“Sounds like he’s someone Chloe should meet.”
Good going, idiot.
“Does he live nearby?” she asked.
Here was his chance to fix this. “No, actually. He lives in Montana.” Which was a lie. He lived in Sacramento. Only an hour north of Emerald Falls.
“That’s too bad. Maybe you can invite him for a visit to Emerald Falls.”
Sawyer nodded. “Yeah. I’ll see if he’d be willing to come out.” She was going to hate him so much when she discovered all of his lies. Shoving down the feeling of hopelessness, he reminded himself that he was only doing what he had to to keep himself safe.
But would that be enough for Amethyst when she found out?
Chapter 17
As their date wound down and Amethyst walked hand in hand with Justin to his car, she had high hopes for their budding relationship. Besides the fact that she found him extremely attractive, she loved the way he treated her. Sweet and thoughtful, Justin was all the things she loved in a man. From what she’d seen, he was also very focused on his job—worried about meetings, making sure he took the time necessary to prepare for work. And he seemed to care for his mother. At least enough to have Amethyst make her that jewelry set.
Smiling in contentment, Amethyst let Justin help her into his car.
What would Gabby, Chloe, and Ashleigh think of him? Maybe she could find a way to have them meet him without making a big deal about it.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked as they drove.
She looked at him and smiled. How much I’m attracted to you.
His smile matched hers as his gaze went from her to the road. “What?”
A secret smile curved her lips. “Nothing.”
He laughed. “Okay. If you say so.”
“I do.”
Sawyer had enjoyed dinner with Amethyst, although he questioned the intelligence of spending so much time with her when he knew there could be no future for them. Not with the lies he’d told, and not with the fact that he would only be in Emerald Falls long enough to get his life straightened out. He was only going to hurt her—and most likely himself—by spending this time with her.
He looked at her profile. He was falling for her and he knew it.
With his eyes pointed back to the road, he held his frown at bay. He was making a mistake. He should break things off.
But he just didn’t think he could.
When her house came into view, Amethyst couldn’t help but wonder if Justin would kiss her again. When he’d kissed her at the park the day before, she’d nearly melted against him, and she wanted to experience that feeling again.
“Here we are,” he said as he parked in his driveway.
Moments later he was helping her from the passenger seat, then he took her hand and led her across the grass to her front door. She dug her key out of her purse and inserted it into the lock. “Do you want to come in?”
He gazed at her a moment, but she couldn’t read his thoughts.
“I’d better not,” he finally said.
She almost asked why not? but then she felt stupid. He had to work the next day. He didn’t have time to hang out with her for hours.
Hiding her disappointment behind a smile, she said, “Okay.” Gazing at him, she waited. Then she realized she could be the one to make the first move. But she didn’t want to. She wanted to be certain that he wanted to kiss her as much as she wanted him to.
Sawyer fought the urge to drag her into his arms and kiss her until she was weak with desire. The way she was looking at him, he knew she was receptive to him doing just that. But he resisted.
Was he actually going to let her go?
Knowing he wasn’t ready to take a step that drastic, he also knew the least he could do was slow things down between them, and not kissing her was the only way he knew to cool things off.
“Thank you for going to dinner with me,” he said.
Faint disappointment filled her eyes, but she covered it with a smile. “Thank you for taking me.”
“It was my pleasure.” His tone was warm and sincere, but when he saw fresh hope on her face, he knew he needed to tone it down. “Maybe I’ll see you around this week.”
Confused by the mixed messages Justin seemed to be sending, Amethyst held back a frown. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“Good-night, Amethyst.”
“Good-night.” She watched as he walked away, then she went inside her house and shut the door.
That hadn’t ended quite as she had hoped it would.
Needing someone to talk to, she sat on the couch and called Chloe. “I hope it’s not too late to call,” she said after Chloe answered.
“Not at all. What’s up?”
Amethyst got Chloe up to speed, then said, “So, I’m confused now about the way he feels about me.”
“First of all, thanks for finding out about his brother. Sounds promising.”
Amethyst laughed, but she wasn’t feeling particularly cheerful. “Yeah. Maybe you and Chris will hit it off right when Justin and I stop seeing each other.”
“Come on, Amethyst. It’s not like you to be so negative.”
Softly sighing, she said, “I know. It’s just that I can’t get a handle on him. I was so sure he’d just come off a painful breakup, but he said he hasn’t been in a relationship for two years.” Her shoulders slumped as she leaned against the couch cushions. “Maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m not what he’s looking for in a woman.”
Chloe was silent for a moment. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”
Nodding in agreement, Amethyst softly smiled. “Yeah. I do.”
“Maybe he’s the kind of man who’s a little slow to warm up. You know, like, maybe it will take him some time before he’s ready to take that next step.”
“That’s just it though. He already kissed me once. He kissed me. And I really liked it. I thought he did too.”
“But?”
“But right after he kissed me, he stopped and ended our date. I thought maybe that was it, but then today he came over and asked me out. And you know what, Chloe?”
“What?”
“I felt a connection with him. I did. And did I mention that he held my hand as we walked to his car tonight and then when we got home? But as we stood on the porch, he just…” She sighed. “He just said Maybe I’ll see you around this week. I mean, what is that?”
“That’s a man who’s torn, that’s what that is.”
“Torn about what?”
Chloe was quiet again.
“Chloe? Torn about what?”
“Have you considered that maybe he’s in love with another woman? I mean, he said he hasn’t been in a relationship in two years. Maybe that’s because she doesn’t know he loves her. It’s unrequited love.”
“Oh my goodness. That could totally be it.”
“So he’s torn, Amethyst. Between you and this other woman who doesn’t love him back.”
Feeling a sense of unexpected panic, Amethyst said, “Or maybe she does love him, but he doesn’t know it.”
“I guess you’ll have to find out.”
Resigned to having to ask awkward questions, Amethyst nodded. “Yeah. I guess I will.” She paused a beat. “Thanks for listening. You’re a good friend.”
“Anytime.”
After they disconnected, Amethyst stared at the ceiling and tried to imagine how Justin would respond to questions about his deepest hidden feelings in regards to a woman who may have rejected him.
She would bring him a sweet treat the next evening. Then maybe, just maybe, she could get him to open up.
Chapter 18
“This is unexpected,” Sawyer said when he saw Amethyst standing on his front porch the next evening.
“I hope you like chocolate chip cookies,” she said as she held out a plate with a delicious smell coming from it. “I just baked these.”
Not able to hold back his pleasure at seeing her, he smiled. “As it so happens, I love choc
olate chip cookies.” His eyebrows rose. “Especially when they’re freshly baked.”
“Well, then I guess these will be perfect for you.”
Laughing, he opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
“Thank you.”
He watched her enter, her emerald-green eyes dancing, and doubted his decision the night before to break things off with her. She was too wonderful to let go.
Pleased by Justin’s reaction to her showing up on his doorstep, Amethyst carried the plate of cookies into his kitchen and set them on the table.
“I think we should have milk with these,” she said with a grin. “Don’t you?”
“Absolutely. Let me just grab a couple of glasses and some napkins.”
She waited while he poured the milk, set the glasses on the table, and then sat across from her before she asked him how his day was going.
“Better now that you’re here.” The words slipped out before he’d taken a moment to filter his thoughts.
Amethyst’s head tilted as her mouth opened in a smile. “Oh yeah?”
Chuckling softly, he said, “Yes, of course. It always brightens my day when a beautiful woman brings me fresh chocolate chip cookies.”
He was digging the hole deeper.
“So this happens often, does it?”
Pretty much never. “Uh, I’d like to plead the fifth.”
She laughed. “Don’t want to incriminate yourself? All right.”
He smiled, but he wished he could be honest with her. However, when he’d spoken to Agent Yardley earlier, he’d been instructed not to talk to anyone about the case. Anyone. Yardley had assured him that the DEA was starting their investigation, but that it could take some time, and in the meantime, Sawyer was to lay low.
Amethyst watched Justin as he picked up a cookie and took a bite. “These are delicious,” he said.
“Better than my coffee cake?”
“That’s a tough one. I mean, everything you make is so good.”
Smiling, she said, “Now you’re just trying to flatter me.”
He took another bite. “Is it working?”
She laughed. “Yes.”
“Perfect.”
Taking a cookie of her own, she tried to think of a way to broach the subject that was on her mind. After a small bite, she took a drink of milk. “So, Justin.”
His gaze shot to hers, almost startled. “Yeah?”
Why had he reacted that way?
He didn’t know if he would ever get used to hearing her call him that. He didn’t want to get used to it. He wanted her to call him Sawyer. Holding back a sigh, he consoled himself with the thought that maybe one day she would.
“I was wondering,” she said, then she paused.
“What were you wondering?” Did she suspect he was lying? Was she going to call him on it already? Slight panic began to build inside him.
She rested her forearm on the table. “Last night you said you haven’t been in a relationship in two years.”
Relationship questions. He began to relax. “That’s right.”
Not wanting to pry, but kind of desperate to understand why he sent such mixed messages, Amethyst hesitated before asking, “Does that mean there hasn’t been, um, anyone…special…in your life during all that time?”
“I don’t know if I’d say that, exactly. I mean, of course I’ve dated. I just didn’t find anyone that I really clicked with.” He smiled. “So I guess to answer your question, no, there hasn’t been anyone special.”
That didn’t sound like he was in love with anyone. Stumped on how to proceed, she had a radical thought: Just ask him why his signals seemed to change for no apparent reason.
“What’s going on, Amethyst? You look like that didn’t answer your question.”
Was she so easy to read? But she knew she was. “Okay. Yeah, you’re right.” Bracing herself for getting right to the point, she dabbed at her mouth with her napkin, then set it on the table and met his gaze. “What I’m trying to get at is, sometimes I feel like you’re sending me mixed signals.”
Though not particularly surprised that she felt that way, Sawyer had no idea how to answer her implied question. Trying to buy time, he said, “I’m confused. What does my dating history have to do with anything?”
“I thought…” She shifted in her seat. “I thought maybe you were…well, in love with someone.”
“What? Why did you think that?” Intrigued by her theory, he waited to hear her reply.
She adjusted her napkin on the table. “It’s not important.” Then she sat up straighter. “Wait. Yes it is.”
Sawyer’s forehead creased.
“Last night,” she began, “you said you hadn’t been in a relationship for two years. Well…” Her voice trailed off as a blush rose on her cheeks.
“Go on.”
“Maybe I’m wrong about this, but I…well, I thought we had a connection.”
Sawyer’s heart expanded with a feeling of warmth and desire. He had felt the connection too. “I don’t think you’re wrong,” he said carefully.
Amethyst’s eyes narrowed. “So you’re not sure?”
Oh no. He was sure. He definitely felt a connection to her. “I…” He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t tell her how he really felt. That would be selfish. He needed to keep some distance between them. If only for her safety.
When he stopped speaking, Amethyst nodded. “Okay. I think that answers my question.”
“What question?”
She wasn’t going to expose her heart any more than she already had. “Never mind. It’s no longer important.” If he didn’t feel a connection by now, he never would. Ready to go home—to her sanctuary—she stood. “I’d better get going. I have some work to do.”
“I…Are you sure you have to leave?”
There was those mixed messages again.
“Yeah.” She pushed a smile onto her mouth. “Maybe I can put the cookies onto one of your plates? Then I won’t have to…” She didn’t want to say it, but she thought it. Then she wouldn’t have to come back with a lame excuse of getting her plate back.
“Okay. Sure.” He stood, then he took the plate of cookies to the counter where he transferred them to a napkin. A moment later he turned back and held out her plate. “Thank you for thinking of me.”
“You’re welcome.” Amethyst took the plate, then walked to the door and let herself out.
Sawyer watched through the front window as she crossed the lawn to her house. The moment she was out of sight, despair descended on him and he knew he’d made a mistake.
Chapter 19
“What do you think?” Amethyst asked Chloe the next afternoon after she’d told her what had happened with Justin the night before. They were sitting on Chloe’s wide front porch enjoying the late Autumn weather.
Chloe handed Amethyst a glass of lemonade, then sat in the chair near hers. “Like I told you last night, he sounds like a man who’s torn.”
“That doesn’t make sense though. Torn about what?”
Chloe shook her head. “I have no idea.”
With a small laugh, Amethyst said, “Less than helpful, Chloe.”
Lifting her shoulders in a shrug, Chloe sipped her drink. “Sorry.” She set her glass on the small table between the chairs. “Besides, I haven’t even met the guy.”
“I know. Of course that may not matter. Last night I kind of got the impression that our relationship—such as it is—is coming to an end.” Sadness at how short-lived things had been with Justin swept over her, giving her a feeling of melancholy.
“There are lots of great guys out there, Amethyst.” She chuckled. “Heck, I’m on the lookout for one of them myself.”
Smiling, Amethyst lifted her glass to her mouth. After taking a drink, she held the glass on her lap. “I suppose the least I can do is make sure you get to meet Justin’s brother Chris.”
Chloe’s eyebrows rose. “That would be nice.”
If Amethyst couldn’t find love
, perhaps she could help Chloe find it. “Maybe I’ll talk to him about it.”
Nodding, Chloe said, “You do that. But only if you want to.”
“Maybe that’s the excuse I need.”
“Excuse for what?”
Amethyst took another sip of lemonade. “The excuse to go see him one last time. See if there is a connection there.”
“Are you sure you want to put yourself out there like that?”
Considering how she would do it, she said, “I’ll approach him as a friend, a neighbor. That’s all.” It would be his last chance to decide if he felt a connection with her. After that, she was done.
“Okay. That’s not a bad idea.”
Satisfied with her decision, Amethyst turned the conversation in a different direction.
Wanting to give Justin a chance to miss her, she waited until Saturday afternoon to go see him, but as she was getting ready, her phone rang.
“Hey, Amethyst,” the caller said. “This is Todd Davis from Emerald Chic Boutique.”
Amethyst pictured the older man who owned the cute little boutique in town where she sold her jewelry. “Hi, Todd. What’s up?”
“I wanted to call you personally to give you the news.”
“The news?”
“Yes. Mary and I have decided to sell Emerald Chic.”
“Oh no.” Concern about what that would mean for her immediately filled her mind. A good portion of her income came from sales at the boutique. Though confident she could survive without the income from the boutique, she didn’t like the idea of being completely dependent on her income from the custom jewelry orders she received online. “Why are you and your wife selling, if I may ask?”
“We’ve decided it’s time to retire. We want to spend more time with our grandchildren, and since they all live so far away, running a business just doesn’t fit with that any longer.”
Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two) Page 8
