Page 31 (1/2)
"Hey," he said to the three sisters, hands on hips, "if it isn’t Curly, Larry, and Moe"
The three faces grinned Sawyer had long ago schooled hi And he had a really good blank, cop face He knew this because it was that face that allowed hile tiht before hiave off an unearthly feel, and with nothing surrounding theht have been ancient Indians in their war paint
The tallest one narrowed her eyes and spoke with a Southern accent "We were thinking es," she drawled
The next one squealed with delight at that "Oh! I want to be Carrie! I’ve alanted to be Carrie!"
The petite one just studied Sawyer meditatively "I think we should elic, her voice pure devil "He doesn’t alear underwear, you know"
Six eyes swiveled to his crotch
Christ He resisted cupping himself
"Come on in, Sheriff," the little minx called softly "We don’t bite"
"You’re drunk" Perfect He should arrest them for all for public intoxication and public nudity, not toout here on closed trails, but hell if he could make himself do it Where was Lucille when Facebook needed her? He pulled out his cell phone
Tara gasped "What are you doing?"
"Getting a shot for Lucille You’re going to be even more popular than the elusive Cute Guy"
Maddie and Tara squealed and iround, watching hionna happen" If she’d been alone, he’d have been te, the thought not only wouldn’t have entered his mind but would’ve appalled him
He pressed the button on his phone to check for calls froent Morris before he remembered--no service up here "Okay, everyone out" He held out his hand to Maddie first because she was finger-painting Chloe’s face and looked to be thethe hair off her neck, her skin glea like sooddess Maddie finished with Chloe’s face and began hu sorabbed her before she could dance her way farther into the shadows "Whoa there, Pocahontas," she said, snagging her sister by the ar up out of thea bra, and Sawyer sed hard "Chloe--"
She sent him an innocent s the for her oel
Sawyer turned his back and stared hard up at the stars He tried a few ainst the i each other off
By the ti, he eating "You can look now," she murmured
They were all dressed, thank God He could stop picturing Ford’s and Jax’s wolow
But he didn’t have to stop picturing Chloe
They walked together down the path,it in twenty minutes back to Maddie’s car He then followed the out when Chloe pulled Maddie’s car over to the side
"Just wanted to say thanks for checking on us," she said when he’d walked up to the driver’s door and she’d rolled her n
His phone beeped as his cell service kicked in, and he realized he had es Froet hie on his cell and his blood ran cold
"Sawyer?" Chloe’s s Dispatch had been trying to reach hi to reach hi to reach hie, all hell had broken loose There’d been a reported drug deal before the DEA could mobilize They had a witness, a hiker, who clai but by the time the authorities had arrived, everyone had scattered
It’d been only a few one to Todd’s place to discover that not only had they ht, Todd had cleared out entirely, probably holed up waiting until the heat was off
No doubt thanks to Sawyer going to Todd, trying to interrogate hi him a deal Instead Todd had packed up his shit and vanished
"Sawyer?"
"I’ve got to go" He strode back to his truck, vibrating with anger Janition, he tossed his cell on the seat, then peeled out of the parking area, furious at himself He’d known he was the only one on the DEA task force actually stationed in Lucky Harbor, and he’d also known better than to be out of cell service that long, but as always, being anywhere near Chloe stole his good sense
Not her fault Nope, this one was all on him, and it’d been at the expense of the job that ht not like to ade,
but er
Chloe stared after Sawyer’s truck, Maddie’s headlights cutting through the cloud of dust in his wake
"What the hell was that?" Maddie asked She sat in the backseat, a torapped around her hair She didn’t sound drunk now "He seeun position in the front seat
Now that the dust had settled, Chloe pulled back onto the road, replaying the evening in her head "It wasn’t about us," she said "I think it was about his ’s okay," Maddie said "I’d hate it if hesomeone because of us"
Chloe, too She’d never seen Sawyer react like that before It wasn’t his style Usually when things went to hell, he got cal bad Her thoughts went first to his father, but that didn’t hold up If he’d had a heart attack, Saould have been concerned, not angry
"He sure was surprised to find us in the , but I can guarantee it wasn’t the three of us in war paint"
Chloe thought of Sawyer’s expression when he’d coe of the trail and found them He’d been irritated, then relieved to find theht at her and hadn’t even tried to hide his affection
The ht an unexpected lump to her throat Jax and Ford had knoyer forever, and yet he hid his emotions from them all the time His emotions and his weaknesses…