by Gina Watson
Once her hair had been combed they reclined on the bed. On his huge floor pillow, Liver was already asleep as evidenced by his light snores. On their sides, face to face, their positions mirrored one another—heads on pillows, hands extended beneath the soft down. They stared into one another’s eyes, his chocolate mixing with her ice-blue, both longing for more.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better now. Thanks.”
He watched her eyelids become heavy. “You didn’t want me to leave your side.”
Slowly her lashes lifted. “I was anxious. But I’m okay now.”
“Do I make you anxious?” He swiped a rogue curl from her face, putting it behind her ear.
“No. You comfort me.”
He smiled. “You comfort me too.” It was true. With her to care for he hadn’t thought about all that troubled him—his father in prison, his sisters, his finances, his jobs.
“Sawyer?”
His eyes had closed. “Hmm?”
“What happens tomorrow?”
At her question his eyes slowly opened to stare into the crystal blue of hers. He wasn’t thinking of the future at all because he didn’t want to. He’d been enjoying the present entirely too much to think of what might lie beyond. He was confused. “What do you mean?”
Her fingers traced each of his brows, his temples, and then his chin. “I mean what will happen with this?” She gestured with her tracing finger between them.
He moved to his back. He couldn’t think when he was looking into those pleading blue eyes.
“Don’t you feel a connection between us?” Her upper body was propped up by her elbow, her head resting in her hand.
“I do. Trust me I do.” He sighed.
“But . . .”
“But my life isn’t my own.”
“That’s very cryptic. What does it mean?”
“Shh. You need to sleep.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head as if she were a child. It was what he did to his sisters when they couldn’t sleep. In his arms she fell into a deep sleep within minutes. Sleep however eluded him as he listened to her even breaths and thought about his damned luck. He couldn’t have her, so he resolved right then and there to set things back to the way they’d been before two forty-five on Wednesday afternoon. It was the only way for him to remain focused on raising his sisters and maintaining his finances and work.
From the bedside table his phone buzzed on the charger.
“Hello,” he whispered.
“Hey Murph, what time will you pick us up in the morning?”
He stood and walked out of the room, Liver following at his heels. “Can't Mrs. Roland take you to school?”
“But we need showers and clean clothes.”
Shit. He hadn’t considered that. He’d have to take Courtney to her car and then swing by and pick up the girls.
“Seven.”
“Good night, Sawyer. Miss you. Love you.”
“Love you too.” His eyes were almost misty.
He walked back into the bedroom and observed Courtney’s sleeping form. She was peaceful and had fallen asleep with a slight curve to her lips, affording her the look of a sleeping angel. He’d love to be in a position to wine and dine her, woo her, sleep with her—God how long had it been? But he couldn’t. He sighed, as did Liver, and both man and dog settled down for sleep. Liver on the floor, Sawyer next to an angel.
Chapter 4
He awoke around five o’clock from a restless sleep, and in need of some serious caffeine. She’d need it too as he planned to wake her a little before six. He pulled some frozen breakfast sandwiches from the freezer and turned the toaster oven on to preheat. At his feet Liver scratched and completed a series of yawns.
“I guess you want your breakfast.” This statement cued another yawn that ended with an affirming growl.
After feeding Liver, he went into the middle bathroom to shower, intent on letting Courtney sleep in. Given her ordeal he hoped she’d sit the rest of the week out. Her body needed rest. He wouldn’t suggest these things however because he needed to create distance between them. She’d mentioned brothers, and he felt sure any brother of hers would look after her and see Eric Houseman brought to justice.
Once showered and dressed, Sawyer set about heating the sandwiches and brewing the coffee. She’d need hers in a to-go mug. He walked out to his truck and retrieved the mug that had been given to him on his first day at the construction sight.
He tore the plastic from the mug and filled it to the brim with coffee. Looking at his watch he decided it was time to wake her.
In his bedroom he turned on the lamp next to the bedside table. She’d rolled to her back and her hand rested on her stomach. He wished he didn’t have to wake her, but he had to gather his sisters, and then he was due at the construction site by eight.
He cleared his throat. “Courtney,” he softly said.
“Mmm.” Her hand slid beneath her shirt. “Sawyer.” Her eyes were closed and she smiled on a moan. “Oh Sawyer, Mmm.”
Holy shit! She was dreaming about him. He felt his face heat as his lips curved into a smile.
“Mmm. Yes, Sawyer. Don’t stop.” Her voice was breathy and needy.
He gasped as his jaw hit the floor, and then slowly backed out of the room, guessing she’d wake…soon.
He was extremely aroused so he busied himself, pulling milk from the fridge and sugar from the cupboard. From the counter the buzzer annoyingly sounded in the otherwise quiet kitchen and he pulled the sandwiches from the oven.
Behind him he heard the clearing of a very feminine voice. Turning, his gaze met hers. Her deep blues sparkled at him, and then a blush developed across the apples of her cheeks before she broke their gaze and looked down to Liver who sat between them. Her hair was nestled all around her face like a halo—again, evoking the look of an angelic creature. Damn he wanted to know what was going on in that dream.
“Do you take cream and sugar in your coffee?”
“Please.”
“I warmed some sandwiches.” He passed her one wrapped in a napkin and her soft hand brushed his calloused one during the handoff.
“Thank you.”
“If you get ready I’ll drive you to your car. I apologize it’s so early, but I have a job that begins at…seven.”
“Oh. Sure. I’ll just grab my things.”
He prepared her coffee, and then placed the lid onto the mug. In the bedroom he gathered his phone, wallet, and keys. When she came out of the bathroom he passed the mug to her.
“Thank you.” She took a sip. “Mmm, it’s good.”
Her appreciative moan had his mind once again where he wished it wouldn’t go—her dream.
She held the mug out and examined it. “David Seafood?”
“Oh yeah, it was given to me at work.”
“You work there?”
“Not at the plant.” No, he’d applied and never been graced with a phone call. “I’m at the construction site for the restaurant. Broke ground last week.”
“Hmm.”
Her ‘hmm’ confirmed what he’d thought all along—she wasn’t into the blue-collar variety of male. She probably only dated rich men with several diplomas to hang on their overly pretentious walls. Unable to finish twelfth grade, he didn’t even have one. He’d come close, but he hadn’t returned after winter break because he’d found good temporary work in offshore drilling. Unfortunately, the money he’d sent home hadn’t been used as he’d intended.
Once Courtney gathered her things he led her out to the truck. They piled in and prepared for the drive. However, when he turned the key he realized the vehicle was as dead as a box of hair. Shit! He really didn’t need this right now. He popped the hood and walked around to take a look. He’d needed a new alternator, but instead of spending the money he’d cleaned the spark plugs and battery connections and the truck had run like new. He walked around to the back seat and pulled the jumper box from the back. “Only b
e a moment.”
“No problem.”
He charged the battery long enough to start the engine, and then they were on the road. That was his thing…he could always make something broken into something that worked perfectly. They rode in awkward silence. Maybe she wasn’t a morning person, but he wouldn’t ask—again he was making moves to sever ties with her. Twenty minutes later he was saying goodbye to her as she loaded into her car.
Leaning against her open car door he asked, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks to you.” She smiled up at him with her bright eyes. When her thoughts turned dark he knew immediately because that brightness dimmed as fast as blowing out a candle. She was looking toward the house. “Courtney?”
“I’m just trying to understand the events of last night. I can’t figure out why Eric started pressuring me. I didn’t do anything. I was professional.”
“Of course you were.” He leaned in so that his head was on the same level as hers. “Hey, you did nothing to provoke him. He’s sick.”
She nodded, looking down at her hands, and then she looked him square in the eye. “He was really drunk. I guess I should have been smarter. Do you think he will come after me?”
He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from offering his home to her. The thing is…he would offer it to her if she had no safe place to go. “I don’t think he would do something so dumb as to come after you, but you shouldn’t be alone. Do you have family you can stay with?”
“Yes. I actually still live at home with my parents. My brothers are all in the city as well. And my sister.”
They exchanged cell numbers, and then he waited for her to back out before he got into his truck and pulled from the curb. On the ride over to Mrs. Roland’s he wondered if their connection would be worth pursuing. They were from different worlds. Courtney didn’t belong in his and he definitely didn’t belong in hers. Still, he couldn’t deny his attraction to her, and apparently hers to him. He’d like to know all about her early morning dream, but that would only lead to an increased desire to have her.
“Forget her, Sawyer. It’s over,” he mumbled as he pulled into Mrs. Roland’s drive. He inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, ridding his senses of all things Courtney…he wished.
Before he made it up to the front door it cracked open to reveal his family’s friend of more than thirty years standing in a comfortable housecoat and sponge rollers in her hair. “Good morning Mrs. Roland. Sorry I’ve got you out of bed so early.”
“That’s quite all right, Sawyer.” She ushered him inside with a sweep of her arm. “Girls are just getting up. Coffee?”
He sat with her in the kitchen as he waited on his sisters. “Have you heard from your father lately?”
He hated talking about his father, but she always wanted to. His mother and father had been friends with her and her husband. He remembered Sunday afternoon barbeques in her backyard and Yahtzee tournaments. He guessed she missed her friends. “He called the other day.”
“If you wanna ride out and visit him, I’d go with you.”
“Thank you Mrs. Roland, but I doubt I’d have the time.”
“I hear you. You’ve got your hands full, and doing a damn fine job I might add.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s not easy for a mother and father to raise a daughter. You’re a brother raising two. They love you so much. Hard to get them to sleep for all the talk about their big brother.”
He laughed nervously, and then choked back tears while she rubbed his back. “Just let me know how I can help. I’ll watch them anytime.”
“Thanks,” he croaked.
On the drive home he had a hard time skirting Jessica’s hardcore interrogation regarding the events of last night. He lied and said he’d been out hunting a gator for a poor old lady outside of town. Only Jess wasn’t buying it because she knew the ins and outs of gator hunting better than he did. She actually wanted to become a hunter.
“But you can’t hunt gators at nighttime.” She said from her position on the passenger’s side.
“Well by nightfall I gave up, but I hunted until then.”
“And then what did you do?”
“I had to go to the cheese shop and finish up since I’m not returning until Friday.”
“Are you taking a vacation?” Riley asked from the back seat. “Mrs. White and her husband went to Florida for Labor Day.”
“Mrs. White’s married?” Sawyer inquired.
Riley leaned forward. “I guess so. She talks about a husband. Hey, didn’t you date her?”
“Yeah,” he coughed. No. They didn’t date so much as fuck, but that was a long time ago.
“She told me.”
“She what?” He was stunned, hoping she hadn’t revealed too much to his little sister.
“On the first day of school she said she knew you.”
“Oh, yeah. I know her from school.”
“She said from dating.” Riley smiled widely. “You should have married her. She’s pretty nice. Sometimes she’s ugly though—when she yells at us for not paying attention and her wrinkles come out.”
“Why aren’t you paying attention?” He met Riley’s eyes through the rearview mirror.
“She’s not yelling at me, just the class and the General.”
“The General?”
Riley shrugged. “You know…stuff and the General.”
“I think you mean in general.”
“In general?”
“Yes, the expression is in general so just the class in general.”
“Oh.” Her eyes grew large.
“Freak!” Jess announced, and then thumped her sister on the head.
“Ow.” Riley rubbed her forehead.
“Listen up, ladies. I’ve got to be at the worksite by eight so we’ve got to move at supersonic speed.”
“You’re not gonna get your hand crank siren out again are you?” Jess asked.
“I will if you aren’t moving fast enough.”
“It really is way too early for the siren.” Riley added.
“I agree, but we’ve had perfect attendance all year…be a shame to fall off now.”
“Mrs. White says if you have perfect attendance all year you get a watch with the school mascot on it.”
“Yeah I’ve seen that watch. It’s supposed to be a wildcat but instead looks a lot like Principal Grant's tabby. Even seems to have the mange.”
Riley’s nose crinkled. “I don’t want that watch.”
“Well that’s what you’re gonna get.”
“It’s not about the watch, but what the watch represents,” Sawyer offered.
“What?” Riley questioned.
“Perfection.”
He watched the edges of Jessica’s mouth curl up. “Perfection…well I am that so I guess I’ll take the watch.”
Chapter 5
Courtney lounged on her bed, catching up on the stack of books on her nightstand. She’d only made it to Friday afternoon before becoming bored out of her skin. After Sawyer dropped her off at her car early Thursday morning, she hadn’t seen or heard from him again. Why would she? Still, she’d hoped on his lunch hour he’d text, or maybe even call to see how she was doing.
He’d been distant and back to his coffee-shop self when they’d said their goodbyes. She chalked it up to him not being a morning person, but she had her doubts. Doubts that they would ever share again the intimacy they’d shared the night she’d slept in his bed.
When her stomach grumbled she crawled from her bed and padded to the hallway. Was anyone even home? For some reason, she wanted to be surrounded by her family. Sighing, she slid her hand down the banister and descended the staircase. Passing the study she saw the silhouette of her father and sprinted into the room. Seated in his oversized office chair, she wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Daddy!”
His laughter started low in his chest, vibrating through him and into her. His spicy mu
sk was the familiarity she’d longed for.
“What’s all this?” He stroked his palm over her hair.
“I’ve missed you.”
“Well, I’ve missed you too, baby.”
She held him for several minutes in her awkward stooped position, but it was worth it. She loved her mother something fierce, but she’d always been a daddy’s girl. When her back started to throb she stood up. He held her hands in his large ones. “Everything okay?”
She nodded. If she spoke she’d cry.
“You sure?”
If she told him about the attack he’d never let her out of his sight again. Oh, but she’d have to tell him. Later. “I thought you’d be gone longer.”
“Your mother needed to get back to organize the book drive, and I need to go take a look at how the restaurant is coming along.” His hair was brown, but not as brown as Sawyer’s. He’d started to get a little salt and pepper action around his temples that only made him look more handsome and distinguished. Like two of her brothers, he had the greenest eyes she’d ever seen. They seemed to smile eternally.
“Do you know a guy named Sawyer Murphy?”
“Went to school with a Murphy. Lost touch after high school though. I think she moved from the area.”
“Sawyer Murphy is my age. He works at the restaurant site.”
“Can’t say I’ve ever met him. Why?”
She shrugged and shook her head. “No reason.”
“Oh?” He smiled. “It’s been my experience that when a woman asks about a man there’s plenty of reason.”
She felt her lips curling into a smile of her own. “He works at Clara’s Cheese Shop part time. He also hunts boars and gators and such for extra money. He’s a hard worker. I really like him.”
“Do you now?” Her father grinned knowingly.
She took the chair next to his. “He works a lot and doesn’t really have any free time. He admitted we have a connection, but he said his life wasn’t his own. Do you know what that means?”