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“Aha.”
I shake my head. “No. I’m just a convenience for her.”
“One and done?”
I shake my head again. “She just sees me as an easy-to-find supplier of manual labor. Just someone who can fix the issues with that cabin. Or drive her to Denver since I’m already going there to pick up my trailer.”
“You’re not convenient, Sawyer,” he says tiredly, no doubt exhausted by the way I cling to that label.
One girl came between me and Kevin, and with the polar opposites between us, it’s been impossible to get over that stigma that clings to me. Just a convenient laborer. Just another man. Dime a dozen and dirty. Someone Claire would never see herself with.
“When’s the last time you dated anyone?”
I think back, trying to place the last time I went on a date or enjoyed a woman’s company in bed. It’s been a while, but I haven’t been looking anyway, too busy with work. Jason can’t accuse me of being celibate. I’m not. I’ve had girlfriends, but none of them were ever very serious. None of them ever made me feel like I couldn’t get them out of my head, not like Claire.
I didn’t mean to bring up Claire with Jason, but I realize that when I talk about her, I feel good. And when I think about her—which is nonstop—I can’t get her out of my mind. The lines are blurring between viewing her as a client or as Dalton’s guest and just a sexy woman I’d like to get to know better.
Maybe it’s because she fights with me every chance she gets. That antagonism that is so natural between us makes her something like a forbidden enemy I’m lured to in the sense that we always want what we can’t have.
Or maybe it’s because deep down beneath the high-maintenance exterior, I can recognize and respect her drive and work ethic. A woman knowing what she wants and not giving up pursuing her dreams is such a turn-on.
Whatever it is about her, I’m starting to really look forward to bringing her to Denver with me. Even if I struggle with the knowledge that I’ve got no business wishing she could be a part of my life and belong in my world, she won’t fail to amuse me or charm me.
So long as she isn’t wearing another sexy robe in the truck…
I’m saved from having to answer Jason about my rusty love life when Marian pops her head around the corner. “Looking good! It’s almost done!”
Jason grins up at her. “And soon you can resume sticking with your system in the kitchen, huh?” he teases.
“Speaking of…” she says with a wide, maternal smile for me. “Sawyer, are you staying for dinner tonight? Lauren and Caleb are coming over soon.”
That’s got to be really convenient. Caleb and Lauren had their big house built adjacent to the bed-and-breakfast, so they can wander over for this woman’s delicious food whenever they want. I almost want to be jealous. Her chicken is to die for, but I know if I stay and enjoy the plate they might set out for me, I’ll want to linger and talk far into the evening.
“Thanks, but not tonight.” I want to go home and get to bed early. I intend to stave off this excitement about having Claire all to myself tomorrow, and being well-rested is the first step. “I’ve got to drive to Denver tomorrow morning.”
And I can’t wait to see how it goes.
I really am a glutton for punishment, craving the presence of one beautiful woman who will only see me as someone who does the grunt work no one else wants to put up with.
And I never learn, either.
Chapter 14
Claire
I pace past the front windows of the cabin, checking with each pass for Sawyer’s truck. I’ve looked out for his arrival so many times over the last few days, but this time, a sense of expectation hangs in the air, too. I’m not just hoping he’ll show up. He will be coming here, as planned. That excitement is enough to keep me on edge, but it’s what follows that really riles me up. We’ll be spending time together—alone—in his truck, then in Denver. And it seems like nothing more than a series of tests.
He is off-limits. Or he should be. I have too many reasons for avoiding a fling or hookup, but he’s quickly appealing to me as just that. Sawyer represents a chance for me to feel something other than being trapped by my mother and the holds on my career. He’s a new person, a new experience, and I can’t deny my basic attraction to him. I have no way to talk myself out of being curious about him either. So putting myself in the position of being tempted by him sounds like a lousy idea.
If I want to stay sane.
Not only is this not the right time for me to try anything with anyone, he’s also not the right person. Sawyer is not the kind of man my mother would ever approve of, and for so long, she’s modified my thoughts. She’s indoctrinated it into me that I shouldn’t hope to meet someone I could one day love but someone she could parade as her influential son-in-law. She’s trained me to think of marriage as a transaction, not a partnership, especially not with a common blue-collar worker like him.
And Colorado? This isn’t where I belong. Even though every minute I spend here is a breather that I need after the hustle and bustle of studying in Paris, it’s far from my ideal location for a dress shop.
Too many things stand against a future with Sawyer, but as I lean toward the window and smile at the approach of his truck as he pulls into the driveway, I can’t deny the racing patter of my heart.
I open the door and wheel my suitcase out onto the porch, hoping he won’t give me too much crap about my attire. Denver is a bigger city. It won’t feel like such a backwoods place as this small town rural area of trees and quiet mountainsides. And being in a different environment, yeah, I plan to dress to impress. Sawyer’s approval matters the most, if I’m being honest, but it seems like I already have that in spades.
