Page 79 of The Wayward Son

“I am a pretty good bartender.”

He grinned. “I was thinking more about a cocktail waitress position. I can see you strutting around in those short shorts they wear.”

“I don’t strut. And I don’t wear short shorts. Not that I can’t. I’d look pretty good in them, actually.”

He opened the door. “I know.”

He went outside, and she went to the doorway. “How would you know?”

He turned around and looked at her. “I got eyes, Skittles.”

“Yeah, well, keep them to yourself, Herc.”

Chapter twenty-three

"I should've seen that coming."

Jade was spending a lazy morning in bed. She and Sage moved back into Sage’s house when the weather cleared. The sun had come out and melted a lot of the snow away, though the road between Sage’s house and the main house was still a bit of a mess. Sawyer had to drive them back in his truck. She imagined he’d show up today to see if they needed anything. She hadn’t seen him in two days, and she missed him.

She reached for her laptop and sat up in bed. She’d continued sending resumes out, but not too enthusiastically. Since she’d come back to Castle Springs and the Three Oaks Ranch, she wasn’t as invested as she had been. But she didn’t want to give up on her dream. Not yet anyway. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about Sawyer. Or at least she wasn’t ready to admit to herselfhow she felt about him. And she had no idea if he was feeling anything special or different. He was very hard to read when it came to emotional stuff.

Sometimes he’d look at her in a way very different from how he’d ever looked at her before. And then other times, they were like fifteen-year-old buddies. It was all very confusing. But until she knew how he felt. Or he at least gave her some sort of clue as to how he felt. She’d keep her feelings to herself. She didn’t want to ruin what they had or make him uncomfortable. She’d rather be confused and with him, then know for sure and have chased him away.

When she heard voices in the living room, she realized one of them was Sawyer, and she got out of bed and started to get dressed. Before she was done, there was a knock on her door.

“Get your ass out of bed.”

She ran a hand through her hair and opened the door. “Good morning to you, too.”

“I brought breakfast.”

She smiled. “I’ll be right out.”

A few minutes later, she joined Sawyer and Sage in the kitchen. They both had a cup of coffee and there was a pink box in the middle of the table.

“You went to the bakery this morning?”

“Yes.” He glanced at Sage. “Xander sends his love. Or is it lust? It’s hard to tell.”

Sage ignored him and opened the box as Jade sat down with her own cup of coffee. Sage tipped the box and showed the contents to Jade.

“What would you like?”

She looked at Sawyer. “You got me a lemon Danish?”

“I’m thoughtful once in a while.” After Jade took the Danish, he pulled the box away from Sage and took out a bear claw.

She scowled at him, then selected a blueberry muffin. “What were you doing in town so early?”

“I told Dad I’d make the feed store run if I could have a couple hours off once I get back.”

“A couple of hours to do what?”

He looked at Jade. “Go on a trail ride with Jade.”

Jade cocked her head. “Is there still snow on the ground?”

“In patches, yes. Seems most of it is on your road. But you’ll be on a horse, not walking through it. You’ve hidden out long enough. And we’ll be headed to Missoula in a few days. I want to go before then.”

---