Act Like You Love Me (An Accidentally in Love Novel) (Entangled: Bliss) (12 page)

One corner of her mouth tilted up.

“Of course. You don’t think I’ve paid enough attention to the play to realize he wrote
The
Importance of Being Earnest
? Once I read through the entire thing and saw how it all fit together, he became my new hero. I’ve been thinking about that as I’m trying to write.” Sawyer looked down at her and realized he’d gone off on a tangent. “Sorry. You were saying?”

“Well, he’s got this quote that’s stuck with me ever since I heard it… ‘Never love someone who treats you like you’re ordinary.’”

His heart thumped hard in his chest. He wasn’t sure what she was saying. Was he treating her that way? “I like it.” He put his hands on the sides of her waist. “Anyone who thinks you’re ordinary is an idiot. I knew that the first time I laid eyes on you.”

She laughed, but it wasn’t a happy laugh.

“I mean… Not just the changing in the car. Onstage. From the first time I saw you up there, I couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

She inhaled a deep breath and then let it out. He held his own breath, feeling as though he was awaiting her judgment. Did he pass or not? If she would let him, he’d show her just how amazing he thought she was.

“What if…?” She shook her head. “Never mind. I’m starving, and the pizza’s getting cold.” She started to move past him, but he caught her hand.

“Just because I’m leaving soon doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me. Even when I go back, I hope we can keep in touch.” Whoa, where did that come from? It’s not like they could make a long-distance relationship work.

Could they?

His heart rate spiked from the pressure, the way it often did when he decided to bind his life to someone else’s, even for a little while. But mixed in there was a glimmer of hope, too, fighting the panic, telling him it might be worth it with Brynn.

“Sure,” she said, then continued toward the living room. He’d blown off enough suggestions in his life to know that was what Brynn was doing to his.

He sat next to her on the couch. “You should at least come out sometime so we can go to a Broadway play.”

Holy shit, shut up!
How many times had he wondered why a girl kept pushing when he was obviously trying to pull away? And now he was doing it.
What the hell’s this girl done to me? I’m turning into a chick.

But then she looked at him, and he could see the Broadway idea struck a chord. “I’ve always wanted to see one. I go whenever a big show comes to Charlotte, but I always wonder if it’d be different in New York.”

He grabbed her hand and kissed the top of it. “Then we’ll go.” His brain started firing off the reasons he couldn’t follow through. How he was probably moving to California and he’d need to be focused on his screenplay.

But Brynn in New York was too tempting an opportunity to pass up. He could show her all the places he loved and watch her face light up with each new experience. Dragging it out, doing a sort of half-committed thing, would only make it worse for both of them in the end. Needing someone else, and the pressure of keeping that person happy, just wasn’t for him.

Still, he couldn’t help holding on to the delusion of he and Brynn a little longer.

Chapter Thirteen

When the woman with the stylish blond bob came into the bait and tackle shop wearing dress slacks, a peach button-down, and a string of pearls, Brynn simply stared for a moment. Not that no women ever came in, it was just that… Actually, it was that they came in so rarely, it seemed like they were in some secret club of women who fished but didn’t talk about it. The first rule of Fish Club was don’t talk about Fish Club.

And they most definitely didn’t look like the woman standing in the store, glancing around with a completely bewildered expression on her face.
I wonder if she accidentally came into the wrong shop?

Brynn smiled as she approached her. “Hi, can I help you find something?”

The woman’s eyes shot to Brynn. “Oh, yes, please. I’m trying to buy my son a present.” She leaned in and whispered, “I need something really good. Maybe so good that he decides he wants to stick around for a while to fish instead of going back to New York. I need to remind him of what he’s missing.”

The mention of New York sent a jolt through Brynn. She wanted a certain guy to stick around for a while instead of going back there, too. She studied the woman. Pale blond hair, brown eyes—no significant resemblance to Sawyer that she could see. And what were the chances his mom would come in here?

With my luck, pretty good, actually.

Brynn shook her head. Sawyer was on her mind, that was all. There were millions of people living in New York, so the odds were good that there was more than one New Yorker in town right now.

“Well, if he likes fly fishing, we’ve got quite an assortment of poles and flies.” Of course, Sawyer seemed more like the cast-and-wait, not the have-to-be-constantly-moving fisherman. Not that this was for Sawyer.

“Are those different than regular poles? His father always went with him. I don’t know anything about it.”

Speaking of his father in the past tense. Another piece that fit. “I think your best bet is to get some lures that are popular right now, and maybe a few that would be better for fall. That way, he might at least feel the need to come back and try them out.”

Brynn spent the next twenty minutes helping Mrs. Might-Be-Sawyer’s-Mom shop. When the woman handed over the credit card to pay, Brynn stared at the name—Judith Raines. A heavy rock settled in her gut. Lying to Sawyer was bad enough; lying to his mom seemed even worse. Not that she’d lied. Had she?

“You’re Donna McAdams’s daughter, right?”

Oh crap. This was getting stickier by the second. “I am.”

“She and I are in the same knitting group.” Judith leaned in. “You know, I have a son around your age. Maybe you two could go fishing together?”

The credit card slipped from Brynn’s hand. She bent down to get it and hit her head on the counter on the way up. “Damn it! Er—sorry.” Well, now that she’d sworn, Mrs. Raines had probably changed her mind about this attempted setup.

“So? What do you say? He’s a great guy, I swear. How about just a coffee? He’s always at the Daily Grind down the street. Maybe you could swing by and look for him? He’ll have his laptop out, and here…” Mrs. Raines started digging through her purse. “I have a picture of him somewhere.”

This is
not
happening.
“Actually, I’m kind of dating someone right now.”
Your son, who doesn’t know I work here and that I know a lot about fishing, and I’d rather keep it that way.

Two creases formed between Mrs. Raines’s eyebrows. “Kind of? Well, honey, then you—”

“I love him,” she blurted out. The words hung in the air between them, heavy and unexpected but completely true. The realization made her light-headed. Giddy. Terrified. She’d told dozens of lies, and maybe Sawyer was falling for someone who wasn’t wholly her, but none of it changed the fact that she was in love with him.
This
so
wasn’t supposed to happen.

Mrs. Raines sighed. “Oh. Well, it was worth a shot.” She grabbed her bags. “Thank you so much for your help, dear. And best of luck to you and your fellow.”

“Thanks,” Brynn said.

She had a feeling she was going to need it.

…

“Mom?” Sawyer set his keys on the coffee table and wandered through the house. All the rooms were empty, but he spotted Mom outside, watering her flowers.

When he stepped out the back door, she set the hose down in the bed with the petunias and wiped her hands. “I wasn’t sure if I’d see you today. I was about to drive to the lake house and hunt you down.”

Guilt tightened his stomach. Between remodeling and directing the play, he’d barely seen her the past few days. “Sorry, Ma.” He stepped down the cement stairs, avoiding that cracked spot he’d tripped on every time he had to take out the trash back in high school. He’d take care of that before he left—he’d feel awful if Mom fell and broke something when it was such a simple fix. “Painting’s all done, though. Just got to let it dry before I put the finishing touches in the bedrooms. And I’ve got someone coming on Monday to redo the outside. The place is really starting to come together.”

“That’s nice,” she said, but the way her voice pinched and she kept her eyes away from him said something else.

“Anyway, I came over to see what you were up to today. I have rehearsal tonight, but I thought maybe we could go to lunch or maybe even catch a matinee.”

“Sure, that’d be fun.” She turned off the water and then turned to face him, the no-nonsense look on her face he’d gotten so often growing up, and he automatically tensed, bracing himself. “I talked to Kayla again today,” Mom said.

If he’d known she’d start talking about setting him up, he might’ve avoided coming over a little longer. “Kayla’s not going to happen, Mom.” He rolled his shoulders, the muscles stiff from all the painting.

“That’s what I figured,” she said with a sigh. “Come on inside. I’ve got something for you.”

Sawyer followed her to the kitchen and she handed him a box with blue, brown, and green striped wrapping paper. “You’re a few months early for a birthday gift,” he joked, giving the package a gentle shake. He always liked trying to guess. And as usual, Mom had padded the box too well for any of it to shift or rattle much.

“I wanted to give you something. To say thanks for coming and taking care of the house.”

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to. Now go on and open it.”

Sawyer ripped off the paper and opened the box’s lid. Inside there were enough fishing lures to keep him busy for months of nonstop fishing. “Wow, Mom. You got all the fancy stuff. Thanks so much.”

She patted his arm. “So you can stick around a bit and fish.”

Ah, it all makes sense now. A gift and a trick all in one.

“I also found your senior yearbook in the study while I was dusting,” she continued. “It had tons of signatures from your friends—they’re always asking about you, you know. I put it on your bed in case you wanted to look through it. Thought you could call some of them up while you’re in town.”

“Mom—”

“And I know you didn’t hit it off with Kayla, but I know other girls who might be a good fit. I’ll set up a time for you to meet them and—”

“I’ve met a girl.” An amazing, beautiful girl who made him laugh and was constantly on his mind.

Mom’s face lit up.

Damn it, he shouldn’t have said anything. He held up his palms. “It’s only temporary. I don’t want you to get any ideas. We’re just spending time together while we can.”

A squeal escaped her lips. So much for not getting any ideas.

It was time to tell her that he’d decided he was never getting married. His stance on that had only solidified a couple months ago, when he’d broken up with Zoey for the second time. “Mom, I know you want me to settle down, but…”

Her eyebrows were raised, and she had so much hope in her expression that he couldn’t do it. If that made him a wuss, so be it.

“I’m going to be leaving soon.” At this point, he was starting to sound like a broken record, both with Brynn and Mom.

“Well then we should invite this girl over to have dinner with us,” Mom said, as though none of his words had gotten through to her at all. They probably hadn’t.

“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”

“Of course it’s a great idea. I can make that bass you caught, or if she doesn’t like fish, I can think of something else.”

“Mom,” Sawyer said softly, wanting to break the news gently. He wasn’t pulling Brynn into this situation. It wasn’t fair to her. Or to Mom. Or to him.

“I haven’t had a good reason to make a roast lately. She’s not a vegetarian, is she? You know, if she is, Mary Sue gave me a great recipe for stuffed peppers.” Mom pulled a recipe book out of her cupboard. “Here it is. All cheese and veggies and—”

“Mom.” Sawyer put his hands on her shoulders. “If I bring her, you’ll get too attached, and it’s just… I’m sorry, but it’s a bad idea.”

“You’re not attached to her? Not even a little bit?”

His hesitation did him in. Mom hugged him tightly, and then flipped through her recipe book, nodding at the pages. “How about tomorrow night?”

“The next few days are crazy busy, for her and for me. I don’t even know if
I’ll
get to see her.” Outside of rehearsal anyway, where he still had to pretend their relationship was strictly business.

“But you could ask?” Mom actually brought her hands up in prayer position. Oh, she was good.

“I…suppose I could ask.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth he wanted to stuff them back in and return to the moment before he’d admitted to meeting Brynn in the first place.

Mom hugged him again. Then she pulled back and stared, her eyebrows raised all the way to her hairline. “Well? Aren’t you going to call her?”

“Now?”

“I want to have enough time to plan.”

No way he was calling with Mom watching. He walked into his old bedroom and dialed Brynn’s number. When she picked up, her familiar voice wrapped around him and sent a pang of longing through his chest. He made small talk for a few minutes, enjoying how easy it was to talk with her.

He noticed the stack of books on his bed, both his yearbook and the phone book. Mom could certainly be determined when she set her mind to something, and subtlety wasn’t her strong suit. But she was reaching if she thought catching up with high school friends would keep him here. Still, he couldn’t help but open the yearbook to take a look.

“You okay over there?” Brynn asked.

“Yeah, great. Sorry.” He sat on the bed, scanning signatures and messages from guys he’d played ball with. Girls who’d signed hearts by their names. Some people he’d hardly talked to back then and hadn’t talked to since…

“Seriously, do I need to send an emergency crew?”

“Only if you’re the emergency crew and you’re wearing a hot nurse outfit.” He knew it was a cheesy line, but he could practically hear Brynn blushing—he definitely saw it in his mind.

She cleared her throat. “We’ll discuss that later. Right now, I’m working, so if you only called to embarrass me…”

Right. He’d called for a purpose. Only he was having trouble spitting out the words. The last girl he’d brought to dinner was back in high school. That was just one of the perks of living far away. Mom had always visited during times he’d been single or hiding the fact that he wasn’t. He opened his mouth to explain why he’d called, but he needed to see Brynn’s reaction to know if he should keep going or not. Definitely a face-to-face conversation. “Hey, how ’bout we ride to rehearsal together?”

She was silent for a moment. “But we’re undercover, remember?”

“No one will know. We’ll even stagger our entrances.”

She laughed, and the sound immediately made him feel lighter. “How very spy-like of us.”

Sawyer closed his yearbook and tapped it against his thigh. “Come on. I can pick you up at work…”

“I’ll meet you at the house,” she quickly said.

Her still not budging on the work details was slowly driving him crazy. He supposed he didn’t have the right to demand that kind of info, but why wouldn’t she tell him? Asking to have dinner with Mom was plenty for today, though. “See you then. ’Bye, sexy nurse.”

“You wish,” she said with a laugh.

Sawyer sat back against his wall, grinning like the love-struck fool he was. After a moment, he returned his attention to his yearbook. As he started flipping the pages, memories of classes, football practices, and parties filled his mind. There was Clarke, the fullback who Sawyer used to go fishing with, his arms around two cheerleaders, grinning at the camera. The guy was a crack up. One day they’d swam in the lake so long, each trying to one up the other, that they were completely useless the next afternoon at practice.

I wonder what he’s up to.
The instant he thought it, he realized Mom’s attempt to get him to remember the good times wasn’t a total flop. So, point taken. He was guilty of focusing on the bad memories here, the feeling of wanting to escape the pain. He’d counted down the last few months of high school, cutting ties before he’d even left. But he’d had some great times back then, too.

He continued flipping the pages, scanning familiar faces, reliving moments from the past.

…

“Anything you want to tell me?” Sawyer asked when they got into his car after rehearsal. The entire drive to Charlotte, he’d been quiet. Tense, almost. If she’d known riding with him would be like that, she would’ve insisted on driving herself, the way she should’ve.

Brynn’s mind spun over all the possibilities. Maybe his mom had said something. But how would she know who Brynn was?

Earlier we were talking sexy nurses, then hardly talking at all. And now he’s looking at me like he expects something, and I don’t know what it is.
“Um…”

He reached over and pulled a handkerchief with the initials E.W. on it. Somehow it’d gotten stuck to her shirt.

Brynn laughed and took it from him, holding it to her chest as if it were a treasured object. “Yes, I’ve met a Mister Earnest Worthington, and we’re running away together. I’m sorry, but I’ve always wanted to love a man named Earnest. And a man with a handkerchief. So nice to know he’s blown his nose, stuck it in his pocket to get even more disgusting, and then given it to me as a crusty memento of his love.”