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Chapter Eight

Sophie was so nervous that she would have grabbed her shoes and hit the pavement to get rid of her energy if Nate wasn't already on his way. Instead she hopped in the shower, dabbed mascara on her lashes, and was rubbing her floral scented lotion on her legs-the one he loved-when he knocked on her door. She reached for her bathrobe where it always hung next to the towels, but it wasn't there.

Laundry day. She'd forgotten.

Nate pounded on the door. "Sophie."

"I'm coming!" She looked around in a panic, saw nothing but her trench coat hanging on the rack next to her front door.

"Sophie," Nate's voice came again, this time with an edge to it. She had no doubt that he would have broken down that door if she didn't open it soon. Without much of a choice, she grabbed the coat, slipped into it, and finished belting it when he slammed on the door again.

"Calm down," she said, even though her fingers were shaking as she unlocked the door and turned the knob.

He was inside her apartment before she could get the door wide enough. He slammed it behind him and looked down at her with an angry expression that turned lusty as soon as his gaze hit her bare legs. The anger drained out of him in an instant, replaced by something much more pleasant, but just as intense. "Hi," he said in a hoarse, low voice.

She didn't want to play games with him. "Did you really think I was using you for your money?"

He slapped something onto her kitchen counter and Sophie barely registered that it was a large box of twelve pleasure-assorted condoms. "No."

"Then why did you--"

"I haven't come this far by being careless. I've learned my lessons."

"What lessons?"

"That trust should be earned."

"You don't trust me?"

"It's me I don't trust."

She took a step back, confused.

"I've made a few mistakes with friends."

She tilted her head to the side and gave him a look.

"Okay, girlfriends. I've made a lot of mistakes with my girlfriends-mistakes that cost me a lot emotionally and financially. So." He shrugged. "You can never be too cautious."

She touched her lips, then dropped her hand when gaze lowered. "What sort of mistakes?"

He sighed, rubbed his face over his hands. "There was this girl once...well, my fiance, to put it accurately."

"I didn't know you were engaged."

"And where do you get your information? Gossip magazines?"

She looked away, cleared her throat.

"Yeah, well, those are overblown and stupid," he snapped. "But yes, I was engaged once. Her name was Emily. We met because Gramps forced me to go to a meeting even though I was living two hours away from work at the time and would rather have attended it through video-conferencing. He wanted me to have direct, in-person interaction with our clients at all times. I griped about it then, but that was how I met Emily."

It was ridiculous that she should feel even the slightest amount of jealousy for some woman she'd never met, but Sophie didn't care. "How long did you two date?"

"Three years."

She raised her brows. "I had no idea you were capable of that sort of commitment."