Sleepless in Savannah Read Free Page B

face.
    "Better luck next time, Lance."
    He nodded, then gave her a quick peck on her cheek, not quite meeting her eyes as he stepped aside. She was surprised he wasn't gloating. No man could have faked such bad answers except Lance. Which proved that if he ever set his mind to it, he'd probably be the most romantic man in the world.
    But he was not to be hers. Some other woman would receive the pleasure of his adoration.
    "And now, fellows, your consolation prize," Eden said. "The Sophie Knows show is giving you a six-month membership to the Savannah Singles Service."
    Sophie beamed a look at Lance. "Hope you enjoy."
    He frowned as if she'd sentenced him to hard labor. "Thanks a bunch."
    A drumroll sounded, breaking into the tense silence that followed his reply. Sophie held her breath, mustering up fake enthusiasm as her assistant introduced her date.
    "Our winning bachelor, number three, is an ex-football player for the Atlanta Falcons. He retired to Savannah but has recently agreed to join the coaching staff at the University of Georgia in the fall. I'd say Rory Dalton made a touchdown today!"
    The crowd erupted into laughter, but Sophie inhaled as the ex-football player stalked toward her. She'd thought Lance was a big man, but this guy's shoulders looked like watermelons, his legs were the size of tree trunks, and when he picked her up and swung her around, her bones squeaked in protest. With a growl in her ear, he slid her to the floor, threw her backward over his arm, and settled his mouth on top of hers.
    Good Lord almighty, he was going to swallow her whole and try to score right there on stage.
    * * *
    Lance was sweating profusely, due to the heat wave, he assured himself, not to the fact that the hulk was kissing Sophie. Still, protective instincts emerged, tempting him to intercept the man's pass, but he forced his feet to remain glued to the floor. He couldn't make a fool of himself on TV, not for a woman who was completely wrong for him.
    Besides, he had fulfilled his obligation to Sophie and her show, and beat her at her own game. Now he could focus on his business, which he and his brother Reid had barely kept out of the red the last year, and forget the guilt that had dogged him for being rude to Sophie in the past. Plus, now that Maddie had gotten hitched to his best friend, Chase, Lance was finally free to enjoy his bachelorhood without worrying about a menagerie of sex-crazed men chasing his little sister. Sophie was too sophisticated, too showy, too much in the limelight, too perfect for a guy like him. He would never fit in with her TV producers and society-elite friends. Although sometimes at night he craved the soft curves of a woman's body pressed up to him, the idea of marriage made him nauseated. And Sophie had marriage written all over her.
    Then why did he have this twisting, gnarling ache in his stomach as Sophie curled her hands around Dalton's arms?
    Protective instincts, nothing more. She was his kid sister's friend, so naturally he felt the urge to call a penalty on the man for illegal maneuvers, but Sophie was a grown woman and could do whatever she pleased. Even if it meant pawing and humping onstage.
    He cleared his throat in disgust, and the two finally broke apart. Sophie was breathless, her face flushed, her eyes wide as she staggered upright. He barely resisted the urge to assist her so she wouldn't fall down, and glared at the whisker burn on her cheek. Damn, had the man been raised by wolves?
    "Well, it looks like Savannah won't be the only place with a heat wave; the steam is going to rise in Cancun," Sophie's assistant said with a twinkle in her eyes. "Our lucky couples will leave for their romantic getaways tonight. And on a special Saturday show we'll take a sneak peak to see how they're doing; then next week, we'll air special footage of each of their adventures." She paused. "If you'd like to vote on which couple you think might turn their dating match into a long-term