Page 2 of Christmas Wedding
“I need you to call me Jon, Lorna. I’m Sawyer to the people that I work for and to my friends. To you, I want to be someone more—personal.” Lorna’s eyes flared again, and he could tell that she liked the idea of getting more personal with him. Hell, he let her get as up close and personal as she wanted.
Lorna pulled his hand from her mouth and looked up at him. “This is a bad idea—” she hesitated, “Jon.” Sawyer couldn’t help himself—he groaned at the sound of Lorna calling him by his first name. No one ever did that. When he was passed from foster parent to foster parent, they liked to keep thingsas impersonal as possible. That made it easier when something went wrong and he needed to move on. So, he got used to everyone calling him by his last name, and it just stuck. In the military, it was normal. No one ever called him Jon, but he really liked the way Lorna said his name. He closed his eyes for a split second to get himself together. His mind was racing with all the dirty things that he wanted to do to her, right there in their kitchen. He was pretty sure that Lorna wasn’t ready for any of that yet.
He swallowed hard. “Say it again, Lorna,” he ordered. She looked confused for a moment and then seemed to catch up.
“Jon.” He groaned against her lips as he crushed his mouth against hers. He felt a fierce need to mark her as his. Sawyer nipped and sucked his way from her lips down to her neck. She let him get to her shoulder before she said his name again. This time, it sounded more like a warning.
“Jon.” She sighed and gently shoved him back, effectively freeing herself from his hold. She escaped to the other side of the kitchen using the distance that she put between them as her safety net. He knew that pushing her was a bad idea. He pushed at Piper’s wedding, and Lorna ended up leaving. He knew that he was in no condition to chase her if she decided to bolt. So, he gave her the space that she craved and waited for her to make the next move.
“We just can’t do this. I won’t let this go any further when it can’t work between us. I’m so sorry, Sawyer.” He nodded curtly. Hearing her use his last name again told him exactly where they stood. They were back to formalities, and that felt like a punch in the gut. He knew what a brush-off felt like—he had enough of them growing up. But watching Lorna put her walls back up and retreat from him hurt like hell.
“Please don’t tell me this has to do with the crazy idea that you are too old for me,” Sawyer said. He took a step towards Lorna, and she held up her hands as if trying to stop him.
“Sawyer, please don’t dismiss my feelings. I don’t know what you want from me. I’m forty years old, and I’m not sure what my next chapter even looks like. I’ve already raised my sister’s child, and I’m not sure that I have it in me to start all over.” Sawyer shook his head, watching her as she bent to pick up her books.
“I get no say in any of this, do I, Lorna? You have ignored my feelings and made the decision that we won’t work out. You don’t know that we’ll crash and burn because you won’t even give us a chance to get off the ground.” Lorna gathered the last book into her bag and stood in front of him.
“You don’t know that we’ll work out either, Sawyer. The difference between you and me is that I’m not willing to let you break my heart.” He couldn’t help himself; he pulled her back into his body, snaking his good arm around her slim waist.
“Lorna, I’d never break your heart, just give me a chance.” Sawyer could see her thinking through his words, and he saw the moment she decided that giving him a chance was a bad idea. She shook her head.
“I’m so sorry, Jon. I just can’t.” She kissed his cheek and pulled away from him, making her way upstairs to her room. He felt his body flinch when he heard her door close. He was afraid that she was so determined to shut him out that he might never find a way to reach her. He was committed now, more than ever, to show her what they could have together. Just one taste of Lorna proved to him that they were right together, age difference be damned.
CHAPTER TWO
Lorna pulled the thick sweater around her body and shivered at the cold that crept into the shop as customers came and went. The unusual heat of late summer faded into chilly autumn, and life fell back into step around town. Piper and Tag still acted like silly, lovestruck newlyweds. Sunny’s belly grew as her pregnancy progressed. She found out that she was having a little girl, and her due date was the middle of January. Sunny tried to put on a happy face for everyone, but it was hard to watch the sadness that crept in every time she asked Tag about Aaron, and he told her that he had no news. Lorna wished Sunny would just let Tag tell Aaron about the baby, but she also understood that Sunny didn’t want Aaron coming back to town just because he felt obligated to take care of her. At some point, she would have to tell Aaron that he was going to be a father, but she was able to convince Piper and Tag that Aaron couldn’t do anything for her until the baby came. She said she just needed a little more time to get over Aaron before he became a permanent fixture in her daughter’s life. Tag seemed to accept that Sunny needed time, but also made her promise to tell Aaron about the baby beforeher arrival. Poor Tag was truly stuck in the middle of the whole mess, and Lorna felt bad for him.
Things between Lorna and Sawyer became more strained since their scorching kiss in the kitchen. He was completely avoiding her, which made living in the same house difficult. He took extra shifts at the Sheriff’s Office, even taking a paid position just to spend as little time at home as possible. He still worked Piper’s security but found that things were pretty quiet in their little town, leaving him extra time for his second job. He worked crazy hours and came home after midnight most nights. Lorna caught glimpses of him in his uniform, and that sight did strange things to her body. She wanted him with every fiber of her being, but she also knew that Sawyer deserved more. He should have a young wife and babies—the whole nine yards. She didn’t know if she could give him everything that he should have, so she kept her distance and denied every craving she had for him. She volunteered at the library but had fewer hours to give since she took over the ice-cream shop from Piper. She knew that her niece wanted to spend more time on the adventure program that she and Tag started for at-risk kids. She was so proud of Piper for using her inheritance for such a worthy cause. Pipe was also finishing up college, so her plate was full.
Lorna was involved with Scrumptious from the start—she helped her sister when she opened the place, so she knew the ins and outs of running the shop. She spent most of her waking hours there and hoped that would take her mind off Sawyer, but she wasn’t that lucky. Lorna was determined to move on from lusting after the town’s newest, most eligible bachelor. She would just leave that to the younger women in town.
Moving out of Piper’s home was going to be her first step. After Christmas, she would find a little place in town to rent or even buy. She had some money saved up, and she was ready to find her path in life, one that didn’t run directly into Sawyerevery time she went for a midnight snack. Just the other night, she caught him in the kitchen, making a sandwich in his boxer briefs. She was going in to refill her water bottle and dropped it on the floor. He immediately turned and gave her the hottest up-and-down perusal she ever had. The man made her feel naked even in her ratty old bathrobe that hung open to reveal her boxers and t-shirt. She never fussed with too much makeup but knew that her bed-mussed hair and freshly washed face were probably a scary sight to behold. Sawyer’s muscles bunched, and his shoulders tensed as he nodded in her direction. He didn’t say a word, not even her name, and dammit—she wanted to hear his gravelly voice whisper her name. She was being just as much of a coward as he was, getting her water and practically running back up to her room. She barely slept that night as pictures of a nearly naked Jonathan Sawyer played through her fantasies. The next day, he was up and gone before the sun came up, leaving her feeling both relieved and sad.
Something between them went from polite and flirty to downright uncomfortable and dismissive, and she just wanted out. She missed the Sawyer who used to tease her about working in the library and being a book nerd. She missed the way they did dishes after sharing a meal. She would wash and he would dry—they found a perfect rhythm and she ruined it by saying yes to his invitation to be his date to Piper’s wedding. Heck, they were fine after the wedding. It was that kiss in the kitchen that pushed their friendship into an early grave. The way that he kissed her that night made her knees weak. She thought about all the things that she wanted to say yes to, but her head kept screaming at her to tell him no, so that’s what she did. She thought that they would be able to find a new balance after that night, but Sawyer shut her out completely, leaving her no opening for any semblance of a cordial relationship. So, after Christmas, she would find a place and let Sawyer have Piper’s old house all tohimself. She was sure that he wouldn’t be alone for too long after she moved out. Women were lining up around the corner of the Sheriff’s Office just to have coffee with the man. She was always finding baked goods in their kitchen, usually with a little note with some woman’s name and a heart with an arrow through it. It felt like a knife to her gut every time he brought home a pie or some muffins and put them on the kitchen counter, almost like a trophy. She was reminded daily that he had other younger, willing prospects, and that hurt.
Lorna was wiping down the counters at Scrumptious while the last few customers lingered in the corner booth. It was just about time to close the shop for the night, and she was ready to go home. Her feet were killing her, and she couldn’t imagine anything better than a hot bath and a good book. The bell over the door chimed, and Lorna looked up to see a good-looking man with salt and pepper hair walk in.
“Are you still open? If not, I can just leave.” He seemed almost nervous, and Lorna found that quality enduring. A part of her wanted to scream that the shop closed in five minutes, but the nice girl in her shoved the mean bitch aside and told him to have a seat at the counter.
“Thanks, I appreciate it,” the guy said, winking at Lorna. She felt her face get hot, a nervous giggle bubbled up inside of her, and she felt like a silly schoolgirl. She rolled her eyes at the thought of acting that way just because a good-looking man winked at her. She needed to get herself together and act her age.
“What can I get for you?” Lorna asked. She almost wished that he wanted something easy, maybe a single dip cone, but she knew she couldn’t be that lucky.
“This is going to sound crazy, but I’m not an ice cream kind of guy. I was just hoping for something hot, coffee maybe.” He looked so hopeful that Lorna couldn’t help her laugh. The last group of customers finished and were heading out the door.She waved to them as the door snapped closed behind them, shivering at the cold air that filtered in.
“It sure does feel like snow.” She absent-mindedly rubbed her arms through her sweater.
“So, um—coffee?” The poor guy asked, looking so hopeful, she almost hated telling him, No, but they didn’t serve coffee.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have coffee. Have you tried the bakery next door?” Sunny’s bakery should still be open, although she was probably getting ready to close for the day, too. The poor girl could barely stay on her feet all day with the pregnancy.
“Naw, they were closed for the night. You were the only shop open on the block. I just got into town and was hoping to find a place for dinner. You don’t have many choices here, do you?” he asked.
Lorna laughed. “Nope, sorry. We are as small a town as they come. So, you’re not from around here?” Lorna finished cleaning up behind the counter and moved around it to sit next to the guy. “I’m Joseph Lewis, by the way. Please call me Joe—all my friends do.” He extended his hand, and Lorna shook it, not quite knowing what else to do. Most of her customers who came in wanting ice cream didn’t introduce themselves or shake her hand. Of course, they didn’t get many out-of-towners this time of year.
“Lorna,” she said. “So, where are you from, Joe?” He seemed to squirm in his seat at the question. Maybe he wasn’t used to people making personal inquiries. She instantly felt bad for prying. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to stick my nose in your business,” she said. Lorna started to stand, but Joe’s hand on her arm told her that he was okay with her question.
“No, it’s fine. I’ve been in a car by myself for days now. I’ve forgotten how to be polite. I’m from New York, just passing through. But this little town seemed so peaceful that I thought I’d spend a few nights,” Joe said. His smile seemed forced, andLorna almost laughed. She held back, not wanting to insult the poor guy. He was probably exhausted from traveling halfway across the country.
