My breath caught in my throat hearing that. Sawyer had always been the unattainable one. And I’d compared every other man I met to him. They all came up lacking. To hear thathe’dloved and lost made me feel like there was no hope for anyone.
What kind of woman would walk away fromhim?
But right now, in the crowded jostle of the Ozark Axe House, as our eyes landed on each other, a pulsing beat of recognition shot between us. The rest of the people faded away, and it was just the two of us discovering each other for the first time. Or at least, I hoped that’s what the look on his face meant.
Was it just me, or had the temperature gone up by ten degrees in the last two minutes?
With a husky growl he rumbled, “But I’ve got the best Valentine’s date on the mountain tonight. It’s my lucky day. Now come here and let me show you how it’s done, Marissa.”
He stepped towards me, closing the distance between us, and planted his hands on my hips. I almost had a heart attack on the spot. My pulse thrummed erratically, and I forgot to breathe for a minute.
Then he turned me around, positioning me to face the target, my right foot behind my left in a wide stance.
He shifted himself behind me, the heat from his body warming me up, and placed the axe in my hands.
Sawyer leaned in close and rumbled so only I could hear him. “You don’t need to imagine that guy’s face in the center of the target. It’s just you, me and the axe. We’re going to do thisright, Rissy.”
He lifted my right arm and had me practice the movement before releasing the throw. “That’s it, loosen up.”
But it was hard to concentrate with his hand on my waist and the warmth of his breath on my neck.
My heart pounded up out of my chest, threatening to escape my body entirely as I inhaled the scent of him. Sawyer always had the faint hint of mountain spice on him. I had no idea what the fragrance was. I just knew it was intoxicating. I’d never met anyone in my life who smelled like Sawyer before. I wanted to bury myself in his scent.
“All right, girl,” he rumbled smoothly, “on the third swing I want you to let the axe fly.”
He guided me through two more practice swings, and on the third, with all the power in my arm, I threw the axe as hard as I could.
It hit the bullseye with a satisfying thunk, and the whole axe house started cheering.
I had no idea we had an audience until I turned around and looked at everyone.
My face turned bright red, but that was mostly because Sawyer still had his hand on my hip, like it belonged there.
“Told you that you could do it,” he growled out.
I stared up at him, getting lost in the warm glow on his face. But then my heart stuttered, faltering even while I felt this rush of excitement.
Could he ever look at me as anything other than little Rissy? The little girl with perpetually skinned knees and braces on my teeth?
He cupped his hand against my lower back and guided me to our table, freeing our axe-throwing station for another couple while I felt myself getting lost in the magic of the night.
Even if nothing came out of it, which surely nothing would, it was still the best Valentine’s Day I’d ever had.
Chapter 4
Sawyer
Candy swung by our table. “Y’all need anything to drink?”
She owned this place, along with her husband, Walker.
My stomach took that moment to growl, reminding me that dinner had ended up in Josie’s belly instead of my own.
“Yeah. Can I get a burger? And one of those fry mountains you sell? What do you want, Marissa? My treat.”
Marissa blinked at me rapidly. Her expression had gone all soft and gooey after I’d given her that little axe-throwing lesson.
It only confirmed what I’d always suspected. Matt’s little sis has a thing for me.
