Page 186 of Mountain Men Heroes
More than that, I wanted to avoid going home with Sawyer. Because something inside me was screaming that whatever was happening between us was big. That going home with Sawyer would upend my life in ways I couldn’t imagine.
I’d already broken one of my cardinal rules—no dating a local.
Wait. Could you call what we did a date? I thought back and held in a groan. I hadn’t even made him buy me dinner first. I was just like my mother.
My head was screaming at me to run. To pack my stuff, take my savings and head to Syn City.
That was my plan since the moment I’d realized college was my ticket off this mountain, away from the reputation my mother stained our last name with. Away from my mother who cared more about picking up her next boyfriend than she cared about picking me up from school. My whole life had revolved around escaping from this place for as long as I could remember. But I didn't want it to be. Deep down, I loved my mountain town. A truth I didn’t acknowledge to myself nearly enough.
And something told me that if I went home with Sawyer, all my best-laid plans would come crashing down around me.
Sawyer shook me gently and I realized his quiet laughter had stopped.
“Let’s get you fed,” he said. “And then we’ll head out to the Lodge.”
Well, crap. Reprieve over.
Ten
Sawyer
Ihad to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing at the look on Trinity’s face as we drove closer and closer to my house. I knew she was flipping out. And I knew I should probably be more supportive.
But I also knew the only way to reassure her was for her to get there and meet everyone and see she had nothing to fear. And I’d make sure she had nothing to fear.
A wave of possession and protectiveness slammed me like a fist, knocking the amusement right out of me.
My woman. I glanced over to where she sat in the passenger seat of my truck, gnawing on her bottom lip and looking totally fucking adorable. I turned my attention back to the road and a sense of peace I’d never known—not as a kid living with my family and certainly not as a soldier landing in one godforsaken place after another—settled over me. It felt like there was never a time I wasn’t waiting for her. And while I’d wait forever if that were what it took, the happiness I felt knowing I didn’t have to wait anymore made every day of the last few years, even those spent in hellholes nursing injuries and dealing with unimaginable shit—worth it.
Another glance showed me I’d earned her attention. She stared at me with a crinkle between her brows and her lips pursed like she was concentrating on a puzzle.
“What?” I asked before sliding my gaze back to the road.
“Nothing. Just wondering how I got here.”
“Well, sweetheart, first we had breakfast. And then we loaded up in the truck. Though how you managed to get up in the cab after the plate of pancakes you ate is beyond me.”
A quick look at her had my lips twitching. Her narrowed eyes told me I’d earned her anger. Guess it wasn’t too smart to accuse a woman of overeating and being too heavy to get up in the truck, but if she had any doubt about how I felt about her curves after yesterday and last night, she definitely hadn’t been paying close enough attention.
She slapped my shoulder, a small grin on her lips. “Funny man,” she grumbled under her breath and I stopped holding back my grin. She’d definitely been paying attention.
My phone rang and I grabbed my phone from the console, hitting the talk button. “Becker.”
“Dude, did she take the job?” Mac’s voice blared in my ear.
“I don’t know. Want me to pass her a note?”
“Don’t be a dick. I’m happy for you that you finally got laid. God knows you needed it. But we do have a business we need to get up and running. I drove down to the Cherry Falls police department and found out they had someone calling in looking for an investigator in the area. Let’s get rolling on things so we aren’t missing out on clients.”
I held back my growl at Mac’s getting laid comment. Wasn’t the first time he’s given me a hard time about it. “Copy that. I’ll talk to her.”
“If you can stop kissing her long enough, man, don’t forget to push the tuition reimbursement...”
This time I let out my growl. Right before I hung up on Mac.
“Everything okay?” Trinity asked.
I smiled at her. “Everything’s great. Just Mac being his usual dickhead self.”