Page 9 of Love Me Reckless

“Zach and Sofie’s wedding next summer, for starters,” Sarah adds.

“And we’ll be back for the state football championship if William’s team makes it to the playoffs,” Cooper says.

“What’s the job?” I ask.

“Mechanic. Ski lifts mostly.”

I could get him this job in about ten seconds. The maintenance department head is a brusque Scotsman with a soft spot for cherry cordials and an ageing chocolate Labrador named Angus.

“You okay with heights?” I imagine Sawyer up there on the lift towers in his black work pants and a Finn River Ranch employee madras shirt, hard hat and leather gloves.

The thought of it should not make me swoon.

“We’ll find out, I guess,” Sawyer says with a laugh.

“Lake swim! Who’s in?” Hunter booms from the deck doorway.

“Me!” Sarah jumps up, followed by Cooper.

“We’re in!” Brian says, pushing back from the table and helping Darcy to her feet.

The dining room empties as everyone quickly changes then one by one, they reappear with towels and beeline out the back door.

Sarah breezes through the kitchen, sending me a glance. “I have an extra suit you’re welcome to.” She waves a scrap of blue fabric and sets it on the counter, then dashes out the back door after the others.

Cooper is right on her heels and catches my eye. “Check out the hot tub. It’d be good to soak your foot.”

Sawyer hasn’t moved from his chair next to me.

“Not a swimmer?” I ask.

He laughs. “Not like them. Hunter started a polar bear club back home. He’s nuts.”

I eye the bathing suit on the counter. The right thing to do would be to call Grayson for a ride home.

Sawyer is watching me like he’s reading my thoughts, a sly grin on his face. “Cooper’s right. You wanna get wet?”

A pulse of heat flashes across my skin as I push back from the table and snatch Sarah’s suit. “Why not?”

Sawyer peelsback the hot tub lid, giving me a chance to drink in his bare, firm chest with the manly patch of hair and the dark trail that leads from his navel to…

“You gonna answer that phone?” he asks, his muscles flexing as he maneuvers the hot tub lid into place along the side.

I glance at my jean jacket hanging on a peg, the pocket lit up. “Eventually.”

He settles on the edge of the tub and drops his feet into the serene blue water. “Oh man, that feels good.”

I sit on the edge of the tub across from Sawyer and lower my bare feet into the hot, hot water, then my calves. Mmm, it does feel good. The heat bites my little wound, but it softens quickly.

“I did text my brother though, so my parents won’t worry.”

Sawyer scoops water over his knees, flashing the tattoo on the inside of his arm. It’s too dark to make out the details but it looks like a dagger, entwined in thorns. A beat of curiosity skips though my thoughts.

“Why would they worry?”

“They won’t understand why I’m not with Birch.”

His eyebrows shoot upwards. “Your date’s name is Birch?”

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