“Dude, fuck off with that.” He sounds annoyed. “Cam’snota ball and chain and I’mnotout of shape. You’re the one speeding up the damn mountain like there’s a pot of gold at the top.”
“Pfft. Who wants gold? I’ll take a pot of gummy bears, thank you very much.”
“Stop changing the subject. What’s going on in that head of yours?”
Beckett grabs my arm and drags me off the trail to a frustratingly convenient bench at one of the many lookouts that this particular path has. “You’ve been distracted for weeks, bro. At the studio opening, you looked like you’d seen a ghost, then at Mom and Dad’s last week, you didn’t say anything when Jude took the last slice of pie. Youneverpass up fighting for pie.”
I turn my face to hide my wince because I waspissedwhen I realized I missed out on a second slice of Mom’s apple pie. That shit is delicious. “I wasn’t hungry.”
“Bullshit.”
Slumping against the back of the bench, I tip my head and stare at the treetops, the blue sky poking through the gaps in the branches. I love living on the West Coast, and spring days like today are the perfect example why. It’s warm, but not hot. Sunny, but still crisp and fresh. Birds are chirping, there’s a delightful breeze and…
“Sawyer. Seriously?”
And my twin is getting increasingly annoyed with my avoidance. Letting my head loll to the side, I smirk. “Listen. I’m just trying to have a nice time with my brother. I don’t know what you’re getting at, but everything’s fine. I was thinking about a call we had the other night, that’s why I missed Jude being a pie thief. And as for Cam’s studio opening, maybe I did see a ghost. You ever think about that? Hmm? Dogwood Cove has been around long enough to gather a few spirits, maybe my keen eyes caught one of them drifting along Main Street.” Yeah, if a ghost is a beautiful blonde, who at the time I thought I was imagining — but after recent events, it turns out, maybe I wasn’t…
Beckett stares at me through his glasses. He’s an accountant, which means he’s nothing if not logical and fact based in his thinking. Which also means, unfortunately, he can sniff out bullshit a mile away. It’s just a question of how hard he is going to push me to explain myself today.
I’m hoping not too hard, because I’m not ready to confess to anyone that I know the newest resident of Dogwood Cove.
Intimately.
Some things are better kept to myself for now. At least until I can figure out what the hell I’m going to do with these peskyfeelingsbeing stirred up inside of me with Tori suddenly appearing in my life.
Feelings. Thereal“F” word.
Chapter nine
Tori
There’s a zero percent chance I will admit to anyone the fact that I’m mildly disappointed I haven’t seen Sawyer in ten days. Not that I’m counting or anything.
I feel bad for pretending not to know him that day at Cooper’s school. After thinking — okay, overthinking — about it all, I realized I could’ve handled it better. Does my seven-year-old need to know Mommy had sex with the nice firefighter who bandaged his hand? Nope, definitely not. But could he know that Mommy met the firefighter when she was with Auntie Willow? Sure. His mind is innocent enough not to read anything into that.
But that’s a moot point now, seeing as the man has all but disappeared from town. I saw a guy who looked a lot like him, only with a thick beard and a beautiful brunette on his arm, coming out of Camille’s café the other day, but no sign of Sawyer.
I have it all planned out in my head. We’d see each other, I’d be looking cute this time, and apologize for my fumble at the school. We’d laugh about the coincidence of living in the same town now and move on with our lives like adults.
Adults who had really,reallygood sex.
Okay, thinking about really good sex while walking the aisles of the grocery store getting food for my kid’s school lunches is a little inappropriate. Giving my head a little internal shake, I refocus my attention on my current mission: some way to get Coop to eat more than just cheese and crackers for lunch each day. Picking up a box of macaroni and cheese that claims to have a serving of vegetables in it, I’m lost in thought, wondering if I can fool him into at least trying it.
“What are you doing here?”
The frustrated tone of that deep voice I’ll never forget startles me. Looking up — way up — since the man is considerably taller than me, I take in the scowl on his face with some surprise.
“Excuse me?” I say like an idiot, still trying to catch up to why Sawyer would have any reason to be annoyed with me.
He runs his hands through his already messy hair and my eyes follow the motion, remembering the time I was the one to rake my own fingers through those locks. “You’re just… You’re here. In Dogwood Cove. You’re everywhere.”
My jaw falls open. What the hell is wrong with this guy? “First of all, I live here now. I had no idea this is where you live when we hooked up, trust me. This isn’t some sort of weird stalker situation. And second of all, this is only the second time since moving here that I’ve seen you, so what the heck is your problem?”
He lets out a huff and mutters something under his breath, the only words I catch being “out of my head.” Now I’m starting to think I might want to keep my distance from Sawyer Donnelly, no matter how hot he is and how good the sex was. I get that it might seem odd to him, his one-night stand suddenly showing up in his town, but it’s an innocent coincidence. And his reaction to me right now is just bizarre. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s flustered. Which, for a guy who runs into burning buildings for a living, seems odd.
“Listen, this doesn’t have to be awkward.” I try to use my best soothing mom voice, because Sawyer’s still looking fidgety, like he would rather be anywhere but here. “I’m sorry for pretending not to know you that day at the school, but maybe that’s for the best. A fresh start, if you will. No one needs to know our past connection, and we can just move on.” There, that sounded calm and rational, didn’t it? Except, the fire that flashes through his brown eyes makes my breath stutter.
“Connection? That’s what you’re calling it?”
