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So Chloe, naturally

"Knohat I think?" Sawyer asked

"I have no idea I never do"

He was leaning against the back of the bench, all six feet three inches of brawn at rest "I make you nervous"

"You don’t make me nervous" Okay, he so made her nervous She turned to the water and tried to take a deep, relaxing breath With the ocean in front of her--abastard behind her--it should have been no problem But it took a few tries, and she had to close her eyes When that didn’t work, she added a stretch, rolling her shoulders, then lifting her arh

A low sound of male appreciation came from behind her in mid-stretch, and she turned to face him

Sawyer’s eyes lifted fro at now?" he asked softly

And wasn’t that just the thing "I don’t think I’," she said back, just as softly

He studied her carefully, clearly searching for half truths

But she never dealt in half truths Or lies for that matter Too ht up Possibly the one thing they had in co in his stancedown the Big Bad Wolf With the pier rail at her back, she tilted her head up to oing on with you and Lance that I should know about?"

"No Why?"

"Just trying to figure out if last night’s fake caterwauling was a war?" He was giving her a coh not to her, daet" He stepped even closer Since she had nowhere to retreat to, his body touched hers "Panting? Definitely" His voice dropped an octave "Some dirty talk? Oh hell, yeah But not that horrendous sound you were , no"

He ar to lock her knees so they didn’t wobble She put a hand on his chest because he’d moved into her personal space and suddenly there wasn’t nearly enough air

"When?" he asked, his hand circling her wrist, and as he’d done once before, he let his thumb brush over the tiny tattoo there "When does it happen?"

"Well…in books"

His eyes softened slightly at this and so did his , Chloe?"

"Er…" Okay, soa lot of romances lately, so what? Andwith that, or daydrea those woh breath in their lungs to screaer certain what the point was

And why the hell was he standing here teasing her instead of running? And…"Why did you ask about Lance?"

Sawyer stared into her face for a long, speculative moment "So that I could do this" He cupped her jaw, then lowered his head until their lips nearly met Not hesitant, not uncertain

The opposite, in fact

There was a beat of stillness, during which his gaze held hers prisoner while all her parts cahtly, then not so lightly, and when his tongue touched hers, she moaned At the sound, he threaded his hands in her hair and deepened the kiss

She melted into him There was no other word for what happened One one Then as quickly as it’d started, it was over, and she was blinking up at hi nowhere close to under control "Okay, as that?"

Sawyer shoved a hand through his hair, leaving it tousled "I don’t know You drive irl wanted to hear She used her inhaler, and he frowned "Come on," he said "I’ll walk you back"

"I can walk myself"

Her phone vibrated She pulled the cell fro out with Lance so much, she ran into Todd often Occasionally he called her to see if she wanted to go out--his eupheht have earned the moniker the "wild child" here in Lucky Harbor, but she wasn’t the "stupid child" Everyone knew there was si to be the cause of seeing it burst into flanore and shoved her phone back in her pocket

"Probleazesmore but stubbornly stuck by her side all the way back to the inn He waited at the bottom of the steps while she cli the ht standing there,low on his hips He looked dangerous, alluring, and hotter than sin "I’ to pretend that didn’t happen The kiss," she clarified

"Can you?"

Her niles were still hard so she sort of doubted it It’d been a hell of a kiss "It doesn’t ot it out of our systeht?"

"Yeah"

Not even a nanosecond of a hesitation Ouch "Okay, good," she said, lifting her chin "Good, then"

Sawyer turned and began jogging back the way they’d just coht, then let herself drop to the top step, completely unsettled Because for two people who valued the truth over all else, they’d both just lied their asses off

Chapter 5

"When you don’t knohat you’re doing, fake it"

Chloe Traeger

Chloe stepped inside the inn and came face-to-face with a pissed-off Tara "What?" Chloe asked, still a little off her ga Sawyer Sawyer Holy s out with the sheriff "Why?"

"Because you were supposed to be here"

"I was gone for an hour before sunrise We didn’t have any guests"

"No, but when a faht, you weren’t here They were just leaving when I drove up"