Page 20 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

Gina

It’s almost midnight when Sawyer finally gets up to take our plates to the sink.

‘What’s for dessert?’ I ask.

‘All I have is that cheesecake in the fridge, but I tried it and it’s not very good. Sorry, I should’ve ordered something else.’

‘Sawyer, I’m kidding. I wasn’t expecting dessert.’

‘I have some apple pastries my mom made. They’re different than her fritters. They’re like mini apple pies. You should try one.’ He brings me a small pastry with icing drizzled over it. ‘They’re a big hit at the orchard.’

I take a bite. ‘Wow, these are really good.’

‘They’re even better when they’re warm.’ He returns to the kitchen. ‘You want another one?’

‘Yes, please.’

He laughs and comes back to the couch with a plate of them. ‘Have all you want. I get more every time I go over there.’

‘Did you ever want to work there? At your parents’ orchard? ’

‘No, but I would if I had to. I’m just lucky Nick took it over or I’d probably be the one running it.’

‘Because your dad can’t anymore?’

‘Yeah. After his heart attack he talked about selling it, but I don’t think I could’ve let him. That place is my home. I couldn’t see it going to someone else. My brothers felt the same way. If Nick hadn’t taken it, we would’ve had to figure out a way to keep it.’

‘Would you even know how to run an orchard?’

‘I know the basics from watching my dad when I was growing up, but Nick’s the one who was out there every day, learning what to do and how everything works. He was always the most logical choice to take it over, but he didn’t want it. He took off and became a lawyer.’

‘I’d rather run an orchard.’

‘He would too. It just took him forever to figure that out.’ Sawyer takes one of the apple pastries and pops it in his mouth.

‘You ate the whole thing in one bite?’

He finishes it, then smiles. ‘I can eat a lot faster now than when I was seven. I bet I could beat you in a pie-eating contest.’

‘You couldn’t beat me.’

‘You want to try again? I’ll obviously win, but I’m willing to at least let you try to beat me.’

‘I think I’ll pass,’ I say, finishing another pastry. I’ve had three now. They’re so good I keep eating them.

‘You’re afraid to even try?’

‘No. I just think we’re too old for that.’

‘We’re not too old for a pie-eating contest. And actually, they shouldn’t even let kids do it. They could choke. Didn’t that Phil kid choke back at camp?’

‘That’s right, he did. But Janelle, one of the camp counselors, stepped in and saved him. ’

Sawyer nods. ‘Janelle was hot. All us boys used to sneak down to the beach where the camp counselors hung out so we could see her in her red bikini.’

‘You were only seven. You shouldn’t have even liked girls back then.’

‘I’ve always liked girls,’ he says, smiling. ‘And Janelle was the hottest girl out of all the camp counselors. Now that I think about it, maybe Phil didn’t choke. Maybe he just pretended to so Janelle would touch him.’

I roll my eyes. ‘I don’t think so. A kid that age wouldn’t think to do that.’

‘Sure they would, especially with a hot girl like Janelle.’

‘What about the other girls at camp? Did you have crushes on any of them?’ I take a drink of my beer.

‘Yeah. You.’

I choke on my beer, coughing as I set the glass down.

‘You okay?’ Sawyer asks.

I nod, my hand going to my chest as my cough settles. ‘Did you just say you had a crush on me?’

‘Yeah,’ he casually says, as if I should already know this. ‘I thought you were cute with your freckles and your messy hair.’

‘It wasn’t messy.’

‘It was.’ He laughs. ‘It was always blowing around your face, getting in your mouth, getting tangled.’

I huff. ‘Yeah, well, you were always dirty. You always had dirt on your shirt and your face and grass stains all over your shorts.’

‘I was a kid. Kids get dirty.’ He reaches over and nudges my arm. ‘Hey, I’m just joking around. I really did think you were cute, even with the messy hair.’

‘Then why were you mean to me?’

‘Because you pissed me off when you kept my beating my ass in every competition.’

I slowly smile. ‘Is that why you kissed me? Because you liked me?’

‘Maybe.’ He swigs his beer. ‘Or maybe I just wanted to know what it’d be like to kiss a girl.’

I turn to face him. ‘I was your first kiss?’

‘Yeah. Wasn’t I yours?’

‘I’m not telling you.’

‘You don’t need to. I know I was.’

‘How would you know?’ I fold my arms over my chest.

‘Well, for one, you were only seven and most kids that age haven’t kissed anyone. And two, you weren’t very good at it, a sure sign you’d never done it.’

I stare at him. ‘Are you seriously insulting my kissing skills? When I was seven? As if you were any better?’

‘I was.’ He gives me a smug grin. ‘That kiss I gave you was damn good.’

‘According to who? You? I don’t think you get to be the judge of that.’

‘Okay, so tell me.’ He turns to me, his arm spread out along the back of the couch. ‘How was it?’

‘Fast.’

‘And?’

‘Innocent. Lips only.’

‘A sign of a true gentleman.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Yeah, okay.’

‘What else?’

‘Nothing else. It was so quick I barely remember it.’

That’s a lie. I remember it like it just happened, probably because it was my first kiss and came out of nowhere.

I remember Sawyer being really nervous, and he was never nervous.

He stood across from me in the woods and kept looking at his feet.

When I asked him what we were doing, he put his hands on my shoulders, lifting his eyes to mine, and kissed me.

He had really soft lips. And he smelled like fresh grass and watermelon bubble gum.

He must’ve chewed the gum and spit it out right before he kissed me.

‘Huh.’ Sawyer rubs the scruff along his jaw.

‘What? What’s the huh for?’

‘I thought it was better than that. And I don’t remember it being that fast. I knew it was quick, but not quick enough that you barely remember it.’

I shrug. ‘It’s nothing personal. And maybe it wasn’t that fast. I don’t have the best memory.’

The room is silent a moment, the only sound the low rumble of the crowd below us in the bar. It’s midnight. I should go, but I don’t want to. I’m having fun tonight and I’m not ready to leave.

Sawyer looks over at me. ‘Maybe we should try again.’

‘Try what?’

‘The kiss. Give me another shot at it.’

My pulse races and I notice my breath speeding up.

‘I’m sure you’ve improved,’ I say with a nervous laugh.

‘Let me prove it.’

‘Is this a competition?’

‘No, just a kiss, to make up for the shitty one I gave you when we were seven. I’m kind of pissed at myself for screwing up your first kiss.’

‘It really wasn’t that bad. It was just really fast.’

‘I’ll slow down this time.’

‘Sawyer, c’mon,’ I say, followed by another nervous laugh. ‘Let’s go clean up the dishes.’

‘The dishes can wait.’ He moves over on the couch so he’s right beside me. ‘Just one kiss. That’s all I’m asking for.’

My eyes meet up with his. ‘To make up for the one you gave me when we were kids. ’

‘Exactly. A make-up kiss. That’s all it is.’

‘Okay.’ I lean toward him and close my eyes. ‘Go ahead.’

‘I can’t now. It’s too forced.’

I open my eyes and see him sitting back on the couch.

‘Wait, so you’re not going to kiss me?’ I ask, getting angry. I really wanted that kiss. Was this all just some joke to see if I’d let him do it?

‘The timing’s off. We’ll try it some other time.’

‘There isn’t going to be another time. It’s now or never.’

‘Just forget it. It was a dumb idea. I’ll go clean this up.’ He reaches for the tray of apple pastries.

I shove him back and climb onto his lap. ‘Sawyer Kanfield, you owe me a damn kiss! Now hurry up and do it!’

‘When you’re yelling at me? Not gonna happen. The mood’s all wrong.’

‘Oh my God.’ I throw my hands up. ‘I’m seriously going to kill you! You get me all worked up for this stupid kiss and then—’

His mouth goes to mine, silencing me and replacing my anger with desire and heat and a need like I’ve never felt before.

I don’t know if it’s because it’s been so long since I’ve been with a guy or if Sawyer just sparks something in me no other man has, but whatever the reason, it’s making me want to rip his clothes off.

A low groan rumbles through his chest as I grind my hips into his lap. He grabs my ass as his tongue moves over mine in a way that proves his kissing skills have definitely improved. In fact, this might be the best kiss I’ve ever had.

My hands run down his chest, feeling the hard muscle beneath. Sawyer’s hands are still on my ass and he pulls me closer, until I can feel what I’m doing to him. It fuels my desire and makes me want more. I go to undo his belt and hear a knock on the door.

‘Sawyer, you in there?’ a guy yells .

Sawyer pulls away from me and yells back, ‘What do you need?’

‘I got a problem with the cash register. I can’t get the credit cards to run.’

Sawyer looks back at me. ‘Sorry, I gotta go deal with this.’

‘Go ahead.’ I move off him.

He gets up. ‘Don’t go anywhere.’

I smile. ‘I won’t.’

He leans down and kisses me. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’

While he’s gone, my brain starts functioning again and I realize we shouldn’t be doing this. I don’t have time for a boyfriend, and even if I did, it couldn’t be Sawyer.

Why did he have to turn out this way? When I moved to this town, I knew he lived here and I knew I’d run into him, but I was hoping he’d be a jerk.

I was hoping he’d be unattractive or have a girlfriend or be married with kids.

But no, he had to be hot and single and an overall nice guy.

It’s nearly impossible to find a guy like him, and when I do, he’s my competitor, a guy who’s off limits.

‘Gina,’ he says, coming back in the apartment. ‘You got any experience with credit card readers?’

‘Yeah. Why?’

‘I can’t get it to run cards and I’ve got people waiting to pay. Any chance you could check it out?’

‘Sure.’ I meet him at the door and follow him downstairs to behind the bar.

I see the message on the card reader and smile.

‘This happened to me last week. It’s an easy fix.

Do you have a card I can run?’ Sawyer hands me a credit card.

I swipe it, hit a few buttons, and the error message disappears. ‘It should work now.’

Wade tries running a customer’s card through. ‘It works.’ He looks at me. ‘Thanks for fixing it. Gina, right? You own the brewery across town.’

‘Yeah. I have the same cash register.’

‘You good now?’ Sawyer says to Wade.

‘Yeah, thanks, man. I’ll take it from here.’

‘Let’s go,’ Sawyer says to me.

When we’re back in the apartment, we return to the couch.

‘Thanks for helping me out,’ Sawyer says. ‘I would’ve had to close if I couldn’t figure out how to make that work.’

‘I can write down how to fix it so you’ll know for next time.’

‘If you would, that’d be great. And in exchange I’ll give you more of my mom’s pastries, or free apples, or more of my handyman skills.’

‘I’ll take the handyman skills.’

‘Deal.’ He smiles, then kisses me, and all the feelings I had before come rushing back. The tingles, the heat, the urge to rip off his clothes. But this time, my brain wakes up and tells me to stop.

I pull back. ‘Sawyer, I can’t.’

He looks at me. ‘Can’t what?’

‘Keep doing this. We need to stop.’

His eyes pause on mine and I almost tell my brain to shut-up so I can go back to feeling like I did just seconds ago.

Sawyer sits back on the couch. ‘So what do you think? That had to be better than when I was seven.’

‘It was a lot better. And longer.’

‘But you wanted to stop.’

‘Because if I didn’t, we would’ve ended up .?.?.’ I glance at the curtain that leads to his bed.

‘Right,’ he says, blowing out a breath. He’s just as worked up as I am, and likely just as frustrated that we can’t take this farther. But I think we both know it wouldn’t end well. There’s a reason you don’t mix business with pleasure, although it’s damn tempting.

‘I should go,’ I say, getting up.

‘I’ll walk you out. ’

‘You don’t have to. It’s a small town. I think I’ll be safe walking down the street.’

He goes with me anyway, walking me out of the brewery and down the street to my pickup.

‘You still want me over at eight?’ he asks as we stand by my truck.

For a moment I wasn’t sure what he was talking about and then I remember the deal we made for him to fix stuff for me.

‘Yeah, eight is good. I’m hoping to get into work early to finish my Halloween brew.’

‘I’m doing one too. A dark—’ He stops and rubs his jaw. ‘I probably shouldn’t tell you that.’

‘And I shouldn’t have told you I’m doing a Halloween brew.’

‘It’s not like they’ll be the same. I think it’s okay that we know.’

‘Yeah, you’re probably right. Well, I should go.’ I get in the truck.

On the ride back to my place, I keep thinking how easily I let it slip that I was making a special beer for Halloween.

It shows I’m getting too comfortable around Sawyer.

Spending time with him, meeting his family, kissing him .

.?. it’s making me feel closer to him. And the closer we get, the more likely I am to tell him something I shouldn’t.

Maybe I should stop seeing him. I don’t have a reason to. He shouldn’t want to spend time with me either. He could spill a secret just as easily as I could.

But there’s something about us that keeps drawing us together.

It’s like at camp all those years ago. We acted like we hated each other and yet we kept finding ourselves together, either down at the lake or walking along the trails.

I don’t think we planned it that way. It just happened, like there was this force attracting us to each other.

I feel like it’s happening again now, but I can’t let it .

We’re not kids anymore. We’re not trying to see who can eat the most pie or swim the fastest. We’re two adults running similar businesses in a small town that can probably only support one microbrewery. And I plan to be the one that survives.