AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Vulnerable was not good. Not with Sawyer around.
“What is it?” Good God, what had happened to her voice? She sounded like she’d swallowed rusty nails.
“I came back for you, Maddie.”
She blinked several times. Those words... God, she would have killed to hear them in the year or so after their broken engagement but now... Okay, so she couldn’t help the warm tingly sensation running through her but the logical part of her clamped down on it.
No, no, no, this wasn’t what she wanted. Was he serious? Was she delirious? Too much time inhaling book dust or something? She thrust a hand through her hair and shook her head.
“What?”
“I came back for you. I made a mistake. A huge mistake, okay? I’ve always regretted it.”
“Sooo you waited until your father died to come and fix it?”
He grimaced. “I was a jerk but I needed time to realise that. I’m sorry I hurt you. You can’t understand how sorry I am. There were plenty of times I wanted to come back and explain and try to apologise but I didn’t know how. I was scared I’d mess it up.”
“Well, I would say you’re doing a great job now. What makes you think you can swan back into my life and say—” she waved a hand, unable to repeat his words for fear they’d sound just as crazy and all too appealing still, “—stuff like that.”
“I get it. I know I’ve got work to do.”
For some reason his cocky stance aggravated her. She stepped forward. “Work to do?” She prodded his chest with a finger and he scowled and rubbed the spot. “You left me on our wedding day, Sawyer. You ran away and I never heard from you again. I only knew you were alive because your aunt called me.”
“I know,” he said softly. “I messed up big time. I was going through a lot of stuff...”
“So why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you involved.”
He folded his arms, creating the impression of being a great wall of a man. Which he pretty much was. Muscle moulded his shirt and his biceps were larger than ever when he stood in that posture. She feared for the integrity of his top.
She also feared for her sanity. The little curl of ink on his right arm sneaking out from the fabric begged her to touch it then to trace it to wherever it went. Maybe it finished on his shoulder or perhaps it went onto his chest. Oh God, to touch that chest...
“I didn’t want to upset you with my issues,” he continued. “It was dumb, yes, but I was trying to do the best by you. I thought leaving you was the best thing I could do. You had a great future ahead and I would only have ruined it for you.”
He gave her a sort of wounded puppy-dog look and her anger deflated.
Now she wished she’d kept Ms Chastity’s book to use as a fan.
She let her shoulders drop. He gave her a rueful look and stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. She tried not to drop her gaze and notice the way his thumbs pointed directly to—
“I wasn’t good enough for you, Maddie, but I’m hoping I might be now.”
Oh God. This wasn’t how her day was meant to go. She was going to potter around the quiet shop, stack a few books and take the time to consider what she was going to do with these lottery winnings once they hit the bank. She glanced at the clock on the wall behind the counter. And she had a meeting with her financial advisor later. Didn’t she have enough to worry about without the love of her life storming barging back in and saying things like that? Things that might as well have come out of a romantic novel.
Maddie needed to regain control. She needed to engage her brain and forget all the fluttering sensations and stupid teenage reactions he created in her.
“I’m grateful for the apology and the explanation,” she said coolly.
Yes, this was good. She sounded in control, right?
“But you want me to go?”
He always had been good at reading her. “Yes, please.”
“I’ll leave, but promise me one thing.”
“Sawyer, I’m not making promises.”
