Page 50 of Tattered Edges

“Okay. I’ll see you later, then.”

He dipped his chin in acknowledgment, waved a silent goodbye to Victoria, and headed for the door. On his walk back to his flat, he considered what he had agreed to.

Sawyer treating him to a meal.

It had been more than a year since he’d sat down to dinner with a woman who wasn’t his mother. When he wanted someone in his bed, he found a drink or two would usually suffice for the brief interlude that would follow. Dinner wasn’t a promise of commitment, but it usually implied a level of interest he was smart enough to avoid.

Dinner with Sawyer wouldn’t be a date, but he had his pride. He wouldn’t allow her to pay for the meal, which meant he was going to have to convince her that her company was enough to cast off anobsceneamount of chocolate biscuits.

It was, in fact, true. She’d proven to be more than tolerable company. Her laugh, alone, was enough to leave him wanting more. Add to that her intellect and her charm, and she was almost intolerably enjoyable to be around.

Not that this wasn’t information he could share with her. How he was going to be able to sway her to his way of thinking without insinuating more, he had no idea. But he’d need to figure it out. Soon.

Sawyer

He’dsaidyes.

It wasn’t a date.

I spent most of the afternoon reminding myself of this.

Yet again, he had gone above and beyond to help me. Installing a security camera had been such an obvious idea. I hadn’t thought of it because I was so wrapped up in the questions ofwhyandwho,I hadn’t stopped to consider much else.

I knew the best I could hope for at present was if the police were able to pick up footage of the guilty party from the cameras on the street—but I was thinking in past tense, not future tense. I hoped I wouldn’t have to worry about another break-in, but knowing the store was now better equipped should something like this ever happen again put me at ease.

Rory had done that. In his own way, he was looking out for me.

This time, I hadn’t even asked.

I’d never had a man in my life who I could rely on. Not really. Even when I’d found something close to love, part of what broke us apart was the fragility of our foundation. It couldn’t bear the weight of hardship. It was such a long time ago, and we were so young—so naïve, what we had couldn’t exist outside of the world we created with each other. When life tested us, we broke, and I hadn’t found a man worthy since then.

My mother had been self-reliant, a trait I inherited. While I’d always found a way to make friends, I was careful not to expect too much from them so as not to over-burden our relationship to the point of breaking. Diane was the one person in the whole world I relied on more than anyone else.

Over the years, she’d proven whatever I needed was never too much. Even after she got married, her relationship with Brady didn’t dimmish what we had. That’s why I considered her as close to a real sister as I would ever have.

But Rory was proving to be a constant in my life. In part because I’d opened that door the first time I went knocking on his, asking for help. On his part, he kept going out of his way. For me. And not because he was getting anything out of it.

Words couldn’t express my appreciation.

I hoped dinner would.

It wasn’t a date. It was athank you—but while my head understood that, my heart was sending a different message to the nerves in my stomach.

At a quarter after six, I left Victoria alone in the bookstore to freshen up for dinner before we closed. I liked the sweater I had on, so I didn’t bother changing it. I did, however, swap out my blue jeans for a pair of skinny white ones—it made the cool, winter colors in my knitted top stand out more. I also traded my flats for my tan, wedge-heeled ankle booties.

After fifteen minutes in the bathroom, I had on a touch more makeup, and I’d added a bit of texture to my hair with a little help from my curling iron. It was twenty minutes to the top of the hour when I returned to the store with my coat draped over my arm and my purse in my hand.

“You look lovely,” said Victoria suggestively. “All ready for your date?”

“It’snota date. It’s just dinner,” I replied, speaking aloud what I’d been reciting to myself for hours.

She smiled, raising her eyebrows at me. “Are you sure?”

Discarding my things on a nearby couch, I made my way toward the front counter. “I am. We’re only friends.”

“If that’s true, why are you wearing eyeshadow?”

I opened my mouth to speak, but found I didn’t know quite how to respond. I never told her about the kiss Rory and I shared a month ago, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Not because it was particularly private—I’d laid one on him while he was at work, in front of more than a handful of people. Neither did I wish to keep it to myself because I was embarrassed.

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