The Hookup Hoax (19 page)

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Don’t, Sawyer. Don’t do this to me,” Olivia said, her voice on the edge of breaking.

Sliding his hand down her arm, he took her hand in his, gripping it tightly so she wouldn’t slip away. He couldn’t live through that again. He hoped she saw the truth of his feelings in his eyes, heard it in his words. “I mean it. The day you walked into my apartment was the day my life changed. The day you walked out of my office and didn’t look back was the day my world ended.”

She sucked in a hitched breath and he wanted more than anything to pull her into his arms and kiss her. But he wouldn’t. Not yet.

“I didn’t realize the mess I’d made of my life until you showed me how good really living could be. Right from the start, you cared about me, my life, my future, and not because you had to as part of the deal, but because you wanted to.”

“I shouldn’t have tried to change you. You’re perfect the way you are,” she said softly.

“You did change me. For the better.”

Sawyer looked around at all the people watching their moment and knew his time was running out. Taking a deep breath, he geared up for his final push, the one that would hopefully land him the ultimate prize—Olivia.

“The day you left, I’d planned on taking you out and asking you to be my girlfriend for real. I wasn’t sure what the future would bring, but I knew I wanted you in it. I had a position made for you at Sterling. A permanent one. It’s still there if you want it. I wasn’t sure how I’d sort out the whole traveling thing with work, but I knew I’d do whatever it took to find a way to keep you and get that deal, too. I’d fly back and forth across the ocean every other weekend if I had to.”

“You don’t have to change who you are for me, and you don’t have to sign on for a future you don’t really want. The baby and I will be fine on our own.”

“What’s that about a baby?” Gran asked, sitting forward in her seat.

Olivia placed her hand on her stomach. “I’m pregnant.”

“That’s wonderful, dear!” Gran cheered.

“And I’ll raise the baby on my own. All I ever wanted was someone to share my life with, have a family with, and now I have the family even if I don’t have the husband to go along with it.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind you would do a damn good job as a single mother,” said Sawyer, “but that’s not what I want for you or for our child. Who I am now and what I want in the future are different because of having you in my life, and I’m okay with that. Fuck, I’m great with that.”

“Language, son,” Gramps piped up.

“Shush up,” Gran said, swatting him.

“Olivia, I love you. I’ll love you today and tomorrow and forever if you’ll let me. I’ll give up the Marcus project if that’s what it takes to win you back. You are more important to me than any other person in this whole world.”

Tears flowed freely down her cheeks and he hoped with every fiber in his being that they were tears of happiness, because if they weren’t, he’d made a huge ass of himself in front of his entire family for nothing.

“I love you, too, Sawyer,” she whispered.

“What did you say, dear? We’re eighty. You’re gonna have to speak louder than that. Someone get her the mic.” Gramps waved at the nearest person.

Olivia laughed then spoke louder. “I love him too.”

The grin spreading across Sawyer’s face was so wide and proud that it almost hurt. She loved him, and he couldn’t be happier. Well, he could be.

He dropped to his knee, not letting go of her hand. “I don’t have a ring.”

“Sawyer, come here!” Gran called.

“Not now, Gran. I’m kind in the middle of something,” he called back, rolling his eyes but trying not to break the magic of the moment. “And I know this is unexpected since we literally just made up. But—”

“Come here, Sawyer. Come.” Gran waved her arms like she was signaling a 747 into a coat closet.

“Are you for real? No, Gran. Please stop interrupting me. As I was saying, I would be so honored if you would agree to spend forever with me…and my apparently crazy-assed family.”

“Language. And for God’s sake, get your ass over here before your grandmother has a heart attack.” Gramps smacked his hand on the tabletop.

Sawyer shook his head. “He only does that when he really means business. I better go.”

Olivia looked as if she was about to faint. The way this impromptu proposal was going so far, that probably wasn’t far from reality. He rose and strode impatiently to his meddling and completely annoying grandparents.

“What?” he asked through gritted teeth.

Gran spun the ring on her finger until it finally came off. It wasn’t the biggest diamond in the world, but it was beautiful. “Use my ring. A woman needs a ring when she’s getting proposed to. It’s not quite the same without one.”

“Really?”

“It’s done us well for the last million years or so of marriage. I’m sure it can see you through until you find one she likes better, unless she’d like to keep this one. It has to go to someone eventually. I’m kind of looking forward to seeing it on a new, younger finger.”

“Thank you, Gran.”

“Now hurry up. The poor girl is standing there all alone.”

He strode back over to Olivia and resumed his position on bended knee. “Would you do me the great honor of agreeing to spend the rest of forever with me? I promise to love you, to be the best father I can be, and to stop being an ignorant jerk who can’t see a good thing when it’s right in front of him.” He held out Gran’s ring, his breath trapped in his throat by a paralyzing fear that, after all of this, she might say no.

She slipped her finger into the ring. “I will totally marry you!”

Since the moment she’d walked out of his life and he’d realized he’d fallen in love—and not any kind of love, but full-blown, can’t-live-without-her, cry-at-country-songs-on-the-radio kind of love—he’d been dreaming about kissing her even one more time. To know he’d get to do it for a lifetime was almost too good to be true.

Pressing his lips to hers, kissing her deeply, thoroughly, it was as if the rest of the world was put on hold. Nothing else mattered or even existed. Nothing else would ever matter as much to him as this woman and the child she nurtured inside.

When he’d finally had enough of her to last him a few minutes, he pulled back. The band started playing, people were clapping and shouting, but nothing could distract him from the woman in front of him, the woman he loved. Together they swayed gently to the music, as others joined in around them. Still, he never took his eyes off of her. “You are the most gorgeous thing I have ever seen. I must be the luckiest man in the world.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” she said, when he finally stopped kissing her long enough that she could talk. “I still can’t believe I snagged the bachelor. People were surprised to hear you had a girlfriend. What will they say when they find out you went and got yourself a fiancée?”

“I don’t give a damn what they think, but you might. The women will probably hate you for taking me off the market.” He hoped she heard the teasing in his voice.

“Think pretty highly of yourself, don’t you?”

He laughed, spinning her out then pulling her tight to his body again. “Now that I have you back, and you’re all mine, forever, I plan on taking you to my bed and keeping you there.” He grinned wickedly.

“Then I better stock up on refreshments and snacks because my appetite came back with a vengeance,” she said, moving as if she were about to go in search of those items, but he held her close.

“Nope. I’m not letting you out of my sight for at least the next seven months or so. Sorry, you’re stuck with me.”

“Isn’t that going to be kind of hard when you’re on one side of the ocean and I’m on the other?” He could see in her eyes she didn’t really want to bring up the subject, but the issue needed to be addressed.

“I had a thought about that,” he said.

“Oh?” she asked, her curiosity obviously piqued.

“You’re a world traveler, so you know how to find your way around new countries. I think the best way for you to help Sterling Enterprises—if you accept the job I’ve created for you—is for you to come with me. See the world with me for the next few months.”

“Really? What will Marcus say about that?”

“I’m sure he’ll agree, since it was your ideas that won him over to begin with. What do you say?”

“What about the baby?” Her hand pressed to her belly.

“There are doctors in other countries, and I’ll make Marcus pay for the best ones. And we’ll have you back before your third trimester.”

“As much as I look forward to putting down roots and settling in here, it was nice to wake up to a new sunrise every few weeks when I was backpacking.”

“Is that a yes?”

She nodded. “Yes! I’d love to. I can’t wait to see the sights with you. When we’re not working, of course.”

“And when we’re not busy in between the sheets, of course. I can’t wait to do you on every continent.”

“Stop.” She giggled and pushed him away playfully.

“That’s not what you’ll be saying later.”

“You’re such a romantic.”

“Admit it, you love it, and you can’t wait to do me, too.”

“I admit nothing.”

She melted in his arms when he kissed her, her hands roaming his body in a way that was almost inappropriate at his grandparents’ birthday party, and he loved every second of her touch. Just when he thought he had his life all figured out, Olivia came into it and turned it upside down. And thank God she had because he couldn’t imagine his world any other way.

Epilogue

“Where are you taking me?” Olivia asked Sawyer, as the ground beneath her feet shuddered.

The night had started out romantic—a formal dinner on a terrace overlooking Paris, delicious food, soft music—she couldn’t have asked for more. Then he’d insisted she put on this ridiculous blindfold and had carted her off to some mystery location.

She was all for a good surprise, but this pushed her patience a little too far.

“We’re almost there,” he said, his breath warm on her earlobe, tickling her.

“Where exactly? The ground moved. Last time I checked, it wasn’t supposed to do that.” She shrieked as her world shook again, and clung to his arm so hard she was probably leaving bruises. Good—he deserved them after this.

“One more minute, sugar.”

The endearment still sent a tingle up her spine, even after the months of use. She’d never get used to how good it felt to be with him, be loved by him.

As he led her forward to what she hoped was their final destination, wind whipped through her hair and up her skirt. Thank goodness her hair was tied back and her dress was long and form fitting, hugging her growing belly, or she’d be a real sight. Suddenly, her blindfold was removed and Sawyer stood in front of her, staring at her with eyes she knew she’d never get tired of peering into. Breaking his gaze, she looked around and realized he’d taken her to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Millions of twinkling lights cast an amber glow around them, like giant fireflies.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“These last couple of months—traveling with you, working with you, being inside you in multiple countries—have been the best months of my life.” He winked and she held herself back from hitting him. Only he would mix a heartfelt moment with sex talk, and she loved him for it.

Absolutely, unequivocally, whole-heartedly, she loved him with her entire being.

“Traveling on my own after college was the trip of a lifetime, but traveling with you is even better. Everyday I’m so thankful to be here with you.”

Tears threatened to well up in her eyes. So many things could have kept them apart, and yet, somehow they’d managed to find a way to each other.

“I know we said we’d wait until we got back to the States to get married, and I never even thought I’d be a marrying kind of guy, but I am now, because of you. I don’t want to wait any longer to make it official.”

He stepped aside, clearing her view. A minister stood waiting for them under the arch of the tower, and on his signal a quartet began playing. She didn’t recognize the song, but it didn’t matter. Slow and liquid, it called to her, urging her down the makeshift aisle.

“I know I already asked you this once, but tonight I mean right now. Will you marry me?”

Olivia bit her lip, trying desperately to hold back her emotions before they overflowed in a very snot-filled, least-beautiful-wedding-photo-ever type way. “What about our families? What about Gran and Gramps? Won’t they be upset if they don’t get to see us get married?”

He grinned. “Probably. That’s why we shouldn’t tell them.”

“What do you mean? How can we explain the fact we aren’t having a wedding back home anymore?”

“Simple. We’ll still have a wedding, a reception, all of it. It will be a real wedding in every way, except one—you’ll already be mine and I’ll already be yours.”

“Another scam, huh? You really think that’s the best way to start our marriage together?” she asked, already feeling excited.

“It sort of works for us. What do you say? Marry me tonight. Love me forever?”

He loved her enough that he wanted to marry her early, privately, right this second. How could she refuse the desire of the man who was her whole world?

“Let the hoax begin. And if Gran figures us out this time, we’re doomed.”

“But at least we’ll be doomed together.”

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