Page 45 of Nights at Seaside
Acutely aware of Roach’s and Delroy’s time, he glanced over his shoulder and found them both watching him impatiently.
He turned back to Sky, trying to figure out how to squeeze a day’s worth of explanation into the next three minutes. “Where are you headed?”
“Work, I think. I…Work.” She nodded, and he could see she was even more conflicted than she’d been when he’d dropped her off at the cottage earlier that morning.
“Can I come by and see you later?”
She dropped her eyes to the floor, taking his stomach with them.
“Sky.” Her name slipped from his lips on a whisper. He lifted her chin and gazed into her eyes, needing her to seehimand not only what he did for a living.
He ran his hands down her arms, gently bringing her closer and wanting to bring her closer still. “Sky, I’m the same guy I was last night. The same guy you were with this morning on the beach. The same guy who gets crazier about you every second we’re together—and twice as head over heels when we’re apart.”
“I know.” Her voice was thin, tethered.
“Then give me a chance? I’ve got one more fight to win, Sky, and nothing will keep me from it. I hope you can understand that. This one’s for my father.” He wanted to bend down and press his lips to hers. To remind her of the man he was, separate from boxing, but he respected her too much to do that. He knew this decision had to be made with her heart. Not based on their sexual chemistry.
She surprised him then and placed her hands around his waist and nodded.
He touched his forehead to hers. “My sweet, sweet summer Sky. Thank you.”
Roach cleared his throat as he approached, bringing Sawyer back to the world he’d stepped away from only moments earlier. Sky had once again transported him away from everything else around them. How did she do that?
“I should go.” Her eyes darted to Roach, who’d stopped by the desk to talk with Brock.
“How late do you work?”
A tentative smilefinallylifted her lips and reached her eyes. “How late do you want me to work?”
He shook his head and smiled, feeling like he’d just been given a gift. “Shoot, Sky. You’re going to drive me batty. I thought I’d lost you just now.”
She pressed her finger to the center of his chest and said, “I’m not going to lie and say I’m okay with…” She shifted her eyes to the ring, then met his gaze again with the familiar warmth that made his pulse go crazy. “All of this. But I really like spending time with you. I like who you are, and I like how you think. And I like who I am and how I feel when I’m with you.”
“But, Sky, I can’t change this part of me.”
“I know,” she said softly.
“This isn’t the place to discuss it. Can we talk more later? I need to get some work done at the house this afternoon. The company that’s installing the interior ramp is coming by for another preinstallation something or other. Can I come by the shop and see you around six? You said you had some shopping to do. Want to do that together?”
“Interior ramp?” Without giving him a chance to explain, she added, “I’d love that, and six is perfect.” She lowered her voice to a whisper and said, “I think I’d better go. That guy looks like he’s ready to blow his top.”
“The ramp is for my dad. It’ll allow him to go up to the skycap again. I can build the smaller ramps, but the interior one was a major renovation. And that guy over there you asked about? That’s my trainer, Roach. The guy he’s talking to is Brock. Roach always looks like that, but he’s a good guy. Hey, why don’t I introduce you?”
“Um.” Her forehead wrinkled with indecision.
“It would mean a lot to me if you could meet the guy who helped me get where I am. He’s a good friend. He just looks like a Rottweiler—he’s really more like a German shepherd.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” She reached for his hand as Brock looked over at them.
Sawyer ran his eyes down her white tank top to her emerald-green miniskirt, which he hadn’t had a second to appreciate, and a spear of jealousy shot through him. The leather and silver bangles settled around her wrist as he lifted her hand, and the anklet she wore had a starfish ornament hanging from a chain that went down the center of her foot—all verySky. What was he thinking? He might as well have put her on a silver platter for Brock and Roach to ogle. What man wouldn’t want to gobble her up?
“Trust me?” he asked, wishing he’d just walked her out to her car instead.
She nodded, and the way she looked at him, like he was the only man she wanted, despite his fighting, plucked the claws of jealousy out of his neck.
Sawyer was around the guys so often that he forgot how imposing they probably looked to her. Sky tightened her grip on his hand, and in an effort to make her more comfortable, and because he adored holding her, he draped an arm over her shoulder and proudly introduced her to his buddies.
“Sky, this is Brock ‘the Beast’ Garner, the owner of the club.”
