Page 60 of Wild Then Wed
I whirl around, my heart in my throat. Sawyer’s staring at me, still holding my wrist like he’s afraid if he lets go, I’ll bolt straight into the damn woods. Which, at this point, I would.
It’s the second time he’s touched me today. Both times to pull me back. To make me stay.
And the strangest part is…I don’t hate it.
Normally, I hate people touching me. Too close, too loud, too much.
But with him, it’s different. It doesn’t feel like a demand. It feels like a question. As if he’s giving me the option to stay, not dragging me back against my will.
His hand is warm and steady against my skin, and even though every survival instinct I have is screaming at me to run, something quieter underneath tells me to wait.
Sawyer’s thumb brushes once over my wrist before he finally lets go, stepping back like he’s giving me the space to decide.
He clears his throat. “Can I talk now?”
I let out a disbelieving breath, a small, startled laugh slipping out with it. “Yeah,” I say, smiling before I can stop myself. “You can talk.”
He leans back against the counter, his arms folding across his chest. The muscles in his forearms flex with the movement, and the kitchen lights catch in his hair, making it look a little blonder than usual. His chest and shoulders look carved out of stone.
“I’m not…necessarily saying no. I understand why you’re asking, and I think if I was in your position I wouldn’t be above doing the same for my family,” he says.
I blink. “Okay…?”
“I just don’t think you’ve really thought this all the way through, Wren.”
My brows knit together. “How so?”
He exhales slowly, like he’s choosing his words carefully, and somehow that’s worse than if he just blurted something out.
“Because if we do this,” he says, voice even, “we’re gonna have to make it seem real.”
Real?The word rattles around my head, knocking into every sharp edge it can find.
Real.
“What do you mean? How real?” I ask, and my voice sounds thinner than I want it to.
His mouth pulls into something that’s not quite a smile. “Very real.”
He pushes off the counter. “You know Summit Springs. Hell, you know my dad,” he says. “The county already watches him like a damn hawk because of who he is and the shit he’s done around this town. And if they get even the slightest sense that this is anything less than legitimate? That we’re doing it for thewrong reasons?” He shakes his head once. “They’ll be up our asses so fast we won’t even see it coming.”
I swallow, but he’s not done.
“Which means,” he says, meeting my eyes without blinking, “we’re going to have to…live together. Make it seemreal.”
For a second, the words don’t compute. They just sit there, heavy. Maybe if I blink fast enough they’ll rearrange themselves into something less terrifying.
Live together?Live together.
Live with Sawyer Hart.
My heart pounds so hard it feels like it’s echoing in my ribs.
“I—” I start to protest, but he cuts me off with a shake of his head.
“If we get married and keep living separate lives in separate houses, it’s going to look suspicious,” he says. “This town’s too damn nosy, and it’s way too small. Someonewilltalk. Someone will notice. And word travels fast around here.”
Deep inside, I know he’s right, even if I don’t want him to be. Summit Springs is too small for anything to slip by unnoticed. Half the town’s been watching me and Sawyer Hart grow up since we were in grade school. And both of our families? They carry too much weight around here.
