Had Justin heard her when she’d tripped? Though self-conscious about that, Amethyst was happy that he’d taken a moment to greet her. Still curious about what he’d been doing, she asked, “Nice day to work in the yard.” What had he been doing back there?
He laughed. “You don’t look like you’re working.”
He had her there. “I’m just taking a break. Want to join me?”
“Sure. I’ll be there in a minute.”
A few moments later he walked through her gate and into her backyard. As he strolled towards her, she admired the way his t-shirt clung to his athletic body, and when her eyes met his and she remembered their kiss from the day before, a flush of pleasure coursed through her.
“Guess what?” she said when he sat in a chair near hers.
His eyebrows rose. “What?”
“I finished your mom’s jewelry set.”
“Already? That’s awesome.” His head tilted. “Can I see it?”
She laughed. “Of course.” Swinging her legs over the side of the chaise lounge, she said, “Come with me.”
As Sawyer stood, his hand automatically went to his pocket to make sure the flash drive was still there, secure and ready to give to Agent Yardley. He just hoped the information on there would lead to Tyler’s arrest.
“I hope you like it,” Amethyst said as she walked into her house.
Sawyer followed close behind, her nearness temporarily distracting him from his troubles, the soft floral scent that floated in her wake settling over him, calming him.
“I’m sure I’ll love it.” From what he’d seen of Amethyst’s work, she made beautiful jewelry, although the only reason he’d asked her to make the pieces was to have an excuse to spend time with her.
Amethyst led the way into her studio and she could feel Justin right behind her. Wanting to stop and turn around so that they would be face to face, she imagined how he would react to such an abrupt move.
Would he kiss her again?
Smiling at the thought, she resisted the impulse, wanting him to take the lead.
“Here they are,” she said instead, stopping next to the table and sweeping her hand above the pieces she’d completed for him.
Turquoise and silver beads entwined with twists of silver curved into a lovely necklace. A matching bracelet and pair of earrings completed the set.
Closely watching his reaction, Amethyst found herself eager for his approval.
“They’re beautiful, Amethyst.”
Immensely pleased, she smiled. “Thank you. I’m glad you like them.”
Despite having told himself that it didn’t matter how the jewelry turned out, as Sawyer looked at the gorgeous pieces and imagined how thrilled his mother would be to receive them, he was even more delighted that he’d commissioned her to make them.
Lifting his gaze from the table to meet Amethyst’s eyes, Sawyer found his attraction to her growing and he couldn’t look away. “What do I owe you?”
He reached into his pocket to pull out the cash he’d shoved in there earlier, but when he pulled his hand out, the flash drive wrapped in plastic fell onto the floor. Slight panic engulfed him and he nearly dove to the floor to scoop it up.
Chapter 15
“What was that?” Amethyst asked, barely getting a glimpse of an object that had fallen out of Justin’s pocket. And why did he seem so frantic all of a sudden?
“Uh, just, uh something for work.”
It had to be important. “Okay.” She told him how much it would be for the jewelry, then watched as he counted out the bills before handing them to her. “Thank you.”
He tucked the remaining bills into his pocket. “My mother’s going to love this.”
Warmed by his words, Amethyst pushed aside any feeling of unease over his behavior. “Let me wrap them up for you and put them in a box.”
With practiced efficiency, she placed the pieces in one of the special boxes that she used for custom work, then handed it to him. “You’ll have to let me know what she thinks.” Understanding the implication—Christmas was two months away and she hoped they’d still be seeing each other then—she smiled.
“I will.”
How could he say that with a straight face? By then he’d either be dead or back in LA.
Distressed by option one, but less than excited about option two than he thought he would be, Sawyer asked, “Do you have plans for dinner?”
A smile of surprise turned up the corners of her mouth. “No.”
“Good. Because I’d love to take you to dinner as a thank you.”
She laughed. “You just paid me a lot of money. I think that’s a big enough thank you.”
His eyebrows rose. “Are you saying you’d rather not go to dinner with me?”
Pursing her lips in a barely concealed smile, she shook her head. “No, that’s not what I’m saying and I think you know it.”
He knew he didn’t want to go home to an empty house when he could be with her instead. Then his hand brushed against his pocket, the lump of the flash drive reminding him that he needed to get it shipped to Yardley asap. “Good. Because I’d like to spend more time with you.”
Beyond thrilled at his declaration, Amethyst’s smile grew.
“I just need to run an errand first,” he added. “How about if I pick you up in an hour?”
“That would be perfect.”
She walked him to the door, half-hoping that he’d kiss her good-bye, and when he paused on her porch, her gaze slid to his lips.
“I’ll see you in an hour.” His voice was soft and low.
Anticipation for their dinner date swept over her, and she nodded as her gaze lifted to his eyes. “See you then.”
An hour later, after Amethyst had gotten ready for their date, Justin knocked on her door. Excited to see him—It’s only been an hour, girl. Calm down—she toned down her smile as she opened the door.
Wearing jeans and a long-sleeved button up shirt, he smiled at her. He was looking mighty fine.
“Right on time, I see,” Amethyst said with a grin.
He appraised her a moment. “You look lovely.”
Glancing down at her clothes—cream-colored slacks and a dark green blouse that set off her eyes—she smiled before meeting his gaze. “Thank you.”
She was absolutely stunning. Sawyer tried not to stare, but it was difficult with the way her emerald-green eyes seemed to dance.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked as he held out his hand.
“Yes.” She placed her hand in his, sending the same zing of electricity through his body that he’d felt when he’d taken her hand at the park the day before. “Where are you taking me?”
He smiled. “You’ll see.”
She smiled in reply. “Okay.”
They walked hand in hand to his car, which was parked in his driveway—he’d left it there after shipping the flash drive. Trying not to think about the flash drive and Agent Yardley and Tyler, Sawyer opened the door for Amethyst and helped her inside before climbing behind the wheel and driving into town.
He stopped in front of the restaurant he’d chosen. Though he would have preferred to go farther from Emerald Falls, he’d promised Amethyst that he’d support the local businesses. Then again, was he willing to risk having the locals get familiar with him because of her?
But now that the DEA was investigating, he didn’t feel quite as paranoid. Still, he couldn’t let himself get too comfortable.
“This place has good food,” Amethyst said as Justin helped her from his car. Touched that he’d taken her suggestion of patronizing the local businesses to heart, when he took her hand, desire to have him wrap his arms around her pulsed through her.
“I’m glad you approve,” he said as he smiled at her.
Amethyst was a bit astonished at how much she’d grown to like him in such a short period of time. Now, having him so near, she wanted nothing more than to get to know him better.
After they were seated and had ordered, she asked how his
meeting had gone earlier that day.
“Oh, right,” Sawyer said. “I forgot I mentioned that to you.” And he would rather not think about it just then. “It went fine.” He rested his forearms on the table. “What about you? Did you get other things done besides finishing my mother’s jewelry?”
“I admit,” she said with a smile that brightened his mood, “your mother’s pieces were my top priority. But yes, I did some other work as well.”
“That’s good.” He gazed at her a moment, then decided to ask a question that had been on his mind. “How is it that you’re still single?”
A bit surprised at the question, Amethyst knew it wasn’t an unreasonable one. She thought about the relationships she’d been in and why they’d failed. “I guess I haven’t found the right man yet.” But Justin seemed promising. Wanting to turn it around on him, she grinned. “What about you, Justin? Why are you still single?”
He cringed, and she immediately felt bad for asking. She had to remember that he had probably just come out of a bad relationship.
“Never mind,” she quickly added.
He shook his head. “No. It’s fine.”
Really? Intrigued to hear his answer, she leaned forward slightly.
He softly laughed. “I guess I’ve been too much of a workaholic to get seriously involved with anyone.”
That wasn’t the answer she had been expecting. At all. “So,” she began as she tried to come up with a way to word her question without being too invasive. “When…that is, how long has it been since you’ve been in a relationship?”
These were questions Sawyer was more comfortable with. Because he wouldn’t have to lie. Holding back a frown at all the lies he’d told, he was glad when their server set their salads in front of them—it gave him a moment to focus on the question.
“Actually,” he began, then he softly chuckled. “I guess it’s been a couple of years.”
Clear astonishment swept over Amethyst’s face. “A couple of years?”
Sawyer forked the lettuce and tomato. “Why do you find that so surprising?”
Because she had been so sure he had just come off a bad breakup. Guess she had been wrong. Her eyebrows bunched. Then why had he been acting the way he had? And why did he seem to have no belongings of his own? With a small lift of her shoulders, Amethyst said, “I don’t know. For some reason, I assumed…” She shook her head. “Never mind.”
He set his fork down. “No. I want to know.”
He was just so standoffish, wanting to avoid her friends at the barbecue. So unfriendly at first. “I assumed,” she said, “that maybe you recently came out of a relationship.”
Justin picked up his fork again. “Why did you assume that?”
Not about to share her real thoughts, Amethyst shrugged. “Just a guess.” She chuckled as she reached for her water glass. “A wrong one, obviously.”
What made her think he’d recently come out of a relationship? Sawyer decided to let it go. “What about you? When was your last relationship? If you don’t mind me asking.”
She shifted in her seat and he worried he was making her uncomfortable.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” But he hoped she would.
“No. It’s okay.” She straightened her shoulders. “It’s been about six months since I broke up with my last boyfriend.”
Wanting to learn more, he phrased his next question in his mind.
Chapter 16
A picture of Troy, her last boyfriend, filled Amethyst’s mind. Everything had started off so good with him. But eventually it had gone down the drain. She gazed at Justin for a minute. She hoped the same thing wouldn’t happen with him.
“I’m glad it wasn’t too recent,” Justin said before taking a bite of salad.
Amethyst tilted her head. “Why do you say that?”
Justin finished chewing. “I don’t want to be the rebound guy.”
He was definitely not the rebound guy. She’d been over Troy for a long time. Instead, she said, “No. Definitely not.”
“You seem very certain.” He paused a beat. “I take it you broke up with him.”
She nodded. “Yes. I did.” She lifted her water glass. “And not a moment too soon,” she murmured.
Curious what she meant, Sawyer said, “Why do you say that?”
A blush rose on Amethyst’s face. “I guess you could say things weren’t working out between us.”
It sounded like a lot more than that to Sawyer. It’s not that he wanted to be nosy, but if he could find out what had turned her off, all the better. A moment later their server set their entrées in front of them.
They were both quiet as they began eating.
After several moments, Amethyst broke the silence. “You’re probably wondering what happened between me and…him.”
Yes, he was. But he didn’t want to ask. “Yeah, kind of.”
She half-smiled, but it had a bitter twist to it. “Let me just say this. I hate liars.”
Sawyer nearly choked on the slice of steak he’d started to chew, but he swiftly recovered and took a sip of his water. Taking a moment to gather himself, he took a second sip, then set the glass down. “I don’t blame you.” Was he sure he wanted to say that? He was a liar, after all.
“At least that’s one good thing about being neighbors,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
The corners of her lips lifted in a smile. “It’s hard to have secrets when you live right next door, right?”
He forced a laugh, hoping it didn’t sound as fake to her as it did to him. “Yeah.”
“I’ll just say it,” she said after a moment. “He cheated on me.”
Knowing that was something he’d never do, Sawyer felt a measure of relief. “Then he must be an idiot.”
“Thanks,” Amethyst said. “But I’m the one who felt like an idiot. For believing him when he said he would never lie to me, that he loved me.” Her face flamed red. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have gotten started on that subject. Just forget I brought it up.”
Kind of mortified that she’d shown Justin how vulnerable she’d been, how foolish to believe Troy’s lies, Amethyst wished she could sink through the floor.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We all make mistakes.” Although some were more life-threatening than others. Wishing his only mistake had been to choose the wrong woman rather than the wrong employer, Sawyer’s lips twisted into a semblance of a smile.
“Is something wrong?” Amethyst asked.
Careful, now. “I just, I’ve made mistakes of my own. That’s all.”
A wry smile curved her lips. “Any that you’d care to share?”
He laughed. “Not really.”
“Oh, I see how it is.” Her smile grew. “I confess my foolish choices, making myself look like an idiot, and you don’t have to share? Uh-huh.”
Grinning, he shook his head. “Okay, okay.” He could tell her his stupid choices in love. That was harmless. “If you really want to know.”
She nodded. “Oh yeah.”
The way the light reflected off her red hair and the way her emerald-green eyes seemed to glow made Sawyer want to share all of his secrets with her. Wishing he could, but knowing he would have to continue his charade of who he was and what he was doing in Emerald Falls—which would inevitably lead to Amethyst hating him for lying—he felt despair seep into his heart, giving him the sense that his chest was being squeezed by a vise.
“You don’t have to,” Amethyst said, evidently seeing the distress on his face.
Ready to think about something besides his lies, he nodded. “How’s your chicken?”
Some woman must have really hurt him. Wanting to fix the despair she read in his eyes, Amethyst said with some enthusiasm, “It’s delicious.” She smiled brightly. “That’s why we need to patronize these local businesses. They work so hard.”
He smiled, and the torment she’d seen a few moments before seemed to clear, which made her h
appy.
“That’s why I brought you here,” he said.
“Now I just need to get you to do all of your shopping in Emerald Falls.”
He softly chuckled. “I’ve never seen someone who’s such an ardent supporter of local businesses.”
Embarrassed by what he obviously saw as excessiveness, she smiled self-consciously. “It’s probably because so much of my jewelry is sold at the local boutique. Maybe you’ve seen it? Emerald Chic Boutique? If I lost that source of revenue, it would be a bit of a hit on my income.”
“Ah-hah. Now it all makes sense.”
She laughed. “I’m glad you don’t just think I’m a nut job.”
“Oh, no.” He shook his head. “I’d never think that, Amethyst.”
She loved it when he said her name, and as she gazed at his handsome face, her insides warmed. “I’m glad to hear that,” she said with a smile. Then she remembered her promise to Chloe to find out about his brother. “By the way, you mentioned that you have a younger brother. How young are we talking about?”
Justin’s eyebrows pulled together. “Why? Are you tiring of me already? On to greener pastures?”
“No,” she said with a laugh. “I have a friend who’s wondering.”
Sawyer smiled. In normal circumstances he wouldn’t have minded setting up a friend of Amethyst’s with his brother, but these weren’t normal circumstances. How would he explain to Chris that he was pretending to be someone he’s not?
“Chris is twenty-four,” he said.
“That could work,” Amethyst said. “Chloe’s twenty-five.” She smiled. “As long as she doesn’t mind younger men.”
“Well, Chris is pretty awesome.”
“What’s so awesome about him?”
“He’s almost as good-looking as me,” he said with a grin.
Amethyst laughed. “Let me guess. He’s almost as smart as you too.”
Holding back a smile, Sawyer nodded. “Yep.” Why was he trying to sell Chris to her when he knew there was no way he could bring him into the picture right now?
Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two) Page 7