The Story Of Us - Teri Wilson Page 0,27

chair where he obediently took a seat. His backside barely had a chance to make contact with it before she handed him an iPad. He looked down, and Jamie’s face smiled up at him from the photograph accompanying the now-famous article about True Love’s importance to Waterford. He’d barely looked at the picture when he’d first pulled up the article earlier, more concerned with the contents of the story itself. Now, however, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze away from it.

Hair tumbling over her shoulders in loose blond curls, Jamie wore a soft gray sweater with pale pink stipes—cashmere, from the looks of it. Light spilled in from True Love’s big picture window, casting a gentle glow over the box of Valentines in her hand and the shelves of books behind her, almost making the photograph look as if it had been taken in another era. Timeless. Beautiful.

Sawyer couldn’t help being struck by the softness of the image and how much it contrasted with the room in which he now sat, all hard edges and glossy surfaces. The difference made him feel inexplicably hollow all of a sudden, so he forced his attention back to Dana looming over him less than a foot away.

She gave him a stiff smile. “Your goal was to persuade the community to embrace our deal.”

“I know.” He nodded, gaze flitting automatically back to the picture of Jamie.

The back of his neck grew warm.

Focus.

Dana took a deep, measured breath. “To be very clear, this?” She pointed at the iPad—more specifically, to the headline that implied readers could find the love of their lives at True Love Books & Cafe. “Is the opposite of that.”

“I understand.” Sawyer handed her back the tablet. He couldn’t concentrate with Jamie smiling up at him as if she were Cupid disguised as a beautiful bookseller. “Which is why I’m working to meet as many of the owners as possible.”

He’d taken advantage of the drive from Portland to formulate a plan of action. Obviously, convincing Jamie to back the Ridley redesign was out of the question. Trying to get her on board would be next to impossible. But that didn’t mean all of the other business owners in Waterford would follow her lead. He already had Rick on his side, and some of the people at the town council meeting had seemed interested, as well. What he needed to do was charm the socks off everyone else in the business district. Strength in numbers and all that.

“Well, perhaps you should concentrate on Ms. Vaughn,” Dana said.

Sawyer stood. He’d had about enough of feeling like a chastened schoolboy. It was time to regain control of the situation. “Look, I know that Jamie can be a little passionate about her causes.”

“Jamie?” Dana’s eyebrows shot up. “How well do you know Ms. Vaughn?”

He cleared his throat. “Well, I haven’t seen her since high school.”

“But in high school?”

“We…” Sawyer paused. We were as in love as two high school kids could be. “…dated.”

Dana blinked. “She was your high school sweetheart?”

This conversation was going even worse than Sawyer had imagined. He shook his head. “We never referred to ourselves…”

“Sawyer.” Dana arched a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

He sighed. “Yes. We were high school sweethearts.”

“And now?”

“We’re nothing.” But that wasn’t the complete truth. Not the way Sawyer saw it, anyway. “A friendly nothing. We did just take a cooking class together last night.”

Dana nodded. “That’s good. Because there can be no lingering animosity between the two of you that could imperil this deal.”

He thought back to last night—to Jamie’s outburst about direct communication…to her salad tongs snapping together dangerously close to his face…

To the arugula.

“I’ve got it,” he lied. “I’ve got it under control.”

Chapter Eight

The afternoon at True Love Books & Cafe proved to be even busier than the morning had been as more and more people had a chance to read the article and come by to support the bookshop. Jamie rang up books while Lucy tried her best to keep up with the coffee demand, which was great. Their espresso machine had never seen so much action.

Neither had True Love, obviously. The Valentine’s display area was packed with well-dressed customers who seemed to be shopping for more than just books and lattes. Now that word had gotten out about the store being a lucky charm for love, Jamie noticed customers sneaking curious glances at one another and using the display of old Valentines as an ice breaker to meet each other. All in all, it was adorable.

And