She’d almost give up cheesecake and fudge to spend the rest of the night in bed with him. Almost.
CHAPTER 24
When Regina came downstairs a few minutes after Hutch, Sawyer was sitting on the couch watching television. He looked up when she stopped in the doorway.
Quiet intensity made his pale blue eyes even paler. He stared at her with something more than want or need. It was longing.
She crossed the room, and without waiting for his invitation, she crawled onto the couch next to him and snuggled into the crook of his arm.
He was warm and solid. She burrowed deeper, and he chuckled.
“If you don’t quit digging, you’re going to be underneath me in a minute.”
She grinned and laid her arm across his chest. He caught her hand in his and simply held it, lacing their fingers together.
“Where’s Cam?” she asked.
“Out firing up the grill.”
“Oh. We’ll have to go out in a bit and keep him company.”
Sawyer grunted. “I’m comfortable right here.”
“Mmmm, me too, but we should go out. Crank up some music. Maybe eat outside. It’s not so hot today.”
“Sure, if that’s what you want,” he said easily.
She raised her head to look at him. “Did you get things straightened out at the job site?”
He grunted again, and she smiled and shook her head.
“Your verbosity never ceases to amaze me. Of course you have plenty to say when you’re ordering me around,” she said dryly.
He laughed, and she watched in fascination as the action lifted away the darkness in his expression. The brooding look faded from his eyes as he gazed back at her.
“I have to go back out in the morning to meet the guy from the city, but it looks like a simple miscommunication. At the worst, we lost two days on the job. We can make it up.”
She leaned up and pressed her lips softly to his. “I’m glad you’re back. I missed you. Now, let’s go outside and find Cam.”
Sawyer studied her for a moment and then he touched a finger to her chin, tracing a line to her mouth and around her lips.
“You look . . . happier,” he said.
Before she could respond, he pushed himself off the couch. When he reached down to take her hand, she pushed him around so his back was to her. Then she stood up on the couch and hopped onto his back, wrapping her arms around his neck.
He chuckled but reached around to grab the undersides of her legs with his big hands.
“Playful today, I see.”
She pressed her cheek to the side of his head as he walked toward the patio doors. “Maybe I’m just finding my way back.”
He stopped for a minute, his hand on the handle of the door. “It’s about time. We’ve missed you, baby girl.”
Sawyer stepped outside, and Cam looked up from the grill. He grinned when he saw Regina perched on Sawyer’s back.
“Where’s Hutch?” Cam asked.
“Making me cheesecake and fudge,” she said gleefully.
