Playing For Keeps (Emerald Lake Billionaires 2) Read online

  Ryan stopped chewing.

  “I might have overreacted. About us being engaged. People get engaged all the time. Sometimes it lasts, sometimes it doesn’t. No one will be surprised when we tell them it’s over.”

  “Why wouldn’t they be surprised?”

  Sophie shrugged. “I’m a scientist, you’re a country singer. We don’t have anything in common.”

  “We both like chocolate.”

  “That doesn’t count. Most of the world likes chocolate.”

  “What about cheese and tomato sandwiches?” Ryan smiled. “We’ve eaten them nearly every day for lunch.”

  “That’s because there isn’t anything else in your fridge.”

  “Not true. Jamie bought salami and gherkins last week.”

  “And pickle breath is so attractive.” Sophie laughed at the gleam in Ryan’s eyes. “What’s wrong with chicken and salad?”

  “It doesn’t taste as good as cheese and tomato.”

  “I’d like to disagree with you, but I can’t. You make a good sandwich.”

  Ryan smiled. “While you’re agreeing with me, I’ll add in the lake. We definitely have that in common. You said you would have bought the property beside me if you could afford it. Not everyone likes living forty minutes from the nearest town.”

  “They do if they want to surround themselves with the most incredible scenery on earth.”

  Ryan poured himself another cup of coffee. “You’re not easily convinced, are you?”

  “I believe in fact, not fiction. The chance of us falling in love with each other is practically zilch.”

  “A person’s life can change forever with less than we have in common. Sometimes all it takes is a look. What about our song? You can’t say that wasn’t meant to be?”

  Sophie leaned her elbows on the counter. “It was pretty amazing, wasn’t it? Why did you call it Finding Sunshine?”

  He took a big gulp of coffee. “It worked with the lyrics.”

  “It does more than that. It adds another dimension to the song. It’s beautiful.” She looked at Ryan and held her breath. He was staring at her as though he could read her mind. But what was in her mind was fanciful nonsense. Cheese sandwiches and a lake weren’t valid reasons for falling in love with someone. What she was thinking wasn’t logical or sensible or any of the things she knew were important.

  “One day, Sophie Elliott, you’re going to believe in something that’s so irrational that it’s going to scare the living daylights out of you. And when that happens, you can tell me I was right all along.”

  “I’ll bet you a triple cheese sandwich that we’ll both be gray and wrinkly before that happens.”

  Ryan’s serious expression slipped into a smile. “I’ll take your bet, but I guarantee we won’t be old and wrinkly.”

  Sophie shook Ryan’s outstretched out. She ignored the spark of electricity, the promise of more. Ryan Evans wasn’t part of the future she’d planned. But she knew he’d be a big part of her past.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Sophie slipped on her sunglasses, bowed her head, and walked quickly along the sidewalk. Every second person she’d seen this morning had either pointed to her or congratulated her on her engagement.

  It was a nightmare.

  She stopped outside a flower shop and looked at her watch. If Ryan could announce to the world that he was getting married, then his fiancée could buy him flowers. Even though he’d made a huge mistake at the talent show, she wanted to thank him for helping her last night. They’d given John the supplement at three-thirty in the morning. He wouldn’t tell them where Tank, Hayley, and her mom were, but at least he’d told them they were safe.

  She heard a noise behind her and looked over her shoulder. The reporters who were following her started taking photos.

  She glanced at Tanner. He was the only reason the reporters weren’t asking her questions. He’d herded them away from her like an experienced cowboy. They’d quickly moved out of his way, leaving enough room for Sophie to breathe.

  Tanner stood beside her. “Is everything all right?”

  Sophie nodded. “I thought I’d buy Ryan some flowers.”

  Tanner’s eyebrows shot upward. Ryan had told him about their fake engagement and what they might encounter in town. “Have you got something special in mind?”

  Sophie grinned at her co-conspirator. “Shame on you, Tanner,” she whispered. “I’m not looking for hemlock or poison ivy. I wanted something more flamboyant.”

  “Like lilies?”

  The one flower in the world that Sophie didn’t like was the lily. They reminded her of funerals and sad times. “Not lilies. I’ll find something inside. Will you be okay out here?”

  “I’ll let you know if I need rescuing.”

  There wasn’t much chance of that. Tanner was big, bad, and muscly. The reporters knew to stay clear of her bodyguard.

  Sophie looked down at her watch again. She was supposed to meet Tess in five minutes. A woman in love would have been able to select a bouquet in that time. For someone still reeling from Ryan’s spontaneous burst of brain activity, she should be able to choose flowers in ten seconds flat.

  She opened the wooden door and stepped into heaven. Roses, daisies, gerberas, and carnations filled the store with a sweet scent. Their blooms decorated every available shelf and table, spilling color throughout the store like a beautiful oil painting.

  “Good morning. How can I help you on this fine summer’s day?”

  Sophie smiled at the woman behind the counter. Her Irish accent was soft and soothing, the exact opposite of the loud voices of the reporters who’d followed her.

  “I see you’ve brought a fan club with you. Would you like me to make sure they stay on the other side of the door?”

  “It’s okay. Tanner’s standing guard.”

  The woman’s gaze shifted to the sidewalk. “Oh, my. He’s quite big isn’t he?”

  Sophie grinned at the questioning look Tanner sent her. “When you get to know him he’s not so intimidating.”

  “If you say so.” The woman held out her hand and smiled. “I’m Becky O’Donaghue. Welcome to my store.”

  “Hi. I’m Sophie.”

  “You’ve told me about Tanner. Who might your other friends be?”

  Sophie looked at the reporters. “They’re not my friends,” she sighed. “They’re reporters. Something happened last night and they want a story to take away with them.”

  “Your something wouldn’t have anything to do with your engagement to Ryan Evans would it?”

  “How did you know?”

  “I was at the talent show. It made my heart burst to see the happiness on his face. Your song was lovely.”

  “Thank you.” Becky seemed like a nice person, but Sophie felt uncomfortable talking about last night.

  “Who are you buying flowers for?”

  “Ryan.”

  A wide smile broke across Becky’s face. “Come with me. I can make a bouquet from any of the blooms you see. Or if there’s a bouquet you like, you can take it home with you.”

  Sophie walked toward a wall of roses. “These are beautiful.”

  “I bought the roses fresh from the market this morning. What color do you like?”

  Sophie scanned the rows of flowers displayed in every color of the rainbow. She moved down the aisle and stopped in front of a vase of yellow roses. They reminded her of sunshine.

  “I’ll take a dozen yellow roses, please. Do you have a card I could write on?”

  Becky lifted the vase off the shelf and took them across to the counter. While she wrapped the flowers in paper, Sophie chose one of the cards Becky produced. She wrote her message inside and slid it into an envelope.

  “Would you like the roses delivered or do you want to take them with you?”

  “Can I pick them up in an hour? I’m going to Angel Wings Café to meet a friend.”

  “Of course you can. I’ll put them away so no one else sees them.”
r />   Sophie paid for the flowers, thanked Becky, and left.

  When the front door opened, Tanner stood between Sophie and the reporters. “Did you get what you wanted?”

  Sophie nodded. It wasn’t what Ryan would be expecting, but that was okay.

  She was learning that sometimes you had to live dangerously to find a little sunshine.

  ***

  Tess was sitting at the back of the café when Sophie walked inside. It was barely nine o’clock, but most of the tables were already full of customers.

  “You’re busy.”

  Tess looked up and smiled. “It’s our usual Saturday morning crowd. Kate and Caitlin are working this morning. The boss has got the weekend off.”

  “Why are you here, then?”

  “I’m meeting you. Besides, it’s nice being able to see business from our customers’ perspective. Tell me about last night and don’t leave anything out.”

  Tanner stood beside their table. Sophie looked around the room, but there were no spare seats.

  Tess closed the newspaper she’d been reading and stood up. “Let’s have our coffee in the kitchen. Tanner can enjoy something to eat, too.

  Sophie smiled at Tanner. “We’re getting preferential treatment.”

  “I’m paid to keep you safe. But if a slice of chocolate cake came my way I wouldn’t say no.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” Sophie followed Tess, and Tanner went with them.

  The kitchen was just as spotless as the front of the café. A large stainless steel counter ran down the center of the room. Shelves were filled with everything a café could need.

  Kate smiled as she took some muffins out of the oven. “Hi Sophie. It’s good to see you. You haven’t visited us in a while.”

  “I’ve been busy helping Ryan. Kate, this is Tanner. He’s…he’s looking after me.”

  Kate grinned at the six-foot-five bodyguard. “Ryan called. He said you’d be coming with Sophie.”

  Sophie looked between Kate and Tess. “He called?”

  Tess smiled. “He wanted to make sure we were okay with Tanner looking for escape routes and kidnappers. He worries too much.”

  Tanner walked to the back of the kitchen and unlocked a door. “You can never worry too much.” He looked in the parking lot and at the stairs that led to Tess’ old apartment.

  Sophie watched Tanner open another door to a large storage area. “Are you happy?”

  “As happy as I’ll ever be,” he said.

  Kate put the last muffin on a plate. “What can I get everyone to drink?”

  Tess had brought her coffee with her into the kitchen. Sophie ordered a hot chocolate and Tanner decided to have a short black.

  “I’ll be back soon.” Kate smiled as she passed Tanner. “Would you like your usual?”

  A blush skimmed Tanner’s cheeks. He nodded at Kate before she left the kitchen.

  Sophie stared at him. “I didn’t know you were a regular customer?”

  Tanner cleared his throat. “I don’t come here that often.”

  “Come and have a seat, Sophie, and tell me what happened last night.” Tess pulled two stools away from the counter and sat down on one of them. “You looked just as surprised as I did when Ryan said you were engaged.”

  “I…I didn’t know he was going to say anything.”

  “Really?”

  Sophie buried her head in her hands, “Okay, I’m lying. I can’t stand not telling you what really happened.”

  Tanner walked toward the doors leading into the dining area and kept an eye on the people coming in and out of the café.

  Sophie took a deep breath. “We’re not getting married. Ryan just blurted out that we’re engaged. Reporters have been calling his house since five o’clock this morning. Dorothy, his publicist, has a list of television producers who want an exclusive interview, but it’s not true. We’re not engaged.”

  “Why did he say you were?”

  Sophie shook her head. “I don’t know. He told me I’d be safer if people thought he was looking after me. I don’t need looking after.”

  Tanner turned his head toward her.

  “It’s true. If Hayley was here she’d tell everyone how resourceful I am.”

  Tanner lips twitched before he turned his attention back to the café.

  “There must be a reason Ryan thinks you’re in danger?” The kitchen doors opened and Kate brought their coffees and hot chocolate across to them.

  Sophie smiled her thanks. “Someone went into mom’s nursing home and was asking questions about her. Ryan called John, and John sent a security person to look after them. They moved out of the nursing home a couple of weeks ago. They’re staying somewhere that’s safer.”

  “Are they okay?”

  “I think so. I haven’t spoken to Hayley for more than a week. I’m getting worried about how mom is. She doesn’t like change. It makes her nervous and stressed.”

  “Is that part of the Alzheimer’s disease?”

  “I’m not sure. She doesn’t remember anything, so maybe she picks up on everyone else’s stress. Whatever it is, it isn’t good for her. Ryan suggested bringing them back to his home, but John thinks that’s too big a risk.”

  Tess sipped her coffee. “So where does that leave you and Ryan?”

  “Sitting in a mansion overlooking a lake. He said he would tell everyone we’re not engaged.”

  “You don’t look too happy about that? Do you want to be engaged to him?”

  “No.” Sophie took a deep breath. She leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Now that Ryan’s home is nearly finished, I should be moving out. But I’m worried about leaving. What if someone finds me?”

  “Does Ryan know how you feel?”

  Sophie shook her head. “And I want to keep it that way,” she whispered.

  “I think you’re making a mistake. You need to tell Ryan how worried you are.”

  Sophie leaned her elbows on the counter. “I could ask him if I could stay for another couple of days. The patent for my supplement should be finalized soon. Once that’s done, no one can copy the formula. My life will go back to normal and mom and Hayley will be safe.”

  “That sounds much better. How do you feel about Ryan?”

  “He’s a good person. I feel guilty about all of the money it must be costing him to keep us safe. I’ve asked John to give me a copy of his bill. I’m going to try and pay back every last dollar.”

  “Does Ryan want your money?”

  “That isn’t the point.” Sophie frowned at the beeping noise coming from her bag. “That’s my cell phone.” She scrambled inside the compartments, looking for her phone. “Hayley isn’t supposed to call me. Ryan and the security guards are the only other people that have this number.”

  She looked at the caller display and frowned. “I don’t know who —”

  Tanner took the phone out of her hand and listened to the person talking to him. Within seconds he’d ended the call and put her phone in his pocket. “We’re going back to the house.”

  “Who was on the phone?”

  “Someone you don’t want to talk to. Let’s go.” Tanner marched her toward the back door.

  “I’ll call you later, Tess.”

  “Be safe.”

  If the look on Tanner’s face was anything to go by, keeping safe wouldn’t be as easy as Sophie thought.

  ***

  Within minutes of arriving at Ryan’s home, John Fletcher pulled into the front yard. Tanner was sent to check the property and John stayed with Sophie and Ryan in the kitchen.

  Sophie read the newspaper article John had given to her. It wasn’t the phone call in Tess’ café that had brought him out to Ryan’s property. It was something much worse.

  She handed John’s newspaper back to him. “How did they find out what’s in the supplement?”

  “We don’t know. The first thing we knew about the article was when it appeared in the newspaper.”

  Sophie rubbed her forehead
. “This is bad. Really bad.”

  “How bad?” John asked.

  “Bad enough that if my patent doesn’t come through in the next couple of weeks, then it could be too late. Pharmaceutical companies have entire teams of people at their disposal. With the information that’s been leaked, they could replicate my supplement faster than I developed it.”

  Ryan paced backward and forward. “There must be rules about proving they made the supplement first? They can’t just turn up at the patent office and expect their application to be approved.”

  Sophie bit her bottom lip. “They can and they do. The revenue they could earn from the supplement far outweighs any legal issues.”

  Ryan glanced at John. “What can we do?”

  “We need to find the person who leaked the information.” John looked at Sophie. “You told me that the newspaper didn’t publish the entire list of ingredients, so it’s got to be someone who doesn’t have full access to the supplement. Apart from Ryan’s kitchen, where else have you worked on the formula?”

  Sophie took a glass out of the pantry and walked across to the sink. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to pass out. “I started making the formula in my lab. Chicago University has strict protocols about what students can work on and what they can’t. Everything I did had to go past my supervisor for approval.”

  “Could your supervisor have leaked the information to the press?”

  Sophie gulped back her glass of water. “He could have, but I made a lot of changes to the ingredients. The early formula is a lot different from what I’m using now.”

  John tapped his pen on the counter. “What about research notes, reports, computer files? Is there anything that would give someone information about the latest formula?”

  Sophie leaned against the kitchen cabinets and thought of every place she’d saved her research information. “The University’s computer servers will have back-up data. My original research paper, my thesis, and the post-trial evaluation papers will all be there. But access to any post-trial evaluations is available only through the supervising professor. Dr. Bernard thought I was wasting university resources by continuing my trials. He pulled me completely off my research topic and put me with another team.”