Page 36 of Sawyer

“So…we’ll keep things casual.”

“Yeah?”

“Sure,” I say.

“Super casual, right?”

“Absolutely,” I promise. “I’ll pick you up on Friday? At eight?”

She stares at me for a second, and I can see it in her eyes as surely as Adam saw it in Eve’s.Heat. Knowledge.It’s on.Fuck, yes.Her cheeks flush, and she looks away with a soft chuckle.

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Awesome. See you then.”

I walk away with my head held high. No bastard in Skagway can touch me. In three days, I have a date with the hottest, smartest, most fascinating girl in town.

Three days later, however, my confidence isn’t quite as solid.

The wildflowers I picked for her look underwhelming compared to what they probably sell in Vancouver or Fairbanks. Forget-me-nots, wolfsbane, lupine, and yarrow, it’s a mix of blues, lavenders, and yellows—day and night, light and dark. It’s not the first time I’ve picked wildflowers for her. I hope she still likes them.

I hop up the stairs from the boardwalk to the Kozy Kone apartments and knock on the door outside the suite.

“It’s unlocked!” yells Ivy from inside. “Come in! I’ll be ready in a sec!”

I open the door and step into the common room shared by the four bedrooms, sitting down on a plush couch with the flowers in my hand. Spying a little kitchen in the corner of the room, I stand up and rummage around in the cabinets for a vase and fill it with water. I’m placing the flowers on the coffee table in front of the couch when one of the bedroom doors opens.

Ivy peeks out, a little grin on her beautiful face when she spies the blooms.

“Those for me?”

“Y-Yeah.”

She steps into the room, pulling the door shut behind her, and I suck in my breath at the sight of her. She’s wearing a little white sundress, fitted on top with a full skirt that stops well above her knees. The silver heels on her feet make her at least two inches taller. Her body is banging, as usual, and she’s wearing her red hair long and loose in sexy waves. But it’s her smile that makes my heart skip a beat. She’s smiling just forme, and she’s so fucking gorgeous, I can’t believe she’s all mine tonight.

“What?” she asks, looking down at her shoes. “Too much for Skagway?”

“You look amazing.”

“Sawyer!” Her eyes widen, and she giggles at me.

“It’s the truth.”

It’s her turn to run her eyes over me. I’m wearing old jeans with a black buttoned-down shirt, open at the neck. I’m tall, my skin is tan, and my body is cut. The way she looks at me makes me want to drag her back into her bedroom and—and—

“You look good, too,” she says, her eyes dilated when they meet mine.

“Wanna just stay here instead?” I ask, my voice low and husky.

She looks away, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth for a second before letting it go. “No.”

Shit. Did I just misread her signa—

“But maybe we’ll come back here after,” she says softly, more to herself than to me. She looks at the bouquet again, her expression shy. “Thanks for the flowers, Sawyer. That was sweet.”

“No problem. Ready to go?”

I hold out my hand to her, and even though I’ve held Ivy’s hand about a thousand times in my life, when she slips it into mine, it feels different this time. It feels like a new beginning.

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