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)
Chapter Five
Sabrina closed the door to the bedroom she would be using while stuck in this cabin. This room. Not Sawyer’s. What the hell had she been thinking? “Hey, sis. I’m fine. I didn’t understand how quickly the storm would get bad and I tried to run an errand before I went home.”
“Run an errand?” her sister asked. “On Sawyer’s mountain? There’s not much up there. Did you get lost? Did you forget the turnoff to Dad’s place?”
She knew exactly how to get to Mel and Cassidy’s. “No. It turns out Sawyer is my landlord.”
“He is? Huh. I thought Marie handled it for you.”
Her sister didn’t know everything about Bliss. “She’s only the agent and she’s out of town. I really wanted to get the electrical system looked at.”
“I told you Hale would do it. He’s not going to charge you,” Elisa insisted.
“He shouldn’t have to,” Sabrina countered. “My landlord should do it, and he should pay Hale if he does the work. It’s not fair. He’s agreed to let Hale look at it. They can sort it all out when the storm’s over.”
“Wyatt said you had an accident.” Elisa sounded concerned.
“It’s minor.” If she didn’t convince her sister, she would try to get up the mountain. “I wasn’t going very fast, but my tires slid and I ended up hitting a tree and getting stuck. I had to walk to get to Sawyer’s place. Though I didn’t know it was Sawyer’s place. I mean, I knew it was Sawyer. I just didn’t know Sawyer was Sawyer.”
“Oh, no. What did he do?” Elisa asked. “You’re talking like you did in high school when you had a crush but didn’t want Mom to know because she would inevitably talk you out of trying to date because all men are evil and no relationship ever works out.”
Did? What had Sawyer done? Well, he’d awoken her sleeping beast because she’d kind of thought she was done with sex. Even as she’d gone on her last date, her heart hadn’t been in it. Sex was awkward and so far not worth the embarrassment. She’d had exactly two lovers, and neither of them had been the stuff of romance novels. She wasn’t sure why she thought it would be different.
But she did.
“I’m flustered. It’s been a rough day, but I’m fine and the guys are nice. They said I can stay here until the storm passes. I need to call Del. She’s going to have to open the school on Monday. Sawyer told me we likely won’t be able to get off the mountain until Tuesday.”
“That’s what Nate told me, too,” Elisa admitted. “I can try to get up there on a snowmobile if you need me to.”
She wasn’t going to risk her sister’s life because she’d made a fool of herself. “I’m fine. Like I said, I’m safe and warm. I will admit it’s awkward to be here with two strangers.”
Elisa was quiet for a moment. “So I haven’t talked about this because I didn’t think anything would come of it. Sawyer’s not exactly your type.”
“Do I have a type? I kind of thought my type was only found in fiction.” It was what she feared.
“Fair,” Elisa conceded.
“What haven’t you told me?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“There are a couple of times I’ve heard people talk about what happened last year at the Christmas party,” Elisa began.
She knew this story well. “He was an asshole to me.”
“He behaved out of character,” her sister countered. “I don’t know the guy well, but he’s always calm. I’ve had to go out to Hell on Wheels and handle a few situations. Sawyer’s not exactly friendly but he’s a solid guy, and he’s not rude without provocation. Everyone in town still talks about how he reacted to you.”
She had no idea the people were still talking about that night. She’d thought only she and Nate and Callie had noticed. “He told me it’s because he’s attracted to me and he doesn’t want to be. So he’s not merely rude. He’s cruel.”
Now her sister seemed genuinely taken aback. “I’m surprised. He’s not known for lying. Quite the opposite. He’s brutally honest. What’s going on up there?”
She shouldn’t have said anything at all. Except she kind of needed advice. “He kissed me.”
“Sawyer did?” Elisa asked with a gasp, and Sabrina could hear her boyfriend Van say something in the background. “Van wants to know if Wyatt’s there, too.”
“He was in the kitchen.”
“Van thinks that was a dirty play on Sawyer’s part because Wyatt’s been following you for months,” Elisa said. “Really? And you didn’t mention that to me? Sabrina, according to Van, Wyatt makes puppy-dog eyes your way, and he got sad when he saw you out with the Creede boys. Hang on.”
“Hey, Brina,” Van’s deep voice came over the line. “So when you come into Trio and Wyatt’s there, he always gets the server to change his table so he’s closer to you. However, when he saw you on your date, he sat at the bar and talked to me all night about this woman he’s interested in but hasn’t been able to approach yet. He didn’t say your name, but I knew who he was talking about.”