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Chapter One

Sawyer

Five Years Ago

The shop is quiet today. Hell, the whole town is. That’s what a rainy Wednesday afternoon in the mountains is like. No one is shopping for milk, no one needs the diner, and no one is looking for a new tattoo. In fact, most folks are holed up in their cabins with a warm fire they refuse to leave.

“I don’t know what I want.” Evie’s smile is contagious and warm with a hint of mischief. “Whatever you think.”

“I’m not choosing your tattoo. You’ll hate me for it in a week.”

Her lips curve into the perfect crescent as she twists her dark brown hair onto her shoulder. “I couldn’t hate you. I need something toremindme of you. What better way than letting you choose the design?” She glances down at my hand. “Or maybe I should get some playing cards like you. I like that ace of hearts. We can match!”

“Stop.” I twist back toward the tray of supplies I’ve lined carefully side by side. The tattoo gun, a few vials of ink, a fresh needle, alcohol, and gauze. I keep the tray like this between clients, so I’m always ready to work, but there’s no way in hell I’m drawing anything up for Evie. She’s not thinking straight.Hell, I’m not thinking straight.I haven’t thought straight since the day we met.

“No!” She holds out her delicate forearm with tears in her eyes, as though she wants me to work. “I don’t want to forget you.”

I shouldn’t fall for her tears. I should tell her to leave. We’ve been dancing this dance for two years now and it never gets any easier. In fact, it’s about to get a hell of a lot harder. That said, I reach out for her smooth arm, holding its weight in my palm. “Why are you leaving if you’re sad?” The question is unfair given the circumstances, but it needs to be asked.

She stares down at the ground, her legs dangling off the table, her hair hanging in front of her face. “You know I don’t have a choice.”

“You have a choice, Evie. It’s just a hard one. It’ll be painful, but won’t it be for the best in the long run?”

Her eyes roll to the side as she glares up at me. “You have nothing to lose, so of course the answer is easy for you.”

I laugh, though there’s anger in my throat. “Nothing to lose? Are you fucking kidding me? I’m about to lose everything, Evie. I don’t have a family to go back to. I don’t have a pile of money waiting. I don’t have a trip planned for the fall to see the fucking leaves. I have you.This.Whatever it is, we are.”

Her gaze draws up to mine as tears roll down her pink cheeks. “I’m sorry this is happening. I’m sorry I handled everything wrong, but I have to go.”

“You don’thaveto do anything. You’re choosing to leave.”

Her arms cross over her chest. “Why are you making this so difficult? You see my tears, right? You know I’m in pain, too.”

“I know you’re letting your dad get in your head. Is this really what you want, Evie? A miserable life with some man you don’t love because you don’t want to disappoint your dad? Come on.”

She drags in a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “My fathershotthe last man that messed with his daughter. I toldyou this when we met, Sawyer. Stop all this.” There’s exhaustion in her voice and I know I should stop making this whole thing worse.

I shrug and scratch my hand across my chin. “Let the man shoot at me. It’s worth it.”

“You don’t understand. My father would disown me and then kill you.”

“Killis probably a bit strong, don’t you think?”

Brown eyes wide and teary, she stares up at me. “I don’t know. He’s irrational. Right now, I have to do what he wants me to do, and he wants me to be with Leon.”

My fists clench at the sound of his name. “He’s not your type. He’s a fucking suit, Evie. You’re not that girl.”

She drags in a staggered breath. “Sawyer, you knew this was temporary. I told you that the day we met. You knew who my father was. You knew how this would end.”

A flash of the day we met comes back into view. She’d come by to sit with a friend who was getting a back piece done by a buddy of mine. I was shading an eagle wing on a client’s thigh. I should’ve focused on each feather, but instead, I was staring at Evie. The short pink skirt, her thick hips, the way her hair fell off her shoulder. The girl was a combination of perfection that I’d never seen before.

She laughed when I followed her out of the shop and asked for her number. “No, you don’t want to get messed up with me. Besides, aren’t you a little old to be talking to girls my age?”

“Damn. Old? Really?” I suppose I was a little old for her, but I hadn’t thought of it that way… until then.

“Yeah,” she grinned sweetly. “You’re like what… forty? You know I’m only twenty-five, right?”

I didn’t know that, but damn. Maybe something is wrong with me. “No, I didn’t. Sorry.”

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