Page 51 of Crossing the Line (Whitecap)

“Oh, I had no clue what I was doing,” he admitted with a chuckle. “Georgia pointed me in the right direction.”

God, this man. When he left it was going to hurt so much worse than I’d imagined.

“I-I can’t believe you did that,” I said quietly, my throat suddenly feeling a little thick.

“Of course I did. If Little Bit is sick, I want to do everything I can to make her feel better.”

I wasn’t going to cry. Ireallywasn’t.Damn it! There was ahugepossibility I was going to cry. “For the love of God, man, you havegotto stop being so freaking sweet!”

His dimpled smirk was just too damn much. “You kind of want to jump me right now, don’t you?”

I laughed and shook my head. “Maybe. But if I did, you’d be at risk of getting sick. These bugs are pretty contagious, and I’d hate for you to catch it from being around either one of us.”

“I don’t care about that. If I get sick, I get sick. If you’re cool with it, I’d like to stay and help you take care of her.”

How in the world was I supposed to say no to something that thoughtful and kindhearted? It was impossible.

I stepped aside so he could come in. “All right, but I’m warning you now, things inside could get pretty messy. Hope you have a strong stomach.”

He stepped into the house, but didn’t move past me. Instead, he bent and pressed his lips to mine in a quick, but no less potent, kiss. “Don’t worry about me, baby. I can handle anything.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sawyer

The roarof the water falling over the blunt edge of the small cliff into the crystal-clear pool below blocked out the sound of wind rustling the leaves of the trees and birds calling out from above.

It had been a week since Renee’s stomach virus, and sure enough, like I’d warned, Trent and I both caught it. The next few days had been rough, to say the least. Trent got it the worst, puking his guts up nearly constantly for almost two days, but he toughed it out with me, and all three of us were in the clear now. It took another couple days for our energy to get back to normal, but once it had, I’d decided it was time to finally take him to see Whisper Falls.

It was a bit of a hike to the remote location, but totally worth it.

“Whoa,” he breathed as we stepped into the clearing, bringing into perfect view all the beauty around us. “This place is absolutely amazing.”

I smiled up at him, the sun above us shining down, making his dark, chocolate locks shine. “I thought you might like it.”

Taking my hand in his, he stared at the water, the spray coming off the falls catching in the wind and traveling outward to mist our skin. “Baby, you weren’t kidding. This is beautiful.”

“I’m glad you like it. It’s my favorite place in the whole world. The hike is a bit rough, as you know, so there aren’t many people willing to make the trek. I used to come up here all the time when I needed to escape the world for a little while. I’d lie back and listen to the water and just let everything go. It’s the perfect place to clear your mind.”

And shortly after I’d arrived in town, after I had Renee and I was worried the choices I’d made in my life, all the regrets I had tucked away like skeletons in a dark closet, would do her more harm than good, I’d needed to clear my mind frequently.

“This place gave me a sense of peace I’d never really had before. It became kind of a sanctuary for me.”

His fingers pressed beneath my chin, tilting my face around so I could see into those gorgeous smoky eyes.

“I’m really glad you had that, beautiful.”

I pulled in a deep breath through my nose, filling my lungs with the crisp autumn air and the smell of pine and clean laundry. I was in so much trouble. Without meaning to, I’d gone and fallen in love with someone who was just passing through. Not only had I given my heart to this man, but I’d also allowed him into Renee’s life, knowing it was just a matter of time before he disappeared.

I hadn’t protected either of us the way I should have, and now it wasn’t only my heart that would be broken when this ended, but my baby girl’s as well.

To make matters worse, he didn’t even know the real me. He didn’t know anything about my life before Whitecap, about Cheyanne Knightly, and the longer I held that secret, the worse I felt. Before Trent came to town, I’d been content to live out the rest of my days as Sawyer Darcy. But for some reason, he’d changed things for me. I felt guilty for deceiving all these people who’d come to mean the world to me. They were the closest thing to family I’d had since I was seven years old, and hiding my true self from everyone who loved me was starting to tear me apart.

“What are you thinking?” he asked gently.

“Nothing important.” I tried to turn back to the falls, but his grip on my chin held firm, refusing to allow me to break contact with those eyes that were the color of the densest forest.

“Baby, whatever you were just thinking, it made you sad. I can see it on your face. Talk to me. What’s wrong?”

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