Gina sat up straight. “Oh my God, that’s it. That’s the picture.”
The photograph depicted Danny sitting in the sand, wearing the same swim trunks as the ones in the photo with Gina. Same ear-splitting grin. Same sandy beach. Same palm trees. Same blue ocean water. The only difference was Candace sat next to Danny in an embroidered sundress.
“It’s as if they erased her and stuck someone else’s body into the picture with my head.”
Sawyer moved the two photos side by side for a closer comparison. “That’s exactly what someone did.” The pictures were identical. Except in the second one, Candace had been replaced by a bikini-clad Gina.
“What does the caption on the photo say?”
He clicked to enlarge the picture, then moved his mouse to the visit box, which took him to a tourism page for Tulum, Mexico and a caption that said they were there two years ago, shooting an episode of their show on how to make ceviche.
They both looked at each other and then she squealed and threw her arms around his neck. “You’re a genius, Sawyer Dalton. This will prove I’m not the skank everyone thinks I am.”
“Hang on.” He gently pulled her away. “This is only one piece of the puzzle. Before you go public, you need more. Like time stamps to show which photo came first. And motive. Otherwise this doesn’t make any sense.”
“I don’t care whether it makes sense. That photo”—she jabbed her finger at the screen—“shows that the one of Danny and me is bullshit. Pure and simple. I’m going to post it on my website. Show the world that I’ve been falsely accused. This proves it.”
Not quite. But he didn’t want to burst her balloon. “Slow down, sweetheart. Let’s do this the right way. First, let’s call my mom. This is what you’re paying her for and she’ll know exactly how to proceed with this new information.”
Gina reached for her phone on the coffee table and Sawyer covered her hand with his. His mother kept late hours, but it was closing in on midnight. “Why don’t you wait until first thing tomorrow?”
It wasn’t as if his mom could do anything with their information now anyway. And Sawyer wasn’t convinced this was all they needed to clear Gina’s name. The original photo was far from a smoking gun as far as he was concerned. But it was a start.
A good start.
He saved the picture to Gina’s hard drive and emailed himself a copy. Glancing at his watch again, he knew he should go. But instead, he stayed rooted to the couch like an ancient oak tree.
“You want to spend the night?” she asked.
“No,” he returned honestly. “But I can’t seem to force myself to leave.”
For once, she didn’t have a smart refrain, just took his hand, tugged him off the sofa, and led him to her bedroom. He watched her undress, took off his own clothes, crawled under the top sheet, and curled himself around her.
When he woke the next morning, he found her tucked up against him with her head on his chest. It felt so right that a rush of warmth coursed through him. And that’s when he knew that this was different than anything he’d ever felt for a woman before.
Dangerously different.
Chapter 15
A week had passed and there hadn’t been any unwanted visitors hiding in Dry Creek Ranch’s underbrush or flashing strobe lights. In other good news, Gina got her period. She should’ve been relieved, but instead experienced a tinge of regret. Not that she wanted to be pregnant. Children had never been part of her game plan.
But lately, her game plan seemed less clear than it always had. And to borrow a cliché, her biological clock was running out. Then there was Sawyer. Theoretically speaking, he was the exact kind of man she would want to be the father of her children. Smart, good, hardworking. Wonderful with kids.
She’d seen him with his niece and nephews. They couldn’t get enough of him, climbing him as if he were a mountain. He’d hang them upside down until they erupted into fits of giggles and walked with them standing on his feet.
She loved watching the easy way he had with them, the easy way he’d lift Ellie out of her saddle after a day of riding or bait Grady’s hook when they were fishing in the creek.
There was no doubt that Sawyer Dalton would be a wonderful father, even though it didn’t appear to be in his game plan. At least not with her.
She started to call him to tell him there wouldn’t be any babies in their future when her agent buzzed.
“Are you sitting down? Because you’re not going to believe this.”
Why did everyone say that? Gina preferred to stand while hearing bad news. And that catch in Robin’s voice told Gina she was definitely in for bad news.
“What?”
“Candace Clay wants yourNow That’s Italian!time slot for her new show.”
