Sawyer (Alluring Indulgence #7)(41)
Author: Nicole Edwards

Was Sawyer seeing someone else?

Five . . . six . . . seven . . . eight . . .

Was that why she hadn’t heard from him anymore?

While she would’ve preferred doing algebra problems in her head over thinking about Sawyer Walker, Kennedy finally gave in when it was clear she was going to exert more effort not thinking about him, which led her to the memory of Zane and V’s wedding.

“May I have this dance?”

Kennedy turned to see the tall, sexy cowboy standing behind her, the same one she’d been dodging ever since she walked into the club. She had told herself she was there because Zane and V had invited her, not because there was the possibility that she would see Sawyer. As much as she wanted to believe that, the possibility had just turned into a reality and she wasn’t sure why she was so happy about that.

It didn’t stop her from turning him down.

“Thank you, but no thank you,” she told Sawyer kindly.

“Come on, Kennedy. Just one dance.”

Just one dance. Right. As if there was any such thing as just one dance with this man. If she said yes, she would find herself out on the dance floor and four songs later she would be dead on her feet. She’d learned her lesson at Ethan and Beau’s reception when she’d given in to Sawyer’s persuasive request.

But she had also learned that telling this man no was much easier said than done. Rather than wasting precious time, Kennedy nodded her head and then slid her fingers into his palm when he held his hand out to her.

As Kennedy remembered that night, she thought about the way it felt to be in Sawyer’s arms. That thought led to the kiss they’d shared in the parking lot of the hospital the night she’d been the twins’ designated driver.

Why hadn’t he called her? Why hadn’t he stopped by the office? She just couldn’t fathom why all of a sudden he was gone from her life when he’d become such a constant that she hadn’t even realized how much she had been looking forward to seeing him.

God, she was so screwed.

Just when she was about to give herself a mental lashing for even allowing her thoughts to drift to Sawyer, her cell phone rang. She set her glass on the edge of the tub and leaned over, sloshing water over the edge as she looked for her pants that were lying on the floor near the tub. She managed to stretch far enough to reach them, finally locating her phone.

“Hello?” she greeted the caller breathlessly. Leaning over the tub took some effort, that was for sure.

“You sound a little breathless. That because you were expectin’ me to call?”

Kennedy’s heart stopped beating briefly and then kicked into high gear. Maybe she’d fallen asleep in the bathtub and this was all a dream. There was only one way to find out.

“What do you want, Sawyer?” she asked, trying to sound unaffected by the fact that he was calling her.

Leaning back in the tub and closing her eyes, she pictured him in her head again. Yeah, she was doomed. She’d already given over to her thoughts of him for the last half hour—what were a few more when she could sit there and listen to the rich baritone of his voice as it washed over her like warm silk?

Maybe it really was a dream.

“What are you doin’?” he asked.

Kennedy could hear Buster growling in the background. He sounded like he was playing. That or trying to get Sawyer’s attention.

“I’m in the bath,” she told him honestly, wishing she could see his face.

Instead, she had to listen to the silence as he paused, his sharp inhale the only sign she received that he’d actually heard what she said.

“In the bath?”

“Yes.” Kennedy smiled to herself. “What did you need, Sawyer?” she repeated.

“I was just . . . uh . . . Are you seriously in the bathtub?”

“Yes,” she said, a hint of amusement in her tone. “And until a moment ago, I was actually relaxing.” It was a lie, but there was no way he would know that.

“I’m on my way over.”

Kennedy sat up quickly, splashing water over the side of the tub once more. “No. You can’t come over here.”

Sawyer’s sexy chuckle made the hairs on her arms stand on end.

“I’m kiddin’. Unless of course you wanna invite me over. Maybe you need someone to help you wash your back.”

“No, I can manage quite well on my own, thank you very much,” she replied, hoping she didn’t sound as panicked as she felt. The thought of Sawyer showing up on her doorstep right about now wasn’t as bad as she wished it was.

She shoved that idea right out of her head.

“Are you gonna be at work tomorrow?” Sawyer asked.