by Brea Viragh
She was in love with him.
Not passing infatuation, or you-just-gave-me-a-spine-tingling-orgasm love. Real and honest love. Which he was not going to take well.
She hummed her way to the kitchen and continued the song through the creation of her peanut butter and jelly masterpieces. Fresh pieces of brioche went into the toaster, and when Lorelei opened up the fridge it warmed her heart to see that Sawyer had stocked not only her favorite condiments, but an assortment of food she would actually eat. There were two or three bars of chocolate, a bag of grapes, and a block of extra sharp cheddar cheese. Was it any wonder she was in love with the man?
They hadn’t even slept together yet and he’d gone shopping for her. It was enough to make her tingly from head to toe.
Padding up the stairs with the plates balanced on one hand, she used her hip to open the door to the bedroom. The moonlight was bright enough to show her the way. Bright enough to show her the empty bed.
“Sawyer?” she called out. “Where did you run off to?”
There was no answer. She set the plates down on the nightstand, checking around the corner at the bathroom.
“This isn’t funny.” After perusing the closet and spare bedrooms and coming up blank both times, she hurried back down the stairs. And came up short when she spied a strip of light shining from beneath the closed workroom door.
She pushed open the door to see Sawyer at his workbench. Pencil in hand and scribbling furiously on a notepad. “Hey. I didn’t hear you come down. I’d kind of hoped you’d save your second wind for me.” Coming up behind him, she looped her arms underneath his, resting her head between his shoulders. “You work too much.”
“You and my brother seemed to have an interesting conversation.”
His tone was cold enough to freeze the tail off a lizard. “Only as interesting as him showing up here at midnight. Did you know he has a drinking problem?” She waved a hand in front of her nose as though remembering the smell. “Your brother is a fiend. You could smell him from a mile away.”
“I don’t want to talk about his alcoholism. What I find interesting, apart from your being comfortable enough to carry on an entire conversation with him wearing only my shirt, is the fact that you slept with him and didn’t bother to tell me.”
She tried to ignore the sliver of ice in her chest. The first warning sign that something bad was about to go down. “I didn’t think to mention it.”
“You didn’t think to mention it?”
A down-to-business look tightened her face, though only a pinch of resentment leaked through. “Okay, calm down.”
“How can I be calm? You fucked my brother and then you moved on to me. What am I supposed to think when he comes into my house to reminisce about that?” The pencil rapped against the paper with uncontrolled violent movement. “And Allison?”
“I don’t like your tone.”
“Your daughter is Maverick’s child. I fucking heard him out there asking you.”
“Did you happen to stay for the rest of the conversation?”
“I didn’t need to.” His eyes locked with hers and she felt a chill run through her, raising the hair on the back of her neck. “How can you keep something so important from me? Here I am, lying there in bed like an idiot, thinking about making us a family, when it turns out she has a father who is ready to be in the picture…and happens to be an even bigger prick than Tommy Shinn. You didn’t think this was important to tell me?”
“You eavesdropped on the conversation and didn’t bother to stick around for the important part, you horse’s ass.” Lorelei crossed her arms over her chest. “Maverick isn’t Allison’s father.”
Sawyer paused the rhythmic tapping of his pencil. She’d never seen him so furious. The skin of his face was pulled back, pulling his eyes into slits and making his mouth a grimace. “You owe me an explanation.”
“I’m starting to think I don’t owe you a damn thing.” Lorelei strode to the door, shocked when Sawyer leapt up from his stool to slam it shut a second before she reached for the knob.
“I don’t understand how you can jump into bed with me, knowing my brother has already had you,” he argued. “How do we compare, Lorelei? Which one of us was the better lover?”
Her hands curled to fists at her sides. “Stop it.”
“This is just another thing he’s beaten me at…don’t you get it? Just another thing he’s gotten to first.”
She turned on him, ready to strike. “I am not a thing. It was one drunken night years ago. Before I even met you. Gah!” She ran her fingers through her hair, turning away to stare at the wall. Better than letting Sawyer see how hard she was trying to keep the tears in check. “I can’t believe you’re even saying these things to me. I can’t believe I’m standing here arguing with you. Which one of us is worse?”
“What’s there to argue about? I’m talking cold hard facts.”
“I’ve had enough.”
His glare broke down into a face that was merely distrustful. “You’re giving up too soon. You don’t want to go for a bonus round? Maybe I’ll win some extra points. It might put me ahead on the scoreboard.”
She looked at him in silence for what felt like an eternity. “The only thing you’re getting from me is the cold shoulder. I don’t want to see you again.”
Sawyer lowered his head until she couldn’t see his eyes. This night was not unfolding like she’d planned. Her heart thumped and Lorelei hoped the next words out of his mouth might be an apology. A willingness to accept he’d jumped the gun and made a complete idiot of himself.
She was wrong.
“Good thing you won’t have to,” Sawyer said at last. He walked back to his desk and sat down, turning his back to her. Shoulders slumping.
Then suddenly, the string of fury from earlier was replaced with an emotionless calm. She leaned back, caught her breath, and looked at Sawyer again. Looked at the man who made her feel like no one else ever had, before he’d completely shut down.
“You know what your problem is?” she blurted. “You don’t have room in your heart for anyone but yourself. You boast and blather and make a fuss about wanting to impress your brother. It all comes down to you, you, you. My help was necessary until you decided it got too hard. Well, life is hard. Relationships are hard, and dealing with the people around you is hard. We do it because we have to. Because we care. But not you. You don’t need anyone. You don’t care about anyone.” Lorelei paused long enough to draw in a shaky breath. “Our business is done, by the way.”
“Business.” He scoffed. “Sure. This was all about business, wasn’t it? Working to pay off the wind chime with sex.”
Her jaw dropped. “Fuck you, Sawyer.”
“I thought you already had.”
She slammed the door behind her and ran outside to the car. Barefoot and bare-legged and broken-hearted. She’d forgotten she’d left the keys in the ignition. On another night she would have been pissed at herself. Now she blessed her screwy memory. It spared her another round of arguing.
The back of her sleeve slashed across her eyes, the material soaking up moisture. She was stupid to think Sawyer was anything but a jerkoff. One with a bad temper and a foul mouth who only thought about himself.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
He shouldn’t have answered the phone. That was Sawyer’s first thought. He’d picked it up out of habit, partially relieved and wholly aggravated when Maverick’s voice sounded from the other end of the receiver.
Too smug. Too sure. Too much to handle on less than three hours of sleep.
After a bit of deliberation and an entire conversation composed of monosyllables on Sawyer’s end, they agreed to meet at the local coffee shop for a shot of espresso and, he had the sick feeling, a gentle and well-aimed letdown on the business deal he already considered dead. He sat in the car with his fingertips tapping and alternately throttling the steering wheel.
It figured, it really figured. The afternoon promised to be the fin
al downhill slope on his descent into ruin. Or into shit. It could definitely be shit. Sawyer seemed to have stepped in an entire ocean of the stuff. And the worst part? His mind kept replaying the disastrous conversation with Lorelei over and over. It was stuck on a repetitive loop that kept him from focusing on the important things in life. Like getting a business strategy developed for the next six months when he didn’t have an investor to lean on.
The moment he saw Maverick’s Mercedes-Benz rental pull into the parking lot, he was out of the seat. Slamming the door. Striding across the gravel.
“Hi, Sa—”
The opening greeting came to a screeching halt when Sawyer’s hard fist flew through the air and landed a direct hit on his brother’s soft chin. Maverick hadn’t been expecting the blow and stumbled backward. His rear collided with the door, fingers raised to his chin and eyes wide. Wild.
“I’m not going to apologize, because you’ve had it coming.” Sawyer issued the warning before Maverick had a chance to speak. “I’m done groveling for your money, and I’m done with all the secrets. Lorelei deserved better than your fumbling attempt at making out.”
“Ah, someone was doing a little eavesdropping last night.” Maverick kept his voice pond-on-a-clear-day calm. He worked his chin and, discovering no problems, dropped his hand. “I’m sorry for coming to your home so late. I should have called first.”
Far from convinced, Sawyer stared over his brother’s shoulder. The better to avoid the insincerity on the other man’s face. “Should have called, should have come clean about how you know my wife.”
“Your wife? That’s really funny. You want to punch me? Then at least drop the bullshit. I can’t stand it anymore.”
Sawyer’s lips flapped before he managed to sputter out a response. “Fine. I admit it. Lorelei and I aren’t really married. I’m sure that’s what you’ve been dying to hear. Me admitting I lied.”
“I’m not sure how long you thought you could parade around living this invention. Did you really think I wouldn’t find out?” Maverick arched his back in calculated nonchalance. “Honestly, Sawyer. And I can see the way you’re looking at me! If you’re going to punch me again, at least give me fair warning and a fighting chance.”
“No, I’m done. With everything. With her. With you.”
“Dammit, man. You might be in your thirties but you’re still a fucking child.” Maverick managed to regain his composure in time to grab Sawyer around the shoulders and muscle him in the direction of the coffee shop.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking you inside to talk. Someplace public so you aren’t inclined to punch my lights out in front of a crowd.”
“Now you’re mocking me and I don’t appreciate it.”
Moments later they were seated across from each other. The tiny round table had barely enough room for them to prop their elbows.
Maverick grinned. “Aren’t you going to ask me how I found out?”
“I don’t want to know.” Sawyer didn’t have to feign his discomfort. “It was stupid from the start. I was stupid.”
“You aren’t stupid. Just a little…misguided. At least you picked a winner.”
“If you bring up that night again, I may puke. Literally puke.”
“Stop pouting,” Maverick crooned over his cup of espresso. “It’s not like you.”
“You are the last person I want to talk to right now. Why am I even still here?” It would have been better to keep at least sixty feet of distance between the two of them. Better and smarter. It went against every natural urge not to lunge across the table to choke the life out of Maverick. Especially when he had no qualms about rubbing his newfound knowledge in Sawyer’s face.
There wasn’t a hint of apology when Maverick spoke again. “I’m here to discuss our business arrangement. I thought that was evident when I called you.”
“Did Lorelei say anything to you? Tell you to come here and try to make me feel better? I’ll tell you before you start—it’s not going to work. I don’t want to hear about her, and I don’t want to hear her name from your mouth ever again.”
“No, I haven’t had the pleasure since our clandestine conversation.” Maverick gave a long and wistful sigh. “As I’ll be leaving town tomorrow, I wanted to conclude our discussion about the investment money.”
“You wanted to rub my nose in your shared history. The key word here is history. Take note of it. It’s dead and buried.”
“Which is why I’m shocked you keep bringing it up.”
Sawyer closed his eyes, afraid Maverick would see them filled with pain. “I’m not in the mood.”
“When are you ever? You’ve had a chip on your shoulder since the day you pushed out of the womb. I’m not surprised seeing your reaction now. So what if Lorelei and I had sex?”
Sawyer cringed and glanced quickly around. “Lower your voice, man!”
“Why should I? I’ve had sex with dozens of women. She was a fling and nothing more. I had a question and she answered it, which concludes that chapter in both our lives for good. Or are you going to hold a grudge against me for sleeping with your pretend wife over six years ago? Oh yeah, did I mention I know all about your charade? You have no right to be angry with me.”
Sawyer’s chair creaked as he started to rise. “It was a mistake to meet you here.”
Maverick grabbed his arm and forced him back into the seat. “You’re still trying to impress me even though we’re in our thirties. When are you going to get over this burning need to be better than me?”
“When you stop being an asshole.”
“Ah, so never.”
Sawyer could feel his willingness to continue retreating from him. Not that continuing the argument would do any good. If anything, they would both eventually tire from going in circles. “Get to the point or get out, Maverick. I don’t have the time. And I’m not going to discuss my pretend relationship anymore. It’s over.” His finger pointed impassioned-rally-high in the air. “Over!”
“I’m sorry to hear that. The marriage may have been a fabrication, but the feelings were real. Even a jaded businessman like myself could see it.”
“Doesn’t matter. It’s done now. Like our arrangement.”
Maverick clucked his tongue. “You are full of surprises. Here I am, sitting here in this hovel you call a cafe, with a check in my pocket to invest in your wind chime business. If you would rather I tear it up…” He let his voice trail off.
Sawyer couldn’t look away. He couldn’t breathe for his shock at the statement. What was his brother trying to do? Kill him? “Stop bullshitting me.”
“Bullshit may be my life’s blood, I agree. But this is in earnest. I liked your proposal,” Maverick admitted.
“Come again?”
“I want to invest. Contrary to what you believe of me, I am a businessman, and I know a good proposal when I hear one. See one. Whatever. You impressed me with your ideas for future growth and expansion. And besides—” He used his chin to gesture to the unique piece Sawyer had designed for the coffee shop, now hanging inches above the door and chiming merrily whenever a new patron entered. “There’s no disputing your gift.”
“Gift?”
“Yes, gift. You want me to say it again? You have a gift, Sawyer. One I’d like to see grow into something spectacular. Between your talent and my knack for the corporate world, we can have you shipping your pieces from coast to coast in no time.”
“Spectacular?” Sawyer repeated.
“God, I guess I’m going to have to spell everything out for you.” Maverick sighed, then dug in his pocket and withdrew a check. “See for yourself.”
Fingers numb, Sawyer could hardly take the piece of paper without letting it slip. Eventually he fumbled his way into a semi-decent hold, eyes blurring when he read the amount on the line.
“This is…more than I presented in my plan.”
“This is what you deserve,” Maverick told him. “And a little extra thrown in from Daisy.
Although when it comes down to it, her money is my money.”
Sawyer shook his head. “You might think I’m being deliberately dense, but I don’t understand.”
“What is there to understand?”
“Did you come here to hold this over my head? To make my self-esteem lower than it already is? Or did you want to rub my failed relationship with Lorelei in my face?”
Maverick merely shrugged. “Not everything is a ploy to see you suffer, Sawyer. I admit I do enjoy getting your back up. I’ve done so plenty on this trip.” His grin faded. “Today, though, it’s different.”
Sawyer remembered some times in their shared past where he would have begged to differ on the ploy statement. Ploys were built into Maverick’s DNA. The very fiber of his being. “I don’t know what to say to you unless we’re still playing your game,” he answered honestly.
“Come on, brother. Haven’t we played the same game long enough? Besides, you called me into town to do business. You must be ready to move on too.”
“I’d hoped, nothing more.” Somehow, it didn’t sit right with him. He was still leery and a bit suspicious.
“I’m tired, Sawyer. I don’t have the energy or the inclination to pussyfoot around you anymore. This is not an ego boost. This is not a ploy to make you feel worse about yourself. This is a business proposition, and as we speak, my lawyer is mailing the legal documents to make this into a partnership. A real partnership.” With a chuckle, Maverick reached across the table and gave Sawyer a hearty bop on the shoulder.
“All this because I punched you in the face?” Sawyer asked, lifting his brow.
“All this because I think you’ve finally stood up for yourself in an organic way. An honest way, without any kind of subterfuge. When I confronted you about Lorelei, you came clean. No more scrambling to continue your horrendous charade at playing house. I’m glad we can finally get on the same page.”
“I guess I am, too.” Sawyer let the statement air slowly, surprised that that was exactly how he felt.
