Then again, Adrianne had been in on Kennedy’s plan to put Sawyer to work last year and they’d both enjoyed watching him do it. Granted, Kennedy hadn’t bothered to tell Adrianne, who happened to be a good friend, just how much she’d enjoyed it. That wouldn’t have been good for anyone involved.
Kennedy heard the bell over the front door chime, and she hoped that was Mrs. Starrett leaving, but she knew that her last appointment of the day would be coming in soon, which meant her little dinner date with Sawyer was going to come to an abrupt end here soon.
Not a date, she reminded herself.
Definitely not a date.
“So, what’re you doin’ tonight?” Sawyer asked as he closed the lid on his container, finishing his food faster than she’d thought possible.
“I’ve got plans,” she told him. It wasn’t a lie. She was having a real dinner with her father tonight. Her father and Mack, to be exact.
“Really?” he asked, cocking his head to the side and studying her.
“Actually, yes,” she said with a chuckle. “Believe it or not, I don’t sit at home every night alone.”
“I didn’t figure you did,” he said quickly. “So when are you free?”
Kennedy studied him for a moment, putting her fork down and closing the lid on her partially eaten food. She’d learned to eat small meals throughout the day—most of the time it was the only way she could eat at all—so it wasn’t that she was trying to put an end to their meal, but she really did have to get back to work. And she also had to leave room for dinner in just a couple of hours.
“I don’t know,” she told him honestly.
“Well, I guess Buster and I will see you tomorrow, then.”
“Sawyer . . .”
“Nope. I told you how it’s gonna work. Either you agree to a date, or we’ll come visit you every day until you give in.”
“I’m not gonna give in,” she told him, knowing that she was lying through her teeth. As much as she wanted to keep her distance from this man, she knew if he tried hard enough, there was no way she’d be able to resist his charm.
“You will,” he assured her before getting to his feet and taking her container, along with his, to the trash.
Fully expecting Sawyer to say something else, Kennedy was flabbergasted when he cast her a sexy smile over his shoulder as he and Buster made their way back to the front. And she could do nothing but stare after him.
Yeah, it was safe to say, she was not immune to Sawyer’s charm.
No matter how much she wished it so.
WHEN SEVEN O’CLOCK rolled around, Kennedy was famished. She closed up her office after Olivia left for the evening, got in her car, and headed right to her father’s. He’d already called her once to see what time she would be there so he could have dinner ready. She noted that he had sounded a little excited, which was saying a lot for a man like her father.
Jeff Endsley, as far as Kennedy was concerned, would’ve received the father of the year award every single year of her childhood. It had always been just the two of them and Kennedy couldn’t imagine life could’ve possibly been any better than it was.
Unlike some kids with single dads, she had never wondered what it would be like to have a mother. Why that was, she didn’t really know, but she had to believe it had something to do with the fact that her father had made sure she had all the love a little girl needed. He attended every recital, every school play, every school party . . . he made sure he was there when she needed him. Which was why she could overlook the lack of emotion reflected on his face. It was there, she knew it was, even if he didn’t show it.
He had one expression: stern. And she loved him for it.
It took her ten minutes to get to her father’s house. She parked in the driveway behind her father’s patrol car and a familiar truck that she was used to seeing only in the parking lot of Moonshiners.
Mack.
She smiled. The idea of her father dating someone left her feeling giddy. Almost as though she were the one on the date, although that hadn’t happened in months. Not for lack of trying on her part. Well, that was only partially true. Up until six months ago, Kennedy had willingly gone out on dates with men who would ask her out. Some of them were residents of Coyote Ridge, one of them even a deputy, Tim Colson, who worked for her father. Unfortunately, except for Tim, who she’d dated for a lengthy period of time, her first dates rarely ended up leading to a second date, which was why she’d opted to devote all of her time to work recently.
Truthfully, she hated dating. The getting ready, making sure she was wearing the appropriate outfit, having to ensure she said the right thing, did the right thing, smiled when it was appropriate. And then, by the end of the night she had to worry about the possibility of a good-night kiss.