Page 128 of On the Wild Side

“I love you, Blue Eyes.”

“I love you, too.”

EPILOGUE

HOLDEN LEXINGTON

Today is going to be a son of a bitch, and if I’m going to get through it with my sanity intact, I need some coffee.

And maybe I need to see her.

Okay, mostly, I need to see her. So sue me.

I push my way into Bitterroot Valley Coffee Co., and the smell of coffee and sugar assaults my nose. At first, I don’t see Millie Wild behind the counter, and I consider turning around and walking back out, but then she bustles through a side door, a smile on that drop-dead gorgeous face as she carries a couple of sleeves of cups behind the counter. Her long, chestnut-brown hair is up in a high ponytail to keep it out of her way. She’s in a branded T-shirt and jeans, with a signature orange apron tied around her waist.

It’s the middle of the morning on a weekday, so of course, it’s busy in here. I hang back for a moment and take her in before she sees me. She smiles and jokes with her customers, and I love seeing this carefree look on her face.

She glances my way, and the ice seeps into her eyes, and those walls come crashing down around her.

Not that I don’t deserve it. I abso-fucking-lutely do. But it still pisses me off.

“Hey,” she says with a polite smile as I approach her. God, I fucking hate it when she looks at me with indifference. I’d almost rather the blatant animosity that shows up more times than not than the cool indifference. “What would you like today?”

“My usual.”

“And that is?”

I narrow my eyes at her. This woman has half the town’susualmemorized, and I know she knows mine, too. She’s just being obtuse to be a brat.

I wish I could take her over my knee and spank her pretty little ass.

“Coffee. Black. One sugar.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right.” She taps the screen of the computer. “What are you up to today?”

“Headed to the lawyer’s office,” I say as I tap my card to the screen. “Will reading.”

Her hazel eyes—no,gold, flecked with green—soften on me. “I’m sorry, Holden.”

“Yeah, well. Have to get it over with.”

“I was sorry to hear about your dad.”

She wouldn’t be if she knew the absolutefuckerythat man caused. For both her and me. But she’ll never know, if I have anything to say about it.

I simply nod at her, and she turns to pour my coffee, adds the sugar the way she knows that I like it, which makes me grin, and then snaps the lid on and turns to pass it to me.

“Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Good luck.”

When she softens like this, it’s almost my undoing. So, I turn and walk out of the coffee shop and down the street to Jameson and Jameson, Attorneys at Law. When I walk inside, I’m shown into a conference room where all four of my sisters are already seated. I take the chair right in the middle of them.

Ilovemy sisters. My father was a son of a bitch who didn’t give a rat’s ass about anyone with a vagina, so I’m quite sure he’s going to find a way to hurt them today, even from beyond the goddamn grave.

“Hey,” Dani says, rubbing my back.

“I should have brought you all coffee,” I say with a frown. “Sorry about that.”

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