He nodded. “I get it.”
“Oh, and I’ll buy the ring,” she chirped. Betzy couldn’t have known it, but those words were razor sharp.
He narrowed his gaze. “No.”
Her eyes went wide. “Sawyer, you’re doing me a favor.”
“Money’s not an issue for me anymore,” he said. “Get used to it.” Sure, he’d slapped a little sting on the words, but he couldn’t help it. If there was a sore spot between them,thatwas it. He’d worked ten hard years to make sure money wasn’t an issue. Wasn’ttheissue between them.
At last Betzy nodded, her eyes dropping back to the notebook. “Fine. You can always return it.”
He followed her gaze to the bottom of the page.Sawyer goes back to NY. We keep up the charade through the winter and have a fake breakup in the spring.
Yes, he’d known that was coming. She wasn’t asking him to actually marry her, for heavens’ sake. So why did it feel like he’d been sucker-punched low in the gut?
Because hewasa sucker. He’d almost had himself convinced that Betzy really did want him. That it would, on some level, be real for them both.
It wouldn’t.
The list made that clear enough. She wanted to stick it to Daisy, preserve her image, and move on with her merry little life, free of him. Heck, Betzy was prepared to ask some other guy if Sawyer said no. That said it all, didn’t it?
“What’s wrong?” Betzy’s question was distant, faded compared to the clamor in his mind.
Sawyer forced his gaze back to her and cleared his throat. “Nothing.”
She tipped her head, inspecting him with an expression he knew very well. Kindness. Concern. His earlier resolve set in once more. Whether Betzy wanted to be with him or not, he cared about her. Wanted to protect her. And he would, no matter what, slay the dragons that threatened to hurt her.
“Is everything okay? You can totally say no to this if you’d like. I wouldn’t blame you.”
But Sawyer shook his head and steadied his resolve. “No,” he assured. “I want to do this. For you. I’m in.”
Chapter 9
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Sawyer’s mom asked while stirring a pot of soup. Vegetable beef this time.
“No,” he answered. “I think it’s kind of a terrible idea,” he admitted with a laugh. “Especially since, just a few months ago, the editor of the magazine planted a kiss on me during her trip to New York.”
Mom spun around, flicking the spoon out of the pot as she moved. A splatter sounded, and Sawyer spotted splotches of soup on the cabinets.
“Sorry,” she said. “But Daisy kissed you when she came to New York?”
He shrugged. “Barely. We were sitting up to the bar. She was a few drinks in, so was I. Then suddenly she leaned over and kissed me.” Sawyer wadded up a handful of paper towels and ran them beneath the faucet.
“What didyoudo?”
He wiped up the splotches of soup as he spoke. “I pulled away pretty quick. I tried to do it gently. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I didn’t want to encourage her either. She can come on pretty strong.”
“So then what?” Mom asked, holding her hand out to take the paper towel wad from him.
He handed it over and watched as she sopped up a few splatters along the stovetop before tossing it in the trash bin.
“I apologized. Told her that my mind was kind of on someone else. I didn’t specify, but she guessed it was Betzy.”
“You’re kidding,” Mom said with a gasp.
Sawyer shook his head. “She said something like…I don’t know, that Betzy wasn’t waiting around for me. That I shouldn’t be counting on it.”
Mom stirred at the soup once more before abandoning the tall spoon and folding her arms. She squared a look at Sawyer. “Do you think you’re the reason she’s going after Betzy?”
