Page 38 of The Inevitable Us

“Ahh,good,Iwasjust about to come and wake you up,” Sawyer says from the kitchen. He’s scrambling eggs and has two glasses of orange juice freshly poured. “I left Ranger with Taylee’s caretaker, but she’s going to be off shift. I need to go get him.”

I accept the glass he hands me, and I take a sip before asking, “Who or what is Ranger?”

“My German Shepherd. Very energetic. I need to go run him before I start work.” He leans down to kiss my lips. “I’m not ready to be apart from you. Pack a bag. Bring extra clothes in case you get messy wandering around the ranch. I’ll pack for Charlie and Wednesday.”

After locking up the loft and getting into his SUV, we make our way to the two-lane highway and then onto a gravel road. Two large ostentatious gates with a metal wrought iron “T” stand stately over the entrance.

We go slowly down the long drive, past white split rail fences on each side. Sawyer goes past a large home, down a side dirt road, and parks near an old-fashioned red barn.

There are animals everywhere. There is a pen full of billy goats, I can hear chickens somewhere, and ducks in the pond behind the cabin. A giant pig is rolling on its back in a pen nearby, and then there are the dogs.

They’re running in an empty field with a man nearby. There seems to be a chaotic mix of everything from a Great Dane to tiny little ankle-biters and one handsome-looking German Shepherd. With a quick whistle from Sawyer’s lips, the German Shepherd bounds over the low fence and towards his master, heeling at his feet. “Who’s the good boy, Ranger? We brought you new friends to play with.” Ranger dances excitedly with full butt wiggles at Sawyer’s voice.

He unloads my bag from the back in one hand and the kittens’ things in another as I grab the pet carrier and bring it inside the cabin. After sniffing the pet carrier curiously, Ranger follows us with large happy swishes of his tail. There’s an office to the right with monitors similar to the ones in the garage apartment at home. “The control room,” Sawyer offers. “Whoever is on duty uses the private entrance, but I can keep the interior door locked.” He closes the open door and locks the deadbolt for good measure, giving us privacy. “It has a half bathroom, so they don’t need to come in the cabin.”

He stops to look me up and down. His eyes are hooded when he leans down to kiss me. “You might as well go set up the kittens in the master bathroom. It’s right off the bedroom on the left.” He uses his eyes to point to the log staircase right ahead of us. “Meet me by the pond when you’re done. I have a feeling Ranger’s going to keep me outside for a while.”

He’s by the pond with Ranger, throwing a floating dog toy in the water for the happy pup to swim to retrieve. I watch as Ranger trots along the water’s edge, happily making big splashes before bringing his prize back to his master to replay their game, sitting at his feet. When Sawyer throws the toy again in the water, he watches the toy float midair into the pond and wags his tail excitedly, waiting for the command. “Ok,” Sawyer commands the dog, gesturing towards the pond.

Ranger swims past the geese and ducks with no notice, paddling at full speed for his toy. When he comes back with his toy again, dropping it at Sawyer’s feet, he tells the dog, “Leave it,” before greeting me, wrapping his arm around my neck to pull me in for a kiss. “Want a tour of the ranch? We can play fetch with Ranger in the field as we go.”

I look around the animal pens. I’ve been to a ranch owned by a family friend before, and it wasn’t as…pretty as this. “This isn’t quite what I was expecting….” I start to say. I knew the ranch was a smaller hobby ranch. But this looks like a theme park version of what a hobby ranch should look like. Everything is freshly painted with bright yellows, oranges, reds, and dark greens.

“They’re all pets, even the billy goats,” Sawyer says with a headshake. “She has a garden she plays with too, on the other side. She has a surprisingly green thumb. The garden produces much more than she can eat, so what the employees can’t use, she brings to the food bank.”

He takes a tennis ball from his pocket and throws it some distance ahead of us before giving the dog permission to retrieve it.

I think this is one of the most awkward moments of my life. I’m not sure what to say to him. He says he’s here for me, but what did he mean? I cross my arms around my body and follow as he gestures for me to walk ahead with him.

When I catch up, he takes my hand. “It’s nice to be out of the city. As long as I’ve lived in Nashville, I’ll always prefer living somewhere quieter.”

It never occurred to me that I didn’t know much about Sawyer’s life before he came to work for my Dad. I hadn’t even known he had a dog.

“Did you grow up in a more rural area?” I ask, biting my lip. He used to dodge personal questions, keeping a professional distance between us. Would he answer now?

“You could say that. My Dad is a sheriff in a small community. Mom’s the principal at the school. The area’s so small that there are only seventy-five kids or so graduating every year from the high school.”

I grin at finally getting an answer from him. A tiny bit of Sawyer I can lock away. “If you love it so much, why didn’t you go back when you were discharged from the Army?”

He laughed deep in his throat. “Money. I could have gone to work in the sheriff’s office with Dad. My cousin Billy is a deputy. Or I could work at the factory in town. Then my uncle offered me the job with Ethan,” he finishes with a shrug. “It seemed so glamorous at the time since Ethan was on tour. I got a reality check quickly. It was almost a relief when he retired.”

Ranger comes back with the ball and drops it at Sawyer’s feet before it’s tossed ahead of us again. Sawyer draws me close, pulling me tight against him, his arms around my waist. I loop my arms around his neck just before his lips press down onto mine. He deepens the kiss further, exploring my mouth with his tongue before drawing me tight against his growing erection.

“Besides, I was meant to take the job with my uncle,” he confesses low in my ear. “How else would I have met you?”

I blush in response. “I can’t imagine you not being here with me all these years.”

His forehead touches mine. “Are you still sore?” he whispers low in my ear. “I need inside of you again.”

I feel my face grow flush as I tighten my arms. “Nope. I mean, I was last night, but….”

He nods as if he understands and whistles for Ranger to come back. He drapes his arm around my neck as we walk back and kisses me on the cheek. “Good, let’s go back to the cabin then.”

I’m nervous, not sure what to do or how to act, and still feeling a little uncertain. His rejection was so recent that it still left me feeling precarious.

When we get back to the cabin, he locks the door behind us, then checks the lock to the security office. “They don’t need access to the rest of the house,” he reminds me. “We’re alone.”

He leans down, brushes my hair back, and wraps his hands around my neck to kiss my lips gently. I feel my body tense in response. He breaks off our kiss and looks at me with furrowed brows. “You’re so tense all of a sudden. What’s wrong? I didn’t hurt you too much last night, did I?”

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