Before I can figure it out, she half-turns and shouts toward the house,
“Sawyer! Get your fine ass out here a minute!”
“Trouble? Why you yelling like that?” a deep voice answers, sounding amused.
“Come on out! There’s someone here!”
A man steps out of the house behind her.
Tall. Lean. Broad through the shoulders.
Quiet in that dangerous way that tells me he notices everything.
He doesn’t smile.
Just looks at me with the kind of calm, measuring stare that says protector, leader, problem-solver.
Dangerous, if pushed.
I know the type.
Not that it matters.
Not to me.
I give him a polite nod.
“Hi.”
“This is Esme,” Bit says. “She’s looking for Benji!”
He cants his head, studying me like a wild predator might. Suddenly, I feel hunted.
“What do you need Benji for?” he asks, voice calm but edged.
Straight to the point.
No easing in.
No soft landing.
Just truth.
My throat goes dry.
I swallow hard, lift my chin, and force the words out even as my pulse starts beating against every rib I’ve got.
“Well,” I say, “see, uh, I’m his wife.”
And just like that?
The air changes.
Everything stills.
Even the breeze seems to pause.
Bit’s mouth falls open.
