Page 84 of Love Me Reckless

“This little defiance streak comes to an end.” He glares at me. “Now.”

Defiance streak? That’s what he thinks? I give him a sideways glance, but he’s staring straight ahead, his jaw set.

“You’ve never been upset at me for spending time with my friends.”

“You’re out alone at night with another man.” He shakes his head. “Do you realize how that comes across?”

This hooks into my heart, creating a tight sting.You care more about how it looks?

I blink at the windshield, stunned.

Though I want to reassure him that nothing happened, that would be a lie.

Remember your place, Kirilee.Though I don’t love the idea of marrying Birch, it doesn’t mean I want to humiliate him. “Forgive me.”

“Sawyer obviously came to Finn River for a fresh start,” he says, his tone brisk. “If he lost his job at the ranch, how would that play out?”

I think about the camaraderie Sawyer has with his roommates, and the animated way he talks about his work and his crew. Though I don’t know the details of his life before, it’s easy to see that he likes being in Finn River. He likes being close to Zach and William, and his job as a mechanic, and being my friend.

It dawns on me where this conversation is going. I swallow hard. “It would be devastating.”

“I will keep quiet about who you were with tonight because it’s obvious you care about him,” he says. “But if it happens again, that courtesy ends.”

He unlocks the doors. “See you at home.”

My eyes burn with the emotions rising so fast inside me. Because he’s just given me an ultimatum. One I can’t back down from.

To protect Sawyer, I have to push him away.

“See you… at home.”

That night,I manage to type out a quick text to Sawyer while Birch takes his before-bed shower.

I’m sorry

He replies right away.

Sorry for what?

For everything.

For that kiss? Because I’m not one bit sorry about that.

I’m not sorry either. But is there such thing as too good of a kiss? Because my heart hurts every time I relive it.

I know he wanted me. I felt it in his touch, in his lips and his sensual, skillful tongue. In his low groan when I pressed closer to him, and in the quickening of his breaths. I guess I got my wish because that kiss was everything I could have hoped for.

But now it has to end.

I’ll never forget tonight

That sounds like goodbye

Hot tears sting my eyes. I type out a quick reply, before I lose my nerve.

You will always be a part of me

My phone rings. It’s Sawyer. I silence the call just as Birch comes out of the bathroom, frowning. “Who’s that?”

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