“That is so romantic,” Delia sighed.
Tilting my head to the side, I asked, “You don’t think we’re moving too quickly?”
“I don’t think you’re going fast at all,” Olivia disagreed with a shake of her head. “He’s been wooing you with presents and texting you often since Christmas. You’ve basically been long-distance dating for two and a half months as far as I’m concerned.”
“But I didn’t know he was my secret admirer until last night.”
Delia shrugged. “Just because you were the last one to know you were dating Sawyer doesn’t make it any less true.”
Olivia jerked her chin in Delia’s direction. “And she definitely knows what she’s talking about when it comes to that, only for much longer and without the whole secret admirer thing.”
“Hey, we’re here to talk about Katie’s relationship, not mine,” Delia protested. “Which is doing quite well, thank you very much.”
“This has been fun”—I was pleased to realize how much I meant that—“but I only have five minutes to pack before Sawyer will be here to pick me up.”
“Bring a bikini,” Olivia suggested as I headed for the stairs.
“And a scented candle if you have one,” Delia added.
“Great suggestions!” I called, racing toward my room.
Aware of how quickly the minutes were ticking away, I yanked my closet door open to grab my carry-on suitcase. After tossing it onto my bed, I walked over to my dresser to dig through my top drawer. With how Sawyer had ripped my lace panties from my body last night, I was tempted to go with my least expensive bras and underwear. But none of them were very pretty, and I wanted to drive him wild this weekend. If that meant losing all of my favorite lingerie, the sacrifice would be more than worth it.
I threw a few matching sets into my bag and then added another just in case he destroyed those. I followed them up with a pair of yoga pants and my favorite sweatshirt for the trip home. The scented candle on my bedside table went next to my toiletry bag, along with a bottle of bubble bath. The carry-on was still more than half empty, so I grabbed even more bras and panties and dumped them inside.
I was zipping the bag shut when there was a knock on my door. Glancing over my shoulder, I found Sawyer leaning against the jamb. “You ready to go, baby?”
“That depends.” I flashed him a playful grin. “Did you really mean it when you told me to pack light?”
His gaze raked down my body, a hungry gleam in his dark-blue eyes. “Abso-fucking-lutely.”
A delicious shiver raced down my spine. “Then I’m definitely ready to go.”
6
Sawyer
I’d stood in the doorway to Katie’s room for a minute before knocking. Just watching her and admiring how fucking gorgeous she was. She was zipping up a little suitcase when I finally rapped my knuckles on the doorjamb, and she looked up, then beamed at me. Like my own personal sun.
Warmth exploded in my chest. I didn’t know what I’d done to deserve such an amazing woman. The truth was, I didn’t deserve her, but I was keeping her anyway.
Once she confirmed she was ready to go, I linked our hands and led her out to my car. After helping her in, I leaned over her to buckle the seat belt and paused to drink from her plump lips. Only after I’d fumbled with it a few times did I pull back to click the belt in place.
“Are you finally going to tell me where we’re going?” she asked after I’d gotten settled and was maneuvering the car away from the sorority house.
“Nope.” I let the P pop and winked at her. “It’s a surprise.” On the way back to campus, I’d made a last-minute decision. Before we headed to a hotel for the weekend, I wanted to show her the project I’d been working on just for her.
Katie flopped back against her seat with a huff, making me grin. Especially when she giggled and reached across the console to lace our fingers together.
“I actually love surprises,” she said with a bright smile.
I squeezed her hand gently. “I know.”
We sat in a comfortable silence for a while, and with every mile that drew us closer to our destination, I knew I’d made the right decision.
Eventually, I turned the car onto a tree-lined street with a mixture of colonial-era homes.
“Wow,” Katie breathed as we passed each beautiful house. “These are gorgeous. I’ve always loved houses from this era. I even follow a Facebook page all about older homes.”
I was well aware of that fact. Her social media and I had become very well acquainted over the time Katie and I had been apart. It was partly to help with my surprise but also because it was pretty much the only connection I’d had with her beyond texting. And, okay…it also helped me keep tabs on her. To make sure she was safe. And that no other fuckers were sniffing around her.