Rescuing the Bad Boy (Second Chance #2)(43)

“It’s true. I hit the jackpot.” Charlie turned to Faith. “You have nothing to feel badly about. Lust away. Connor’s hot.”

Faith smiled but it was weak. “I’m not sure how long I should be in the grieving stage over my lost fiancé.” She twisted her mouth, her expression going hard. “Lost is the wrong word. He’s not lost. He’s still living in his house on Meyer Avenue. And I’m sure he’s still banging Cookie, the tramp-stamp wearing, bull-riding twentysomething, so what the hell do I have to feel badly about?”

“Absolutely nothing.” Sofie squeezed her friend’s slender forearm, hating the way Faith’s future had been crushed so completely.

“There’s no predetermined grieving timeline,” Charlie said. And she knew of what she spoke. “By the way, how are things going with your mom? Getting better?”

Faith grunted. “As well as you’d imagine. This is why thirty-year-olds shouldn’t live with their mothers.”

“Amen,” Sofie said, thinking of her own mother. When she moved out of her parents’ house, she’d never returned. She may be a long-suffering middle child, but her independent streak was thick. She offered Faith the remainder of her wine.

“Linda’s new boyfriend is twenty-six,” Faith said of her mother, accepting the glass.

Charlie’s eyebrows hit her hairline.

“Twenty-six,” Faith repeated.

“At least he’s a good-looking guy. Maybe you should enjoy the view of him hanging around her pool shirtless,” Sofie said, but she was teasing. Faith had expressed her distaste for Marco. He was waxed hairless, always covered in tanning oil, and looked in a mirror every time he passed one.

Faith laughed and threw a hand through the air. “I’m done bitching. I have plenty to be grateful for. I live in a beautiful house. I have beautiful friends.” She batted her eyelashes. “And my beautiful friends are surrounded by beautiful men, one of which is a sexy, sexy landscaper who I can’t quite picture from my days of working at the Wharf.” Her smile vanished and she blew out a sigh.

“He’s hotter now,” Sofie put in.

“Well, whatever.” Faith took a swig of wine. “Unless he’s interested in a one-night stand, I’m out.”

“He might be,” Sofie said flatly. Weren’t they all?

“No, Faith. Don’t give up on love.” This from Charlie. “I wasn’t looking for it, either. And the last person I was looking for it with was my late best friend’s husband.”

Sofie remembered how upset Charlie was when Evan started pursuing her. His wife had been gone for four years at the time, and his son, Lyon, loved Charlie like a second mother already. It took a while for Evan to convince her, but when Charlie accepted, it was the best thing for them all.

But hers was a unique situation. That kind of thing didn’t happen to everyone.

“Charlie, you got lucky.” Sofie smiled when her friend looked at her. “I have to say, I’m about to climb into the one-night-stand boat with Faith. This dating thing is crap. Most men do not want anything long-term. You start to wonder if you should give up.”

“You’re further along than you think,” Faith interjected. “Donovan kissed you.”

“He kissed you?” Charlie’s big eyes were huge, her smile huger. “O-M-G tell me all about it. Was it good? I bet it was good. Did he bring up the past? Did you? Did his lips feel the same?”

Sofie held up a palm. Instead of answering with yes, no, sort of, and better… definitely better, she said, “It was an impulsive kiss.”

“And?” Faith prompted.

Deflection was not going to work with these two. Turning, she studied the drying paint on the wall and thought of how to best say it. “The chemistry… the attraction”—she shook her head—“hasn’t gone anywhere.” Which made being near him all the more dangerous.

“What if he changed? What if he wasn’t what you needed back then—but he is what you need him to be now?”

Ah, Charlie. So full of hope. More than anything, Sofie wanted to grab hold of that hope with both hands. There was a time she would have. A long time ago.

There was a moment when Donovan’s lips were on hers and temporarily, she forgot the past. Need was the dominant feeling. Then the moment in the bathroom, when he wouldn’t let her bandage him, when he’d been angry with her for caring… Frustration had been her dominant emotion.

“He’s… I don’t know what he is,” Sofie answered honestly. “I used to think I could save him.” She’d been so na?ve. “There isn’t a more futile pastime than trying to save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.” He didn’t want her saving him any more than she wanted him saving her. “Trust me. He doesn’t want anything from me.”

Except the one thing he’d already claimed.

There wasn’t any going back to the way things were. They’d just have to move forward from here.

And somehow, Sofie vowed anew, she was going to keep her heart to herself.





CHAPTER TWELVE




Workaholic,” Charlie said as her fiancé slipped an arm around her shoulders.

“Am not.” Sofie turned from her paint bucket and pointed at the wall with the loaded brush. “I’m just going to touch up two things.”