Page 84 of Her Wild Coast Refuge

LEXIE

When I wake,Dawson is gone from the bed. My body feels limp and languid, and I’m deliciously sore. I wish I could go back to the moment when Dawson stepped up on the stage, so I could relive the fierce look on his face when his gaze locked with mine.

Even though I danced with Quinn, my heart was locked with Dawson’s.

It still is.

I don’t hear Dawson playing downstairs, but I’m sure that’s where he is. I slip from the bed. Like before, my dress is folded over the easy chair in the corner. Instead, I slip on Dawson’s dress shirt. The crisp cotton is cool on my skin, and I take a moment to revel in the scent of him wrapped around me.

Could this be my life? Waking up from a passionate night to my own private concert from my favorite singer? Making coffee together, kissing each other good morning, planning a day of adventure and romance?

My head swims and my heart flutters somewhere up in the clouds.

Savoring this little indulgence, I tiptoe from the room and close the door quietly.

Halfway down the stairs, Dawson’s hushed voice startles me. He’s talking with someone, and he’s angry.

“This is an outrage,” a woman replies in an icy tone.

My neck prickles. Someone is here. What is going on?

“Did you even read my offer?” Dawson says.

“Yes,” the woman hisses. “Why don’t you tell me the real reason?”

“That is the real reason, Bee.”

“Protecting a bunch of fish? Are you crazy?”

My breath freezes in my lungs.Bee, as in Brielle? Dawson’s ex-wife?

“To you it probably seems that way,” Dawson replies, his voice firm. “If you approve my idea, you not only come out looking like a hero, but you would capitalize on a completely new market plus, you’d get my half of Hemery Tate.”

“What’s to stop me from signing the Soren Mountain Mine offer with Bealer when I do?”

“Because walking away is the right thing to do, and you know it.”

Everything crashes together in my brain. Now I remember where I heard Bealer—on Dawson and Quinn’s deck.

I’ve got us a meeting with Bealer’s lead engineer.

What is going on?

Are Dawson and Quinn involved with the mining project?

I shake my head, but the confusion only intensifies.

Last night, Dawson said he’s free. That Brielle signed. If that’s so, why is she here?

At the Muddy Moose, Hunter told me that Dawson and Brielle own a brokerage company. Real estate. What would they want with a mine?

Unless…

A hot wave fizzes through me, making the room spin. I brace against the wall for support. My eyesight narrows to black tunnels, and my breaths gallop in my throat.

Theclick, click, clickof high heels on the hardwood floor startles me, but I can’t move. My legs are noodles and my head feels like a bowling ball.

“Who the hell are you?” Brielle asks. Her narrow face is pinched and her eyes are cold. Her gaze sweeps up, down, scrutinizing me like some foreign object.

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