1. Sawyer
SAWYER
I look at the clock above the stove again, hating that my heart seems to beat a little quicker with each passing second. It’s ridiculous, really. Hallie McKinley and I have kept in contact over the years, long after her sister and I ended our relationship.
Well, Beth ended it.
And I guess for good reason. I just didn’t see it back then.
Or honestly, in any of the years that followed. Not until a wedding invitation had landed on my doorstep a few years ago. I hadn’t gone, but not because I wasn’t happy for her or still harbored feelings for her.
Because I don’t.
Coincidentally, my brother had been named sheriff back home in Blackstone Falls, Tennessee, and Mama would have had my hide if I missed the ceremony.
But I’d sent a gift to Beth and her fiancée and pushed the whole thing from my mind.
But Hallie.
My lips twitch remembering the time she’d gone to a party in high school and had called me for a ride home instead of her sister. They’d grown up here in Starlight Bay, and that meant that I still ran into their parents, Margot and Nathan, in town every once in a while.
Sometimes I think they wonder why I stayed here. It’s been more than a decade since Beth and I split, the engagement ring I’d purchased—and returned—unknown to everyone except the jeweler and her father.
I’d been too proud to go back to Tennessee, so sure that Beth just needed a little time before she realized she’d made a mistake.
But she hadn’t, and I’d doubled down on my life in Starlight Bay.
My brother had followed in our father’s footsteps, living and breathing for our hometown, but I’d wanted a different path.
After working a string of odd jobs, I found a culinary program at a nearby college and poured everything I had into it.
When I graduated, I was hired on at a local farm-to-table restaurant.
The owner, Joe, took me under his wing to share his passion for creating food and an atmosphere that kept people coming back for more.
The only thing that ever got him out of the kitchen was his need to tend to his beehives.
I realized quickly that while I love food, I hated the hours associated with restaurants and the constraints of working for someone.
But I wasn’t in a place to branch out on my own so I kept my head down.
Bided my time.
Eventually I’d grown to like it here, the salty air coming off the ocean, locals and tourists flooding the boardwalk shops and restaurants.
Starlight Bay had become home when I wasn’t looking.
And when my now best friend, Walker, left his corporate job in Chicago to return home to Starlight Bay, we created something new we could both be proud of.
A fresh start.
Not to mention the bees currently taking up residence in my backyard.
The sound of an engine has my gaze straying toward the window as a sensible blue sedan pulls into the driveway.
Hallie.
Even with the distance between us, I can see the dark sunglasses taking up half her face, her brown hair a mess of curls, and I have to wonder if she still wishes her hair was straight like her sister’s. The thought is unsettling; it’s such an odd thing to remember.
Fuck , what is wrong with me?
That happened so long ago. She’s not a teenager and I’m not some lovestruck idiot who believes he’s got the perfect life.
We’re adults.
This doesn’t have to be something awkward.
It doesn’t have to be something it’s not.
Taking a steadying breath, I tap my knuckles on the counter and then cross the small blue and white kitchen to the back door, turning the handle and bracing for the August heat.
But it’s not the heat I should have been worried about.
No.
It’s the woman in front of me with a wide smile and killer legs. The one I haven’t seen in more than a decade.
The one who is going to be living in my house for the next few months and who looks amused as I practically gape at her.
“Well, well, well, Sawyer Kade, we meet again,” she croons, sauntering toward the porch as she pushes her glasses up into her hair, her eyes squinting as they meet mine. “What’s the matter? Cat got your tongue?”
Understatement of the fucking year.
“Cute,” I manage, making her lift one shoulder in a small shrug. She’s sexy, feigning innocence, when I’m almost positive she’s anything but innocent . And that’s a problem. “I was gonna say welcome home but you’re already causin’ trouble.”
“Sounds like you missed me.”
“We can agree to disagree on that,” I tell her, making her throw her head back and laugh, the sound doing something to me—my dick taking notice.
“Probably won’t be the last time.”
“I reckon you might be right.”