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“How long have you and Piper been together?”
All the blood rushed to Sawyer’s face. His hands began to shake, so he clasped them behind his back. He leaned forward toward the microphone and reminded himself that he only had to answer the questions he wanted to answer.
“Piper’s fine. It’s been a crazy day. She sprained her ankle at rehearsals this morning. With all the commotion, she didn’t eat much today and got a little light-headed up there onstage. She wanted me to pass on to everyone that she’ll be good as gold in no time. She’s ready to get out and tour her new album.”
The flashes from the cameras somehow seemed brighter. It was like standing in front of a strobe light. His answer had only sparked more questions about his relationship with Piper and the kiss that didn’t happen.
Sawyer waited for something he could answer. From the back he heard, “What are your plans for touring?”
He pointed at the young female reporter. “Thanks for asking. I plan on touring this winter. I don’t have all the details, but I am hoping to get out there and share my music with as much of America as I can.”
“Will you join Piper’s tour since you two seem to get along so well?” the reporter asked as a follow-up.
Of course he couldn’t dodge the Piper bullet. It was always going to come back to her. He could hear Dean’s voice in his head—be coy—but all he really wanted to do was set the record straight. There was no Sawyer and Piper. There would never be a Sawyer and Piper. For a moment two months ago, he’d thought he could let someone into his heart, but she’d quickly reminded him why he should stay single.
“If I was offered the chance, there’s no one else I’d rather tour with. Can you blame me?”
The crowd again exploded in questions about his relationship with Piper. Coy definitely got everyone talking and speculating the way Dean wanted.
Thankfully, the production assistant signaled to Sawyer that his time was up. He waved to the unsatisfied reporters and got the heck out of there.
He needed to check on Piper and let Dean know mission accomplished. Everyone would be talking about him and Piper tomorrow. He’d have to make sure he kept doing as he was told so his name stayed on their lips.
* * *
“WE NEED TO get a statement out before the press puts its own spin on this.” Piper’s father had not stopped pacing since they got in the dressing room.
Piper wanted this day to be over. She needed to get out of this arena and back to the hotel where she could hide. The press was sure to speculate about why she had fainted onstage, and none of their guesses would be helpful.
Lana handed her another bottle of apple juice. She couldn’t bear to drink any more. They had been pushing cookies and juice on her so much that her body tingled from the excessive amounts of sugar.
“Sawyer let everyone know she’s fine,” Dean said. “Social media is lighting up about it, but it’s all good.”
“Good? My daughter fainted onstage. We’re supposed to go on tour in a few weeks. People are going to question her stamina before she even begins touring.”
“No one is focused on her not being well,” Dean explained.
“What else would they be focused on?”
“Sawyer carrying her offstage. Everyone thinks it was part of the act, and they’re loving it. They love Piper and Sawyer together.”
Piper let that soak in. People loved her and Sawyer together. Everyone was thrilled at the simple idea of it. Except her father, of course.
“Ridiculous!” Heath scoured his own social media accounts to verify Dean’s claims.
“I think we should take advantage of this. You could have Sawyer join Piper’s tour as the opening act. As long as we don’t deny the possibility of a relationship, people will be scrambling to buy tickets to see for themselves if they’re a couple or not. It’s a win-win for both of them.”
“We were leaning more toward crossover performers for opening acts. Artists who aren’t only country.”
“I think Sawyer’s songs have a wide appeal, as well,” Dean argued.
Heath wouldn’t give in. “We were also considering female artists to avoid exactly what you’re suggesting we promote—rumors about my daughter and her love life.”
Piper saw it differently than her father for one very important reason. The baby wasn’t going to be a secret forever. Eventually, she would have to not only come clean to her father and Dean but also the world. Maybe Dean was giving her the answer she had been looking for since this morning. Maybe the feelings she’d had for him were more real than she’d thought.
Piper let her head fall into her hands. Her thoughts drifted back to right before she’d passed out. Instead of walking away at the end of the song, Sawyer had been drawn to her. He was going to kiss her. Maybe his feelings had changed. Her father would have to come around. Sawyer would always be part of their lives.
“I need to talk to Sawyer,” she announced. Everyone exchanged curious glances. “Now. I have to ask him something.”
Dean went to find him. Her father sat beside her on the couch. “Do we need to go back to the hospital? I know you were sick before the performance, but maybe it’s more than a stomach bug.”
The sincere concern in his voice made Piper’s guilt for keeping the secret resurge. Sawyer needed to hear the news first, however. “I’ll be fine. It’s nothing. Maybe I was more anxious about performing than I thought I was. I feel much better now, I swear.”
“We don’t have to include the Stratton boy in any of this. You know we can’t let him distract us from your ultimate goal. It’s not your job to sell his records, only yours.”
“The rumors have already started. I need to talk to him about what’s going on. I’m fully committed to making the crossover into popular music. I know what I have to do, and if Sawyer joins the tour, that’s not going to change.”
Piper couldn’t let her father down. He had given up his career to be her manager, to help her make her dreams of being a country-western music star come true. The pressure of supporting her family was plenty of motivation, and now their family would be expanding.
Dean and Sawyer entered the room with equally worried expressions on their faces. Sawyer tried to smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“I need to talk to Sawyer alone,” Piper said. Although they looked confused, Lana and Dean left the room. Her father needed an additional push. “I’ll explain everything, I promise. Please give me a minute with Sawyer.”
Reluctantly, Heath followed the rest out.
“How are you feeling?” Sawyer asked, taking her father’s spot on the couch. He placed a warm hand on her knee. “You really gave me a scare there.”
Piper’s heart thumped double-time. Maybe everything was going to work out better than she’d imagined. “I’ll be okay. Thank you for holding me up and getting me offstage.”
“Anytime.” His trademark smile was back.
“I wanted to talk to you about what happened. About what was about to happen before I fainted.” Her stomach was in knots, but she had to know how he felt. If he had feelings for her, everything would truly be okay.
Sawyer stood up and rubbed the nape of his neck. “I am so sorry about that, Piper.”
She could feel her hope rising. “Don’t be sorry.”
“Dean thought it would be a more dramatic ending if you didn’t know it was coming. I wasn’t so sure about it, but I’m the new guy around here. I’m just trying to make a good impression.”
Piper’s heart sank. “Dean told you to kiss me?”
“He told me to make it look like I was going to kiss you. Obviously he doesn’t know about what happened between us, but he thought since Kelly Bonner was all about you and me being a secret item, we could really add fuel to the gossip fire.”
So it had all been for show. Not real. There were no hidden feelings being revealed. Piper felt a strange amount of anger build in her chest. “So, whatever someone tells you will help your career, you’ll do it. No questions asked, huh?”
Sawyer grimaced. He had basically accused her of the same thing a few months ago. “I should have clued you in on what was going to happen. Given the stuff that’s gone on between us, I should have told you,” Sawyer replied.
The stuff. Piper felt like a fool all over again. This didn’t change what needed to happen, though. In the end, there was only one solution to her problem.
With her heart in her throat, she stood up to look him straight in the eye. “Sawyer, I’m pregnant.”
CHAPTER FIVE
“EXCUSE ME?” THERE was no way Sawyer could have heard Piper correctly. The word pregnant could not have come out of her mouth. She had the stomach flu. Maybe she was delirious.
“The fans want us to be together, Dean said that going on tour together is the right thing to do for both of us, and the smartest move we can make is to give people what they want.”
Sawyer’s eyes couldn’t get any wider. His mouth snapped shut. What in the world was she talking about? He could have sworn she’d told him she was pregnant, but now she was talking about what was best for their careers?
“Did you just say you’re pregnant?” he finally managed to get out.
Piper began to flit around the room. Her arms flailed as she spoke. “I found out this morning at the hospital. Did you know they test for pregnancy without even asking? If you need an X-ray, they run a pregnancy test. Just like that. Then, the doctor walks in and drops the bomb—‘You’re pregnant!’—and you’re supposed to take that all in and leave with your prescription for prenatal vitamins like it’s no big deal. But let me tell you, it is a very big deal. It’s the biggest deal ever.”
“You’re pregnant.” Sawyer didn’t know what else to say. He needed to sit down. His mind was racing. He plopped down on the couch and stared straight ahead. Piper was pregnant and he was the father.
How were the two of them going to raise a baby? Sawyer didn’t have time to take care of his dog in this new life; how was he supposed to be a parent?
Piper kept moving like some sort of out-of-control Energizer Bunny. “I need to tell my father, but I thought you should hear it first. We need to convince him that this won’t ruin everything. He’ll know what to do so our careers stay on track.”
Sawyer’s brows pinched together. He didn’t need Heath Starling telling him what to do about his child. Heath might control Piper, but he was not going to control Sawyer, and he definitely wouldn’t be in charge of this child.
“This is our baby.” He pointed to her flat stomach, trying to picture it round and swollen. “We get to decide what happens. Not your dad.”
“I feel sick. I think I had too much sugar.” Piper sat down next to him. “My dad can help protect my image.”
“How can you think about your image right now?”
Piper didn’t flinch. “How can I not? I am financially responsible for my entire family, Sawyer. My career pays for everything, including my brother’s enormous medical bills. My family depends on me to uphold the image I’ve sold to the world.” She placed a hand on her stomach. “And I am thinking about this baby. This baby is going to depend on it, as well.”
Sawyer took a deep breath. “How is being pregnant going to ruin your image?”
Piper picked at the sequins on her dress. “Trust me. I’ve been at this longer than you have. I know how the business works. Country music is way more conservative than pop. I may be looking to cross over but my base is still country. Not to mention that my brand is good girl, girl-next-door, girl you can bring home to your mom. Good girls don’t get themselves in this situation. Good girls get married and then have babies. There are mothers out there who would not want their daughters listening to my music if they thought I promoted anything other than a clean lifestyle.”
Sawyer had issues with this logic but couldn’t deny he’d seen other celebrities take a fall when a scandal hit. A baby and a wife weren’t exactly part of his branding, either. He shook his head. How was he able to think about his image and career right now?
“Can I have a little more time to wrap my head around this before I have to deal with your father, who is probably going to kill me?”
“We have to tell him before I go meet with the tour promoters tomorrow to sign the contract. There’s no way I can go on a yearlong tour when I’m going to have a baby in less than nine months.”
The tour would have to be cut short. Sawyer hadn’t thought about that. Heath really was going to kill him.
They agreed to meet in the morning for breakfast. They would tell Heath together.
Sawyer left Bridgestone Arena feeling much less confident about his future than he had coming in.
* * *
“THE MORE I think about it, the more I can’t believe you’re okay with the world thinking you and Piper have a thing going,” Hunter said as they walked into their hotel. “Anyone who knows you is never going to believe it, and everyone who doesn’t, will. So much for me being wingman to the most eligible bachelor on tour.”
“I can’t talk about this right now.” Pretending to be dating Piper was the least of Sawyer’s concerns.
“Poor Hunter is going to have to find his own dates,” Faith teased. “And I’ll say it again, there are worse things than dating Piper Starling.”
Sawyer wasn’t about to let himself truly fall for someone like Piper. He’d been avoiding women like her his entire adult life. Why had he let his guard down? Piper had made it clear back then and tonight that her career was her number one priority. She reminded him of women like his mother, who’d left her husband and children without ever looking back.
Sawyer wanted to be like his father—a strong provider who put his family first. But how was he going to manage raising a child while building a career in music? How difficult would Piper and Heath make it for him to be part of their child’s life? He knew one thing for sure—he didn’t want his child raised by nannies.
“I need a minute with my brother,” Faith said, hooking her arm in his and pulling him in the direction of the stairs instead of the elevator. “We’ll meet you upstairs.”
She pushed the door open and motioned for him to lead the way. He might have grown up without a mother, but he had a Faith, and she knew him better than anyone.
“What’s going on in that head of yours? Ever since you got done talking to Piper, you look like your favorite horse just ran away.”
“It’s been a pretty stressful day.”
“Tell me what’s really going on. Is there something wrong with Piper? Does she not want you to go on tour with her? What did she need to talk to you about?”
Lying to his sister was impossible, and right now he needed someone to talk to more than ever. “What if I told you it’s not so far-fetched that Piper and I could be together? What if we were together a couple months ago?”
Faith didn’t buy it for a second. “I was there when you two were working on her album. You were living under my roof. You might have been flirtatious, but there’s no way you were sneaking around having a secret romance. I would have noticed.”
Sawyer side-eyed her as they made their way up the stairs. She was one to talk. Faith and Dean had carried on a secret romance for an entire summer over a dozen years ago when she was only eighteen.
“Right, because no one has ever gotten away with a secret relationship on our farm before.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Dad knew about me and Dean. I didn’t know he knew, but he did. He told the Presleys about us.” She was quiet, probably thinking back to when things were starting between Piper and Sawyer. “I’ll admit, I noticed she looked at you like you hung the moon for a long time. I also noticed you were kind of loving all the attention. But those last couple weeks, it was different. It was almost like you were avoiding each other.”
They had been avoiding each other, but that was no longer a possibility. Piper would be a part of Sawyer’s life forever. “What if we were in love? Or thought we were.”
Faith laughed. “If you were in love, I would know, because it would change you. And you have been the same ol’ Sawyer since she left Grass Lake.”
“Well, I’m not the same Sawyer I was a couple hours ago.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, trying to keep up with him. “What is going on? If you want me to tell Dean to back off this idea of you and Piper leading the rest of the world on, I will. I don’t want you to feel like you have to lie about who you love or don’t love.”
“What if I don’t have a choice?”
“What?” She tugged on his shirt to get him to stop. “Why wouldn’t you have a choice?”
Sawyer pressed his back against the wall and pulled at the front of his hair. “I messed up, Faith. I messed up big-time.”
“She’s not sick.” Faith stopped. He could imagine the gears turning in her head as she put everything together. She grasped the railing. “She’s pregnant, isn’t she?”
Sawyer nodded.
“Oh, my... Sawyer.” She wrapped her arms around him. He dropped his head on her shoulder. “We have to tell Dean,” she said.
Sawyer straightened. “We can’t. You can’t tell Dean until Piper is ready to tell him. She is freaking out right now.”
“How far along is she?”
“I would say about six weeks.”
“When I was in Memphis for that horse show,” she said, shaking her head. “Okay, six weeks. Has she made plans to see a doctor? She fainted today. Someone needs to make sure everything is okay with the baby.”
“I don’t think so. I think she’s so overwhelmed, she doesn’t know what to do.”
“I know a midwife here in Nashville who would definitely be discreet.”
Faith always knew what to do. Her level head had kept him out of trouble more times than he could count. “We can talk to her about it in the morning, when we tell her dad.”
“I still think we should tell Dean.”
“We can tell Dean when we tell Heath. Maybe the more people in the room, the less likely I’ll end up dead. Heath is going to hate me.”
“Don’t worry about that. You’re taking responsibility. That’s all he can ask of you right now.”
“What does being responsible mean? Do I marry her? Send her a check to help pay for expenses? I have no idea what to do. She thinks this is going to ruin her career. Is it going to ruin mine?” Sawyer was about to hyperventilate.
“Relax. Calm down.”
“Faith, I found out I’m going to be a dad a few hours ago. I’m pretty sure when I wake up tomorrow, I’m going to need you to remind me this wasn’t all a bad dream.”
Faith frowned. “I hate that neither of you is thinking of a baby as a blessing.” She placed a hand on her brother’s cheek. “I know the timing sucks, but you’re going to be a dad. That’s the most important job you’re ever going to have.”
“Dad would be so disappointed in me for getting in this situation.”
“Dad would be ecstatic about becoming a grandpa. He never would have judged you. You’re both twenty-five years old. Our parents were younger than you when they had me.”
“Yeah, but we’re terrible parents already. Piper’s freaking out. I’m terrified.”
“If that makes people terrible parents, then everyone is a terrible parent. It’s going to be okay,” Faith assured him. “We’ll figure it out. That’s what family does.”
Sawyer took a deep breath. He wanted to believe his sister, but who knew what Piper would think in the morning...or the lengths Heath would go to keep Piper’s career on track.
CHAPTER SIX
PIPER’S HANDS TREMBLED. She sat on them to keep them still. Waiting for Sawyer to show up was torture. All she wanted to do was tell her dad what was wrong and let him fix it.
“Dean wasn’t kidding,” her dad said, lifting his eyes from his phone screen for a second. Heath had the country music TV station on in their suite while he scrolled through his social media feeds. “Everyone is talking about you right now. I haven’t seen buzz like this since you met Prince Harry.”
Sawyer wasn’t the first guy the world had wanted Piper to date. A year ago, a very vocal group of fans had desperately wanted her to become a princess. At the time, she’d thought it was ridiculous. How she’d love to go back to laughing off the silly whims of some teenagers.
Piper jumped at the knock on the door. Her nerves were completely shot. “Remember to be nice, Daddy.”
He smirked. “I’m always nice.”
“If by ‘always’ you mean ‘never,’ I concur.”
“Lana, I can be nice, can’t I?”
Poor Lana froze as she arranged the room service breakfast they had ordered. “Of course, Mr. Starling.”
Piper shook her head. There was no way Lana could answer that question honestly even if she wanted to. They all knew if there was one person who took the most of her father’s abuse, it was poor Lana. “You’re too nice, Lana.”
She opened the door for Sawyer. Behind him stood Faith and Dean. Sawyer had texted her last night to tell her his sister had interrogated him until he broke. Faith was well aware of what was about to be discussed, but Dean was not.
“You ready for this?” Sawyer whispered as he greeted her with a hug.
“As ready as I’ll ever be. You?”
“Let’s do this,” he replied.
The presidential suite at the Berkshire Hotel had two bedrooms, a spacious living room and an adjoining dining room. The living room had two sitting areas filled with plush couches and wingback chairs. A large flat-screen television hung on the wall above the fireplace.
“I figured we’d eat while we talked,” Piper said. The table was covered in pastries and family-size portions of scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon and potatoes. There was a large platter of fresh fruit in the center.
They all sat down and everyone dug in except for Piper and Sawyer. Piper inhaled deeply. She’d never done anything to make her father angry with her. Growing up, she was the kid who did what she was told and never stepped out of line. Her brother’s illness had given their parents enough grief.
Sawyer took her hand and held it under the table. The contact made her stomach flip and her skin tingle. As much as she appreciated the support, it was more distracting than anything else.
“So, Sawyer and I talked last night. We are both completely on board with touring together.”
“That’s great,” Dean said. “I think it’s a really solid business decision. You two are meeting with the tour promoters today?”
“This afternoon. Are you sure about this? We talked about a lot of other options,” her father reminded her.
“There’s a reason why I think it’s a better idea to take Sawyer on tour,” Piper replied.
Faith folded her hands in front of her. Her engagement ring caught the light and sparkled. Piper wished it was Faith and Dean making this announcement rather than her.
Everyone stared, waiting for Piper to go on. Surely they could all hear her heart thundering inside her chest.
“Do you plan to share?” Heath asked.
“When Sawyer and I were writing the songs for my album, we...thought we were in love. And foolishly, we acted on those feelings and—” Her voice cracked as her eyes darted from person to person. She didn’t want to make eye contact with any one of them for too long.
“Piper is pregnant,” Sawyer said. “We found out yesterday. We weren’t sure how everyone would take the news, so we waited until this morning to tell everyone. Especially you, Mr. Starling.”
Piper’s father dropped his fork with a clang. “You have to be kidding me. Tell me he’s kidding, Piper.”
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I know this isn’t what you want to hear right now, but I swear to you, I will do whatever it takes to make this okay.”
Her stomach clenched as she waited for him to say something, anything to give her a clue as to what he was thinking.
“I suspected something was going on when I had to leave to help your mother with Matthew,” he finally said. “I trusted you to not to do anything stupid, but I guess that trust was misplaced.”
Piper squeezed Sawyer’s hand as her shoulders stiffened.