Page 8 of Sawyer
“Good news, though! I’ll bet you’d rock the straitjacket, looking as perfect as you do every damn second of the day.”
She snickered. He only smiled.
And God, it was a tantalizing smile that made her belly warm. She thought about smacking him over the head with the newspaper to get him to stop.
“You planning on sayinganything?” She cocked a badass eyebrow. “Or do we need to find you a mini blackboard so you can communicate with us?”
He was biting the inside of his cheek now. “I was trying to figure out how to answer your question.”
“My…what?” God, was she sputtering?
“About how I knew you were here.” Then he shrugged, again making her aware of his strong, powerful body. “Too bad you don’t have that mini blackboard around. I’d write it in all caps. I could smell you.”
Smell her?
Jesus. She lifted her armpit, which had him laughing.
“Not like that.”
Oh!
Oh!!!
Her heart dropped like a cast-iron pan that had been too hot to handle. They could smell each other! God, they were walking such a tightrope right now.
“Get a grip,” she said once she could collect herself. “I work in a kitchen. All I smell like is food. Little children follow me on the streets hoping I have snacks.”
He grinned.
She gulped.
God, she sounded like an idiot. Besides, she knew what he was smelling. The lusty, needy scent she wished she could scrub off because even she could smell it when he was around.
“So the article was terrific,” he said in one of his careful,Madison, I sense you’re freaking outtones.
“Yes, but like I said, we have to do it all over again tonight.”
Bailing wasn’t a bad choice, she decided. Slapping him with the newspaper because it made her happy, she strode past him to the stairwell.
His footsteps sounded behind her on Nanine’s treacherous stairs. “Which you’ll do because that’s who you are.”
Oh no! He was going to cheerlead her? She was already a tangled ball of emotion even a kitten wouldn’t play with.
“Damn right.” She swung around as she reached the final steps. “That’s my job. Yours is to celebrate with the rest of our friends as GM of The Paris Restaurant Group. If I really thought I could do it, I’d have a glass too. But I don’t drink until after shift. Also, we need to help Sawyer.”
“He’s nearly laid out from all the attention. On cloud nine in one moment and then head between his legs the next. My phone is already blowing up. A big gallery called, and there are more messages from others I haven’t listened to yet.”
Her insides did a flip for their friend, because she knew all about that roller coaster. “We can’t let him do this alone. I’m not worried about Thea, because she’s stronger now and has Jean Luc. But Sawyer is going to be mobbed by legit art peeps like the one you mentioned as well as opportunists. Shit like that happened to me when we won our first Michelin star atLe Fleur.It’s wild, and he’s…fragile.”
“Maybe we need an Operation Sawyer.” His intense gaze flickered over her face. “Thea’s was successful.”
“Good idea. I’m in.”
When she turned, he laid a gentle hand on her arm, making her turn back. “We’ve covered everyone else. What aboutyou?Because I know this only amps up the pressure. You know I’m here for you. The Michelin people?—”
“Kyle…” God, she wanted to lean in and share this moment with him. Tell him that shewasfreaking out. But she was also so damn happy about the article she was going to read it to Pierre tonight.
Kyle wouldn’t laugh. He’d tell her he’d bring cocktails or something. Because it didn’t matter how much of herself she showed him—her mistrust, her badass side, her disagreeableness—he didn’t just stick around. He showed up to share in more of it.
