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Nope. Not thinking like that. I was focused on getting this done, and heading back to my grill.
I’d figured out a few years ago that I was attracted to men, and Evie was the only person who knew. It wasn’t something I’d ever had a chance to explore, marrying when I did, and dealing with the break-up after.
And this was not the time to start fantasizing about what I could get up to, with Sawyer of all people.
“A Scorpions tattoo?” I teased lightly as I worked over the worn ink on his bicep. “You a fan?”
Sawyer let out an amused bark. “No. But a girl I really wanted to fuck in high school was. Live and learn, right?”
“You could always get it covered up.” This was good. Small talk. Something to stop me from thinking about how incredible it felt to slide my hands over the bulge of his bicep, and down the contours of his chest.
“Nah. Our scars remind us that the past is real.”
“Wow. That’s deep.”
“That’s Papa Roach.”
Funny. Ha.
After I finished rubbing him down, I dragged in a smaller cooler full of half melted ice. “You might want this tonight.”
“Thank you.” He sounded sincere.
“And I’ll talk to Evie. See if she’ll hear you out.”
Sawyer instantly looked suspicious. “Why?”
Good question. What was I doing? He’d been so good with Kurt today. But he was still the asshole who lied about who he was to take advantage of Evie, and tried to do it a second time, too. “I want you to be done with her. I want you to leave town.”
“I’m not leaving until I get a yes.”
“Because you’re an asshole.” This was better. No repressed desire. No wondering if maybe he was an okay guy after all. “I’ll ask her to hear you out, and once she does, and says no anyway, you leave.”
If he stayed, if he won more people over, someone was going to end up liking him, and that was dangerous.
12
Evie
The older I got, the harder it was to shake off a late night of work the next morning. It was going to take a lot of coffee for me to wake up today, and my brain fog was made worse by the fact I hadn’t solved the problem that kept me at the hardware store late.
My books didn’t balance. This was more than me having zero reserve funds and being behind on every single bill. What I was taking in, based on receipts, didn’t match what I had going into the bank. I couldn’t find the pattern, though. I’d spent hours going through sale by sale, trying to line up where the money was missing.
Fortunately, I could move around my kitchen when I was in the worst of conditions, so making coffee was an option. I had just set the pot to brew when the doorbell rang.
The story of Sawyer talking to Rohde the other morning had made the rounds, and anyone who had heard it was either in the but is he well hung camp or the serves him right camp.
I was the latter, and I also wasn’t making a similar mistake.
The doorbell rang. Who was here so early? A quick check confirmed my tits were secured behind my tank top, and my shorts weren’t stuck in any cracks they shouldn’t be in.
I saw a familiar outline through the frosted glass before I opened the door, so I wasn’t surprised to find Gage on my porch. “Hey.” I gave him a broad grin, as some of the fog seeped away.
“Morning.”
“What’s in the bag?” I nodded at the reusable grocery bag in his hand.
“Breakfast.”
