He should pitch the property proposal and be done. Forget about the rest. As soon as he thought it a vision of her face flashed in his mind. The idea of not kissing her, not touching her, made him crazed.
“I like a challenge.” He thought he said the phrase to himself until he noticed both Jason and Molly staring at him.
Molly frowned. “Is that all she is?”
Sawyer knew the answer—no. That was the only explanation for his reeling. Without the attraction he’d go after the property, take his best shot, and be done. But the attraction kept kicking his ass and refused to be ignored. So he went with the best answer he could come up with. “I don’t know yet.”
Twenty minutes later Molly loaded the dishwasher. She’d been rinsing off plates for a few minutes. Turning the radio on helped kill the oppressive silence since Sawyer left the room.
He’d said something about wanting to do research and slipped away. His bedroom door had been closed ever since and Molly refused to think about what that might mean.
Jason hummed for a while. Even now she could feel his gaze burn into her back. She would not give him the satisfaction of turning around. No matter how many times he clanked a utensil against the side of his plate or shook his glass until the ice jingled together.
Then she felt him just behind her. Right at her shoulder. Close enough for the heat from his body to seep into hers.
She wanted to throw an elbow. Considered doing so then stopped. Her family and his were inextricably tied together. That meant playing nice even though the years of waiting had started to weigh on her.
“How are you?” He reached around her body to turn the water off.
She could play it cool. She could...She whipped around and she threw the kitchen towel on the counter. “Really? We’re doing this?”
With one hand braced against the countertop near her hip, he leaned in close. “You’re still not talking to me, so what choice do I have but to fall back on bullshit topics.”
“I’m standing right here, Jason.” Trying to ignore him. Going through the painful act of attempted self-delusion to trick her mind into thinking she didn’t care about him.
But the closeness killed her. Chipped away at every defense until all that was left was raw and ready for battle.
His gaze wandered over her. “I see that.”
Much more of this and she would show him how much she meant to him. He might not to know or care but this close she could see his reactions. The steady rise and fall of his chest quickened. His gaze went to her mouth and stayed there.
The guy covered it all with a healthy dose of denial.
“You’re the one who’s running scared,” she pointed out.
He leaned in closer until his breath danced across her cheek. “What the hell does that mean?”
She wanted to put her hand on his chest and push him away but touching was out of the question. Way out. “I walk into a room and you get all weird.”
“That’s not true.” But he shoved away from the sink and stepped back.
“Do you want me to forget what I saw?” Not that she could. The redhead coming out of his room last week. The friendly male ribbing she overheard about the endless parade of women in his bed now that he was legally separated and right on the verge of a divorce.
He shook his head. Stared at the floor rather than give her eye contact. “That was a mistake.”
He acted as if this was hard for him. The divorce sucked. Absolutely. Coming home from a year of deployment to find his wife gone and the legal separation papers on the couch with a note about how they needed to reach an agreement on a division of assets so she could move on and they could get a divorce. It all amounted to one big pile of shit.
He’d gotten through the worst of it and the shock. Molly had no idea how. He’d gone to the facilitator meetings and worked out an agreement, all while looking across the table at the woman who’d betrayed him.
But now he was trying to work out whatever issues rumbled inside of him with a series of nameless women. The fact sliced through Molly until she had to fight to keep from doubling over from the pain.
“You’re an adult.” She said the words because they needed to be said.
“I know.” He closed his eyes for a second. When he opened them again his gaze looked bleak. “I mean I shouldn’t have invited that other woman here. To Sawyer’s house.”
“You’re single.” The words were the truth but what they meant in terms of his freedom killed her to think about.
“Almost.”
“Heather is an idiot.” Molly remembered the wedding day. Heather in white with a huge smile. How she took Molly aside and apologized for making a move on Jason. For getting pregnant.
The absolutely worst day of Molly’s life.
“I don’t want to talk about her, but she’s my wife, and we’re going to respect that much at least.” He’d been apologizing and taking responsibility for months. He’d finally moved to anger when she insisted their home be sold immediately so she could get her share of the equity to buy the place she wanted in Arizona. Never mind the financial hit.
“She’s your ex. Almost.” They were so close to having the final paperwork done and signed, so Molly thought that description sounded safe. “And she was also my friend.”
Molly’s best friend. Her college roommate. Then she came home with her after graduation and made a move on Jason while he was on leave. He’d fallen for Heather without thinking. It wasn’t until after the wedding and the baby news turned out to be fake that the shine wore off on his sudden love.
“You guys used to be so close,” he said as he put his dish in the sink.
“We grew apart.” That’s what happened when a friend shredded trust. Heather had known about Molly’s lifelong crush. Knew and didn’t care.
“Because?”
The man was blind. And making her crazy. “Not important.”
“Just because she and I are over doesn’t mean you can’t have a relationship with her.”
Molly was done with the Heather topic. Forever. But one thing did bother her, and if Jason suddenly wanted to chat, she would. “You ever notice that with everyone else you joke around but with me you’re all...well, weird.”
He frowned. “That’s not true.”
“We used to play around. Laugh at things. Now you’re all quiet when I walk in a room.” The only answer that made sense was guilt, but even that didn’t fit right. Molly wanted an answer.
“You think maybe you’re seeing things that aren’t happening?”
Throwing up the hysterical woman defense made her want to kick him. She threw the silverware in the sink instead. Let the utensils bounce and clank and generally make a lot of irritating noise.
“Uh, Molly—”
“I think I know exactly what’s going on but you’re fighting it.”
His expression went blank. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
He made her crazy. Turned her on, revved her up, infuriated her and moved her to violence.
She balled her hands into fists to keep from punching him. When that didn’t work, she went with shoving past him on the way to the front door. Let him clean up his own dishes. “God, Jason. Catch up and figure it out.”
“Meaning?”
“Forget it.” She just wished she could.
Chapter Seven
The alarm on Hailey’s watched dinged. She’d synced the buzzer at the property’s front gate to her computer, watch and phone. That way she knew what was happening over all those acres no matter where she stood. In theory.
But this time she didn’t need the fancy gadgets or wireless networking. She could see the visitor leaning against the gate while he stared at the number pad. All six-foot-something of him.
The faded jeans. The T-shirt that smoothed over his muscled chest and showed off his trim waist. Sawyer Cain knew how to make an entrance.
She approached from his left side, thinking to sneak up on him. Not to sc
are him but to soak in every last minute of watching him.
She took one step and his head whipped around. Not a surprise. Fooling a marine was not an easy task. He’d been trained. And marked with a tattoo that drew her eye. She’d seen a peek of it before but the shorter sleeves let her see every inch now. She studied how it wrapped around his biceps like a band. USMC in scroll.
Some women got all giddy over tattoos. She wasn’t one of them. She liked sexy and a little rough around the edges but too much ink and she spent all her time trying to decipher the story rather than concentrate on the man. But Sawyer’s scroll, simple and elegant, a testament to his service, worked for her. It said something about his dedication. Despite her military men moratorium it added to his hotness, which already spiked off the charts.
He wrapped those long fingers through the bars of the gate as he watched her approach. “I used the intercom this time.”
“I see that.” She typed in the code and the lock clicked open.
Swinging the gate, she opened her property to him. He didn’t ignore the invite. Instead, he stepped into the opening and closed the gate again, leaving his car in one of the dirt-lined parking spots outside.
“Do you always come down here in person to see who’s at the gate?” He glanced behind him then to the open area to his left. “Seems unsafe.”
“I happened to be out here with Barkley.” She whistled and the buff-colored dog came running. He cut through the trees and bounded toward her.
“Who is...” Sawyer dropped down and balanced on the balls of his feet. He caught the forty-pound fur ball right before getting knocked over.
“The most subtle dog in the universe.” And she loved him.
Barkley stood for the principle of uncomplicated love. He adored anyone who would pet him, throw his ball or carried a treat. A pretty simple life philosophy but it seemed to meet his needs.
Sawyer scratched Barkley’s ears and tolerated the face licking. “Hey there, big boy.”
“Barkley is part retriever and part cocker spaniel, and a bit nuts. Under all the sloppy kisses beats the heart of a chicken.” He’d hid behind her the last time the alarm went off. “His separation anxiety can be daunting.”
“That’s not true, is it? You just want attention, don’t you?” Sawyer kept petting, being Barkley’s human slave.
Clearly comfortable with the welcome, Barkley went for the slobbery tennis ball. He picked it up and held it in a tight grip between his teeth. When Sawyer didn’t immediately take the hint, Barkley dropped it between Sawyer’s legs then started the whole process over again.
On the third try Sawyer took pity on the poor guy and reached for it.
Time for the obligatory warning. She’d made this mistake and felt like she should at least try to stop others from going down the same road. “If you throw that ball you’ll get stuck throwing it forever. Really, he can go for hours before he falls over.”
“That’s okay.” Sawyer whipped it deep into the trees and sent Barkley in a fevered race of barking and tail wagging as he fetched. “I like dogs.”
She noticed Sawyer wiped his hand on his jeans as he stood up. “And the slobber. Did I forget to mention the slobber?”
He shrugged. “I’ve dealt with worse.”
They both watched Barkley grab the ball and start back for round two of what would likely be a hundred. Twenty feet away a squirrel caught his attention and off he shot in a different direction.
“He’s a good predator.” Sawyer glanced over and threw her a one-eyed questioning look. “Or does that sound bad?”
“He’s actually just easily distracted.” So, the guy helped friends fight crappy exes and liked dogs. Hailey gave him all kinds of points for both. Also lost the battle with the guilt crashing into her. “Look, I’m sorry.”
She had all of his attention now. He didn’t even blink. “For?”
“Being rude at Kat’s place.” Then there was the mental list she concocted. The Con List outlining why he should remain off-limits to her.
She’d put some not-so-nice things on there. Things that might not even be true. Since she was trying to convince her mind to ignore what her body wanted and run in the opposite direction, she was willing to say anything. Shame she seemed to be losing the mental battle.
“Seemed like I hit a nerve.” His voice stayed even, not giving away anything about what was happening in his head.
She swept her hand over the horizon. “A lot of guys come around here looking to get their hands on this.”
A smile broke across his lips. “The property or...?”
Funny guy. “The property.”
His gaze darted to Barkley where he had his paws up on a tree trunk and his tail wagging. “So, you think I’m just the newest man coming around and trying to sweet-talk you out of the land.”
And the only one who actually had a shot at holding her attention for more than two seconds. Which was what scared the crap out of her. “Something like that.”
With his arms folded across his chest, he leaned against the fence post. “But you asked me out. Totally fucking hot, by the way.”
That gleam in his eye suggested he wasn’t kidding. “I mentioned dinner.”
“And the first time we met I talked about tasting you. Apparently we both enjoy using our mouths.”
That stupid fluttering started inside her again. The words, those bulging arms, the complete lack of fat anywhere on the guy...she refused to believe any woman could defend against that trifecta.
She forced her body to stay still even though she wanted to jump on him. “I believe there was talk like that, yes.”
“Are you getting all delicate on me again? You can use dirty words. In fact, you should.” His deep voice licked over her. He didn’t close in but the air around them grew heavy and swallowed up the space separating their bodies.
The shrinking space freaked her out. Part of her wanted to bolt. The other still debated that whole crawling all over him thing.
She tried to swallow, clear her throat...something...but gave up. “You promised hot and I’m hoping you can deliver.”
His eyebrow lifted. “Oh, I can give you whatever you need.”
The revving in her belly needed to stop. She had to be smart about this. He might want sex but just view it as a way to get what he wanted with the property. Being used like that would rip through her. So, they needed ground rules. Something that might save her since her usual stay-away-from-military-guys stance was failing her.
This would be for fun only, but whether they even started depended on him. “Our conversation wrapped around again. We talk land, we move to dinner and¾“
“Fucking, Hailey. I’ve been talking about fucking.”
“I’m asking if you can separate out the two things you want and concentrate just on dinner.” She wanted more than anything for him to say yes. “No business.”
“Despite what you may think, I do know the difference between work and play.”
It was the way he said it. The innocuous words delivered like that from a guy who looked like him set off something wild inside of her. Something naughty and wanting that she wanted buried.
“This is probably a bad idea.” She was pretty sure that qualified as the greatest understatement of all time. “Like, massively.”
“Not the way I’ve been dreaming about it.”
Every word he said just sucked her in deeper. “What are you doing in these dreams?”
“You.”
The dog barked and spun around in a circle chasing his tail. She barely heard it over the whooshing sound tunneling through her ears.
“We’re naked. Trust me, I would not let clothes get in our way.” He shifted and their bodies came closer, separated only by inches.
“That’s very practical of you.”
“I can give you a demonstration right now.”
He didn’t touch her. Didn’t have to. She could imagine. Without closing her eyes she could feel his fingertips brush
over her skin. Skim along her bare leg and then higher.
Backing up, giving them a bit of breathing room, was the answer but her legs refused to move. “Maybe we should slow down.”
“Just know that I can go any speed you want.”
Oh, come on.
“I date.” She blurted that bit of idiocy out then stopped talking. Just stood there.
He coughed. Looked like he was trying to cover a smile. “Do you now?”
“Not every night or anything but—”
“Hailey.” He reached out and slipped his fingers around her elbows. “I’m not going to jump on top of you unless you give me the okay.”
The touching sent her stomach nose-diving. The words made her dizzy.
“That’s a shame.” And, God, she meant it.
“Sounds like we’re on the same wavelength.” He gave her arms a little squeeze then dropped his hands. “So, yes. I’m accepting your dinner invitation.”
She tried to hold onto what little common sense she had left. “Last time¾“
“Ignore my previous answer. Dinner tonight.”
Barkley picked that moment to race toward them. He circled Sawyer and dropped a ball on his shoe.
“I’ll cook.” She petted the top of Barkley’s head. “Here.”
She waited for him to say something sexy or annoying. There was a fifty-fifty shot at both. One mention of the property and this time she’d kick him. No question.
“What should I bring?” he asked.
“Just you.” When he started to say something, she cut him off. She had one rule and he had to follow it or he’d be eating alone on the porch. “No paperwork. No other distractions.”
“You will have my full attention. Trust me.” He held out his hand. “Your cell?”
Without thinking or questioning, she reached for it. She fumbled to drag the phone out of her front pocket.
“In case you deleted my other messages, you’ll have my contact information.” His fingers flew over the cell then he handed it back. “Call me with the time.”
The conversation had morphed into something normal. Something she could handle. “Sure.”
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