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“I don’t know. I guess the short answer is that I didn’t agree to do this for marriage. They just needed a fifth girl and I needed the money for my father.” I chewed my lips in thought. “Did you say he looks at me?”
“He looks at you a lot. He looks at you like you’re already his girl.” Nadia’s smiled wavered. “Maybe you should reconsider your reason for being here.”
“I’ll think about it. Thank you for talking with me.” I went to stand by the railing. “We’re shoving off. What is your plan from here on?”
“I’m going to ask him to let me go when we get to New York. I did this for a green card, basically, but now I realize I want to marry for love.” Nadia stared at Sawyer and Sarah again. “I want a man to look at me like he looks at you.”
“Well, look at him over there with Sarah. Perhaps you are confused about how he looks at me,” I disagreed nicely. “Why wait until we get to New York?”
“I’ve always wanted to see New York and I’m all the way here. I might as well get to sightsee in the Big Apple.” Nadia waved for Josh to come over. “Mr. Josh, could you show me where I will be staying?”
“Of course, come with me.” Josh walked ahead.
“Hey, Jade, you should really think about it. I think there’s a lot more to him than all this money,” Nadia said, then followed Josh.
The rest of the day and evening I was on edge. I felt like every time I wasn’t looking toward Sawyer that he was watching me. I hadn’t felt this way until Nadia brought it to my attention.
“What’s going on, Jade?” Gunner sat next to me, looking up at the stars. “You’ve been antsy all day.”
“It’s something Nadia said this morning.” I looked to Gunner. “What do you think about Sawyer?”
“I think he’s a real good guy. I’d let my daughter marry him.” Gunner winked when I looked at him. “If you’d stop trying to get him to like all the other girls, you might find out you like him for yourself.”
“No. I didn’t do this for the same reason as them,” I denied. “I did it for my dad.”
“I think Victoria Hawthorne knew exactly what she was doing when she offered you this chance. Just like she did with Imogen.”
“You think so?” I looked over to see him hug Sarah. “He sure seems interested in Sarah.”
“Could have something to do with that wall you have up. She just went to bed. Go spend some time with him with the wall down.” Gunner walked away. “Good night, all.”
“Hey, Jade, you want some company?” Sawyer asked. “This is my favorite spot to sit at night.”
“Sure, have a sit. Looks like you and Sarah are having fun,” I said without looking at him. “She’s a nice girl.”
“She is nice, but I find it interesting that she is so attached to me and giddy ever since I mentioned New York and the charity event.” Sawyer leaned forward. “I can’t escape those tabloids from all the years of partying. I’d hoped the girls that were here for this were here for me, not what I can give them.”
“It must be difficult to know.”
Chapter 94
Sawyer
Nadia had let me in on her desire to drop out of the bride competition, for lack of another term. I agreed because she had been correct that her and I weren’t right. She did take time to tell me her feeling on which girl I should be with and why. I hadn’t realized I was that transparent about Jade.
I wonder if Sarah has noticed, too?
We spent the next two days skeet shooting, watching movies, and fishing. Then, the evenings relaxing on the deck. Gunner was the only one that had joined us on the cruise, but he spent his time on the bridge with Captain Jim or tapping away on his laptop. Sarah was all over me to the point of annoyance, so much so that last night I said good night and went to my room. Once I heard Sarah go to her room, I went back out to find Jade laying on her back on the bow.
“Mind if I stargaze too?” I waited for her reply before laying down.
“Come on down, Fancy Yacht Boy,” she teased. “I never get tired of looking at the stars. Every night it’s different yet the same.”
“I know. You seem so comfortable being out on the water. How are you feeling about the charity event?” I asked, nervous of her answer. “Will you hate it?”
“Nah, I’ve done plenty of brown nosing to faking interest when I was getting grants for studies we needed funded.” She shrugged it off like it was nothing. “I suppose this will be slightly different, but I’m good with it.”
“Why haven’t we spent more time talking and getting to know each other?” I leaned up on one elbow. Two weeks with you and I didn’t know that about you.”
