Chapter 11 #2
Dejectedly, she opened the spiral notebook again, no longer in a mood to work, but wanting to keep busy. Five minutes later, she jumped when her phone rang, seeing it was Sawyer.
“Hey.”
“Hey, yourself,” he said breezily. “Sorry I couldn’t text you back right away. I was with a client. He’s having a dispute with his neighbor over the boundary between their properties.” He paused. “If the offer’s still good, I’d be happy to watch with you tonight.”
She found herself speechless, a lump in her throat.
“I’m glad you reached out to me, Paisley. You don’t know how many times I’ve started a text to you and deleted it.”
Finding her voice, she asked, “Why did you delete it?”
“Because something told me it was important for you to ask me about being together tonight. It’s something that you probably thought you had to do on your own. But I want you to know this. You’re not alone. You’ve got me—and a whole lot of others.”
“I’m starting to realize that,” she said softly.
“Would you like to come to my place? We could grill some steaks. Have a baked potato with it.”
“I’m afraid you’ll have to be the one doing all that. I don’t know how to boil water. I am fairly skilled at pouring a bowl of cereal, however, should you change your idea about the menu.”
He laughed. “Then tonight will be your first cooking lesson. Rib eye sound okay?”
“Just hearing rib eye makes my mouth water,” she revealed.
“Okay, I’ll pick up what we’ll eat and then you.”
“No, I think I’d rather drive to your place,” she countered. “Text me your address and tell me what time to be there.”
“Ceremony kicks off at seven. Why don’t you come over about five-thirty? I’ll light the grill. We’ll have plenty of time to eat and then get settled in.”
“I’ll see you then. Thanks, Sawyer.”
“You know I’m here for you,” he assured her.
This time, Paisley definitely knew it was a date, but she wanted to keep things as causal as possible.
She did shower and put on a fresh T-shirt and pair of shorts, though, before heading to his place an hour later.
When she pulled up in front of his house, she saw him getting out of his car in the driveway.
He carried two grocery bags in his hand.
“Perfect timing,” he said, giving her a smile.
She liked his smile because it reached his eyes. Too many smiled and didn’t mean it.
That wasn’t the case with Sawyer Montgomery.
They entered the house, and he said, “Don’t judge my taste in décor by what you’re seeing.
None of this dilapidated furniture and bad carpeting belong to me.
I put what I had into storage since this house came furnished.
Everything’s mid-century modern, but I think it’s all been here since the early fifties. ”
Paisley laughed. “What is your style?”
“I like a clean look. Not cluttered. Although my desk at work does have a lot of piles on it, I know exactly what’s in each of those stacks.”
“Do you have a home office here?”
She watched as he began unpacking the groceries.
“Nope. Work stays at work. That’s my new rule of working here in Hawthorne.
I was an assistant district attorney in Dallas.
Usually, I toiled fourteen-to-sixteen hour days.
When a big case came along, the days got even longer.
I decided when I moved here, I’d definitely separate work and my personal life.
If I do need to put in extra time, I can always go back up to the square to my office there.
Home, as sad as it looks, is the place where I get away from work. ”
“That makes sense. I’m afraid I’m always scribbling new plays down wherever I am.”
“I’d love to hear about the offense and defense you’re going to run this year, but right now, I’m going to go light the grill and then change. Make yourself at home. Grab a beer from the fridge if you’d like. Or I can open some wine if you’d prefer that.”
She wandered around, looking at a few photographs sitting out. One was with Darby and what had to be their parents. Another was with West and a guy in a cowboy hat whom she hadn’t met yet.
Then she came across a photo of Sawyer with a beautiful woman.
She was slender, with gorgeous strawberry blond hair and light blue eyes.
He had his arm around her, and they were both laughing.
Sawyer looked so happy. Paisley wondered who this woman was to Sawyer.
For a moment, she felt the sting of jealousy, something unfamiliar to her.
She returned to the kitchen, and he joined her there, now wearing a black Led Zeppelin T-shirt and a pair of tan shorts.
“Okay, first thing we’ll do is light the grill. Then I’ll show you how to put an easy dinner together.”
Sawyer taught her how to season a steak using salt, black pepper, and a bit of garlic, doing one cut himself and having her season the second one.
“I’m going to trim a bit of fat from them to prevent a flare-up on the grill,” he explained.
After he’d done that, he said, “We’re going to cheat a little and microwave the baked potatoes.”
He showed her how to scrub the potatoes and then patted them dry with a paper towel, sticking a fork into them multiple times, saying it would help steam escape as they cooked.
“You set them on a plate to nuke.” He put the potatoes inside the microwave and started it.
Then he tore two large pieces of aluminum foil.
“Here’s the important part in this cheat.
When the potatoes are done, you roll them up in the foil.
Shiny side has to be facing up. We wrap them tightly, and being next to the shiny side, it reflects and assists in the baking a little more.
While I prefer ones made in the oven, it’s too dang hot to light it now.
Besides, we’re both hungry, and this is much faster. ”
Sawyer took her and the steaks outside, placing them on the grill and closing the lid.
“We’ll flip them in about five minutes. Usually, five on each side is good, and then we let them rest five to ten minutes.”
“Why rest if they’re done?”
“Well, they are and they aren’t. If you let them rest, they’ll be juicer. It also locks in the flavor better. And they don’t go cold in such a short amount of time.”
“Good to know, Chef,” she teased.
They returned inside, and he wrapped the potatoes which were now done in foil, setting them aside.
“Another cheat now,” he said, grinning at her as he opened a bag of salad. “All the work is done for you. Just cut open the bag. I like Caesar salad. Just seems to go better with a steak.”
He dumped the salad into a bowl and opened the packet which came with it, tossing both together and setting the bowl in the freezer.
“This’ll help it get a little cold.”
They checked the steaks again, turning them over, and she inhaled. “Smells wonderful.”
In less than fifteen minutes, they had the meal on the table, and Sawyer had poured each of them a glass of wine. She wasn’t much of a drinker, but she decided tonight was a night to relax a little and enjoy being together.
The table was pretty rickety, but Sawyer assured her it would hold up.
“Everything’s delicious,” she told him after she’d sampled each item. “And it’s actually something I could do. I like the baked potato trick. That’s smart.”
“There’s a place in Dallas I used to go to.
All they had on the menu were baked potatoes, but you could get them prepared any way.
Plain. Dressed with the usuals, from butter to chives to grated cheese and sour cream.
Then they went the extra mile and loaded them with chopped brisket.
Ground taco meat. Even sliced steak. It was a terrific meal, all in one. ”
He chuckled. “I think I knew every to-go place around me.”
“You didn’t cook in Dallas?” she asked.
“No time for it. I was either working or sleeping. No, I take that back. I did make time to work out, even if it meant sacrificing sleep. That helped keep me sane. I would get up around four-thirty, after three hours of sleep, and go lift weights. Do a few machines to work my lats or abs. Then jog a little. I have a tendency to baby my bad knee, so running’s out for me. ”
She wanted to ask him about the woman in the picture but decided not to. He had his life in Dallas before he came back to Hawthorne. Even though he was talking about what a workaholic he was, he still must have dated some.
“Let’s get things cleaned up so we can catch the beginning of the ceremony,” he suggested. “The announcers always share a lot of interesting facts with viewers. I like all that trivia.”
Paisley helped him clear the table and load the dishwasher, and Sawyer poured them both a second glass of wine, which they took with them into the small living room.
“That’s a very large TV,” she commented.
“This was my splurge when I left Dallas,” he explained, turning it on. “I never had time for TV. I wanted to be able to catch games. Watch the news. West and I moved back to Hawthorne right at the same time, and he bunked with me for a while.”
Sawyer chucked. “Of course, he and Kelby became a pair pretty quickly. From what I know, they had dated at the tail end of high school after being friends forever. There’d been a spark between them then, but they were headed to separate colleges.
Actually, enemy schools. She cheered for the Longhorns, while he played for the Aggies. ”
Even though Paisley was rooted in basketball, she knew of the long-standing rivalry between Texas and A&M.
They turned their attention to the TV and the sweeping shots of Osaka. As the coverage continued, the announcers gave background about the Japanese city, as well as each of the teams which paraded by. Paisley found herself enjoying the evening.
And the arm which Sawyer had casually draped around her shoulders.
He smelled divine, the faint trace of some woodsy cologne he must’ve put on this morning still lingering. She liked feeling the heat from his body against hers. It caused her heart to speed up a bit.
As the broadcast continued, though, she knew Team USA would make its appearance soon. She began to stiffen as the alphabetical appearances of countries drew closer to the US. Even though his arm was around her, Sawyer now reached for her hand, taking it in his. She drew comfort from that.
His gaze met hers. “I know this is the start of a really rough couple of weeks for you. Thank you for letting me be here for you. I want to share whatever you feel, Paisley. If you’re upset. Lonely. Vulnerable. If anguish is running through you, I want to absorb it.”
Sawyer lifted their joined hands and brushed a kiss along her knuckles. “I’m here for you.”
“Thank you,” she whispered, lost in his hazel eyes, which were greener than usual.
Then she heard the announcer say, “And here is the moment Americans have been waiting for. Team USA in their red, white, and blue outfits designed by Ralph Lauren.”
Suddenly, she had no interest in anything but Sawyer. The words on the TV faded as his mouth moved toward hers. A thrill shot through her.
Her first kiss was about to happen.
His lips touched hers, soft and yet firm, pressing against her own. She’d lived her entire life by instinct, both on and off the court, trusting her gut. She knew it wouldn’t let her down now. Paisley might not know exactly what to do, but she trusted her lips would know how to respond to his.
And she was right.