I swallow hard, but it does nothing against the very hard lump in my throat. “I’m just…confused,” I tell him after a moment.
“About last night.” He stares at me, eyes hard in a way that makes it hard to pull away or drop his gaze.
This man won’t let me run or hide.
And again, I don’t know how I feel about that.
I wouldn’t say I’m someone who runs when she doesn’t feel sure. But I also don’t exactlytryeither. I didn’t with my ex. There was a chance he could have changed, but I decided I knew he wouldn’t, and so he didn’t.
Sawyer is the opposite. He’s not the type of man to give up, even if he thinks he might.
“Yes,” I reply finally, sighing. “Last night confused me. You didn’t even ask for anything in return.”
Sawyer chuckles, finally releasing my chin to plant his hand on the cushion behind my head. The movement brings us closer, allowing me to breathe him in.
I hate how comforting his manly smell is. I hate how much it soothes something within me.
“All I wanted was to take care ofyou,” he murmurs, eyes flickering between mine and my lips.
“But who will take care of you?” I ask just as softly. “Because even though I’m letting you in, I don’t think you’re ready to do the same. And Sawyer? I want that.”
He stiffens, eyes hardening. “Skye?—”
“No.” I shift again, heart pounding. “What last night told me is you want something, but you aren’t ready to take it. Or maybe you thought you were doing me some sort of favour. I don’t know. But what I do know is that I can’t play around like this. Not with you.”
Even though he’s right in my space, I sit up. He doesn’t stop me from rising, actually helping me off the sofa instead. If that isn’t a sign of what he’s really like, then I don’t know what is.
“Skye.” He stops me with a hand to my lower back, the touch and his voice making baby girl move. She’d been sleeping before, but now she rolls, foot slamming into my stomach.
I rub a hand over my belly and look back at Sawyer, but his eyes lock on my stomach. Something flares within them, a protectiveness I’d noticed briefly the other day when I told him how she liked his voice.
Slowly, as if without thinking about it, Sawyer moves to my side and rests his hand over the swell of my stomach. And like she knows he’s there, baby girl moves.
I can’t help but watch his expression shift from one of protectiveness to awe. It has my heart skipping a beat, my emotions suddenly all over the place.
One moment, I’m stuck on how to feel about him. The next, he manages to strip me of everything until there’s only confusion and…
I clear my throat, capturing his attention. “See?” I murmur, covering his hand with mine. “She’s not the only one who likes you, Sawyer.”
His eyes finally flicker up, meeting mine. I can’t read his expression, but there’s something about it that makes my heart flutter, and hope swell within me.
Hope that maybe we have a chance for more.
NINE
SAWYER
There’s a heavy tension I know I’m responsible for, but it’s impossible to get out of. I can’t escape her words, her soft stare and gentle voice. I don’t want to deny the fact that she’d been right—or maybe wrong. My head is a mess, a mixture of her sweet cries as she came on my fingers and her touch as she held my hand over her moving stomach.
I can’t escape, but I can tell she wants to.
And maybe that’s the only thing I can actually offer her.
A way out.
I pack on layers, fully prepared for how freezing the outside world is going to be. The snowstorm is mostly over. Now, we’re just waiting for the roads to be cleared and word to be sent that the power is back on for the affected grids. Then, Skye can leave.
But I don’t want her to. It’s a hard pill to swallow. For so long, I’ve been happy with my quiet, unassuming life. I do the bare minimum to survive and get through a world not meant for me.
