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Chapter Twenty-Seven
The slow but picturesque drive from the airport to Sawyer's parents' house in Long Island was lovely. Whizzing by the magnificently pretty, white landscape while sitting in on a cozy heated leather seat in my car, a luxury upgrade I'd recklessly agreed when I'd bought it, felt divine.
Sawyer took the wheel but had held my hand for most of the way. To anyone watching it could have looked like a scene from a Christmas Hallmark movie.
Although our conversation was easy, there were several times during the journey when we fell quiet. During those moments, I studied his handsome, studious face as he concentrated on the road and marveled at how incredible I thought he was, and how different my last few months would have been had he never been in that wine bar.
"You like this song?" he asked, cutting into my thoughts as George Ezra's "Hold My Girl," began to play on the radio, breaking my gaze from the beautiful snowy landscape I smiled affectionately toward him.
"I do. It's very romantic," I murmured.
"It's one of those songs that comes on the radio and reminds me of you," he confessed. My heart clenched with his admission and listened until it ended.
"I have another song that reminds me of you," he told me, turning on the windshield wipers when a fresh flurry of snow began to fall again.
"You do?" I asked sounding surprised.
"Usher's 'You Got It Bad.' The lyrics don't relate to me, but it expresses everything I feel about how you affect me." I chuckled because I didn't know the lyrics, but the title made me laugh.
"I have one that reminds me of you. 'Carry Me Away' by John Mayer." Sawyer's eyes snapped toward me, a scowl on his face.
"You're not boring. You just needed to be reminded of the fun side of life after being stuck with that selfish fuck. After meeting him, it's no surprise you'd forgotten how beautiful and vibrant you are," he told me, staring back to the road as we switched lanes and headed toward the exit off the A495 for Southampton. "You, darlin', are everything. And from the time we've spent in bed, I'd say you have the potential to be pretty wild."
I felt my face flush as a thrill of arousal shot through my body and he chuckled. "Damn, it's so easy to make you blush," he said, stealing a glance toward me. "It's my goal to make you smile and bring color to your cheeks every day in the future," he informed me with a wink.
After his declaration, we sat in a comfortable silence until he turned off the main road, drove through some stone pillars that marked the entrance to a private drive, and continued down an imposing snow-covered driveway. There was no house in sight and my nerves grew as I began to realize the true wealth of Sawyer's parents.
When I’d learned where Sawyer had grown up, I'd felt scared everyone would hate me. I’d felt intimidated by how wealthy he was because of the inheritance he'd told me about, but after seeing his family home; I figured his wealth paled in comparison to that of his parents. I didn't live in a hole and had been a finance wealth manager, but it was only when he headed for Southampton, the most exclusive of the Hamptons, that it had dawned on me he, came from old family money.
"You lived here?" I asked, overwhelmed by the gigantic mansion.
"Yeah, this is where I grew up."
"It's like a fancy hotel," I muttered in awe. My wide eyes scanned the perfectly washed house windows I had begun to count in my head until he interrupted me.
"It's only a house, Billie. Breathe."
For some reason, I had imagined his parents had been left a property by his uncle, but I was speechless when I realized Sawyer's family probably had at least a century of wealth, maybe more. I was confused because he didn't give off the usual arrogant vibe I had experienced in my previous role at work in wealth management. At least from the clients, I had met with similar backgrounds.
Rounding a circular driveway to the front of the house, Sawyer passed by it and drove down one side and into a courtyard where there were at least thirty cars already parked.
"Oh, God. I wasn't prepared for this," I mumbled, keeping the thought in my head about facing his family and being judged on being the divorced cougar, who'd snapped up their youngest son.
I sat petrified, wishing I hadn't agreed to this as Sawyer crunched his way around the front of the car in the snow and opened my door.
"Ready?" he asked beaming a bright smile that showed no hint of nerves at taking me inside.
"Jesus, no. You never told me about all of this," I grumbled, waving my hands at the luxury cars parked one after the other like some exclusive auto show display. Sawyer snickered and took my hand.
"They're only material things."
"Expensive material things," I corrected.
"Don't allow any of this to intimidate you, Billie. All of those fancy cars together aren't worth a hair on your head to me."
"Damn, Sawyer, you have got it bad. But you're biased and I'm too nervous now to go in there. They're going to hate me."
"Stop it. They'll love you," he snapped. "You trust me, remember?"
