Page 103 of Sawyer
“I’m sure Phoebe will be glad to see you.” Sawyer hurried toward the bedroom.“Phoebe.”
She came out of the bathroom in a towel with her hair up in large curlers. “Did you call Kyle? God, what am I going to wear? No, what is Brooke going to wear? She’s the fashionista. I’ll bet she’s wearing something totally chic and dressy.”
“Phoebe…” He didn’t dare look behind him. Was her dad standing in the doorway? “Your father is here.”
She clutched her towel when it started to slip. “My dad? Oh God!”
“Yes, that’s me,” the baritone voice called. “The god of your universe. Your creator. Your?—”
“Oh stop!” she hollered back as she patted Sawyer and walked around him. “Sawyer will think you’re a complete narcissist.”
Sawyer watched him pull his daughter into a warm hug before tugging back with a frown. “But I am.”
“Let me guess.” She made a show of putting a gun to her head and pulling the trigger. “Mother called after I called her last night. In hysterics, I imagine.”
He was so tall he towered over her. “Def Con 5 was extolled.”
“Daddy—”
“No, I get to start since I jumped on the first flight out of New York to be here.” He pointed to the sofa. “You sit. Sawyer, feel free to grab a seat too. This is about to get fun.”
“Let me grab a robe.” Phoebe floated back in moments later, her eyes heavenward before sending him a smile. “Sawyer, you donothave to stay. Please go and change. I can meet you at the party.”
He looked between the two of them and shook his head. “You’re my partner now. I’m staying.”
River whistled. “Well, I see it is as serious as you said, Pheebes. Good, maybe you can help me talk some sense into my daughter, Sawyer. She’s blowing up her new career.”
“I am not, dammit!” she shot back.
“Pheebes, you’re walking away from your new gallery after only a month. I know your mother ended up with the show you were hoping for, but Beverly called her. What could she do? I ask you… What artist could be worth this kind of enmity between you and your mother?”
Sawyer’s heart began to beat like the first notes out of aDraculamovie.
He didn’t know? Shit.
Her eyes narrowed to slits. “Well, I don’t know, Daddy. Maybe you should ask him. He’s sitting in that chair to your right.”
The shocked expression on her father’s face was almost comical. “The art professor? Him?”
He lifted his hand, trying to decide if sliding down in the chair was better than excusing himself.
River pointed a long tapered finger at him. “He’s the show Beverly is so hot about? You didn’t tell me your boyfriend is an artist.”
Suddenly he wished he’d left when he had the chance…
She blew out a raspberry as she threw a pillow at him. “What? Am I crazy? Inevertell you when I’m going out with an artist. Don’t you recall what a nightmare you were when I dated an artist in high school? You demanded to see his portfolio to determine if he was good enough. You’re as bad as Mother.”
“Fine, it wasn’t my best parenting moment.”
“Have you had one?” she asked smartly.
Sawyer could see they had a very open way of communicating. He kept his mouth shut and tried to stay out of the fray.
Except then River frowned, studying him, his face a hard, flintlike mask. “Beverly is your agent?”
He lifted his chin. This was a proud moment, and he was going to stand tall. “Yes, she is.”
Another whistle followed that pronouncement. “Then you’re the shit. Because Beverly is one of the best agents out there. If I hadn’t thought your mother would be jealous, I would have signed with her.”
