Page 33 of Resisting Temptation (Men of Honor 3)
“Perverts,” she spits out angrily, clearly knowing what we are doing here. Then she shakes her finger at Cooper. “And why am I not surprised to see you doing this, Sheriff? You all should be ashamed of yourselves.”
“Hey!” Evans breaks in, “those are our women out there, and we can perv on them if we want to.”
Did he seriously just fucking say that?
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Haywood,” Cooper responds calmly, “we are just waiting for the girls. I promised Kayla I would take her out for lunch today.”
She silently glares at us all, and I swear, if looks could kill we would be ten feet under right now. “Well, you should wait in your vehicles,” she harrumphs before speeding away. I have to admit that thing packs some real power behind it.
“Jesus, what a fucking hag. She sure doesn’t seem to think much of you, Sheriff,” Sawyer sneers, trying to imitate the old lady.
Coop grunts, not seeming offended in the least. “It’s because she busted me pissing in her rose bushes one time, when I was like fourteen fucking years old, and she still hasn’t gotten over it.”
Jaxson is just about to add something, but ends up getting cut off by a bunch of high-pitched squeals. “Oh my goodness, my baby girl is here,” Julia gushes and runs over with a pack of chicks following behind her. She picks Annabelle up from Jaxson and starts raining kisses all over the baby’s face. “How’s mommy’s sweet girl doing?” she coos. Then she leans over to give Jaxson a quick kiss, but he ends up grabbing the back of her head and mauling her like he hasn’t gotten any in five weeks.
When I don’t spot Faith in the group of girls, I glance over to the park, and my chest pulls tight when I see her hanging back hesitantly. She looks away when our gazes meet and starts packing up her mat, clearly feeling she isn’t welcome, which makes me feel like complete shit.
“What are y’all doing here?” Grace asks, pulling my attention back to the group.
“Evans texted us when he spotted you girls out here,” Cooper responds, before picking up Kayla and kissing the shit out of her too.
Christ, get me the fuck out of here.
Grace giggles and shakes her head, “Why am I not surprised to hear this was your idea, Sawyer?”
“Because you know me so well, baby.”
Standing, he picks her up and throws her over his shoulder. She squeals and tries to squirm away. “Sawyer Evans, put me down right now you’re embarrassing me!”
“Sorry, Cupcake, but I have plans for you before you head back to the bakery.”
“See you later, Grace!” Kayla and Julia laugh as he starts hauling her away.
She waves back, embarrassed, then I hear her grumble, “I am seriously going to kill you, Sawyer.”
“Don’t worry, baby, you can take it out on me in a minute.” Before he gets too far he stops and glances over at the park then back at me. I know what he’s going to say before he even says it. “Don’t be an asshole, Walker.” He continues on to his truck before I can tell him to mind his own fucking business.
Realizing it’s suddenly quiet, I look over to see Katelyn glaring at me while everyone else shifts uncomfortably. She hands Annabelle off to Julia then walks back across the street to her cousin. Everyone watches me expectantly.
“I know, I’m going,” I mumble, before heading across the street. I was planning on talking to her the whole time, because there’s something I’ve wanted to talk to her about, but I don’t need a fucking crowd watching me while doing it.
Faith is kneeling on the ground with her back to me, as she helps Katelyn pack everything up. As if she can feel my approach, she suddenly freezes then glances behind her. Shock registers in her eyes as our gazes meet, and so does something else… something I don’t want to acknowledge, otherwise it will suck me in and I’ll never come back out. It’s that same goddamn pull she always had on me.
I watch her mumble something to Katelyn before standing up to face me. Katelyn quickly follows suit and takes a protective step in front of her. I find it amusing that, for a girl who used to be scared to even look at me, she now glares me down every time she sees me and seems ready to brawl if the need arises.
I ignore her death stare and only focus on Faith. “Hey, Red.”
Surprise flares in her bright green eyes at the use of her nickname. “Hi.”
I push away the warm feeling trying to worm its way in my chest at the sound of her voice. “Can I talk to you a minute?”
“Um, sure.” We both look over at Katelyn and I’m not surprised when she makes no effort to leave. Faith puts her hand on her shoulder. “I’ll meet you at the car, okay?”
She hesitates. “You sure?” When Faith nods, she bends down and grabs her stuff. “I’ll be right over there if you need me.” She points to her car that’s parked on the street. Glaring at me one last time, she walks past me and purposely knocks into my shoulder. She huffs when I don’t budge and continues on.
I quirk a brow at Faith, “I get the feeling she doesn’t like me very much.” She smiles like I hoped she would, and the sight of it makes my heart fucking pound in my chest like a damn teenager. Jesus, I’m fucking pathetic.
“Sorry, she’s a little protective.” I shrug, letting her know I’m not really offended. If anything, I’m glad someone looks out for her.
Her smile fades as silence descends on us, and I don’t like it when she drops her gaze and starts kicking at the ground. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”
Moving in closer, I put a finger under her chin and force her eyes to mine. “Why didn’t you come over with everyone else?” She tries to look away again, but I keep a firm hold of her chin and don’t let her. She licks her lips nervously, and I hope to hell she doesn’t notice my dick standing to attention from it. Of course the fucking thing has to work now…
