Read Online Persuaded by Misty Dawn Pulsipher - Free Book Online

seemed to have no idea at all who she’d been talking to.
     
     
    NINE
    SOMEONE
LIKE YOU
     
    He had a heart
for . . . any pleasing young woman who came in his way, excepting Anne Elliot.
    —Jane Austen, Persuasion
     
    The
next day, Derick didn’t get up early to go running with Ella. She had mentioned
a fitness clothing store that she wanted to visit, and they agreed to sleep in
and then go browsing instead. After showering and dressing for the day, Derick
emerged from his room to find Sophie making breakfast. The gloriously greasy
smell of bacon permeated the kitchen, making Derick’s mouth water. Pouring
himself a tall glass of milk, he sat down on a bar stool.
    “Morning,”
Sophie greeted him. “Hungry?”
    “Not
really, but for bacon I’ll make an exception.”
    Grimacing
at her brother, Sophie cracked several eggs into a bowl and attacked them with
a wire whisk. “What’s on the agenda for today?”
    “Going
downtown with Ella.”
    The
lack of Sophie’s response piqued Derick’s curiosity. The only time his sister
kept her opinion to herself was when it wasn’t favorable.
    “What?”
he prompted.
    “What-what?”
she asked, all innocence.
    “Just
let me have it, Soph. I know you have an opinion, you always do.”
    Sophie
arched an eyebrow at him, then dumped the eggs into a frying pan. “Nothing,”
she said. “She’s nice . . .”
    Derick’s
patience was rewarded. He had to wait a only moment before Sophie continued.
    “And
energetic, and bubbly, and young . And kind of . . . empty.”
    “Empty?”
Derick grinned, nibbling on a slice of crisp bacon. “You’re going to have to
build on that, sis.”
    “You
know how most of an iceberg is below the surface of the water? I feel like with
Ella, there’s nothing below the surface. Like she’s stuffed with cotton or
something equally weightless.”
    “First
she’s empty, now she’s a stuffed animal?”
    “Like Raggedy
Ann ,” Sophie clarified.
    Even
though Derick didn’t like the criticism, he couldn’t help chuckling at his
sister’s analogy.
    “Anyway,”
Sophie said, waving the spatula in the air before stirring the eggs, “I think
you should hold out for someone . . . more.”
    Derick
grabbed another piece of bacon and bit off the end. “We’re just friends, Soph.”
    “Derick
Wentworth, didn’t anyone ever tell you not to lie with your mouth full?”
    Derick
almost choked on said mouthful. Chasing it down with the last of his milk, he
said, “I’m not lying. Nothing has happened between us. She’s just . . . an
exercise buddy.”
    Adam,
answering the call of sizzling bacon, came into the kitchen. His sense of smell
might have been devoted to the food, but his hearing was just fine. “Come on,
dude. No guy in his right mind would think of Ella Musgrove as a buddy.” Piling
a plate with eggs and bacon for himself, Adam sat down next to Derick, completely
oblivious to the look his wife was giving him.
    After
a couple bites he looked up. “What?”
    Sophie
raised an eyebrow.
    “Aw,
come on, honey—I meant a single guy!”
    Sophie
removed two slices of bacon from her husband’s plate. “Save some for Benny,”
she told him saucily. “Speaking of which, why don’t you go get him up?”
    Adam
bowed his head in submission and went to do as he was told.
    “He’s
right, though,” Sophie said. “So don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re
friends. Friends don’t wear hoochie shorts, Derick.”
    Derick
bristled. “She takes care of herself. Is that a bad thing?”
    “Look,
she’s great. I just think you need to be careful. I don’t see you with someone
like Ella.”
    “Who
do you see me with, Sophie?” He might as well humor her. His sister never rested
until her sentiments were made known.
    “I
don’t know . . . what about . . . Hanna, maybe?”
    Suddenly
Derick wanted to be somewhere else—anywhere else. Of course, Sophie wasn’t
privy to his history with her person of choice. Sophie had been a young bride