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)
Sawyer’s eyes hit mine. The look in them was impossible to describe and cut straight through me. It was absolute betrayal. Total shock. Pain. And on top of that, rage. In an instant, he was out of the bed and tugging on his shorts.
Fuck. This couldn’t be happening. “Mr. Gilley, if I could just put you on hold for one second—”
“Well, I’m on my way to court for a few hearings that are scheduled to last the day. So if you want this finalized and signed today—”
“It will only be a second,” I said, cutting him off and hitting the mute button.
Sawyer was already dressed and halfway toward the door. I struggled out of the bed, my legs tangling in the sheets. “Sawyer, wait,” I called after him. He didn’t even hesitate. “Sawyer!” I shouted louder.
He paused, his hand on the doorknob, his back to me.
“I can explain.” I winced. The words sounded pathetic even to me.
“What’s there to explain?” He bit out. “You came into town to make a deal and you did. Congratulations.”
“But that’s not…” I shoved a fist into my hair. I didn’t know what to say, how to word the desperation I suddenly felt. “But what about us?”
He turned just enough that I could see his profile. His jaw was rigid, the color in his cheeks high and his eyes bright. “There is no us, James.”
The words were a physical blow, punching against my sternum.
“Sawyer!” I called after him, but he was already through the door, leaving it swinging open behind him.
Fuck! I couldn’t let him leave. I started after him, only belatedly remembering I was naked. Frantic, I scrambled around the room for clothes, grabbing a pair of shorts and nearly tripping in my haste to drag them on. I was almost through the door when I heard Greg’s voice through the phone. “Mr. Allen? If you can hear me, I’m about to step into the courthouse so if you want to wrap this up today before one of my brothers changes his mind…”
I froze on the threshold.
“Mr. Allen?” Echoed Greg’s voice.
I hesitated a second longer. If I went after Sawyer, it meant not closing the deal.
But closing the deal meant losing Sawyer.
I squeezed my eyes closed. I had to make a decision. Now.
I knew what I wanted: I wanted Sawyer. I wanted to throw my phone against the wall and go racing out into the parking lot and chase the man down.
And say what? That I’d only known him a couple of days but already I felt a connection I’d never experienced before? That yes I lived in the city and he lived in McBride but we could somehow find a way to make it work?
Even if Sawyer said yes, even if he agreed, was I willing to risk my career on that? He was young. He hadn’t experienced the world the same way I had. Hell, I didn’t even know if he’d been in love before. And I certainly didn’t know what he wanted in life.
What if we weren’t compatible? What if he changed his mind?
What if he was just another Richard?
I couldn’t risk it.
My chest felt like it was on fire, my heart crushed and sinking as I lifted the phone and thumbed off the mute button. “I’m here, Mr. Gilley,” I said, my voice flat. “Let’s get this deal done.”
As he spoke, I watched a young man drive up in an old pick-up truck full of flower arrangements and begin to haul them into the lobby. Even though I’d only been here a couple of days, I’d already picked up on more than I’d realized about life in McBride and at the Sea Sprite. I knew that the pervy old couple in room 202 was actually a pair so deeply in love, the husband arranged for flowers to be delivered to her every hour the entire anniversary weekend they spent here. The family taking wedding weekend photos on the bluff had been coming to the Sea Sprite for decades for their family portraits. The local girl who stole the donuts was also the captain of Flamingo Pharmacy’s summer softball team, and her mother taught English at Barwich High.
I saw the life Sawyer was so desperate to hold on to, and it was everything I’d always dreamed of.
And I’d just helped his uncles sign it all away, changing the dynamics of McBride forever.
18
Sawyer
I waited in the parking lot for longer than I should have. Longer than was reasonable. Well past the point that it was clear James wasn’t coming after me. I stood there like an idiot, chest pounding, gut churning, morning sun burning down around me, staring at the open door to James’s room and willing him to appear and explain why. To tell me it was a mistake. To apologize.
For what? Doing his job? He’d come to town to close a deal, and that’s what he’d done. I’d just been a bit of fun on the side. A nice distraction.