She stepped back toward the bar, greeting Bubba with an apology for her grandmother’s Compulsive Questioning Disorder before they started talking security, crowd control, how many port-a-potties, and what kind of insurance they’d need to throw a benefit concert to raise money for phase two of the restoration.
While they chatted, Sawyer let his eyes roam around the saloon. They’d only started the job this week, but already fresh floorboards had been laid, the stage reinforced and refurbished, and the original bar—which was in astoundingly good condition—had been carefully sanded and was ready for a coat of stain as soon as Mia’s gram decided on a color. There was still a lot to do, from cleaning and patching the tin ceiling, to reconstructing and reinstalling yards of rotten baseboards, but the job was off to a good start. Sawyer could already feel the building coming back to life around him.
It was a rush, but not as much of a rush as when Mia’s arms closed around his waist from behind and her breasts pressed against his back. Even that relatively innocent contact was enough to make his jeans feel tight.
“Sorry about that,” she said. “Now where were we?”
Sawyer turned, pulse beating faster as she hooked her wrists behind his neck.
“I think you were getting ready to give me a hello kiss,” he said, bending closer.
Mia smiled. “That can be arranged, but I have a serious question first.”
Sawyer straightened, knowing he needed to be farther from Mia’s lips before he’d be capable of rational thought. “Shoot.”
Mia bit her bottom lip, and a nervous look crept into her eyes. “Well, I’ve been thinking, about how we both slept alone last night, and how that wasn’t very much fun.”
Sawyer shook his head. “It wasn’t. I didn’t sleep for shit.”
“Me either.” A smile flickered across Mia’s face before it disappeared. “So, like I said, I was thinking while I was setting up my surprise for Gram and a little voice inside me said, ‘Why not ask Sawyer to move in with you?’ And then I was like, ‘Self, that’s a great idea, but maybe it’s too soon.’ But then my inner voice was all like, ‘Just ask him, and let him decide before he goes and signs some dumb lease way on the other side of town.’ So…” She took a deep breath, looking up at him with a mixture of expectation and anxiety that was pretty damned cute. “What do you think?”
“I think your inner voice is a genius,” Sawyer said, hugging her closer. “I’d love to move in, if you’re sure I won’t cramp your style.”
“What style? You’re talking to the woman with a unicorn throw rug in her bedroom.” Mia’s grin was brighter than the sunset light slanting through the newly framed saloon windows. “But seriously, I can’t wait. I’m going to like waking up to you every day.”
Sawyer’s chest ached with happiness. It felt like he’d been given an unexpected gift, one he appreciated even more because he hadn’t seen it coming. “I’m excited to go to bed with you every night.”
Mia’s eyes glittered. “Me, too. And I’ve already decided to get rid of the rug. Clementine has been after me to give it to her ever since we found it at that craft sale in Austin last year, so she’ll be thrilled.”
“You don’t have to get rid of it on my account,” Sawyer said, leaning in for a kiss. “I’m manly enough to pull off sleeping in a bedroom with a ruffled bed and a unicorn throw rug.”
“Don’t I know it,” she sighed against his lips.
They were seconds away from their first kiss of the day—one that had been put off a good twelve hours too long as far as Sawyer was concerned—when Mia’s phone rang again. This time it was the William Tell Overture blaring from her pocket, not a country song.
Mia winced. “Sorry, it’s Tulsi. She’s supposed to call me when Gram leaves so I’ll have time to clear out. One second.” Mia answered the phone with a grin. “Hey, Tulsi, I’m already done, but I…” She trailed off, her smile fading away as she listened to whatever Tulsi was saying.
Sawyer couldn’t hear the other woman, but he knew Tulsi was the bearer of bad news. He could read it in the way the warmth fled from Mia’s eyes and her skin paled beneath her summer tan.
“You okay?” Sawyer mouthed, but Mia only pressed her lips together and dropped her eyes to the floorboards between them.
“Just tell me, Tulsi,” Mia said. “Is it what I think it is?” Mia paused, pulling in a shaky breath. “No, I don’t want to wait until I get to my parents’ house, I want to know now.”
Sawyer could hear the low, soothing tone in Tulsi’s voice as she answered, but Mia was looking anything but soothed. She squeezed her eyes shut, visibly struggling to control her temper before she responded. “Fine, Sawyer and I will be there in fifteen minutes. Bye.”
She hung up without waiting for Tulsi to say goodbye back, a lapse in manners she would never indulge in unless she were really upset. Sawyer had spent enough time with Mia and Tulsi, on the mornings Tulsi came to drop off Clem at the shop, to know that Mia handled Tulsi with a gentleness she didn’t bother with in her other friendships.
“What’s wrong?” Sawyer asked. “Is someone hurt?”
Mia sighed. “No, I don’t think so. I think it’s…” She shook her head. “Or maybe not. I don’t know. I don’t want to start guessing until I talk to everyone. Dad called an emergency family meeting. Tulsi was already over at the house helping Mom and Gram with the plans for the silent auction Gram’s holding during the next Farmer’s Market. She said she’s going to stay until I get there in case I need her.”
Sawyer put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing at the knots already forming there. “Good. She’ll be there, and I’ll be there. Between the two of us, we’ll have you covered.”
Mia glanced up at him, but the moment their eyes connected, her gaze shifted away. “Thanks.”
But she didn’t sound thankful, she sounded scared, and when she slipped from beneath his hands and crossed to grab her purse, she looked smaller than usual. Her shoulders hunched and her steps were slow and careful, not the giddy bounce he’d been greeted with when she popped out from behind the bar a few minutes ago.
It set a bad feeling to churning in his gut. Sawyer was guessing this had something to do with Paul, the ex-boyfriend Mia had left behind in Los Angeles. Sawyer didn’t know much about Paul aside from his name, that he’d been Mia’s first love, and that they’d dated for nearly a year before things had ended badly. But he’d seen the haunted look in Mia’s eyes when she woke up from dreams with her heart slamming so hard in her chest Sawyer could feel it thump against his ribs when he pulled her close. It was the same look that paled her face now.