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)
He leaned forward slightly, seeming to get serious. “Look, I have to be honest with you. We’ve definitely done it, but it’s not like we’re formally partners, though I do think it’s what Wyatt’s angling for. I just can’t give it to him. The sex, yes, but you should know I’m not great with anything long term. I’m not built for it.”
Poor Wyatt. Her heart ached for him, but there was something calming about having the truth out there. She didn’t have to worry she would make a fool of herself. She knew the boundaries, and she and Wyatt could be friends. Though she might advise him to leave the glorious grump and find a kinder boyfriend. “You should be honest with him about what you want. How long have you been together?”
“He’s been here almost a year,” Sawyer replied. “We’ve done it probably four times. I’ll admit I don’t do it the way I used to when I was younger. Ty and I used to do it all the time. Like we would walk into a bar, and it was a free for all. I’m getting way pickier as I get older. There’s a time and a place, you know. I’m worried Wyatt wants more than I can give, and that’s something you should think about when he inevitably talks to you.”
Was she about to become their therapist? And was he talking about the Ty her sister sometimes worked with? The EMT? They were exes? Well, Sawyer seemed to have a type. Hot and charming. “You want me to tell him you don’t want something long term with him?”
Sawyer sighed like he was happy she understood. “I want you to think about what he can offer you and how hurt he might get if you dive into something physical with him.”
She was so confused. “I don’t see what I have to do with the fact that you’ve only had sex with your boyfriend four times this year.”
Sawyer’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped, and then the most brilliant smile came over his face. “Baby, we’re not gay. We’re both straight. We’re trying to figure out how to seduce you. That’s what I meant by partners. Given who your sister is and the fact you live in the valley, I assumed we were using the word in the same way.”
The world seemed to stop. He…Wyatt…they… “I’m sorry. What?”
Sawyer was giving her his “you’re a dumbass” stare. “He likes you.”
She set her spoon down because she wasn’t hungry anymore. What was Sawyer trying to do? “We just met.”
“You might have met him recently, but he’s seen you and liked you. It’s a dude thing. See, we don’t actually have to know a woman to know we want a woman. Same thing for me, but I thought you weren’t the kind of woman who could handle me. Now I know you’re mean.” The last was said with a smirk that lit his whole face with arrogant charm.
What the hell was going on? Ah, maybe Wyatt wasn’t the only one Sawyer was bullying today. She wasn’t sure why the man had taken one look at her and disliked her, but she wasn’t going to take his abuse. “That’s not nice of you, but it’s easy to see you’re not a nice man.”
“I never hid my personality.” He actually seemed happy she understood. “I’m not nice but I can be kind, and I can be good for certain things.”
“Like humiliating the women you take a dislike to?”
“What?”
She stood up, placing her napkin on the table. “I don’t have to sit here and listen to you make fun of me. I am well aware I’m not some bombshell.”
He stared at her as though pure willpower could keep her standing where she was. “Sabrina, why do you think I ran? And I did. I took one look at you with your soft eyes and hips I could hold on to, with all that hair, and a mouth I knew I’d want to kiss, and I ran like a fucking coward. Why do you think I ran? Do you think it was because I saw you and said no, I don’t want to know her? It would have been far easier to simply be polite to you and then never speak to you again. Instead, I made an ass of myself the likes of which the town below us still talks about to this day. I took one look at you and knew I wanted to fuck you, but I also made a few assumptions about you.”
She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Assumptions?”
He stood slowly, unfurling his tall, muscular body like the gift it was. “I assumed you were the type of woman I stay away from. Innocent. Sweet. Nice. The kind of woman who would slap me if I offered her a hot night or two in bed. The kind who would never consider letting me touch her because I run a bar and I used to be a criminal. Think about the last part as you’re standing there looking like you could eat me alive.”