“Still got it,” he said. “I switch off between them. Back in the city I have a Lykan Hypersport.”
Her eyes widened. “You’re kidding. I thought you used a driver back home.”
Sawyer’s eyes narrowed for a blink as he stared at the road ahead, thoughtful. “This is home to me,” he said. And as if the words alone hadn’t jumpstarted her heart enough, he darted a look at her—fleeting, but pointed. He wanted her to know that his heart wasn’t in NYC. And heaven help her, she liked hearing that more than he’d ever know.
She gulped as the new flare of heat settled over her skin.
“But you’re right,” he finally said. “I rarely drive in the city. I can’t wait to get the Lykan here and really break her in.”
Betzy nodded, but inwardly, she was dissecting his words. This was the first time she’d heard him talk about coming home to stay in years. It was reassuring, and made her all the more hopeful.
What if? What if they really could have the fairytale romance she’d always dreamed of?
A mean wave of doubt rose at the very idea. Come on, Betzy. Stop being such a dreamer. Haven’t you learned by now?
A vision of Sawyer kissing that woman in the elevator shot to her mind. And then there was her ugly breakup with Marcus Creighton. Sure, she’d developed feelings for the guy, but Betzy couldn’t deny that dating him had been more of an attempt to prove she could get over Sawyer after the New Year’s blowout.
A shiver ran through her at the ugly thoughts, but she chose to indulge them just the same. They’d keep her from getting her hopes up. Sawyer had agreed to do her a favor. He cared about her, and even more, he felt a level of loyalty toward her family.
Betzy’s thoughts carried her all the way to the clinic, and soon Sawyer was opening her car door.
She glanced at the hand he held out before lifting her gaze to meet his. A flare of heat shot through her as he gave her a soft, almost sad-looking grin. She’d give anything to know what was happening in that head of his.
Looking back to his hand, Betzy reached out and placed her palm in his. A rush of tingles pushed through her at his touch.
“Thanks.”
She caught a glimpse of Kellianne Kingsley through the glass. Ted, she guessed, sat beside her, rubbing a hand along her back.
Inwardly, Betzy sent a prayer up to the heavens. Sawyer and his mom had become like family to her, and she had a deep love for them both. She’d made the right choice in coming, that much was clear, but that didn’t change the situation at hand. Without an adequate public appearance, the upcoming proposal could look like a hoax.
She only hoped that, after missing the most crucial part of tonight’s banquet, they’d still be able to pull off the ploy.
Chapter 11
Sawyer sank into the couch with a yawn, eyeing old Mario as he sprawled over the length of his doggie bed, his favorite toy at his side—a ratty old stuffed elephant with the trunk torn off.
“I’m so glad he’s alright,” he said with a sigh.
“Me too,” Betzy said, taking a seat on the opposite end of the couch.
Sawyer shifted his gaze from the dog to the empty couch cushion between them. The lamp at her back, bright against the darkness of the room, lit her up like an angel. One who’d taken a seat decidedly far away from him.
“Tsk, tsk.” He shook his head. “We’re a little more familiar with each other than this, aren’t we?” He waved a hand toward the gap between them.
Betzy stiffened slightly, holding his gaze like she was waiting for him to say more.
He didn’t. Only smiled as he enjoyed her discomfort.
“You want me to scoot over?” she asked, surprise tinting her voice.
Sawyer patted the couch. “Yep. We are supposed to get engaged soon…”
A small giggle sounded at her throat. “Why don’t you scoot over?”
He shot a glance at the dog. “This seat’s closer to Mario. And he nearly died of plant poisoning an hour ago.” Just saying it aloud brought back the anxiety of those moments in the waiting area. The horrible worry over losing his little buddy who, according to vets, still had a few good years left in him. So long as he stayed out of the bulbs at Ted’s place, that is.
“That’s true,” Betzy said, but she still didn’t move in closer.
“Plus,” Sawyer added, “I was the first one to sit down, remember? You were the one who decided to sit so far away.” He liked teasing her. Liked watching the wheels in her head turn as she tipped to one side, a half-grin pulling at her lips.
He patted the seat again. “Come on,” he encouraged. “You and I are together, remember? We need to act like it. If you pull this stunt up at the cabin, your grandma’s not going to buy our little ploy.”
Her expression shifted suddenly. Serious now. “You’re right.” She stood to her feet and began to pace the room. Back, forth, then back again.
Sawyer had been trying to pull his gaze off Betzy’s legs half the night. He hadn’t done a great job at it. And now that she was strutting before him, those stiletto heels enhancing the curvy shape of her long legs, the battle started anew.
“How are we going to do this?” Betzy asked. Her quick glance into the darkness out the front window said she was checking to see if Mom and Ted were back yet. The two had gone out for a bite to eat after all the excitement, allowing Sawyer and Betzy to bring Mario home.
“You’re totally right. Grandma knows my body language and she knows my personality…”
“Above all that,” he said, a concern of his own coming to mind. “She knows you. Will she really think you’ve fallen for the Kingsley boy?” His heart dropped as he asked the bold question. One he might not want the answer to.
Betzy stopped pacing and shot him a look he couldn’t read. Brow furrowed, face scrunched slightly. “Are you kidding? Everyone knows I was in love with you. We had a marriage contract, for crying out loud. Of course they’ll believe it. On my end at least.”
His pulse spiked for a beat, but Sawyer was quick to put it right once more. The marriage contract—they’d written that when they were eight years old. He knew she had a childhood crush on him at the time. One that likely faded before she hit her teens.
“How did your mom take it?” she asked.
Sawyer thought back on the conversation he’d had with her. “She was fine with it.” No sense in telling her how leery Mom was that he’d get his heart broken.
Betzy nodded, her face thoughtful as she tucked an auburn lock of hair behind one ear. “You know, in the article, they list my love for fast cars—among other things—as one of my off-kilter, destined-to-be alone symptoms.”
She let out a humorless laugh. “Oh, and the fact that I like to be behind the wheel. Like the guy should have to drive every time. Somehow, according to freaking Slipper Magazine and their statistical calculations of all the rich loners out there, that makes me less marriage material and more spinster-bound.”
Her cheeks were turning red, the way they did when her temper flared.
“If you ask me,” Sawyer said, “I’d say it’s just the opposite. The fact that you know your cars, that you appreciate the models and makes and what sets them apart—I think it’s sexy.” He studied her reaction, then reveled in the reluctant smile pulling at her lips.
“No you don’t,” she said softly.
Sawyer nodded. “I do too. Now get over here, park your butt on this couch, and let’s practice cuddling.”
“Cuddling? My family knows I’m not a cuddler.”
“Well, maybe that excuse worked for your ex-boyfriend, but it doesn’t work for me.” This time he patted his chest, indicating she should rest her head against him. “This relationship has to look different from the one with what’s-his-name if it’s going to convince anyone.”
Betzy glanced out the window once more before settling her eyes back on him. “And if your mom comes home?”
“All the better,” he said. “She’ll be proud of us for practicing our part. Like w
hen we used to do our homework together.”
Dang, he liked seeing those dimples.
Betzy laughed now, a cute little giggle as she shook her head. “Fine. You’re probably right.”
“I am.”
“And you know what?” she said, stepping around the coffee table. “I was thinking…I know we missed the live stream tonight, but there might be a leak about us being together at the vet. It’s possible one of the staff members recognized us.”
Sawyer felt his smile falter. “That’s true.”
“So it might even be better,” she continued. “One appearance at the auction, another at the animal hospital with your sick dog. And only a girlfriend would go along for something like that, right? It’ll probably make it all the more convincing.”
“Yep.” Sawyer tried to force the grin back onto his face, but his inner wheels were stuck in the shifty terrain of Betzy’s words. She’d been very comforting while he waited for news of Mario’s condition. He didn’t like thinking that she’d been wrapped up in appearances during such a time.
That wasn’t the Betzy he knew. He hoped she hadn’t changed over the years. He’d always loved the traits that set her apart from most in her class. Her compassion for others, appreciation for some of the small things, and her overall freedom from the often binding ties of society. He’d fallen in love with her because of those traits. And stayed in love with her after all these years.
But what if he no longer knew the real Betzy Benton?
That question floated through his mind as she made her way to the center of the couch. She glanced at him over her shoulder briefly, seeming to gage the distance, then lowered herself onto the cushion at last. Instead of scooting back and getting comfortable, she stayed perched on the edge, arms still folded across her chest.
“Wow, this is convincing even me,” he teased. “I’m feeling all warm and fuzzy right now.”
Betzy covered her face and groaned. “I’m not good at this, I told you.” He felt her frustration in those words. Enough to remind him of her fragile condition at the country club when she’d told him about the article. It bothered him, poked at that need he felt to step up and help her.
“That’s probably why Daisy’s picking on you,” he said. “She thinks you’re an easy target. But you don’t want to go to all this trouble only to have people believe it’s all for show.”
“You’re right,” she agreed. “But the whole affection thing can’t be over the top either. We have to find just the right balance.”
“True,” he agreed. “And that might take a lot of practice.”
Betzy covered a grin. “You’re bad.”
“Actually, I’m good. You’d know that if you gave me a chance.” Sawyer patted his chest once more. “C’mon. It’s cuddle time.”
“Okay,” she finally said with a nod. “Let me just take off my shoes.”
Sawyer dropped his gaze to where her delicate fingers fiddled with the strap around her ankle. And for a reason he couldn’t explain, that was sexy too. He cleared his throat and turned to look at the Christmas tree while residual heat flared low in his belly.
This is what you get for hardly dating. But really, one look at the woman by his side and the explanation was clear. Any man in his right mind would forgo dating a bunch of random ladies if he could skip right to the perfect woman of his dreams. And now, he’d get to put a ring on it. Even if it was just for show.
At last Betzy straightened up, shifted further into the seat, and then moved in closer. He was amused by her aversion to cozying up to him, but the humor faded away as he felt the warmth of her body against his.
Sawyer held very still, gulping as she turned in to face him. Gently then, Betzy lay a hand on his chest. His heart tried greeting it with three full beats out of rhythm.
At last, she rested her cheek just beneath his shoulder.
Yes. Sawyer could hardly believe how natural it felt to wrap his arm around her. “There you go,” he said under his breath. “This isn’t so bad, is it?”
She giggled, and the warmth of her breath grazed Sawyer’s jaw. Which meant that her mouth wasn’t far from his. She smelled good too. Like some sort of rose. Subtle, sweet, and decidedly Betzy.
The next breath he pulled in was tighter, almost jagged, as his pulse sped up a notch.
“No,” she said softly, as if it were an afterthought. “This isn’t bad at all.”
He turned the slightest bit, pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and smoothed his hand slowly up her back, and then along her shoulder, and down her arm. It was the second time he’d kissed her head that night, but he could hardly stop himself.
“You smell good,” she said.
He chuckled low in his throat. “I was thinking the same thing about you.”
Her warm body shifted as he held her in his arms, the tightness fading breath by breath.
“It’s going to be okay, you know?” he assured.
Betzy lifted her head off his chest. “What was that?”
“Life after the article. It’s going to be fine.”
She pulled back until he met her gaze. Boy, did he love that face. Fair, flawless complexion, wide, blue eyes. Her smile put dimples in her cheeks every time, but there was no hint of those dimples now.
“Do you think I’m doing the wrong thing? By asking you to do this?”
Sawyer held her gaze. Did he think it was necessary? No. But did he understand her reasons for doing it? Definitely. The tricky part lay in the benefits he’d reap as they followed through with the plan.
“No,” he finally said. “I don’t think it’s the wrong thing. I don’t blame you for wanting to stick it to Daisy.”
The lines along her forehead softened, and the tiniest hint of a smile pulled at her full, pink lips. “Thank you.” She tucked herself back into place, a perfect fit.
“I felt like…maybe you thought I’d turned into a monster.”
“A monster?” His voice shot up an octave. “Why would I ever think that?”
Her fingers started a slow trail along his shoulder, lighting the fuse to that heat low in his belly.
“Because I’m doing something strictly for revenge,” she said. “That’s not very nice.”
Sawyer grinned. There was that innocence he liked about her. “You’re mainly saving face. The fact that you get revenge at the same time is just a bonus.”
“I don’t know if that’s true though. If Daisy wasn’t the editor of Slipper Magazine, I might have been satisfied with rebutting the article like a normal person. You know, talk shows, interviews, social media posts. But no, I had to go get the guy we both wanted and use him to make her jealous.”
“The guy you both wanted?” The comment reminded him of what his mom said—he was the common denominator.
Betzy swatted his arm. “Oh, stop it. You know we wanted you all through school. Along with every other girl. Daisy was just the one who got you. And she threw it in my face every chance she got.”
Sawyer’s heart thumped out of rhythm. Ca-clank, ca-clank.
All through school? No, he hadn’t known that at all. “I didn’t date Daisy until high school. I figured you stopped liking me by the time we hit puberty.”
Betzy only shook her head. “Nope.”
“So…through junior high?”
Cheek still resting against his chest, she shook her head subtly. “Past that.”
“Into high school?” His voice went tight again.
“More like through high school,” she corrected.
A rush of heat pulsed through his chest. He only hoped she couldn’t feel the sudden racing of his heart. She’d liked him during that time? It didn’t seem possible. Had Sawyer known that she actually liked him the way that he was back then, would he have bothered going to New York?
Yes. Liking him was different from marrying him.
“Does that mean…” Sawyer ended the question there to rephrase it. “So when I kissed you at the farewell party—did you stil
l have feelings for me then?”
Betzy lifted her face off his chest once more, eyes wide and worried. “No.” It sounded more like a denial than an honest answer.
Still, his once-swelling ego shrunk like a freshly popped balloon. “Yeah, right,” he teased just the same.
He was closer to Betzy than he’d been in years, and now, she’d dropped a huge bomb by saying she’d had feelings for him. To top it all off, the feel of her fingers tracing down the front of his chest, as absent as it might be, was pulling his mind in an entirely different direction.
“Well,” Betzy said with a shrug, “you’re the one who kissed me. So who was really the one with a crush that day?”
Sawyer was very glad she hadn’t lay back onto his chest. Bolts of lightning were clashing in hot, flustered succession. Now it was his eyes that had gone wide. He held her gaze, cursing the expression that no doubt gave him away.
Say something!
Only he couldn’t. There wasn’t anything to say. Denying it would make him look like a liar.
Betzy’s smile began to fade, softly, slowly, until she narrowed her eyes at him in question. “Why did you kiss me?”
His heart thundered harder as the answers rolled through his mind. Because I was in love with you. Because—from the time we wrote that silly contract—I wanted to make you mine. And to this day, I want you more than ever.
Betzy tipped her head to one side, seeming to read the answers in his eyes. Slowly then, her hand moved up the side of his neck, causing heat to flare low in his belly once more. Her touch—it was magic.
At once it felt like they were back in that place and time. Like they’d been given a chance to relive the moment. Sawyer gulped past the tightness in his throat, dared himself to wrap a hand around the warm curve of one hip.
Yes. This was what he’d been waiting for all these years. For a moment like this to happen naturally, all on its own, to show them that they were meant to—
“How’s little Mario doing?” The sound of his mother’s voice put a fast stop to the action. And there was no mistaking—there would have been action. Had Mom walked through that door thirty seconds later, he and Betzy would have been smack in the middle of a dang good kiss.
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