“Sisters are different,” I retorted firmly. “You’re family. There’s no romance involved.”
“Oh, Wyatt,” Tori breathed out softly. “You’re much more compassionate than most of the world sees.”
I picked up my loaded plate, stacked the dessert on top, and then snatched a napkin and silverware. “I really hope you don’t feel the need to share that opinion with anyone else because it’s bullshit,” I told her unhappily as I strode toward the patio door.
Luckily, Tori only saw a small portion of the man that I was and always would be.
She didn’t know the man who could kill someone without a second thought when it was necessary.
She didn’t know the person who had always put duty first and personal relationships last.
She also didn’t know the cutthroat businessman who did what he needed to do and almost never looked back at the destruction in his wake.
Tori only knew the big brother who had been there to protect her for as long as she could remember.
She only saw the guy I wanted her to see, and I was oddly grateful that she didn’t know what I was capable of outside of that little sister bubble.
At least there was one woman on the planet whodidn’tthink I was an asshole, and I really wanted to keep it that way.
Shelby
“I’m sorry that I called you a superficial asshole,” I blurted out as I watched Wyatt devour his food like he hadn’t eaten in a very long time. “I don’t know you, and it wasn’t fair for me to say that.”
The tension between me and Wyatt Durand was thick enough to cut with a knife. It had been since the moment he had taken the seat beside me about ten minutes earlier.
We were all sitting around the enormous firepit, and there were several conversations going on, but the silence had been deafening in this particular area.
Wyatt hadn’t said a word to me, even though we were sitting so close to each other that our bodies were almost touching.
Done with my own dinner, I took a huge slug of my wine as I watched him, waiting for him to respond.
I’d finally decided that the strain between the two of us was too much.
Okay, maybe it didn’t matter to Wyatt.
I couldn’t read him at all.
But it had been way too muchfor me.
I wasn’t used to sitting this close to someone in complete and utter silence.
Maybe I didn’t make friends as easily as I used to, but I was generally polite and friendly.
Dammit!Maybe I wouldn’t be so uncomfortable if he didn’t look and smell so incredible.
Maybe he was an intolerable jerk, but he smelled like hot sex and sin, and he was annoyingly attractive.
He looked a little tired, and he was obviously hungry, but it didn’t detract from his animal magnetism or the way I reacted to that overwhelming aura he seemed to emanate from every pour of his powerful body.
Wyatt Durand was tall, probably a few inches over six feet, and the man was built like a tank. All muscle and brute strength. Strangely, I didn’t find that unappealing. In fact, it had me squirming in my chair rather uncomfortably.
His short, black hair was slightly disheveled, and judging by the stubble on his face, he hadn’t shaved in a while. But I supposed I’d probably look the same way if I’d just done a very long, international flight. Surprisingly, those small imperfections were a sexy look on him, too. I much preferred the man who didn’t look as perfect or as foreboding as he had at Chase and Savannah’s reception.
The sleeves of his crisp, white, and probably very expensive dress shirt were rolled up, and I was unexplainably fascinated by the strong muscles in his forearms.
He didn’t look nearly as buttoned up or arrogant as he had last time I’d seen him.
Still, he reeked of power, strength, and irresistible, alpha male. The fact that I suddenly found those traits overwhelmingly alluring was probably beyond dangerous.