Only You (Wild Creek Ranch Series Book 4)

Chapter Fourteen

The cake was cut, followed by a delicious dinner, and finally Ryder and Sawyer went home, leaving Renée to enjoy her night stay with Anastasia. They painted their nails, joked, teased and gossiped and finally lay down to sleep.

"Ana, tomorrow is mom and dad's 25th anniversary. We're having a party. I want you to come over," said Renée, and Anastasia's eyes sparkled with interest.

"Sure. Why don't we go together from here? After lunch? I could help with the preparations that way."

"Yeah, that's a good idea."

They chatted for some time and went to sleep. The next morning, Renée and Anastasia were busy helping Anastasia's granny make her delicacies for the shop. With her granddad handling the sales, the girls cooked and carried the goodies to the store. It was a lot of hard work and by lunch time every single item was sold out. They sat down exhausted at the dining table. Anastasia's granddad, Eddie Hampton, closed the shop and came inside, sitting with them, exhausted.

Anastasia's granny, Daisy Hampton, served them a simple lunch of pork stew and homemade soft rolls and a unique fresh cranberry, almond, and broccoli salad. It seemed like she still had more energy to cook. Cooking was granny Daisy's most favorite thing in the world. They didn't run the shop for money; they were financially quite sound, having earned a lot during their younger days. Cooking, baking and running the shop were something that kept her grandparents alive. Every day, they looked forward to pleasing their regular customers and interacting with them.

While Renée was busy at her friend's house the whole day, Sawyer waited for her to come home. He missed her too much and just couldn't seem to focus on anything without her. It seemed as if she had forgotten him after visiting her friend.

'How could she forget me if she loves me?' he grumbled in his mind. The whole family noticed his foul mood and his restlessness. While Rihanna understood the exact reason, the others thought maybe he was angry with some ranch hand or something.

After lunch, he was about to go over and fetch her when Anastasia's granddad dropped the two girls off at their house. Renée walked in with Anastasia, giggling at some joke, not even aware of the upheavals that were going on inside Sawyer's head. Ryder stopped in his tracks, seeing the object of his interest at his doorstep. His face broke into a smile of disbelief.

"Welcome home, Annie. Come, I'll show you my room," he offered. Anastasia's eyes widened.

"I'm not interested in your room." Ryder chuckled and walked away towards the kitchen to get a bottle of water. Renée and Anastasia joked a little about Ryder's offer. It was then that her glance fell upon a brooding Sawyer, watching her as he sat at the windowsill.

Renée's eyes widened. Why did he look so mad? What did she do now? Ryder emerged with his bottle and whisked Anastasia forcefully to his room.

Rhett and Rex were busy discussing something with her dad and uncle Kennedy. It looked like they were having an important discussion. She was about to talk to Sawyer when her dad called Sawyer too, who ignored her and went to them and sat down there. Renée walked up to her dad and kissed his cheek, wishing him on his anniversary.

"Thank you, sweetie. I'll just get this done with and join you."

"Yes dad, I'll wish mom." She went towards her parents' room.

Later, they were all busy checking out the preparations for the party. No one had any time to sit down and chat. The party was to be held at the empty barn at the back of the house, where they usually hosted their events. The place had already been cleaned and decorated beautifully with string lights, lanterns, and balloons. Adequate seating arrangements had been made around the enormous table, which could seat around fifty people. The food had been ordered from Hannah's Kitchen, a reliable restaurant in the marketplace of Fordsville, which delivered delicious food at a short notice.

With only an hour to go for the party to start, Renée rushed back to the house to get ready. Anastasia was with Rihanna at the venue, already checking out the appetizers. She quickly wore a burgundy dress with spaghetti straps and brushed her hair until it shone. She was just about to apply some light make up when there was a small knock on her door. Thinking it to be Anastasia, she quickly opened the door.

"Ana, help me with the eyeliner, please," she said over her shoulder, picking up the lip liner. When Anastasia didn't reply, she looked up into the mirror to find Sawyer standing just behind her.

"Oh, Sawyer. Umm, did you need something?" She noticed the strange look in his eyes as they traveled slowly all over her.

"Yes," he said hoarsely. Renée's eyes widened when he came closer, his front brushing with her back, his hot breath on her neck and bare shoulders. "Why are you applying so much makeup?" he asked, taking the lipstick from her hands. He knew Matt and his family were also invited since his dad was uncle Kendrick's good friend. Renée whirled around and tried to take the lipstick away from his hands.

"I'm not doing much of makeup. Only lipstick. Do you have a problem?" Renée looked annoyed, but Sawyer stared at her, looking ravishing and so grown up in the dress that she wore.

He couldn't look away, with her being inches away from him. At that moment, he just wanted to pull her close and taste those luscious lips which she was trying to paint with lip color. He didn't want Matt to be more attracted to her than he already was. He placed the lipstick in his pocket, much to Renée's disappointment.

"Yes, I have," he growled in a low tone, his arm going around her soft body, crushing her to his body.

"Give it to me, Sawyer." Sawyer shook his head.

"Take it out if you need it," he said, gesturing toward his pocket. Renée blushed crimson. Never! She wouldn't grope around inside the pocket of his figure-hugging jeans. Sawyer smirked, seeing her reaction.

"Why are you so mad at me?" she asked, looking upset.

"Shouldn't I be? What were you doing since morning? Couldn't you have come home earlier to help?" Renée placed her hands on his chest.

"I was helping Ana's grandparents." She pushed at his chest. "Let me go, Sawyer. "

"No, I won't. Since last night you'd been away, and you haven't even missed me once. I can see how much you love me." Renée's jaws dropped, realizing why he was mad at her.

"I was very busy, Sawyer. This has nothing to do with my feelings for you. Ana's grandparents run a bakery shop and I was cooking with granny Daisy and Ana." She looked a little hurt. Why did he have to bring her feelings into everything? It was as if she needed to prove her feelings to him all the time. Sawyer lifted his hand and softly caressed her cheek, tucking her hair behind her ear.

"I missed you, do you know that?" he asked, releasing a haggard breath. Renée's eyes widened as goosebumps erupted on her bare skin. Sawyer's whole body burned with a need to touch her after seeing her reaction to his tender caress.

"Sawyer," she whispered, closing her eyes as he continued to brush his thumb against her cheek. Sawyer leaned closer to her. He was powerless to resist her.

"Do you know how much I need you, Ren?" he said, his mouth grazing her neck in a feather soft kiss at the sensitive spot below her ear. Renée's breath hitched, and she tenderly held his cheek to hold him against her. She didn't want him to release her. She wanted to stay like this forever in his arms, crushed to his hot body. His fingers tangled into her hair and his mouth lightly kissed another spot on her neck. His mouth trailed down, showering a kiss on her bare shoulder, making a gasp escape her mouth. But he suddenly released her and placed some distance between themselves, closing his eyes to control himself.

Renée instantly missed his touch and opened her eyes to see what suddenly happened. Why did he leave her without giving her a kiss? Sawyer slowly opened his eyes, which looked like the turbulent ocean trying hard to control himself. He turned and strode out of her room just as suddenly as he had appeared, taking her only lipstick along with him.

Renée sat down on the stool nearby, releasing the breath that she'd been holding for so long. What just happened between them? She felt a little frustrated that Sawyer always had to control himself at the last minute. "Why couldn't he just lose his control and kiss me already?" she said with frustration.