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Chapter Three
"Sorry," Sawyer told me as he held up his hands as if I were going to beat him. "That was more than a little a bit forward," he admitted, letting go of my cheek.
"You think?" I retorted, not knowing whether to kiss him again or to slap him.
Lifting his wine glass to his mouth, he downed the whole contents in one large gulp. "Thirsty work," he choked, and grimaced at the empty glass as he placed it gently back on the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "This house Chardonnay tastes like chemical cleaner," he remarked dryly.
"What we did was my fault too. I let it happen," I admitted, dying a little inside at the shame of it all. Kissing in public was something teenagers did, or maybe sweethearts in the early days of romance. Not forty-year-old women with men they just met in a bar. "And I'm concerned how you would know this about the wine."
He chuckled before his smile slipped slowly from his face. "I'm sorry for what you just went through, and I'm sorry if I took it too far." He rolled the stem of his glass between his fingertips, looking intently at it before he glanced back up at me. His piercing gaze held mine for more than a beat before he continued. "However," he drew out and gave me his now familiar sexy grin. "When you kissed me back, you surprised me. That was a smoking hot kiss." He sat back in his seat and ran his hand roughly through his damp hair. “I took a massive gamble doing that, but it was reassuring when you went with it, because it told me you saw the value in what we were doing. You had no business being with a guy like him in the first place. He's no match for you."
My cheeks reddened when I remembered our incredibly sensual kiss and a wave of heat made my core pulse. Logan had never kissed me like that, ever.
"I … I don't know what came over me. No, I take that back. I do. I knew I had this one chance to give that bastard some payback for the way he totally discarded what we had. The kiss … I guess my feelings overwhelmed me a little." I turned and looked out of the window, toward the sky, and felt vindicated for the first time since Logan had walked out the door.
"I'm happy I was here to facilitate that overwhelming need of yours to get even," he remarked, playfully and chuckled. I became uncomfortable at his continued scrutiny.
"It's stopped raining," I offered, diverting the conversation to safer ground. I took a deep breath when it dawned on me I'd faced my worst fear about seeing Logan with Poppy, and I hadn't turned to dust. Then the full impact of what we'd done hit me. "God, I'm embarrassed," I blurted, hiding my face with my hands.
"Why? That was a sensational kiss. I'm telling you, that guy is certifiable for walking away from you." I stared, confused by the amazing hot stranger who'd kissed me and read genuine concern in his eyes, despite what we'd done.
"Thank you, for …"
"My pleasure. Honestly, anytime," he reiterated, with a wicked grin and a twinkle of amusement in his bright smiling eyes. When my reason hung in the air, he looked perplexed and quickly placed one of his huge warm hands over mine. "Listen, I think my stalker has gone." There was a note of inevitability in his tone. Rising slowly from his chair he again glanced down the street in both directions.
My heart sank because although we'd had the weirdest encounter, I felt connected to him for what he'd helped me to do. I followed his lead and looked for the woman who had led him to me, even though I had no clue why.
When he lifted his hand to check the time on his wristwatch, I felt the loss from his touch immediately and watched as his facial expression turned serious. "Shoot, I have to get going. I've got to check in with some people in less than an hour. It's been …" he cleared his throat and flashed me another sexy smile. "I'm very glad I chose this bar to hide out in," he told me, pushing his chair in opposite me and feeding his arms into his expensive damp grey suit jacket.
Another stupid wave of disappointment washed over me, and although he was supposed to mean nothing,
I felt Sawyer's loss before he'd even left the building. In my dull world, he had shared one of my most vulnerable moments and Sawyer Michael Wild had protected my fragile feelings better than the man I had married had ever done.
Nevertheless, I knew our parting was inevitable from the moment our kiss had ended, and I fully expected when he walked away, the likelihood of us ever meeting again was nil. I knew my feelings of attachment were absurd because Sawyer was far too young and good looking for it to have meant anything.
However, it made me consider how vulnerable I was. I could hardly believe I'd done something like that—and in a matter of minutes— instead of the keeping usual guarded position I innately had for strangers. I mentally chastised myself for allowing my guard to fall so low as to cling in desperation to the first man on the street to show me any kindness.
Patting his top jacket pocket, he took out a money clip, slipped out four twenties from it and threw them on the table to pay for the wine we'd both had.
Reaching into another, he found a small pile of business cards, dropped one on the table beside me, and shrugged like he had no idea what else to say. For a few heartbeats, our silence thickened the air between us until he broke it when he let out a sigh.
"If you ever need anything in the future, don't hesitate to give me a call," he offered with a sexy wink and a small rueful smile. My chest suddenly tightened when he turned and walked away. My wistful gaze followed him toward the door, and my heart stuttered when I saw and felt his reluctance as he hesitated before he slowly opened it.
When he unexpectedly glanced back at me again, it was with a serious, unsmiling expression. Looking away, he bowed his head, stepped out onto the street, and walked away.
I sat with a heavy heart and watched the wine bar door close softly on its own and when it finally clicked on the catch, I took a deep breath and held it for a moment before I checked out the luxurious print on the matte business card he'd left.
Like the man, the stationery looked classy with its slick black background and the crisp ruby red and silver dual font foil lettering. Then my heart almost stopped when I read what it said.
Sawyer Wild, Gentleman Escort. Male and Female clients welcome, discretion guaranteed.
A pang of shock stabbed me right in my heart, making it race at double the speed, and I felt horrified with myself. No wonder he was so smooth and adept at dealing with Logan. Or how easy he found it to kiss a stranger.
Somehow, I managed to find the will to push my insane, instant distraction of the stranger I'd kissed to one side and gathered up all of my purchases.
After shrugging into my coat, I headed back out of the bar, feeling more than a little weirded out by my ridiculous experience. Add to this, I was tipsy from the wine as well.
There was no way I could have gone home at that point, because I'd have only felt miserable so I wandered around dazed until I'd completed my Christmas gift shopping. Two hours later, Sawyer had still been on my mind and with my gift purchases complete, I headed back to New Jersey by Uber.
