Total pages in book: 146
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138588 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 693(@200wpm)___ 554(@250wpm)___ 462(@300wpm)
“I will take the lead and if she’s…amenable…I’ll date her on my own.” Wyatt grinned. “Amenable means agreeable. I’ve been doing word of the day. I think I’ll bring up my interest in education. It’s something we have in common.”
He turned back to his stew.
Bella came bounding in as Sawyer heard the door to the bathroom shut and lock. The dog bounced in front of him and then ran toward the back of the house and then to Sawyer.
“Bella likes her. She’s doing her ‘someone I like locked me out, and can’t you bust through so I can be with my friend’ dance,” Wyatt said.
Yeah, everyone in his household liked the new girl.
It had been easier when his household was made up of him and no one else.
But he had to admit, it had been way less fun.
* * * *
Wyatt was determined to not act like a creepy stalker. His stalking—if one could call it that—was friendly. If he thought for a second she would be offended, he would stop. She might get offended if she knew how his eyes were drawn to the deep V of her shirt. His shirt. She wore one of his white undershirts, and it looked damn good on her.
She was wearing his clothes, and the deeply buried caveman inside him liked it. The pajama bottoms were too long and she’d had to tie them around her waist, but she still looked awfully pretty sitting across from Sawyer at the dinner table they almost never used.
It felt right to have her here, and he was going to prove to Sawyer this could work.
“This is good.” Sabrina gave him a smile before she ate another spoonful.
“It’s Sawyer’s mom’s recipe.” He’d been perfecting it. Since he no longer spent his days beating the shit out of people, getting the shit kicked out of him, or lying to the police about both, he’d found the joy of hobbies. He’d tried a lot of things. The Bliss County Recreation Center was a lush field of learning. He hadn’t been good at macrame, but he’d been damn good at the self-defense class where they’d used crochet hooks to—as the teacher explained—incapacitate a son of a bitch. He’d ended up teacher’s pet in that one. But the cooking classes and the book club were what really got him interested. “I added some bone broth to give it an added layer of flavor.”
She smiled again, and his dick tightened. “Whatever you did it’s excellent and exactly what I needed. I can’t believe how cold I was.”
“You’re on a mountain more than ten thousand feet above sea level and it’s almost winter.” Sawyer had been quiet since she’d entered the room, but naturally now he found something to needle her about.
“She’s new to town,” Wyatt said pointedly. “She obviously hasn’t had time to shop. I’ll…” This might be too early to start gently taking control of certain aspects of her life like her comfort and safety. But he wanted to. He wanted to be the one to ensure she had everything she needed. When he’d first come out of the MC, Sawyer had told him he needed to find his vocation. Wyatt had been forced to look the word up because vocabulary wasn’t a big thing in his family. Vocation meant job, but it could also mean calling. The longer he was in her company, the more he thought taking care of Sabrina Leal might be his vocation. “I’m sure her sister will take her.”
Sabrina winced. “She did. I’m afraid I’m getting a hearty lecture from my sister and the men she’s engaged to. She took me to the Trading Post a couple of weeks ago and I bought a heavy coat and boots, but it didn’t seem like it was going to be so cold today. She told me there was a storm coming, but I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think snow.”
He understood. “Because you’ve never had to live through a Colorado winter.”
“But snow is rain when it’s below freezing,” Sawyer pointed out utterly needlessly.
Sabrina’s jaw clenched. “Thank you. I had no idea. I’ll write it down so I don’t get it confused again.”
Why? Sawyer rarely talked. Why had he decided to change his persona now? He could be his normal surly, silent self and everything would be fine. He was going to have to drag Sawyer’s ass kicking and screaming into this relationship. “I had a hard time with my first winter here.”
“I thought you were from Colorado.” At least she didn’t keep the look of disdain in her eyes when she switched her focus to him. It seemed reserved for Sawyer, so maybe Wyatt still had a way in.
“I am.” He took a sip of the Cab he’d found stashed away in the back of the pantry. Normally he was more of a beer guy, but he was spreading his wings. Or more importantly trying to make a good impression since Sawyer was making the worst possible one. “But I’m from eastern Colorado. It’s like Kansas lite. It gets cold, but the elevation isn’t what it is here in the mountains.”