Page 114 of Tempting Wyatt

He leans down and tells me quietly, “You need some food in you after that ride.”

My lips curve into a grin. “The trail ride or riding you in the hot spring?”

“Both, baby.” He winks before leading me toward a door, then turns to me again. “You okay with sitting outside?”

I nod.

“We’re going to sit on the patio,” he tells the barista.

Once our drinks are up, Wyatt carries them both and leads me through a screened in porch that exits down a few stairs onto a patio with a gorgeous view of the river. As always, the mountains provide a backdrop that appears too majestic to be real.

“Wow,” I say. “This is beautiful.”

The back patio is tiled with dark slate in a semi-circle. Large flat stones border the edge between the patio and the river. A few empty chairs sit around a stone fire pit, and several two person tables line the riverbank’s edge.

We move to the first one and Wyatt places our cups on the table. He pulls my chair out and I smile up at him.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Once he’s seated, his eyes meet mine over his coffee cup. There’s heat there, but there are questions too. Ones I’m not sure I should answer.

I speak before he can ask any. “Are you sure I’m not keeping you from important ranch business?”

He watches me sip my latte. “Positive.” He glances around at the water, the changing leaves rustling in the breeze. Then his gaze comes back to me. “Probably a good thing to get out occasionally. I’ve become a work horse, mindlessly going through the motions day after day.” He gestures to the scenery just as a teenage boy walks over and places the plate of pastries on the table.

They look delicious. And smell amazing.

My smile widens. “Well, I’m glad we could break you out of robot rancher mode.” I take a bite of the savory croissant first and moan at how good it is. Then I dip my head, suddenly self-conscious about the sex noises that pastriesseem to inspire. “But seriously, thank you for today and for bringing me here.”

He smirks back at me then takes a large swig of his coffee. “You’re welcome. Probably not much compared to the coffee shops in California. But it’s one of my favorites.” He winks but there’s a note of something I can’t quite identify underneath his teasing tone.

I make a big show of looking around. “Are you kidding? This is more beautiful than any cafe back home.” I take another sip of my perfectly brewed latte. “If I moved here, I’d practically live here, in this very spot.”

He bristles at the mention of me moving here and immediately I feel like an idiot.

“I mean, not that I’d move here,” I ramble awkwardly. “I just meant, if I lived in the area, this would be a great place to work.”

His brow pulls together. “You want to work in a coffee shop?”

I laugh softly. “No. I meant I’d bring my computer here to work.” Literally every single day.

He leans back in his chair. “Oh yeah, your writing. And what do you write?”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to tell him everything. How the success fromRandom Heartscatapulted me into a different world, how Malcolm swooped in and took overCaptive, convincing me the red flag on his back was a superhero cape. How I don’t know how I’m going to work with my awful ex on that project and how excited I am about the new one I’ve started based on my experiences here.

But I’m not ready to let go of this moment, of the version of him that smiles and winks and laughs with me. Isaac’s warning led me to believe that will change when Wyatt finds out I work in the movie industry.

Inhaling deeply, I tell him the truth without including details. “Different things. Some suspense, some romance.”

His lips twitch. “Romance novels like my sister reads? Oiled up six-pack abs on the cover. Heaving bosom. That sort of thing?”

I nod solemnly. “Don’t judge. Heaving bosom is my bread and butter.”

He stares at me for a solid minute to see if I’m joking. I maintain the most serious face that I can manage. Arch a brow at him.

Then I can’t help it, I laugh. Lightly.