Page 17 of Sawyer
Another gusty laugh had his nerve endings tingling. “Oh, be still my heart. So many incredible qualities and a gentleman. Lucky me! All right, I will honor your sense of…honor. Forgive my play on words. It’s my half-British side. Would you like to go back in time and ask me to go toRougesinstead of coffee? I can walk back over to where you first saw me, and we can go again.”
That spurred a laugh out of him. “You’re enjoying yourself.”
“Always.Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man.If you let it be.”
“More Shakespeare.”
“King John,in fact.”
“I know. Act three?—”
“Scene four,” she finished, her green eyes sparkling like glorious peridots. “See, we can speak of other things. Few men can quote the classics, and I do so love them, having studied English literature at Oxford.”
He was a goner. He could almost hear Dean sayingkismet. “I am assured. Phoebe.”
“Aha! You used my name. So now we have become officially acquainted. My turn. Sawyer.”
He found himself tongue-tied as she walked away. When she was about ready to cross the street, she looked over her shoulder at him and gave him a wink Chaucer would have described inCanterbury Talesas saucy.
Cupid’s arrow had struck dead center.
CHAPTER
FIVE
He made it home in time for Sunday dinner by five minutes after wandering around Paris with his head in the clouds. A beautiful woman and a large dose of hope did something to a guy.
“Sorry I’m so late.”
Everyone looked over as he stood in the kitchen doorway, his friends and now the Plus Ones, as he and his roommates called them—not just Jean Luc, Jacqueline, and Axel, but Brooke’s father, Carl, who was engaged to Nanine.
The restaurant was closed on Sundays, so all of his friends were present, including Madison and Nanine, who’d insisted on making them a roast chicken for family dinner. They were standing under the industrial rack of gleaming copper pots hanging above the massive kitchen island. His heart turned over in his chest. God, he loved these people. Finding them had made him believe in things like fate and destiny. The good kind. Damn, but he wanted more of it.
“You have much on your mind,chéri.” Nanine finished cutting the last of her famous roast chicken.
“Not too much.” He pushed his gold-rimmed spectaclesup higher on his nose as the scent of roasting meat and potatoes made his stomach rumble. “Only my entire life.”
“Someone get that man an apéro,” Dean called out, standing with his arm around Jacqueline, a glass of champagne in hand. “That’s heavy stuff.”
“Cognac, Doc?” Kyle asked, gesturing to his favorite bottle on the countertop alongside their usual fare. Open champagne was chilling in a sweating ice bucket. A selection of red and white wine, chosen by Jacqueline, their resident sommelier.
“You must think I really need something strong since we usually leave the cognac for a digestif,” he replied, walking into the room. “You’re not wrong.”
Hell, is this where he told everyone? Yeah, because that’s what they did. They were honest with each other.
“Ah…I not only met a gallery person after I talked to Jean Luc and Thea, but I have a date with her.”
“Holy shit, Sawyer!” Dean burst out laughing as Thea let out a delighted squeal. “You aresogoing with the flow. A date! I am so proud of you.”
“Who is she, Sawyer?” Madison asked, her eyes immediately narrowing. “Because we’re totally checking her out.”
“We can run a background check on her,” Brooke said, patting Madison on the back as she rose from where she’d been sitting on a barstool beside her. “Sawyer, when I told you not to go at a snail’s pace, I didn’t mean jumping to warp speed like the Millennium Falcon.”
“AStar Warsreference, Brooke?” Dean bobbled his champagne, the golden liquid sloshing on the sides. “You?”
“I find myself equally amazed,” Axel replied, studying his friend as he stood next to an equally serious Kyle.
“Hey, I love Harrison Ford,” Brooke shot back, crossing until she stood in front of him. “Now, let’s hear how you met her.”
