Sawyer (Alluring Indulgence #7)(42)
Author: Nicole Edwards

“Of course. Why? Is somethin’ wrong?”

“Nope. Just wanted to make sure. Buster and I’ll be stoppin’ by to see you.”

“What? Why?”

“Because.” Sawyer’s tone sounded more reserved than before. “I . . . Because I can’t stay away anymore.”

Kennedy’s heart did a little dance in her chest, her stomach churning excitedly. Why did that make her happy? Not that she wanted him to know that it did.

“I’m kinda busy tomorrow,” she told him, trying to recall whether that was actually true or not. She knew she had appointments lined up for most of the day, but she wasn’t sure what they entailed.

“Well, if you’re busy, we’ll wait for you.”

“Sawyer . . .” Kennedy knew she needed to tell him that this wasn’t a good idea. A month had passed since the last time she saw him, and Kennedy knew it would be better not to backtrack, no matter how much she continued to think about him. He needed to let it go, because no matter what, she wasn’t going to go out with him, no matter how much charm he tossed at her. She just wasn’t going to do that to herself.

But before she could say anything, he spoke up.

“Don’t bother warnin’ me off, Kennedy. We’ve been doin’ this little song and dance for long enough.”

“Not for the last month we haven’t,” Kennedy mumbled to herself, following up with a question loud enough for Sawyer to hear. “What song and dance is that?”

“The one where I hit on you, then you pretend you’re not affected by me. But see, I happen to know that’s not entirely true.”

“And just how do you know that?” The second the words were out, Kennedy realized just how much she’d revealed.

He chuckled again and she was tempted to hang up on him.

But she didn’t.

“I can’t give up now.”

Kennedy wasn’t sure if he’d been talking to her or just saying the words out loud, but they did strange things to her nonetheless.

Although there was a lot of hope building up inside her, Kennedy wasn’t about to let him know that. “Keep dreamin’,” she told him. “You can keep layin’ on the charm, Sawyer, it’s not gonna make a bit of difference. In the end, I’m still not gonna go out with you. How do you know I haven’t moved on?”

“Have you?” he asked, his voice low.

“No,” she said far too quickly. Damn it.

“Good. Then it’s time we get back to where we were.”

“And where was that?” she asked.

“The point where you were gonna go out with me.”

“I was never gonna go out with you, Sawyer.”

Liar, liar, pants on fire.

“Are you sure about that?” he questioned.

“Very,” Kennedy told him, reminding herself that she hadn’t heard from him in weeks. There was absolutely no reason she should give in to him.

“But you had thought about it, hadn’t you?” he cajoled.

Kennedy opened her mouth, snapped it shut. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she certainly didn’t want him to know that she’d actually been considering it. Instead, she said, “It’s possible that I thought about it. But I’m sure I was just delusional at the time.”

“Considerin’ you’re the most rational person I know, I highly doubt that,” Sawyer replied, amusement resonating in his words.

Before she could make another argument against going out with him, Sawyer added, “Remember what I said, Kennedy. I’m not gonna give up, so you might as well just agree now. And I’ll make sure to win you over this time. Have a good night, Kennedy.”

With that, Sawyer disconnected the call and Kennedy sat there staring at her phone.

Good grief.

Why? Why did she do this to herself?

chapter ELEVEN

Sawyer was up with the sun on Saturday, thanks to Buster. The little guy was as rambunctious as they came and it seemed that as soon as light began filtering through the windows, he was ready to get the day started. No matter how late Sawyer kept him up the night before, Buster never failed to wake him long before he was ready.

Then again, Sawyer was feeling a little of that energy today. For the first time in the last month, he had a sense of determination. Actually, that had started the night before, when he’d given in and called Kennedy. He hadn’t known what to expect from her when he dialed her number, but he’d been pleasantly surprised. After the falling-out he had with Kennedy’s father a month ago, he’d retreated from pursuing her. It just didn’t seem right. Not until he could figure out just what the hell happened. It was hard enough to try to get her to trust him because of his reputation in high school, but for her to think he’d deceive anyone that way . . . It was more than Sawyer was comfortable with.