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“Yeah, and the trail back to the ranger’s station won’t be safe in the dark,” Wesley says. “But it’s okay. We can find a secure place to hole up for the night and hike out in the morning.”
“We’re going to spend the night out here?” I squeak, my terror at the thought obvious enough that Wesley’s hand settles on my shoulder.
“It’s okay. I doubt Carl is dumb enough to come after you again, but just in case, I know a hidden camping spot. In five years of camping out here, I’ve never seen another soul there.” He squeezes my shoulder gently. “Come on. If we hustle, we can get everything set up before nightfall and I’ll make you a nice dinner.”
My ears perk up at that. Even when life is dark and scary, the way to my heart is apparently still straight through my stomach.
“Okay, thanks,” I say, a shiver of something different than fear working through me as I meet Wes’s steady green gaze. God, he’s dreamy. All the McGuire brothers are gorgeous, but Wes is…more than that.
He’s strong and kind and not as easygoing as everyone seems to think. When shit gets scary, so does Wes, and something primal inside me finds that very interesting.
I remind that primal part of me that Wes is six years younger than I am and my boss and best friend’s brother. Even if he were interested—which I’m sure he isn’t after seeing me covered in snot—he’s romantically off-limits.
Off-limits, off-limits, I chant silently as we make our way to a hidden fork in the trail a bit farther up the ridge.
But the primal part of me isn’t so easily silenced. And when she realizes that Wes and I are going to be sharing a sleeping bag?
Well, let’s just say she’s excited enough to banish the last of the fear from my encounter with Carl, setting my body to humming in a much more pleasant way as we gather firewood and settle in for a night in the woods.
Chapter 3
Wesley Preston McGuire
A man who never
gives in to temptation.
Well, almost never…
For the hundredth time since Tessa ran to me on the trail while her attacker lumbered off into the woods, I want to pull her into my arms and hold her.
Hold her, kiss her forehead, and promise her I’ll cut Carl’s heart out if he dares come near her again.
I have a reputation for being a calm and easygoing guy, but I have a dark side. Everyone does. I just keep mine under tighter wraps than most. Growing up, I witnessed volatile behavior from my brothers on more than one occasion—especially from Matty and Christian—but I never felt safe letting the wilder side of my own nature out to play.
Somehow, even as a child, I sensed that my dark side, once unleashed, wouldn’t be so easily reined back in. I was simply born with a little more rage than the average person. The unfairness in the world, the injustice in so many of our systems, and the way innocent people suffer while billionaires and corporations get off scot-free for their sins—affect me on a visceral level.
That’s why I became a lawyer. I wanted to do my part to ensure that the good guys won and justice was served. It’s also why I’m careful about who I choose to represent. I’ve passed up my fair share of paydays because I knew the client was in the wrong.
Living in a town as small as Bad Dog, everyone hears the hot gossip. I know who’s been cheating on whom, who’s hiding marital assets from a chronically ill spouse, and who yanked his kid from the baseball field by his hair after a Little League loss. None of those people are going to make it onto my busy schedule.
I loathe a liar and a cheat. I remind myself of that fact as Tessa tidies up in the tent and I start the stir-fry on my camp stove.
Yes, things have been awful with my girlfriend lately.
Yes, my head-clearing hike today convinced me we aren’t long-term-commitment material and I intend to end the relationship once I’m back in town tomorrow.
But we haven’t broken up yet. We’re still technically together, which makes how much I want to spill blood on Tessa’s behalf, then go to sleep curled around her curvy body, even more morally wrong.
But something came alive inside of me when I saw that man’s hand over her mouth. Her wide, tear-filled blue eyes met mine and, in that moment, I knew I would happily rip Carl limb from limb for her. I would destroy him with my bare hands, tear out his throat with my teeth, like some savage throwback to humanity’s caveman days.
It was primal…as primal as the attraction that pulsed through me every time my gaze drifted down to Tessa’s ass as she walked ahead of me on the trail.
And I’m fucking ashamed of myself for it.
I’m not this guy. I don’t ogle women. I don’t engage in fantasies about how hot it would be to drive my fingers through a near-stranger’s thick hair and tug her head back while I kiss her senseless. And I especially don’t have to fight an erection simply because a pretty woman sits down next to me in a tank top that shows her cleavage and a pink-and-blue flannel that brings out the turquoise in her eyes.
“Better?” I ask as Tessa settles onto the log next to mine beside the fire.
