Sawyer clenched his jaw shut for a blink. “She told me not to.”
“Well, you can’t wing it on live TV.”
“I’m not,” he assured.
“Two more dance moves, then we’ll go live once again, friends,” Milo cheered.
“Whatever you do,” Claudia said in a whisper, “just don’t draw attention to your childhood together. People will think you’re doing her a favor out of loyalty. We need them to think you’ve fallen in love with the real Betzy. The one they’re attacking in that article.”
Irritation burned hot within him. Hewasin love with that Betzy. And Sawyer didn’t appreciate the last-minute bomb.
Had Betzy put her up to this? They wanted a poised and proper proposal, did they? The kind they might get out of someone who’d been raised in money. Taught to keep up the good family name.
Milo had the crowd take their seats as the countdown played over the big screen. The noise died down, the cameras zoomed in, and the host welcomed the viewers back at home.
Adrenaline coursed through Sawyer hard enough to catapult him onto the stage in one cannon-like blast. From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of his own leg bouncing. He stopped it quick and forced his next breath to slow through pursed lips.
His mom, who sat on the opposite side of him, rested a hand over his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. He glanced over in time to catch her encouraging smile, one that hadn’t quite broken through the tightening in her face.
She was nervous too. Was she worried that he’d do something to upset her friendship with Claudia? Or that he was headed toward the inevitable heartbreak she’d warned him about?
And then there was Claudia’s recent direction: avoid bringing up their history. Which was ridiculous since that’s where it all began. What her mother really wanted to avoid washispast.Hisroots. Wherehecame from.
Fine. The woman wanted Betzy to have a proposal from the man in the magazine, New York’s most eligible bachelor? He could give them that easily enough.
Betzy’s charity was next on the stage. The restless leg-bouncing came back, but Sawyer could hardly control it. The adrenaline coursing through him demanded an escape. He could feel the heat of Grandma Lo’s gaze, a plea for him to put all this to a halt. Sadly, he couldn’t comply.
The audience began to cheer suddenly, alerting Sawyer to the happenings on stage. Betzy stood up to accept an embrace from the guest she planned to sponsor.
Sawyer put his hands together as well, offering a preemptive prayer to the heavens.Forgive me. But I love her.
And suddenly he was up on his feet.
Taking the shallow steps toward the front of the stage.
He locked eyes with Milo through the chaos and crowd.It’s time.
“And what is this?” the host said after ushering their latest guest backstage. He patted his sweater vest theatrically before looking over the crowd in feigned confusion. “Did I lose a cue card? Are we doing something…” At this point, just as planned, a guy from the stage crew brought Sawyer a mic.
Sawyer tested it with a tap, then brought it to his lips. “You didn’t miss a cue card,” he assured. “But if you don’t mind, I’ve got something I’d like to do.”
Betzy had taken a seat in her chair once more. Sawyer approached it with short steps as a hush fell over the crowd. His pulse echoed in his ears as he stood before her.
Slowly then, Sawyer lowered himself to one knee.
Whispered chatter, mixed with oohs and ahs, buzzed throughout the crowd.
A Benton-worthy man, he reminded himself as Claudia’s words shot back to his mind. Sawyer gulped through the tightness in his chest, then reached out and took hold of her hand.
“Betzy,” he started. From across the studio, she’d appeared calm and poised, but as he sandwiched her small hand in his, Sawyer saw that she was trembling.
She met his gaze, her eyes brimming with a reservation that gave him pause. He kept his focus fixed on her face, watching as her lips parted the slightest bit.
His heart clanked hard out of beat. Was she about to stop things? Somehow signal him to call the whole thing off?
Only she didn’t. She simply glanced over the crowd, moistened her lips, and set those piercing blue eyes back on him. He squeezed her hand, and reveled in the appearance of those dimples in her cheeks.
That smile.
