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Auctioned to the Outlaw

Page 43

by Aria Cole

I put the boxes down. “What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Lila points at him. “Are you still betting on our marriage?”

“No.”

Ellie pockets the twenty. “Absolutely.”

“What was the bet?”

Wyatt grins. “Whether you’d arrive holding hands.”

Lila looks down at our linked hands. She immediately lets go of mine. “Assholes.”

I take her hand again.

Her eyes shoot to me. “What?”

“Cost him twenty bucks.”

Wyatt flips me off and Lila laughs.

The bar is packed, mostly locals hiding from the cold. Lila knows everyone. She moves from table to table while I drink a beer and talk to Wyatt about a timber contract as we wait for our lunch.

Mostly I’m watching my wife.

She’s standing near the end of the bar laughing with an older couple when a man takes the stool beside her.

I don’t recognize him at first. His hair is shorter and his face is heavier. Ten years changes a man. And then he turns and my hand tightens around the bottle.

Wyatt notices. “What?”

I don’t answer.

It’s Brody Morgan.

I haven’t seen him since a courtroom ten years ago.

Not since he sat twelve feet away from me and lied.

He’s drunk and he’s leaning toward Lila.

She smiles politely.

My chair scrapes the floor.

Wyatt follows my gaze. “Shit.”

“Fucker.”

“Want me to handle it?”

“No.”

I cross the bar. Brody still hasn’t seen me.

“Never knew Hank had a niece that looked like you.”