Love Me Reckless (Love Me Dangerous #2)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

SAWYER

Finn River, Idaho

I’ve never believed in love at first sight. It’s a fairy tale. Cute, but fucked up.

Love isn’t something that sprouts overnight, like a weed. It takes time and careful tending. It takes attention.

Something I learned the hard way.

But instant attraction… yes. That I can get behind.

Like the young woman in the blue dress laughing at something her friend says, her fingertips pressed to her lips. I haven’t been able to take my eyes off her since Zach’s swearing-in ceremony. She glances in my direction, as if she’s sensed me watching. I expect her to look away, or scowl—I’m an outsider, after all. Instead, her smile warms.

Earlier, I saw her with a tall guy in a pale gray suit, but she’s been with her friends since our party arrived at the restaurant.

The bartender sets two ice-cold lemonades on the bar, snapping me back to the room. I carry the drinks to the back deck where the party’s in full swing. My best friend Zach is standing at the railing, watching his younger brother William throw the football to one of his Finn River Falcon teammates out in the grass. I hand Zach a lemonade and we clink rims.

“Is he nervous about the game tomorrow?” I nod at William who, at that moment, fires off a perfect pass.

Zach sets his lemonade on the railing. “I think so.”

“He’s keeping things inside, huh?”

“You remember how that is,” Zach says.

“So do you,” I reply.

There was a time not too long ago when both Zach and I had a reason to keep our pasts hidden. He’s managed to break free of his, while I’m still outrunning mine.

“We still going riding tomorrow?” I ask while William fires off another machine-like throw.

Zach leans sideways against the railing and squints at me through the bright sunshine. “Of course.”

“Your old boss gave us a day pass for the ranch.”

“Is that so?” Zach sips his lemonade.

From across the crowded deck, Zach looks to Stu Valentine, his former bosscompu and head of security at Finn River Ranch. He’s a big dude and though he’s been friendly, I wouldn’t want to land on his bad side.

Stu gives Zach a subtle lift of his chin, as if the two of them are sharing some secret.

Like I don’t know their plan.

Stu already offered to put in a good word for me with Finn River Ranch’s maintenance department for a job as a ski lift mechanic. I’m sure Zach gave him the idea.

“I told him I’d never seen a chair lift before,” I say. “Let alone ridden on one with a freaking mountain bike.”

“The trails up there are sweet,” Zach says.

I set my glass down on the railing and whip out my phone, pulling up a map of the exclusive and meticulously maintained trail system located inside the members-only Finn River Ranch. “We should start here,” I say, and zoom in. “Then work our way to the backside. We can probably fit in Sidewinder, then Snowberry, then loop around the back of Glory Basin.”

Zach gives me a fist bump. “I’ve never been on any of those. I’ll go wherever you want.”

I shoot him a look. “You worked at this fancy ranch and never went mountain biking?”

“Nope.” He shrugs, but it’s easy to read between the lines. Zach didn’t have the luxury of riding a bike for fun when he was starting his life over here just over a year ago. “Stu must like you. Those guest passes are like gold.”

“He’s trying to woo me.” I puff out my chest.

Zach grins. “Told you.”

The young woman I saw laughing in the bar steps through the back door with Zach’s girl, Sofie.

“Who’s that?” I ask Zach in a low tone. A breeze sifts through her long hair, exposing her bare shoulders and the freckles that dot her skin like spilled cinnamon.

“Kirilee St. Claire,” Zach says. “One of Sofie’s best friends. Her dad owns Finn River Ranch.”

I choke on my lemonade. “Seriously?”

Zach cocks an eyebrow. “You want me to introduce you? She’s probably the nicest person I’ve ever met. And really talented. It’s too bad?—”

“And who’s that ?” I interrupt as the guy in the suit follows Kirilee outside. He leans closer to whisper something in her ear. Her long eyelashes flutter and she straightens her spine like she’s fighting her reaction to this guy.

I have no right to dislike him, but I do.

“Uh, that’s her dad’s latest attempt to marry her off to someone richer than him so their two families can combine forces and rule the universe.”

“For real?” I try to make sense of this while the guy strolls to an empty corner of the deck, slips his phone from his pocket, and starts typing. “Does she want to get married? ”

Zach’s mouth twists, like he’s conflicted. “I don’t think she’s being given a choice.”

I shake my head. “That’s wrong.”

“For real.”

After another game of foosball and meeting more of Zach’s Finn River friends, the party winds down. After Zach leaves with Sofie and William, I help bring in a bunch of glassware and the bartender waves me into the back. When I slip inside the empty kitchen, the girl with the strawberry blonde hair and generous smile—Kirilee St. Claire—is limping toward me, a pained look on her face.

“Hey.” I shoot her a concerned glance. “You okay?”

“I got a splinter,” she says over the sound of the dishwasher. “The bartender said they had a first aid kit back here.”

I give the kitchen a quick scan but don’t see one. Quickly, I unload the glasses into the dishwashing tray, then hurry to the main prep area of the kitchen, now spotless and bare after the end of the shift. “Is there an office?”

“That’s what he said,” Kirilee leans on the edge of the counter. Even in the dim lighting, the giant rock on her left ring finger sparkles like a lit fuse.

“Hop up,” I say, nodding to the kitchen prep table. “I’ll go find it.”

She gives me a look.

“Need help?” I arch an eyebrow.

Her green eyes flash with curiosity. “No.”

It takes her a moment to realize I’m waiting.

“I can’t sit up there,” she says. “It’s for preparing food.”

“You’d rather stand here in pain?”

“Well, no.”

I’m getting the sense that this girl doesn’t break many rules. In one quick motion, I slide my hands to her waist and lift her to the table. I shouldn’t notice her little gasp of surprise or how her curves feel in my rough hands. And I shouldn’t like it.

“Stay right there.” I don’t mean it to come out bossy, but it’s better than her thinking she’s got me flustered. Plus, I won’t have her walking another step in pain.

I continue down the hallway. I’ve worked in a few restaurants, so I know there’s usually an office for things like payroll and bookkeeping. But as I round the corner, two things happen at once. I find the office—a door is ajar. And I hear noises coming from inside it. Music?

I’m about to walk up and knock when the noises turn distinctive. Slurping and…

“Yeah, suck my cock. Ooooh, yeah.”

Oops. Not music.

I’m pivoting to get the hell out of there but at that same moment, the person inside the room leans back, bringing a slice of his pale gray suit and his profile into view.

I’m not absolutely sure, but I think it’s Kirilee’s fiancé. Getting his dick sucked. Enthusiastically.

Shit.

I stand frozen while the implications wheel through my brain. If it’s him, why is he back here with someone else? I want to yank him from the room and break his pretty face, but I force in a cooling breath. I don’t get into fights anymore. And it’s not my place to intervene. What if I make the situation worse?

With my fists clenched, I retrace my steps, forcing the image of this jerkwad getting off with someone who isn’t his fiancée from my mind so Kirilee won’t be able to read it on my face.

“No luck?” Kirilee asks when I round the corner.

“I couldn’t get into the office.” I tell myself that skipping over details is not the same as lying, because I don’t do that anymore either. “I got a better idea though.”

“Oh?”

I turn around and tap my shoulder. “Get on.”

“Where are we going?”

“I happen to know a paramedic.”

“I’m not dying,” she says with a laugh .

I have a feeling she might if she knew what was happening down the hall.

“He tells really good jokes too,” I say to get us moving because I don’t want her to be here when doucheface appears.

“I won’t need stitches, will I?” Kirilee asks, sliding her hands and legs around me.

“Doubtful.”

Kirilee sighs. “Good. I don’t like hospitals.”

I lift her from the table, hitching her up a little higher as I do. I shouldn’t like the little gasp that escapes her lips. And I shouldn’t like the way her body feels against mine.

But I do like it.

A lot.