Page 19 of Wild Bliss

Yeah, everyone in his household liked the new girl.

It had been easier when his household was made up of him andno one else.

But he had to admit, it had been way less fun.

* * * *

Wyatt was determined to not act like a creepy stalker. Hisstalking—if one could call it that—was friendly. If he thought for a second shewould be offended, he would stop. She might get offended if she knew how hiseyes were drawn to the deepVof her shirt. His shirt. She wore one ofhis white undershirts, and it looked damn good on her.

She was wearing his clothes, and the deeply buried cavemaninside him liked it. The pajama bottoms were too long and she’d had to tie themaround her waist, but she still looked awfully pretty sitting across fromSawyer at the dinner table they almost never used.

It felt right to have her here, and he was going to prove toSawyer this could work.

“This is good.” Sabrina gave him a smile before she ateanother spoonful.

“It’s Sawyer’s mom’s recipe.” He’d been perfecting it. Sincehe no longer spent his days beating the shit out of people, getting the shitkicked out of him, or lying to the police about both, he’d found the joy ofhobbies. He’d tried a lot of things. The Bliss County Recreation Center was alush field of learning. He hadn’t been good at macrame, but he’d been damn goodat the self-defense class where they’d used crochet hooks to—as the teacherexplained—incapacitate a son of a bitch. He’d ended up teacher’s pet in thatone. But the cooking classes and the book club were what really got himinterested. “I added some bone broth to give it an added layer of flavor.”

She smiled again, and his dick tightened. “Whatever you didit’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 sealevel and it’s almost winter.” Sawyer had been quiet since she’d entered theroom, but naturally now he found something to needle her about.

“She’s new to town,” Wyatt said pointedly. “She obviouslyhasn’t had time to shop. I’ll…” This might be too early to start gently takingcontrol of certain aspects of her life like her comfort and safety. But hewanted 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 hisvocation. Wyatt had been forced to look the word up because vocabulary wasn’t abig 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 SabrinaLeal might be his vocation. “I’m sure her sister will take her.”

Sabrina winced. “She did. I’m afraid I’m getting a heartylecture from my sister and the men she’s engaged to. She took me to the TradingPost a couple of weeks ago and I bought a heavy coat and boots, but it didn’tseem like it was going to be so cold today. She told me there was a stormcoming, but I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think snow.”

He understood. “Because you’ve never had to live through aColorado winter.”

“But snow is rain when it’s below freezing,” Sawyer pointedout utterly needlessly.

Sabrina’s jaw clenched. “Thank you. I had no idea. I’llwrite it down so I don’t get it confused again.”

Why? Sawyer rarely talked. Why had he decided to change hispersona now? He could be his normal surly, silent self and everything would befine. He was going to have to drag Sawyer’s ass kicking and screaming into thisrelationship. “I had a hard time with my first winter here.”

“I thought you were from Colorado.” At least she didn’t keepthe look of disdain in her eyes when she switched her focus to him. It seemedreserved for Sawyer, so maybe Wyatt still had a way in.

“I am.” He took a sip of the Cab he’d found stashed away inthe back of the pantry. Normally he was more of a beer guy, but he wasspreading his wings. Or more importantly trying to make a good impression sinceSawyer was making the worst possible one. “But I’m from eastern Colorado. It’slike Kansas lite. It gets cold, but the elevation isn’t what it is here in themountains.”

“It’s flat,” Sawyer added.

“I know what he meant by Kansas lite,” Sabrina replied witha long sigh.

Wyatt sent Sawyer a look he hoped conveyed what an ass hewas making of himself.

Sawyer sat back, looking strangely bewildered. Damn. Was theguy actually trying? What if Sawyer simply didn’t know how to carry on aconversation with a woman that wasn’t about what they wanted to drink or howthey liked it in bed?

He needed to find common ground between Sawyer and Sabrinaor he was definitely going to fail on this quest.

“So what made you want to go into teaching?”

Both Wyatt and Sabrina’s heads turned because Sawyer hadasked the question, and his tone had been almost polite.

The dudewastrying. Holy shit. He really did wantSabrina. He should have known the minute she’d gotten up in his face and shownhow not afraid of him she was that Sawyer’s dick would win. He didn’t do softand sweet. But what if he could have a combination of softness and steel? Awoman he could be vulnerable around, who would also put him on his ass when heneeded it.

“I always liked kids,” Sabrina said, caution clear in hertone. She buttered her cornbread. “Before my mom left active duty, we spentmost of our time on military bases. The opportunities for babysitting wereendless once I reached a certain age. We also had some mixed-ages classes. Iliked the format. I think it’s oddly more natural than kids only spending timewith other kids who are exactly their ages. When I chose to go to collegeinstead of into the military like my mom wanted me to, she basically said shewouldn’t help me unless I was going for a degree where I was practicallyguaranteed a job. Teaching was on her short list, and lucky for me, it’s what Iwanted to do. She still didn’t pay for tuition or anything, but she gave methirty bucks a week for food and stuff.”

“How did you survive on thirty bucks?” Wyatt asked.

Sawyer grunted, taking a sip of his beer. “You buy ramennoodles and figure out how to make a pound of ground round last for days.Condiments are your friend. Get the cheapest burger you can at a fast-foodplace and load up on packets of condiments.”

---