Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85565 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
“I’ll…” She cleared her throat. “I’ll take him. You stay here.”
He nodded. “Thanks for bringing all this stuff by.”
Sawyer sounded tired, reminding me that he was functioning on little to no sleep. I stepped a little closer. “Why don’t you get some sleep while I watch the desk for you?”
He glanced at the boxes, his trepidation over leaving them with me without any supervision obvious. “If you want me to wait until you’ve woken up to go through everything, I will,” I offered before I could stop myself. What in the hell was I thinking? I had three weeks to close this deal, and from what I’d learned from Karlie’s dad, this load of boxes was only the first of many. Unless I wanted to pull my own all-nighters, I needed to get started on the paperwork now.
Except that if I forced the issue I knew that Sawyer wouldn’t leave. And if Sawyer didn’t leave, he wouldn’t go to bed. And if Sawyer didn’t go to bed…
My mind tripped over itself at the combination of the words Sawyer and bed. Suddenly, napping was the furthest thing from my mind. I had half a mind to suggest we take a break together when Karlie came back inside, dogless, muttering about stupid Larissa Lovejoy and her stupid dog.
Karlie moved behind the desk and perched on the stool, chucking her big handbag onto the counter and rifling through it to find a dog-eared paperback. “I’m here to take over. Dad was worried about you, Sawyer, so he asked if I would man the store for a while to give you a break.” She put air quotes around the word asked, making it clear it had been less an ask than a declaration. “So shoo,” she added, flapping her hands at Sawyer. “Go to bed and let me read in peace.”
Sawyer bit his lip, hesitant, and glanced my way. The things my mind did at the image of that lip between those teeth. I almost groaned out loud and had to shove my fists even deeper into my pockets to hide my growing erection.
“And you’ll wait until I’m back to go through the paperwork?” he asked me, nodding toward the boxes.
“If it will make you feel better, I’ll go to my room so I won’t even be tempted.” Of course it wasn’t the dusty old boxes that tempted me right now, it was Sawyer.
“You sure?” Sawyer asked. He looked up at me through his lashes, and I swore his voice dropped in pitch when he added, “It’s a beautiful day out.”
The way he said it, the way he looked at me, I couldn’t tell if his mind was headed in the same direction as mine. “You know, I didn’t get much sleep last night, so I might take a nap as well.”
The corner of his mouth quirked. I could tell he remembered that I’d told him how little sleep I needed, which meant he knew I was lying about the nap. And still he wasn’t making it easy on me.
I glanced toward Karlie, trying to figure out how to be even more explicit about wanting Sawyer to come sleep with me in my bed without sounding like a creep or her figuring out there was something between us. “Actually, yeah. Um… I think it might have been the faucet in my bathroom, actually. I think it’s broken. It kept me up. The faucet, I mean. The faucet kept me up. Not… something… else.” I stifled a wince, remembering the time I’d literally gotten a Worst Actor award in a college talent skit.
Sawyer’s smirk grew, and his eyebrow lifted. “Is it dripping?”
Mother of pearl.
I clenched my teeth together before gritting out. “Never mind.”
He stepped toward me, his face a mask of innocence and earnestness. “No, James. I feel like if it’s dripping, I should probably take care of it for you before I fall asleep.”
I glanced toward Karlie, wishing my face wasn’t on fire. Thankfully, she was already nose down in her book on the other side of the lobby. Except that I was pretty sure given the way she was so assiduously avoiding us that she’d heard every word of our conversation and had picked up on the innuendo long ago. I sighed and ran a hand down my face. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should just go to bed and pull the covers over my head and try not to think of Sawyer. Naked. With me. Under the sheets with his mouth…
I bit back a groan. Sawyer chuckled and slipped his arm through mine, turning me toward the door. “Come on. Let’s go. I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth when I feel like ass.”
I swear I heard Karlie cackle even before the door closed behind us. But I didn’t care because Sawyer’s shoulder was pressed next to mine and we were headed toward my room. Together.