Page 23 of Wilder’s Mistake

“I thought you might decide wanting me was easier than actually being with me.”

“I still need my work.”

“Keep it.”

“And my house, at least until we figure out how two people who married before their first date combine their lives.”

“Keep that too.”

I study him. “No argument?”

“I want you in my life. I didn’t ask you to erase yours.” The answer lands more deeply than possession would have.

“Where would you have taken me on a first date?”

“River overlook.”

“On the bike?”

“If you’d climbed on.”

“I would have.”

His gaze holds mine.

“Should’ve asked sooner,” he says.

“I might have said yes.”

For the first time, the future feels less like a trap and more like something we can build without either of us disappearing inside it.

Wilder reaches for my hand and turns it palm up. The cheap stone catches light between us.

“We replace this too,” he says.

“It has character.”

“It has sharp edges and costs six dollars.”

“Seven ninety-nine, actually.”

“You remember that bit?”

“The clerk announced it twice and I remember laughing.”

His thumb moves over my palm. “Keep it anyway, but I am getting you something better.”

A blast shakes the window. Wilder rolls from the bed before the sound finishes. A second crack follows, then gunfire from the east side of the compound.

Men shout in the yard. He pulls on jeans, shirt and cut with brutal speed. I drag his black shirt closed around me and reach for my skirt.

Smoke rises beyond the front windows. An engine screams, followed by another shot. Wilder fastens his gun belt.

“Get dressed and get downstairs to the clubhouse.”

“What happened?”

“Perdition made their move.” He catches the back of my neck and kisses me once.