Page 43 of Make Me Yours
He didn’t look up. “Just do it.”
Too stunned to argue, I picked up the phone and dialed the wholesaler’s number again. My hands trembled so badly that I almost dropped it. When the rep answered, I barely managed, “Hi, it’s Lilly Mitchell again. One second, please.” I handed the phone to Sawyer, my pulse thudding so hard it felt like it filled the room.
He took it, his voice calm and even. “Hi there. This is Sawyer James. From now on, any orders placed byBloom & Vinecan be charged to this card.” He read off the numbers with that same easy authority he used when fixing anything that seemed beyond repair. There was no hesitation or drama—just quiet confidence.
When he hung up and turned toward me, I didn’t know what to say. Gratitude and humiliation twisted together in my chest. “Thank you,” I whispered finally. “I’ll pay you back.”
He smirked. “We’ll see about that.”
For a moment, the only sound was the faint thump of Sunny’s tail against the floor. Then he reached out, brushed his thumb along my cheek where a tear had escaped, and said softly, “You don’t have to do this alone, Lilly.”
And just like that, the air between us felt different—steady, certain, and maybe safe for the first time in days.
Sawyer tucked his card back into his wallet and watched me for a beat. Then, in his calm, matter-of-fact voice, he said, “Monique has an opening this afternoon—late. She’ll see me and said she’ll see us both if you’re up for the drive to Billings.”
I blinked, unsure I’d heard him right. “You want me to come?”
He nodded. “I think we both could use it.”
Something in me loosened, the tension I’d been carrying since yesterday easing just a little. Hope rose through the heaviness in my chest—not big and dramatic, but quiet and steady, the kind that felt like breathing again after holding your breath too long.
I nodded, feeling the sting of tears, but this time they weren’t from sadness. “Okay,” I whispered. “Yeah… I’d like that.”
Sawyer pushed away from the counter, crossed to the front door, and flipped the sign fromOpentoClosed.He glanced back over his shoulder, grinning a little. “Come on, Lilly. Let’s go.”
As I grabbed my purse and called Sunny to follow me, I caught my reflection in the window—a woman still scared, still uncertain, but standing on her own two feet.
Maybe this was what starting over looked like. Not running. Not pretending. Just two people, finally ready to face what came next together.
Chapter Eighteen
Becoming Yours
Sawyer
The thrumming of the highway filled the silence between us. The early afternoon sun poured across the windshield, and the road stretched long and empty ahead—just the two of us, a tank full of gas, and too many things left unsaid.
Lilly sat angled toward the window, her fingers tracing idle patterns on her knee. She hadn’t said much since we left Lovelace, but I didn’t push. Sometimes, silence said enough.
Several miles out, her stomach gave a loud, traitorous growl that made her blink and laugh under her breath. Mine wasn’t far behind.
“Guess that’s a sign,” I said, smirking.
She turned, one eyebrow raised. “You hungry, too?”
“Starved. Only problem is, there’s not much between here and Billings except Red’s Drive-In. Burgers the size of your face, fries greasy enough to shine chrome.”
“Sounds perfect.”
I glanced over, catching a small smile on her lips. “You sure? Thought you were more of a salad-and-lemon-water type.”
She laughed softly. “Today, I’m whatever type involves food. Lots of it.”
“Fair enough.”
We pulled into Red’s a few minutes later. The place hadn’t changed since I was a kid—faded red roof, hand-painted menu board, the smell of onions and fryer oil clinging to the air. I rolled down my window at the speaker, the static crackling to life.
“Triple Red Burger, large fries, and a chocolate shake,” I said.
