Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 105921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105921 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 530(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
We turned out of the Inn at Sawyers Bend, a staff member following in my car, and passed through the far end of the town of Sawyers Bend. I'd arrived well after midnight and only got a few glimpses of the town. What I'd seen had appeared quaint and charming, like a small town in a movie. In the bright light of a summer morning, the town was even prettier than I'd thought, the main street already crowded with tourists.
Within a few minutes, we'd passed through town, heading up a winding road into the mountains. I should have been scared to leave civilization with a stranger. I was. Kind of. I didn't know any of these people. Definitely couldn't trust them.
Tipping my head back against the soft leather headrest of Tenn's luxury SUV, I let out a sigh. I was sorry that woman had died, but her death had solved a lot of problems for me. After I'd gotten Thatcher's garbled message, I'd withdrawn as much cash as I could, raided my emergency fund stashed in the freezer, loaded up August, and taken off for North Carolina. I hadn't slept since.
Considering the demands of an eight-year-old bladder, it had taken us almost twenty hours to get from our small college town outside of Boston all the way to Sawyers Bend, North Carolina.
Go to Sawyers Bend. That was all Thatcher had been able to tell me. That they were headed to Sawyers Bend, but he didn't know when they'd get here, and that the Sawyers had what they were looking for. If I wanted this to end, I needed to see if I could find it.
An impossible task. I was a stranger and a terrible liar. Two things that would not get me entry to any of the Sawyers' private spaces like the Inn or their historic Manor. Except here I was, Tenn Sawyer's new best friend, being taken to his home where I'd be forced to stay until they let me go.
Good luck or bad? Hard to say. For now, I was cautiously going with good. Given what Tenn had said about the security at Heartstone Manor, I never would have been able to sneak in on my own.
I could have gone after Tenn or one of his brothers, tried seduction to get in the house, but that would have caused more trouble in the end. For one thing, I had August. Leaving him alone in that cottage for twenty minutes had left me sick with worry. Leaving him while I went off with a strange man? No freaking way.
And second, there was Tenn.
I glanced away from the passing trees and snuck a look at Tennessee Sawyer. My life was cursed by handsome men. No, really. Cursed. My ex-husband was the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, and he'd been a major disappointment in almost every way a man could be. He'd been good in bed, but that was the best thing I could say about him.
I was currently having issues at work due to the new head of my department, another too-handsome man. This one had decided I should be his newest extracurricular activity if I wanted a full professorship. Forget that. Not only was he married, I was done sleeping with men just because they were hot. Been there, had the wasted years to show for it.
Which brought me to Tenn Sawyer. In another world, for another woman, seducing him would have been heaven. He was just as good-looking as my ex though in a totally different way. Taller and broader for one. I hadn't missed those strong thighs in his running shorts or the way the sleeves of his t-shirt stretched around his biceps. Add deep blue eyes, thick, wavy, espresso-dark hair, and that serious demeanor—it was hard not to be tempted.
You don't do temptation, remember?
That was right, I didn't. I'd dated a few times since I'd ditched my ex, but none of the guys had been worth a second date. Lately, I'd been too focused on the important things in life to focus on dating. Being a mom, teaching my classes, and my side hustle, selling my lampwork glass art and jewelry for extra cash—those things were my future, my real life. I didn't have time for anything else. I definitely didn't have enough patience for the meat market of dating.
Maybe Tenn Sawyer wasn't that tempting. I was seriously sleep-deprived, and I hadn't been this close to a man, outside of work, in a long time. I was sex-deprived and it was making me a little crazy. He's probably not even that hot, I told myself. It's just your hormones.
Yeah, right. Tenn Sawyer was exactly that hot, but he was not for me. Even forgetting that I'd sworn off men for the rest of forever, I was here under false pretenses. Another complication was the last thing I needed. Luck had landed me entry to Heartstone Manor, but that wasn't enough. If I couldn't find what Thatcher was looking for, my life was going to get extremely messy. I didn't think there was enough luck floating around the universe to get me out of this disaster unscathed.