Page 21 of Wild Bliss

Bella, who’d been laying under the table at Sawyer’s feet,thought it was a signal it was time to play. Her head came up, tongue lollingout as she stared at the stew.

“She’s so cute. How long have you had her?” Sabrina asked.

“Since she showed up and wouldn’t leave.” Sawyer went backto sipping his beer. “Tried to turn her over to the vet, but somehow she endedup back in my Jeep along with a dog bed, food and water bowls, and a collar.”

“He didn’t give her a name for the longest time.” Wyatt wasbeyond relieved they weren’t going to go into his child and young adulthoodthis evening. His childhood was a horror story for another time. “I moved inand finally couldn’t handle him calling her Dog all the time. So I went on theInternet and searched for most popular dog names and Bella seemed nice. Iwonder why Bella, though. I love the name, but why is it so popular?”

“Twilight,” Sabrina replied with a brilliant smile.“Your dog is named after the heroine of a popular book.”

Sawyer snorted.

“I did not know,” Wyatt admitted. He’d never heard ofTwilight.He wondered if she liked it. “Maybe I’ll give it a try.”

“Oh, I want in on that book club,” Sabrina shot back. “I betyou’ve never read a book like it.”

“He hasn’t read many books at all,” Sawyer said with a huff.“He’s definitely never readTwilight.”

Was Sawyer trying to make him look bad? “I read all thetime. I like to read.”

Sawyer turned his way, surprise plain on his face. “Dude, Iwas talking about before. You weren’t exactly a big reader. You didn’t havetime between…”

Wyatt stood up. It was obvious this wasn’t going the way hewanted it to. “I need to check on the dessert. I made some brownies. Theyshould be almost done.”

Maybe if he wasn’t in the room, he could reset theconversation. He pushed through the swinging doors separating the kitchen fromthe small dining room, holding his bowl and spoon.

Was he doing the right thing? Despite what he’d said to her,he meant to seduce her. They had days and days before anyone would be able toget up here. She didn’t have anyone in her life. There was nothing keeping herfrom enjoying a brief affair.

She didn’t know he meant to make it far longer than brief.

Of course it might never get off the ground if Sawyer hadanything to do with it. He seemed determined to paint them both as poorly aspossible.

Or he’s trying to get all the bad stuff out of the way.

She’d said she didn’t need to know about his past.

Because she thinks you were in an isolated, probablyweirdly religious cult.

She was right about the cult part. His father’s MC ran muchlike a cult, only they worshipped money and power rather than any deity.

He set the bowl in the sink and took a long breath. He hadkind of sprung this whole thing on Sawyer. He should have sat down with him andexplained his plan. Wyatt was self-aware enough to admit he hadn’t because he’dknown what Sawyer would say. Absolutely no. He would have told Wyatt to pursueher on his own if that was what he wanted. Oh, Wyatt knew if he’d said it wasonly about sex, Sawyer might have high-fived him and told him it was go time.It wasn’t like they hadn’t shared a couple of women over the past year.

But he had the strongest feeling it would be more than sexwith Sabrina. He was serious about her, and it meant he had to find a way toget Sawyer serious about her, too.

He knew most people would tell him to leave Sawyer behind,but there was another instinct playing through Wyatt. It told him if Sawyerdidn’t come with him, he would be alone for the rest of his life. Despite beingan asshole of the highest order, Sawyer Hathaway was also one of the mostgenerous men he’d ever met. He owed Sawyer. He liked Sawyer. He liked Bliss andhow the people here lived their lives.

He wanted all of it. Wanted it badly enough he was willingto fight for it. If he had to fight a little dirty, he was okay with that, too.

He checked the brownies and pulled them out because theywere done. He hoped they weren’t sitting in absolute silence, but maybe it wasfor the best. Maybe he’d been wrong to push so hard at first. They needed anight to relax and settle into the situation. In the morning, he could charmher. He had no illusions they would spend the next couple of days in bed. No.The next couple of days would be spent getting to know each other, seeing ifshe wanted to date them.

No matter what Sawyer said, he didn’t want some secretiveaffair with her. He wanted a normal relationship, wanted to be a part of thetown with her. Sawyer was wrong. His background wasn’t so bad no one wanted himin Bliss. The sheriff knew and thought he was the sweet one. The sheriff wasn’tfreaked out by his past.

Of course the sheriff didn’t know all of his past. Thesheriff only knew the actual records. There was so much not contained in thosereports.

If his brother ever discovered what he’d done…

His dark thoughts were broken by the sound of the phoneringing. At least the landlines were still working. He moved over to pick upthe handset, pressing the button to accept the call. “Hello?”

“Hi, this is Deputy Leal. I’m looking for my sister.”

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