Page 73 of Karma's Kiss

He grins and we take another step toward each other, giving in to the invisible string between us, thattug. A little closer and then his hand reaches out to grip my hip, firmly taking ahold of me. We haven’t touched like this since the night in his truck.

His thumb rubs the material of my dress like he’s been dying to feel it. I wonder if it’s as soft as he imagined it would be.

“Well?” I prod. “What is it?”

I study his expression. His concentration seems to be split. He wavers back and forth between wanting to study my eyes and then my lips. A girl knows when she’s about to be kissed, and my heart slams against my ribs.

He blinks, coming out of a daze as he begins. “I don’t want to hang back and wait.” His hold tightens on my hip. “Regardless of what happens in the next few days, I want us to be together.”

His eyes lock with mine and my lips part as I take in what he’s telling me. It doesn’t seem possible. I’m adding it up wrong in my head, interpreting things the way I want to hear them.

Sawyer reads the confusion in my tense brows and he smiles, jostling me gently. “I want to be with you, regardless of what the pregnancy test says.”

Still, it’s unbelievable. “Bewith me?”

“Date you. Kiss you. The whole shebang.” His grin makes me laugh.

“You sure about that?” I can’t help myself; I lift my hand and draw light circles on his chest as I continue, “I’m fresh off an engagement, figuring my life out, living with Queenie. I’d rather not drag you into this mess.”

He tugs me closer. “Mess?”

Now I know he’s teasing me, and though I want to smile right along with him, one of us has to think about this logically. “You deserve someone really special.” Charlotte’s word from the other day haunts me. “Someone with a little more to offer you,” I go on. “I don’t want you feeling like you have to make an honest woman out of me.”

His hands come up to cradle my face. “Madison McCall, are you kidding me?”

I blush so hard I have to look down at the grass so I can hide how much he makes me feel. In life when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Sawyer can’t still want me after all the chaos I’ve caused—the chaos I haveyetto cause! I’m not the shiny Madison from a few years ago.

Inside, I hear the band announce the final song, and a slow sweet melody filters out to us. Sawyer sighs and draws me even closer until our bodies are flush.

“Dance with me?” he asks quietly.

I shake my head and laugh. “Oh c’mon, that’s so cheesy.”

“Cheesy?” He grabs ahold of me and spins me around. “What’s cheesy about dipping you?”

He bends me back so low my hair almost skims the grass. A laugh bursts out of me as he whirls me back up and gathers me close. We’re not really moving to the beat, just pressed together, our eyes locked, awareness pulsing between us.

“You aren’t shooting me down, are you?” He’s affected absolutely criminal puppy dog eyes.

I release an unsteady breath. “I’m not saying yes or anything, butifwe’re going to try to move forwardromantically, you can trust me, you know. All that stuff with Kendra was so stupid…”

I expect him to bristle at the turn of topic, but his expression shifts to one of determination. “I might have deserved it.”

“No, you didn’t,” I insist emphatically. “I initially agreed to go out with you because Kendra prodded me to do it, but I didn’tfake my attraction or the fact that I was dying to go on a secondandthird date.”

“Well if it helps, Kendra wasn’t so off base about me. In high school, I could be a cocky shithead, and truthfully she was never who I was interested in. I don’t blame her for wanting to get back at me for using her. Back then, I was just trying to get your attention.”

A laugh of disbelief slips out of me. Oh now, this is too good.

“Sure.You entertained Kendra for a few weeks in high school soI’dnotice you.Ha ha ha.”

“I’m serious.”

I nod sarcastically and tack on a wink. “Got it.”

He almost looks offended. “You don’t believe me?”

Do I believe Sawyer Garnett harbored any sort of crush on me back then? Absolutely not, but it’s fun to give in to the delusion for now.

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