Dangerous Lies: Sawyer and Amethyst (An Emerald Falls Romance, Book Two)

by Christine Kersey

  “I’ll answer all of your questions,” he said. “I promise. Just not…” He glanced around again and lowered his voice. “Just not here.” Please.

  Sighing audibly, she nodded. “Fine.”

  Relieved beyond words that she hadn’t flat-out refused and insisted he take her home, he signaled to their server that they were ready for their check. They sat in silence as the server got the check and brought it to them, then Sawyer tucked cash into the leather folder the server had left on the table.

  Bracing himself for what would come next, he turned his lips up into a small smile. “Are you ready?”

  She was ready for the truth.

  Suppressing the urge to say those words, Amethyst nodded, her face grim, then stood along with Justin/Sawyer. He led the way to the door, and when they stepped into the parking lot, she noticed he didn’t take her hand.

  Had the hand-holding all been for show?

  Pained at the thought, and feeling like a fool for having believed there was a connection between them, when he opened the passenger door for her, she climbed in unassisted, and as they drove back to Emerald Falls, her mind went in a million directions as she tried to come up with an explanation.

  He was married and he was hiding from his wife. He was a criminal and he was hiding from the police. He was a compulsive liar and he liked to play with people.

  None of the explanations were good, and she knew she was going to have trouble believing whatever he told her.

  Once a liar, always a liar.

  Despair settled over her as her shoulders slumped.

  Perhaps sensing her mood, he said, “Let’s get home first.” He glanced at her. “Okay? Will you give me a chance to explain when we get back?”

  She looked at him, and when he turned to her and met her gaze, she was struck by the truth of Chloe’s words. A man torn.

  Curiosity replaced the despair and she answered with a simple, “Yes.”

  He briefly closed his eyes, then focused back on the road.

  When they reached their neighborhood, he parked in his driveway, turned off the engine, then invited her to come in to his house.

  Did she want to go in there? With this man who was suddenly a stranger?

  “Or we can talk at your house,” he added when she hesitated.

  If they were at his house, she could leave whenever she wanted. That would be the way to go. “Your house is fine.”

  “Okay.” Sawyer climbed out of his car, then walked around to the passenger door. After opening her door, he reached for her hand to help her out, but she waved him off.

  “I’ve got it.”

  He was already losing her. Tonight could be the last time she would talk to him, so he had better make this good.

  Devastated at the possibility of her cutting him out of her life, he pushed aside the insistent thought that told him he’d seen this coming all along.

  But it didn’t have to be that way. He could convince her that he had a good reason for lying. He just needed to tell her the truth.

  Then a new question filled his mind.

  Would she believe him?

  They walked to his front door, and after he let them in, he gestured to the couch. “Please. Have a seat.”

  “Okay.” She sat at the far end of the couch, and taking the hint, he sat on the opposite end.

  Deciding to get right to it before she changed her mind and fled, he said, “I’m sorry I lied to you, Amethyst.”

  Hearing him straight-up admit that he’d lied to her sent a jolt of unreality cascading through her. The question was, what was true and what was a lie?

  “So your name’s not Justin?” she asked, wanting to get the basics right, at least.

  He shook his head. “No. It’s Sawyer Cooke.”

  Trying to associate him with that name instead of the name Justin made everything worse. Even though she’d only known him for three weeks, to her he was Justin. She didn’t know anyone named Sawyer.

  She did now.

  A deep frown formed on her mouth as she waited to see what he would say next.

  In an odd sense, Sawyer was relieved that his hand had been forced. It felt good to tell her his real name. But he shouldn’t feel too good. He still had a long way to go. And when he looked at her, he could see she was not happy with him. Not at all.

  Quietly sighing, he shifted in his seat. “I hardly know where to begin.”

  She stared at him a moment, then said, “How about from the beginning. Are you really from Ashland, Montana?”

  His heart did a little zing as he realized how much of his life he’d fabricated. Stuff that he hadn’t even meant to lie about but had lied about anyway to cover other lies.

  He’d messed up. Bad.

  “No,” he said after several uncomfortable moments of silence. “I’m from Los Angeles.”

  “So you’re not Justin from Ashland, Montana,” she said, clearly exasperated. “You’re Sawyer Cooke from Los Angeles, California.”

  Deciding to take this slow, he nodded. “Yes.”

  “Are you in sales?”

  Swallowing over the tightness in his throat, he shook his head. “No. I, uh, my last job was running a nightclub for…someone.” Someone he was now hiding from. Someone the DEA was investigating. Someone named Tyler Bradford.

  Chapter 25

  Amethyst couldn’t believe how deep his lies were already getting. Was anything he had told her true?

  Gazing at him for a moment, she thought about the times when she’d felt a connection to him.

  Was the way he had looked at her—like she meant something to him—had that all been a lie too?

  She swallowed over the lump that had formed in her throat. “Do you have a brother named Chris?”

  Obvious relief swept over Sawyer’s face. “Yes. I do.”

  One thing—one—that he hadn’t lied about. “So he lives in Ashland, Montana, right?”

  Sawyer’s mouth tightened. “Uh, actually, no. He lives in Sacramento.”

  Amethyst’s eyes closed as she tried to reconcile this man with the man she’d spent the last three weeks getting to know.

  “Amethyst?”

  She opened her eyes and met his. “What?”

  “Enough of the twenty questions, okay? Let me just tell you what’s going on. All right?”

  She would like nothing better. “Okay.”

  He drew in a deep breath and slowly released it. “Okay. The truth is, I’m hiding from a man who’s a really bad guy.”

  Should she believe him? “Go on.”

  “He’s in LA and he’s my former boss.” He shook his head. “I don’t want to get into too many details, but suffice it to say that I’ve contacted the DEA about him and they’re investigating.”

  The DEA? Whoa, whoa, whoa. This was too much. She threw her hands up. “Hold on.”

  His expression was grim, like he knew how much it was to take in.

  Shaking her head, she sighed. “Why is the DEA investigating him? And why do you have to hide from him?”

  Wait. Did she believe him? How would she know if this wasn’t just some new story he was spinning? He had told her so many lies, how could she possibly know what was true and what was false?

  “I can see you’re doubting me,” Sawyer said. “And I don’t blame you.”

  Trying not to roll her eyes, Amethyst waited for him to go on.

  “Let me go back a little bit,” he said. “I started working for Tyler—that’s his name—three months ago. He hired me to run his nightclub.” A self-deprecating smile curved his lips. “That’s what I do. I help business owners run their businesses.”

  Huh. So if he was telling the truth now, that meant he really would be able to help her with Emerald Chic. “Okay.”

  “Anyway,” he said. “Tyler hired me to run his club, and that went fine. At first. But not long after I started working for him I discovered that he’s involved in the drug trade. In fact, it turns out he’s kind of a heavy-hitter.” Sawyer
shook his head. “I couldn’t be part of that. Not even as an innocent bystander who knows what’s going on but doesn’t do anything about it.”

  Fascinated by his story, Amethyst listened with rapt attention.

  “When I confronted Tyler, he threatened me.” Sawyer shook his head. “He even showed me a video of one of his men interrogating one of his drug delivery guys who’d cheated him.” Sawyer’s face paled. “It wasn’t pleasant.” He shifted in his seat. “He told me that’s what would happen to me if I betrayed him.”

  She stared at him and realized she believed him. Something about his tone, his body language, his demeanor—she knew it was all true.

  She believed him. She did. She believed what he was telling her now was the truth.

  Sickened by what Sawyer had been dealing with, and scared on his behalf, Amethyst wasn’t sure what to say, although she wasn’t ready to completely let him off the hook just yet.

  From the look on Amethyst’s face, Sawyer thought she might actually believe him.

  As if he deserved to be believed after all the lies he’d told her.

  The knowledge that he’d had a good reason didn’t assuage the guilt at all.

  “What are you going to do?” she asked.

  Hope blossomed inside him. “So you believe me?”

  Forehead furrowing, she seemed to hesitate. “Yes.” She spoke the word slowly, like she was unsure if she meant it. “But why didn’t you tell me the truth earlier?” Her head tilted and her eyes narrowed. “Don’t you trust me?”

  Desperate for her to give him a chance, he said, “At first I didn’t know you. I couldn’t…” He shook his head. “I couldn’t take a chance.”

  Nodding, she said, “Okay. I guess I can understand that.” Then her eyebrows drew together. “Were you ever going to tell me?”

  Feeling slightly defensive—after all, he was the one taking all the risks—he said, “I’m telling you now.”

  “Only because that man recognized you and revealed your secret.”

  “You’re right. And to be honest—”

  She made a sound in her throat that seemed to say he wouldn’t know what honesty is.

  Briefly closing his eyes, he held back a sigh, then met her gaze. “To be honest, Amethyst, I’m not sure when I would have told you. Probably once the DEA had finished their investigation and hopefully arrested Tyler.”

  The mention of the DEA and the man who was at the root of Sawyer’s problems reminded Amethyst of the stakes involved. Maybe she shouldn’t be too hard on him. If what he was telling her was true—and she believed that it was—then he had been through enough already. “Do you know how that investigation is going? Do you think the DEA will arrest him soon?”

  Sawyer’s shoulders sagged, and Amethyst wondered just how well he was handling this crisis.

  “I don’t know when they’ll arrest him. Or if they even will.” He raked his fingers through his hair. “All I can do is wait. I mean, I gave them the evidence I had.” He laughed, but the sound held no humor. “I buried a flash drive in the backyard right after I moved in, but I gave it to the DEA last week.”

  Oh! That must have been what he was digging up a week ago. That fact gave more weight to his story.

  “The agent said the data he saw on there was helpful,” he added.

  Now that her belief in his story had grown stronger, she became worried about his safety. “Do you think you’re safe here?”

  Sawyer thought about the last few weeks. He’d been feeling safer as time went on. At least until tonight when he’d run into Mitch.

  Who was that man who had been with him? And why had he looked at Sawyer several times?

  Still, he wanted to reassure Amethyst. “Yeah.” Knowing this was the perfect time to explain his behavior, he added, “But that’s why I didn’t come to your barbecue to meet your friends. I, uh, I thought the fewer people who met me, the better.”

  “Oh.” Guilt at the ambush she’d set up to have Gabby and Chloe meet him swept over her. “I’m sorry about Saturday night. At The Glasshouse. I, uh, I kind of told Chloe to show up while we were there so she could meet you.”

  Afraid how he would react—this wasn’t a game to him, he was in real danger—when he laughed, Amethyst smiled in relief.

  “I wondered if them showing up was really a coincidence,” he said.

  “I’m so sorry, Sawyer.” It was the first time she’d called him that, but it didn’t feel as strange as she had feared it would.

  “That’s okay. I don’t think they’ll put me in any danger.” Then he frowned. “But you can’t tell them any of this.”

  “Of course not.”

  It all made sense now. Chloe had been right. He was a man torn, and this was what he had been torn about—whether to tell her the awful truth of his circumstances and put himself at risk, or whether to keep lying about so many aspects of his life and keep himself hidden.

  Understanding the position he’d been in and not knowing what she would have done in his place, Amethyst took a moment to digest everything he’d told her.

  She couldn’t be angry with him for trying to keep himself safe. It was something he’d had to do. He’d had no choice. He still had no choice.

  She looked at him.

  He was trying to do the right thing. He’d said he couldn’t stand by and watch this Tyler peddle drugs, so he had risked his own safety to report him. She couldn’t be mad about that. No. She admired his courage.

  Feeling a stronger attraction to him then ever, now that she knew the truth about him she wanted to know where she stood with him and how he truly felt.

  Was she sure this was the time?

  Not sure at all, but needing to know, she bit her lip.

  “What is it?” he asked, clearly seeing that something else was on her mind.

  “I was just wondering how you…how you feel about me.”

  Chapter 26

  He could finally tell her how he really felt.

  Elated, Sawyer smiled and slid over so that he was sitting right beside her. Her back was pressed against the arm of the couch so that her body was turned in his direction, and as he faced her, he lifted her hands in his.

  As he moved to her side, and at the look on his face, Amethyst’s hopes bloomed.

  “I’ve been holding back, Amethyst.” He kissed one hand and then the other.

  Holding back? Did that mean what she thought it meant?

  When his lips touched her skin, electricity arrowed up her arms right to her heart, and she kept her gaze steady on his.

  “When you asked me if I feel a connection with you,” he said, his smile growing. “It took everything in me not to tell you how much of a connection I feel with you, how I did from the very first time you came to my house.”

  Really? Thrilled beyond measure, Amethyst’s heart nearly burst with happiness. She knew it! She’d known he felt something too.

  Ecstatic, but confused, she asked, “Why couldn’t you tell me? Did you think that would put you in danger?”

  Using his thumbs, he stroked the backs of her hands. “No. I didn’t tell you because I was afraid that once you found out I’d lied to you, you wouldn’t want to have anything to do with me.” His smile dimmed. “You told me you hate liars.”

  Which she did. But she knew this was different. This was for his protection, not to hide cheating.

  “I didn’t tell you how I really felt,” he said, “because I was trying to avoid both of us getting hurt later.” He smiled softly. “I figured if we didn’t get too close, then it wouldn’t hurt so much when you told me you hated me for lying to you.”

  Understanding his reasoning, Amethyst smiled. “But now?”

  “Do you hate me? For lying to you?”

  She shook her head. “No. I don’t hate you.”

  His whole body relaxed, and he knew there was no reason to hold back any longer. Sliding one hand behind her waist, he cradled the back of her head with his other hand, then he leaned towards h
er and gently pressed his lips to hers.

  An explosion of emotion pounded through him and he knew telling her the truth had been the best thing he’d ever done. Wishing he’d done it sooner, he savored the feeling of holding her in his arms.

  Amethyst was in heaven. She’d been waiting for him to kiss her since their first kiss over a week earlier, and as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, the connection she’d been feeling intensified.

  Relishing the feel of his arms around her, she reveled in his kiss, and when he pulled away several moments later and gazed into her eyes, her heart swelled with emotion.

  The doorbell rang.

  Sawyer’s eyes widened, and at the look of alarm on his face, Amethyst felt a surge of panic as the true danger of his situation crashed over her. “Is it him?” Her voice was a whisper.

  He pressed a finger to his lips, and as he grabbed his laptop from the table beside the couch and pulled up the program that showed who was on his front porch and waited for it to load, he mentally scolded himself.

  If he had put Amethyst in jeopardy and something happened to her, he would never forgive himself.

  An image appeared and he saw a group of children dressed in costume. Closing his eyes in extreme relief, he said, “It’s just trick or treaters.”

  Amethyst laughed, but it sounded like she was giddy with relief. “Do you have any candy?”

  “Uh, no.”

  Grinning in mock-disappointment, she said, “Oh, Sawyer.”

  He laughed. “Sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll take care of it.”

  He watched as she opened the door and spoke to the children, explaining that Sawyer didn’t have any candy, but that they could take an extra piece from the bowl at her house next door. After she closed and locked the door, she flipped off the porch light.

  “We should have done that sooner,” she said. “You know turning off the porch light is the universal sign on Halloween that this house isn’t giving out candy, right?”