Chapter 8
CHAPTER
8
Sawyer couldn’t believe it.
Mila had done all this?
‘My vision is to have three cottages, spread out across this acre.’ She gestured at the scrub bordering a fence on their left. ‘I’d love to rent out this first cottage once it’s completed but it’s not very relaxing for guests when construction is happening on the other two.’ Her nose crinkled adorably. ‘Not to mention that slight problem with funding to get the other two to lock-up stage.’
‘You’ve done a great job so far,’ he said, blown away by what she’d managed to build on her own with the help of a few tradies and her grandad. ‘What’s your vision?’
She eyed him with respect, like he was the first bloke to ask such an enlightened question. ‘Ultimately, I’d like to cut back our crops. I know the lentils are my major money-spinner but the instability of the market is stressful. And I’m already in enough debt with paying off the mortgage, so the income from the farm stay when regularly booked will be a nice earner.’ She tapped her temple. ‘I’ve done the maths. It’s going to work, if I can ever get it off the ground.’
‘You’ve got a business plan?’
She nodded. ‘A solid one. There’s an accountant in town who crunched all the numbers for me. Freddie’s the best.’
A surprising stab of envy made him study her closely. Freddie? The way she said the nerd’s name sounded way too familiar. As for Freddie being the best, Sawyer didn’t like that. Not one bit.
‘Freddie, huh? You two close?’
‘Like this.’ She intertwined her index and third finger, and that stab came again, more potent this time.
Crazy, because he had no right to be jealous. Mila was a mate. A mate he hadn’t seen in fifteen years. If only his libido could get with the mateship program.
She’d been cute as a kid, tempting as a teen, but now … Mila had a way of looking at him with those big blue eyes that made him feel like the only man in the world. Those minuscule gold flecks in her eyes glowed when she was angry—he’d borne the brunt of her tirades several times growing up—and now he couldn’t help but wonder if they’d glow in the throes of passion too …
‘Hey.’ She snapped her fingers in front of his face, her guffaw loud in the descending dusk. ‘I’m kidding, but for a second there it’s nice to think you were jealous.’
‘Dream on, Gumnut.’
She rolled her eyes, but they hadn’t lost their sparkle. ‘If you call me that one more time, I may have to take drastic action.’
‘Like?’
He enjoyed sparring with her way too much. They’d always been like this; baiting each other, teasing, in a constant game of oneupmanship. Though their banter had an edge now, an underlying tension he knew had to be sexual awareness. On his part, at least.
‘Remember Kaz Mahoney?’
How could he forget? Kaz had trailed after him all through high school, twirling her hair around her fingertip, licking her lips, leaning over his desk with her uniform unbuttoned to her cleavage. He’d been politely indifferent but there was no deterring Kaz. She interpreted a smile as an offer to go steady. She’d been one of the things about Ashe Ridge he definitely didn’t miss when he fled.
‘Sure,’ he said, with a nonchalant shrug. ‘How’s she doing?’
‘Divorced and on the prowl again.’ Mila clawed the air and growled like a cougar. ‘And if you keep calling me Gumnut, I might accidentally on purpose give her your phone number.’
He bit back a smile. ‘You don’t have my number. Because if you did, and you haven’t used it all these years, I’ll be heartbroken.’
‘Yeah, right.’ Her lips curved into a coy smile. ‘Besides, you could’ve called me.’
‘Didn’t need to. Will keeps me up to date with your comings and goings.’
Her eyebrow arched. ‘Is that so?’
‘Of course. I like to keep abreast of how my best girl is doing.’ Before she could call his bluff, he captured her in a headlock and gave her a noogie. ‘My best gumnut.’
She elbowed him, hard, and he let out a loud ‘Oomph’ as she caught him off guard, making him momentarily stagger before he landed on his butt. Not so bad, considering Mila landed on top of him.
The momentum of her falling with him pitched her forward and their foreheads collided. She reeled a little and he slid an arm around her waist to anchor her, ignoring the throbbing of his head, preferring to focus on the feel of her in his lap. Which prompted a throbbing of an entirely different kind.
‘Speaking of best girls, are you in a relationship?’
He shook his head. ‘I date occasionally, but relationships are more trouble than they’re worth.’
‘You’ll get no argument from me.’
‘Says the woman who was getting married today.’
‘A financially beneficial marriage.’
‘In that case, you should marry me for money. I’m loaded.’
Their gazes locked and they exhaled at the same time, their soft breath sounding suspiciously like a wistful sigh.
‘I’d never marry anyone who calls me Gumnut.’ She leaped to her feet, dusting herself off, and for one crazy moment, Sawyer wished she’d taken him seriously.
Not that he’d meant it. It had been a throwaway comment, part of their sparring, but did she have to react like she’d rather marry anyone but him? Could she have got off him any quicker?
‘Do you want to see the rest of the place?’
She didn’t wait for his answer, her strides long as she walked away from him, shoulders squared, her ponytail bouncing with every step.
Sawyer had no intention of marrying anyone, but her quick refusal stuck like a burr and resurrected insecurities he’d long buried. According to everyone in this godforsaken town when he’d been growing up, he wasn’t good enough. His family hadn’t believed in him, his teachers hadn’t either. He’d shown them. He wasn’t kidding about being loaded and he knew one thing for certain.
He’d help Mila out financially whether she liked it or not.