Page 22 of Wild Bliss

Despite the fact that mere moments before he’d been thinkingabout his good relationship with law enforcement here, he felt his spinestiffen. “Hello, Deputy. She’s having supper right now. I’ll go and get her foryou.”

“This is Wyatt, right?” the deputy asked.

“Yes, ma’am. Wyatt Kemp is my name, Deputy.”

“And mine is Elisa,” she replied. “Is she okay? Gemma didn’ttell me much more than she’s stuck on the mountain with the MC boys.”

He did not like the nickname. “Neither one of us has been inan MC for a long time. We’re out of the lifestyle.”

There was a pause on the line. “Sorry about that. Gemmadoesn’t have much of a filter. Is my sister okay? I have to ask you because shewon’t tell me. She’ll say whatever it takes to make me comfortable, and I needto know if I should risk trying to make it up there.”

“She’s fine. She’s not used to driving in this kind ofweather, and she did have a little accident.”

The deputy gasped. “An accident?”

He probably should have set the conversation up better. “Ithink she hit a tree, but she’s perfectly fine. We got her a warm shower anddry clothes, and she’s got a room for the night. I’m pretty sure it locks ifyou’re worried about it.”

She was quiet for a moment. “I wasn’t worried about you orSawyer hurting her, Wyatt. Sawyer’s grumpy, not violent. And you’ve becomeeveryone’s go to when it comes to taking advantage of young, strong men. Do youthink we don’t see you helping Teeny unload supplies or making sure someoneelse elderly in Bliss gets across the street okay? Look, I know you’ve got arap sheet, but I also know how you grew up. You’re trying. Don’t let the badgesfool you. This police department is genuinely concerned with the good ofeveryone in town. We get to know people. So that’s why I’m going to ask you tobe careful with my sister.”

“Of course.”

“Because I’ve seen the way you look at her.”

Wyatt stopped. “I don’t… Okay, I like her.”

“And there’s nothing wrong with liking her. She’s a likableperson, but she’s new here and she’s getting her feet under her. Go slow. Giveher a chance to get to know you. She’s not the kind of woman who throws herselfinto a relationship,” Elisa explained. “And that is all the sisterly advice I’mgoing to give you. Be nice to my sister and we’ll be good. Now can I talk toher?”

It wasn’t a conversation he’d expected to have, but it hadgone pretty well. “Of course. She’s in the dining room. I promise we’re readyfor this storm. She’ll be fine here.” He pushed through the doors, and thefirst thing he saw was Bella licking stew off the floor.

And the second was Sawyer on top of Sabrina on the diningroom table.

“I think she’s going to have to call you back, Deputy.”

Nope. He wasn’t getting anything he’d expected today.

Chapter Four

Sabrina watched Wyatt walk away and the minute the doorsclosed to the kitchen, turned on the asshole. The big, gorgeous asshole, withpitch black hair and a jaw made of granite. And seriously sexy shoulders.

None of which made up for the fact that he was a massiveass.

“Are you trying to make Wyatt feel like crap? Because Ithink you succeeded. I thought you two were friends.” She rather thought theywere more, but they hadn’t said anything. The idea they were a couple made iteven worse.

Sawyer turned her way, brows rising over his deep browneyes. “We are. I wasn’t trying to make him feel bad.”

How could he not understand what he’d done wrong? “You triedto make him look uneducated.”

“He is. Did you hear the part about the GED?” Sawyer’s browsformed aVover his eyes. “It’s not like he went to college oranything. Neither did I. You should know I’m not very educated before you makeany decisions.”

What was his point? She didn’t know there were any decisionsto be made, but she ignored it. “What I heard was the part about him workinghard to make up for something that wasn’t his fault. He got his GED despite thefact he didn’t have any support from his family.”

Sawyer’s eyes found his beer. “I know he worked hard. I wasonly teasing him.”

“You were bullying him.”

His eyes came back up, a flash of annoyance there. “No, if Iwas going to bully him I would have done way worse. Look, Sabrina, I don’t knowwhere this outrage is coming from. I thought we were just talking. I thoughtyou should probably know we’re not in your league when it comes to the smartsstuff. You should be aware. Though he does read quite a bit. It’s kind ofannoying. He reads a book and thinks he knows things.”

“Yes, knowing things is what happens when you read a book.It’s kind of the point.” What exactly did he mean? “Why should I be aware? Andwhy would you think I need someone to be in my league? I’m not snobby. Smartsare about more than a formal education. You need to be nicer to your partner.”

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