That wasn’t even close to what he wanted to say, but it was the only thing he could think of in the heat of the moment. Sophie said knitting would help relax him, so he’d knit. He’d knit until his fingers bled. He’d knit until he forgot how good it felt just to stand next to this woman in a yarn store, discussing his private life as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

He yanked the yarn from the shelf, almost bringing an entire rainbow column descending upon them both. It made him irrationally angry, to be felled by so much tantalizing softness, so he turned on Sophie with a glare. “But I want it stated for the record that if Bubbles turns into a wanton harlot after this, I’m holding you personally responsible.”

“Got it.” She held up her fingers in a mock Girl Scout salute. “As a wanton harlot myself, I promise to welcome her to the ranks with open arms.”

“Goddammit, Sophie! That isn’t what I meant.”

Her sparkling laughter caused several heads to turn their way. So much public scrutiny would normally have Harrison ducking into the back of the store, but all Sophie did was reach up on tiptoe and plant a kiss on his cheek. The soft press of her lips was quick and light, but it still had the power to ignite the desire that he no longer knew how to control.

He would control it though. He had to.

“I know it wasn’t,” she said, smiling up at him. “But I had to say something to do justice to Dawn’s pants. You don’t know her very well yet, but believe me when I tell you she’d be proud.”

Chapter 10

“I did loop that piece around my finger, see? It fell off before I could hook it on the other thingy. Why do they make these needles so slippery?”

The woman sitting next to Harrison, who was guiding his large, rough hands under her own, clucked her tongue as he tossed the ruined knitting aside. “They have to be slippery, dear. Otherwise, they’d slow you down once you get the hang of it.”

“If I ever get the hang of it,” he said. “My hands are too damn big to do it right.”

He cast an accusing look at Sophie, but she sent him an apologetic shrug in reply. Retaliation wasn’t an option when her sister Dawn was sitting next to her, watching every interaction like it was a soap opera written especially for her. Dawn wasn’t much of a knitter, but when Sophie told her that Harrison had not only agreed to come to the circle, but had chosen his own yarn for the occasion, she’d insisted on witnessing the event for herself.

Naturally, nothing Sophie could do or say would stop her.