didn’t want to spend too much time thinking about.

Jenna leaned forward in her seat, adjusting her skirt and her shirt opened wider, revealing even more skin. I cleared my throat, trying to get her to notice. She dropped her eyes to her own cleavage. “See something you like?”

My eyes flashed back to hers. “What? No…I just thought you might want to fix—”

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Jenna got up and crossed the room to sit beside me on the couch. She ran her hand up my arm. “I thought you might like the chance to get alone with me…”

I tugged my arm out of her reach and angled my body to use my long legs to keep some distance between us. “Listen, I don’t mean to be rude, but I’m not interested. I came here to do the interview…or at least, that’s what I thought I was here for.”

Jenna gave a throaty laugh. “We can still do the interview. But we could have a little fun first. You must get lonely here, all pent up, with no…outlet.” Her fingers went to the loose buttons on her shirt and started to tug at the next one in the line.

I pushed up to my feet. “I’m going to go. Can you tell me where I might find Sophia?”

Hint, hint.

Jenna shrugged, nonplussed by my quick exit. She lounged back on the couch and raked her hair back, letting it fall around her shoulders. “Sophia’s with Blake tonight. You know Blake Powell, the lead singer of Spiral? The two of them have a thing going on.”

I shook my head. “You’re lying. Sophia told me that Blake’s a womanizing snake. She wouldn’t be with a guy like that.”

Jenna smiled. “Listen, I haven’t known Sophia for all that long, but she’s coming off a nasty divorce and kind of…finding herself. It wouldn’t surprise me if she has a few guys on speed dial for when she gets lonely. A girl like that is never without a crowd of admirers.”

“I don’t think so,” I said, my jaw tensed. Sure, I hadn’t known Sophia that long. Hell, it hadn’t even been a full week, but the picture Jenna was painting of the woman I’d spent the night with was skewed.

Behind me, the door flew open and Sophia bull-rushed inside, fire blazing in her dark eyes. She flicked from Jenna, to Jenna’s bra, and then finally to me.

Jenna popped up from the couch, doing a stunning acting job as she feigned embarrassment. “Oh! Sophia! I didn’t know you were done with your meet and greet.” She made a show of buttoning her top. “You’ll have to excuse us, we got a little…carried away.” She winked at me.

“Sophia, this isn’t what it looks like,” I protested, side stepping away from Jenna another wide pace.

Sophia glared at me. “Really? I expected to find you with Jenna, but not like this,” she said, gesturing at Jenna who was still fidgeting with her buttons.

“Why would you expect me here, with her?” I spat.

“Because she was trying to tangle me up with Blake Powell who not-so-subtly dropped hints that the two of you were together. I just didn’t imagine that it was by your choice.”

“It wasn’t! She told me we were doing an interview.” I raked my hands over my short cropped hair. God, I sounded like some woman who tangled with a director or producer to get a part in a movie. This wasn’t the casting couch!

I stepped forward, reaching for Sophia, but she flinched away. “Sophia, please, I didn’t want anything to do with this. Jenna—” I snapped my attention back to the woman-slash-snake on the couch. “Tell her the truth.”

Jenna rolled her eyes.

“I’ll call Dale right this minute if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on! I have no qualms about reporting you directly to him and explaining what the hell I just walked into,” Sophia said, her tone matching the fire in her eyes.

Jenna narrowed her eyes at Sophia but after a moment she crumbled. “Your little boy toy here wasn’t taking the bait, all right? Happy now?”

“I will be as soon as I get word that your sorry ass has been fired,” Sophia retorted, not backing down.

Jenna’s eyes went wide. Sophia had clearly struck home.

“Get out!” Sophia demanded, waving a hand at the door.

Jenna shoved off the couch, straightened her skirt, and marched for the doors. When the door shut closed behind her, Sophia turned to me, the fire in her eyes had dimmed, but wasn’t fully extinguished.

“I’m sorry, Sophia. Trust me, this was not the way I planned on seeing you again.”

She shook her head. “I know. That bitch was jealous of your attention from the moment she saw us together. I just had no idea she’d play such an underhanded game.” She sighed deeply and squeezed her eyes closed. When they opened again, they were misted over.

“You okay?” I asked, stepping closer.

Sophia let me wrap my arms around her. “Yeah. It’s been a really long day,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper as she turned her face to bury it against my chest.

“I’m sorry.” I squeezed her tightly and we stayed that way for a few minutes as the tension melted away. I tipped her chin up and kissed her soft and slow, doing my best to reassure her that my lips were only interested in hers.

“I should go do the meet and greet,” she said once we parted.

With the tip of my thumb I stroked at her cheek, sweeping away a single tear that had slipped free. “How can I help?”

“Come with me?”

“Of course.”

Sophia’s hand found mine and our fingers locked together before I lead her back through the doors.