Page 116 of Tempting Wyatt

“The tension between the characters is off the charts and it’s reaching fever pitch, so they’ll definitely do the deed soon.”

He laughs, a quick burst of a chuckle that makes me smile. “The deed, wow. Sounds hot.”

I make deliberate eye contact. “Oh, it will be, Wyatt Logan. Just you wait.”

He stares so intently at me that I twitch in my seat. Then he leans back a bit in his chair, and I can breathe normally again.

“So what’s the problem then? They fall in love, they do the deed as you say, then live happily ever after. No?”

“No.” I let my eyes drop to my hands on the table once more. This is always the part I struggle with. “There’s got to be some angst, a nearly insurmountable conflict that has them questioning if the sacrifices they have to make to be together are worth it. People have to root for them, and the charactershave to demonstrate their personal growth and why they’re better off together than apart.”

He appears to contemplate this. “So have them break up, miss each other like crazy until they’re miserable, then say fuck it and get back together. Maybe with a grand gesture of some sort.”

I groan loudly. Probably startling the other patrons. “No, definitely not. Third act break ups are tricky. They can happen, but if they happen for no good reason, I’d be cancelled in a heartbeat.”

Wyatt looks truly troubled by this. “Why?”

“They’re seen as weak. In terms of writing. Contrived, pointless, and predictable.”

He appears to contemplate this. “It can’t just be happily ever after from here on out then. No drama necessary?”

“I wish,” I admit. “There must be drama. Angst that’s emotionally earned. That forces the characters to take agency and become who they were meant to be.”

He frowns. “How about a kidnapping?”

I shake my head. “Not for this story. It’s been done. To death.” I should know, it was the conflict thatCaptivecentered on.

“This is complicated.”

I grin. “Right? Now you know why I’m behind on my deadline.”

I’m momentarily distracted by his muscular forearms as he leans across the table. “What about she lives really far away and has to go home for her job, and he’s got blood ties to land he can’t leave?”

The intensity in his dark eyes stops my breathing. Or maybe it’s the depth of the difficult truth in his words.

“Yeah,” I say softly. “That’d do it.”

We’re quiet for the next few minutes, polishing off thepastries and the last of our drinks. But the intimacy between us is deeper than before. I’m not sure how I feel about it. Part of me wants to live in this moment forever. But it doesn’t matter because this is temporary.

A brief hiatus from real life.

I vow to enjoy it. The picturesque view of the landscape and a rugged rancher in Montana.

The writer in me takes it all in. The scattering of leaves drifting lazily in the breeze, the gentle rippling of the river beside us. I breathe it in, taste it, and smile at the beautiful man across from me. Telling myself that I’ll be able to leave without looking back. I can write this scene in the future, work it into a script somehow so I’ll have it to hold onto forever.

And maybe, hopefully, Wyatt Logan will hold onto a piece of me forever as well.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

wyatt

IVY IS OBSESSED WITH THE SKY. I learn this when we return to my cabin and she insists on sitting outside for a few minutes to watch the sun set.

“It’s like a painting that changes every moment,” she says, watching the clouds transform from silvery lavender to orange to navy as the sun sinks further behind the mountains.

She turns to me with wide gleaming eyes. “The sunsets here are the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.