Sage’s stomach grumbled, pulling her out of her reverie. Canyon looked her way. She backed away from him, into the kitchen, feeling such a deep sadness inside that he’d turned into such an asshole. She’d liked him so much.
She opened the fridge, finding only boxed wine and half a lime. She opened every cabinet until she found some canned soup. She pulled it out, dropped it on the counter, and left it because she felt gross and wanted a shower before she ate. She stalked to the front room for a change of clothes, then went up the steps toward the loft, ignoring Canyon as he tracked her.
Halfway up the steps she said, “I need a shower. Don’t steal anything.”
He laughed. She stopped, poised between two stairs, irritated, no, livid.How could he live with himself?
“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” she hissed.
He stopped laughing all at once, the smile fading from his face.
“How dare you pretend you don’t know me?Again.”
His expression turned confused, seemingly with complete sincerity. He was the best actor on the planet. He should make movies, and not just because he was drop-dead gorgeous.
He shook his head, coming near the stairs, his brows furrowed as he searched her face. “We’ve met?”
Sage growled, but that made him grin that stupid easy grin that she fucking hated. Her throat tightened, making her raise her voice to get the words out.
“Oh really. Let me guess, you got amnesia in the two days between when we said goodbye and when I called you.Convenient.”
He frowned. “We said goodbye?”
Sage leaned over the railing and rapped him on the top of the head with her knuckles. “Did you get hit on the head or something?”
Canyon rubbed the top of his head. “Not today.”
Sage had sworn she wouldnever againhave her heart ripped out by Canyon Wheeling. She was done with this conversation. She stormed up the stairs, too mad to deal with him at that moment. She would shower, and then she would order him out. If he wouldn’t go, she would leave. If he arrested her, Nana White and Aunt Bristol would have her lawyered up so fast, thevodwould think war had come to Serenity.
She stormed up the stairs, leaving stupid Canyon Wheeling staring after her. She stomped through the loft, into the bathroom, and slammed the door. “Fucking ass.”
She ripped her clothes off, swearing to herself. “Fucking asshole wolf.”
She wrenched the hot water on and climbed in to shiver under too cold water until it warmed up. “How dare he?” she hissed. “Right to my face!”
She lathered up and calmed some. She’d never quite been able to mend the broken heart Canyon had left her with, and so she had a hair-trigger when he was right in front of her, but here in the shower, it was easier to be cool-headed. She planned what she would say to get the Wheeling brothers out, and what she would do once they’d left, and when all her plans were laid out, she got out of the shower.
She dried her hair first, then dressed, wearing matching white bra and panties, boot-cut jeans with butterfly lace down the outsides, and a smooth purple blouse with no jewelry.
Her stomach growled again and it went on and on, contracting so hard it hurt. Ok, she would eat first. It would help to have food in her belly when she ordered him out. She left the bathroom and went back downstairs, feeling the male’s eyes on her with every step, all the way into the kitchen. The can of soup sat where she’d left it. She opened the silverware drawer, looking for a can opener. She checked more drawers and cabinets and still couldn’t find anything that would open the can.
Canyon spoke from the archway. “I’ll cook you something.”
Sage spun around, startled and hostile. She gestured to the can of soup, thinking he’d probably pry it open with a screwdriver or something. “Go for it.”
He smiled, then turned and left the house. Sage stared after him, thinking she could just… lock the door… but then she remembered Timber on the couch. She hurried to the window to look and saw Canyon rummaging around in the back of his truck.
Sage went back into the living room, past sleeping Timber. She grabbed her purse from under the end table and pulled her phone out of it, turning it on, but it stayed black. She plugged it in to charge but nothing happened. No light came on to show it was charging, it didn’t beep or buzz—nothing.
Damn, not what she needed.
***
Canyon left the house, his mind working methodically back through his life. Had he met that female before? He reached his truck, shaking his head.No, never.Her scent said she wasn’t lying. She really believed she’d met him before. Could she be mistaking him for someone?
He opened the refrigerator in the back of his truck, thinking she would like a steak. A whisper inside him said, ‘no steak,’ and so he chose bacon, eggs, and orange juice instead. He opened a storage container to find spices, and a pamphlet caught his eye—thevodvodroster from the Crimstone Academy. He opened it up and found his picture, reading theSW <3 CW.
He looked toward the house, pondering. This was quite a mystery, and now that Timber was better, Canyon was enjoying himself. This female wanted him, her scent said that clearly. She only needed a little push, and she’d be underneath him, where he could guard her body very well.
