Hard Charger: Jake & Sophia: A Hot Contemporary Romance Read Online Free PDF Page A

smoky bar and exchanged smiles with two guys standing near the entrance.
    Sophia threw a harassed glance at her friend.  “He’s just a normal guy.”
    “Judging by the way you talk about him...he’s a lot more than normal.”
    Sophia shrugged.  “You never forget your first crush.”
    “And you never forget the guy who popped your cherry,” Cyn added.
    Sophia smiled.  Cyn had such a way with words.  “Let’s just get a look at him.  You don’t have to meet him.”  She stood on her tiptoes to get a better view around the bar.   Four guys were up on stage, playing guitars and singing about honkytonks.  In front of them, girls and guys were dancing, some together, and others solo.  Guys standing on the edge of the dance floor had their attention on the solo girls.  In front of her, Luke and that new bartender were slinging drinks around; and throughout the rest of the bar, people were drinking, eating, talking.  She thought the place was unusually busy for that time of night...
    Her gaze focused on two men who sat in a booth about half way across the room.
    Jake.   With Alex.
    Jake looked older.  Tougher.  He was wearing an Army green t-shirt that said “Airborne Rangers Lead the Way.”  It clung to his broad shoulders and well-muscled biceps.  A few days’ worth of beard covered his strong, square chin.    His tan gave him a healthy-looking glow.  She saw that he’d cut his brown hair very short, almost like a buzz cut.  She liked it longer, but she supposed military guys had to keep it short.
    Suddenly, he looked her way.  Their gazes met.  All at once, she was drowning in his dark brown eyes.
    She poked Cyn with her elbow.  “There he is.”
    “Where?”  Cyn squinted and glanced around the bar.
    “Next to my brother.”
    “Oh.”  Cyn let out a little breath.  “I see why you can’t forget him.  Let’s go say hello.”
    Sophia grabbed her friend’s arm, her handbag bumping awkwardly between them. “Wait, I don’t want to talk to him—”
    “Yes, you do,” Cyn said, cutting her off, and started threading her way through the crowd on the dance floor. 
    Sophia hesitated, then adjusted her handbag and trailed helplessly after her friend.  A tightness in her throat, she looked away from Jake.  She couldn’t seem to meet his gaze again. 
    All through her teen years, she’d worshipped her brother’s hot friend, the one who’d winked at her when no one was looking and seemed so strong and capable.  When he’d come over to hang out with Alex, she’d sit there like a clumsy twit, unable to talk, unable to do just about anything but smile foolishly and gaze at him with adoring eyes.  But once she’d found out he was going off to war, she’d gathered up her courage and chased him until he was hers, for just one night.
    The next morning, he’d left for good.
    And then the nightmare had begun.  She’d never told him about the miscarriage, though.  Never wrote him once.
    She and Cyn reached the booth and said hello.  Sophia looked at Alex first.  Then she forced herself to glance at Jake.  He smiled at her in an aloof way, and she smiled back, in perfect control.  
    “You’re home, Jake, that’s wonderful,” she murmured.  She realized her palms were clammy.
    He raked her body with an intent gaze.  “Sophia! You’re all grown up.”
    She smiled tentatively.  “It happens to the best of us.”
    He returned her smile.  “How’ve you been?”
    “I’m fine.  I’m better than fine...I’m wonderful.”
    Their gazes were locked; they might have been the only two people in the bar.  Her blood was pounding through her veins--she could barely breathe.  She pulled off the scarf she’d been wearing and slipped it into her coat pocket.
    Cyn discreetly elbowed her.  She suddenly remembered her friend was standing at her side, waiting to be introduced.  “This is my friend Cynthia,” she said, and her voice sounded strange to her own ears...high and