Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83102 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 416(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 277(@300wpm)
I smooth my hands down the front of my simple pale blue dress. There’s nothing much to it outside of a knee-length hemline, a fitted waist, and demure cap sleeves; it’s the perfect outfit for someone who’s supposed to blend into the scenery at a wedding. I have the same style in four different colors.
“Come to kick me off the vineyard once and for all?” I ask with a mischievous smile.
There’s a wicked gleam in his eyes. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
“You sure? Because I can call your grandfather. I’m sure he’d vouch for me.”
He shakes his head, losing a battle with his smile as he holds out his hands like he’s trying to ease the mounting tension. “I have no doubt about that. Let’s not test the theory.”
“Well if you’re after some wedding cake, I can sneak you out a piece from the kitchen.” I point behind me. “There’s plenty left.”
“No,” he replies simply, his gaze turning serious. “I came here because I’ve decided something and I wanted to tell you right away. Tonight.”
I smile cheekily. “Oh really? Something else I shouldn’t be eating besides sushi and deli meat? Don’t worry, I had Dairy Queen for lunch. Fried onion rings dipped in ranch.”
He takes my teasing in stride, though to be honest, I’ve loved the way Sawyer has checked up on me these last few days. It’s not every day a girl gets doted on to this extent.
“It’s not about your onion rings, though I do take issue with you dipping them in ranch and not ketchup.”
I hold up my hand, swift and stern. “You will not sway me on the topic of ranch. It goes with everything, on everything. I would marry it if I could.”
He grins and we take another step toward each other, giving in to the invisible string between us, that tug. A little closer and then his hand reaches out to grip my hip, firmly taking ahold of me. We haven’t touched like this since the night in his truck.
His thumb rubs the material of my dress like he’s been dying to feel it. I wonder if it’s as soft as he imagined it would be.
“Well?” I prod. “What is it?”
I study his expression. His concentration seems to be split. He wavers back and forth between wanting to study my eyes and then my lips. A girl knows when she’s about to be kissed, and my heart slams against my ribs.
He blinks, coming out of a daze as he begins. “I don’t want to hang back and wait.” His hold tightens on my hip. “Regardless of what happens in the next few days, I want us to be together.”
His eyes lock with mine and my lips part as I take in what he’s telling me. It doesn’t seem possible. I’m adding it up wrong in my head, interpreting things the way I want to hear them.
Sawyer reads the confusion in my tense brows and he smiles, jostling me gently. “I want to be with you, regardless of what the pregnancy test says.”
Still, it’s unbelievable. “Be with me?”
“Date you. Kiss you. The whole shebang.” His grin makes me laugh.
“You sure about that?” I can’t help myself; I lift my hand and draw light circles on his chest as I continue, “I’m fresh off an engagement, figuring my life out, living with Queenie. I’d rather not drag you into this mess.”
He tugs me closer. “Mess?”
Now I know he’s teasing me, and though I want to smile right along with him, one of us has to think about this logically. “You deserve someone really special.” Charlotte’s word from the other day haunts me. “Someone with a little more to offer you,” I go on. “I don’t want you feeling like you have to make an honest woman out of me.”
His hands come up to cradle my face. “Madison McCall, are you kidding me?”
I blush so hard I have to look down at the grass so I can hide how much he makes me feel. In life when something seems too good to be true, it usually is. Sawyer can’t still want me after all the chaos I’ve caused—the chaos I have yet to cause! I’m not the shiny Madison from a few years ago.
Inside, I hear the band announce the final song, and a slow sweet melody filters out to us. Sawyer sighs and draws me even closer until our bodies are flush.
“Dance with me?” he asks quietly.
I shake my head and laugh. “Oh c’mon, that’s so cheesy.”
“Cheesy?” He grabs ahold of me and spins me around. “What’s cheesy about dipping you?”
He bends me back so low my hair almost skims the grass. A laugh bursts out of me as he whirls me back up and gathers me close. We’re not really moving to the beat, just pressed together, our eyes locked, awareness pulsing between us.