Page 23 of Sawyer
He held out his hand. “Give it to me, Half-Pint.”
At any other time, the look of horror that washed over her face would have made him laugh. When she continued to hesitate, he said. “Now, little girl. One. Two.”
Immediately, she put the tissues in his hand. Then her mouth dropped open as if her action shocked her. And it was cute as fuck.
Once she was settled back with her stuffie and her blanket wrapped around her, he said, “So, I’m guessing because you believed it was true, and because they told what would happen to their case if you couldn’t say you were one hundred percent certain, you swore your car didn’t leave your driveway.”
“Y-Yes. I told the people under oath that I knew for a fact that my car had never left my driveway.”
“OK,” Sawyer said. “I can see why you would do that. But, fuck, Half-Pint, it makes me angry with those lawyers. Did no one talk to you at the time about perjury? Not even your lawyer?”
Lele startled at his words. Damn it. He needed to keep the anger out of his voice. That wasn’t going to help anything.
Before she could answer him, he crossed to where she sat. “I'm sorry, babygirl. I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I'm not accusing you of intentionally doing anything wrong. I'm angry because the legal counsel you had didn't tell you what you were doing was wrong."
“Tell me it was wrong? No, they were the ones who told me I had to say it. There was a man, a really big, scary man everyone called the General, even though I never saw him in a uniform.”
It took every ounce of self-control and training Sawyer had gone through to keep his face blank.
Her lip trembled again. “I’m sorry, Saul. Do you want to leave? I’ll understand if you do.”
He didn’t answer her at first. Maybe he should, just so he could go back to his house and punch a few holes in the walls. Lele had been trying to do the right thing. He’d hack into the video footage at the jail to make sure she was telling him the truth, but he was good at spotting a lie. When he had himself under control, he said. “I’m fine, Half-Pint. I want to hear the rest.”
“It doesn’t get better,” she warned. “The General was the worstof all the prosecutors who’d talked to me. He told me terrible stories about what would happen to the children if they didn’t stop the drugs from getting into the school. You have to understand, these kids were the younger brothers and sisters of the people I grew up with. He said, if I didn’t say what he told me to, I was the one killing those children. That I owed it to everyone to do whatever it took to make sure the FBI agent ended up behind bars." Tears brightened her eyes, but she blinked them back. “He said, if I didn’t, my father would be ashamed of me.”
Fucking hell. Sawyer shoved to his feet and paced the room. “That fucking fucker. How does he keep getting elected?”
“I’m so stupid. I hate lying. I never do it. But lying under oath? Yeah. So, so, stupid.”
Oh hell no. There was enough shit coming out of her mouth already. He wasn’t about to let her get away with that. He turned to her and glared. "I told you before, do not ever let me hear you say that about yourself again, Half-Pint. I would like very much to find the General and beat the holy hell out of him. How the fuck could a man representing the law emotionally blackmail you into lying on the stand?"
"You sound like Hector. Well, at least at first, he was against it. But he changed his mind. In the end, he agreed with the General. I wish he hadn’t because, as it turned out, we were very wrong."
He watched as she braced for his rejection. As she waited for him to march out the door. Rejection was the last thing he had on his mind.
His heart broke for this beautiful Little girl. All she’d wanted to do was keep children safe, and she’d wound up in prison.
“Come here, babygirl.” He took her hands and lifted her off the sofa, pulling her high into the air before settling her on her feet in front of him. The squeal that got him brought his cock to life.
He pulled her closer, until her breast pressed firmly against his chest. Without another thought, his mouth was on her lips. All thestress of the past week fueled the kiss. He slid his hands down her back until he reached her spectacular ass. God, it was the perfect ass. The same as the last time he kissed her, she tasted of strawberries and sunshine. He lost himself in the kiss, taking his time and enjoying every second.
She was evidently more prepared this time. Without hesitation, she kissed him back. She tugged his head down so she could kiss him harder, grinding her hips against his.
When her phone rang, she stiffened, but he wasn’t anywhere close to done. He walked her backward until he had her back against the wall. As soon as she relaxed, he kissed along her jaw, all the way to her delicate ear. He ran his tongue along the shell and sucked the lobe into his mouth. He nipped the sensitive flesh and then soothed the bite with his tongue.
She shivered in his arms. His cock pulsed in response.
“Saul,” she moaned, and he had never hated a name more.
He wanted to hear his real name on her lips, not one that reminded him of the lies he’d told her. Other than that, it was the hottest thing he’d ever heard. The need, the hunger in her voice. Yeah. His babygirl wanted him.
The pain of his cock doing its best to break through his jeans made it more than evident he wanted her, too.
He pulled back from the kiss long enough to take her in. Her gorgeous curls fell over her shoulders. Her eyes… how could eyes hold both innocence and desire at the same time? Her lips were a delicious pink from his kiss.
Her phone rang again, but he still couldn’t give her up. He wasn’t finished with those lips. He lowered his gaze to hers. “Eyes on me, babygirl.”
She held his eyes as he lowered his mouth back to her. He would never stop wanting more of her lips, her touch…her. Tentatively, she brushed his lips with her tongue, and he opened for her. Not that he could have responded any other way if he’d wanted to. Which he didn’t.
