Page 47 of The Story of Us
Sawyer watched him and tried his best not to sigh. The poor guy. If Rick would just put half as much effort into actually expressing his feelings to Lucy as he did in trying to manufacture the perfect environment in which to woo her, they’d probably be engaged by now.
At least she’d shown up. That was something. Glass in hand, Lucy perused the wine selection while Sawyer peered past her, hoping she’d come with Jamie. Those two were thick as thieves. But alas, Lucy had arrived all on her own. Good news for Rick, obviously.
Not so much for Sawyer.
You’re trying to avoid Jamie from now on. Remember?
He was. Definitely.
But then he caught another flash of golden hair in his periphery, and this time it was no mirage. It was Jamie—walking into the room wearing soft pink silk and looking more beautiful than Sawyer had ever seen her.
He forgot instantly about all the ridiculous promises he’d made to himself about keeping his distance from her. He couldn’t do any such thing. Nor did he want to.
Their eyes met, and Sawyer was vaguely aware of Anita’s presence alongside Jamie, watching the way they stared at one another with keen interest. Jamie’s lips curved into a shy smile, and it was then that Sawyer realized he hadn’t been imagining things last night. Something had changed between them in the glittering courtyard. Somethingreal. He wasn’t sure what it might mean for the future or for their respective careers, but for once, he didn’t care about that.
Ridley could wait.
He waved at Jamie, and she waved back. Then a hand landed firmly on Sawyer’s shoulder—Rick’s hand—and Sawyer had no choice but to switch into wingman mode.
“Oh, yeah.” He turned to face Rick. “Now’s your shot.”
Rick paled a little, so Sawyer aimed finger guns at him in a dorky attempt to help him relax. “Be cool.”
Rick rolled his eyes. “Yeah.”
Sawyer patted him on the back and gave him a small shove in Lucy’s direction. While Rick slowly made his way toward her, Sawyer snuck a glance at Jamie. Anita poured her a glass of red. She accepted it, then returned Sawyer’s look. Once he had her attention, he nodded subtly toward Rick and Lucy. Since Jamie was such a fan of true love, he figured she’d want to witness the moment when Rick finally told Lucy how he felt.
Jamie turned her gaze toward them, eyes wide.
“Hey, Luce,” Rick said.
Lucy smiled. “Hi.”
Sawyer nodded to himself. So far, so good.
“You said you liked that Chardonnay last time you were here.” Rick gestured toward the bottle in Lucy’s hand. “Unoaked.”
Lucy tipped her head to the side. “You remembered?”
Sawyer and Jamie shared a small smile from across the room.
“I remember all sorts of things.” Rick flashed Lucy one of his Rick the Romancer grins. “Like the first time that we met—August ninth, two years ago. You’d only been in town for a week and you walked in here wearing a purple paisley shirt and ordered a salmon miso. With unoaked Chardonnay.”
“And I remember you were hilarious.” Lucy did a little hair flip, which Sawyer saw as a definite sign of progress. But then she deadpanned, “And dating Megan the Model.”
Ouch.
Rick waved a dismissive hand. “We broke up.”
“Ten months later.” Lucy took a smooth, un-oaky sip from her glass.
Sawyer decided right then and there that he liked Lucy. A lot. Rick needed someone who would challenge him instead of the type who fawned all over him. They’d be great together. The only problem was that Rick had never had to actually work for a woman’s affections before. He needed more than a wingman—he needed a coach.
He cast a pleading look toward Sawyer.
Don’t give up now.Did Sawyer need to give Rick a literal playbook? If Lucy had taken note of the timing surrounding his break-up, surely that meant she was interested in him. Sawyer shot him an urgent get-back-in-the-game look.
Rick took a deep breath and turned back toward Lucy, just in time to see Sweater Guy running toward them.
