Warm & Willing. Kate Hoffmann

      Hattie frowned. “No need to pay me. I can take you up there and then I’ll bring your car back.” She paused, as if weighing her next words. “Are you sure you want to do this? If Sam Morgan doesn’t want to talk to you, hiking up that mountain isn’t going to change his mind.”

      “I’ve been waiting in Sutter Gap for ten days now. If he won’t come to me, I’m going to him. And Mr. Wilbury is going to take me, whether he wants to or not.”

      “How are you going to convince him to do something he doesn’t want to do?”

      Sarah snatched up her sneakers and tugged them onto her feet. “I can be very persuasive,” she muttered. With that, she zipped up her suitcase and hefted it off the bed. “I’m ready. Let’s go.”

      They walked out to her car and put the suitcase in the trunk. When she slipped behind the wheel, she threw the car into gear and headed out to the road. She was not about to let Charlie Wilbury get the better of her.

      They’d driven about a mile when she glanced over at Hattie. “So, what do you know about him?”

      “Sam Morgan is a rascal.”

      “I was talking about Charlie Wilbury.”

      “Oh, he’s a rascal, too. Can’t trust a thing he says. And if I were you, I’d keep tight hold of my panties when I was around him.”

      Sarah gasped, a flush warming her cheeks. “Then he’s a…”

      “Casanova,” Hattie finished. “Slick as a button. Loves ’em and leaves ’em. Just watch yourself. I wouldn’t want him breakin’ your heart.”

      Sarah watched the road ahead, slowing for a wide curve. Maybe she should have learned a little more about Charlie before she’d actually slept with the man, she mused. But how would she have found out? Everyone in Sutter Gap was so tight-lipped—everyone except Hattie—it made casual conversation impossible. “I will watch myself. And thank you for the advice.”

      Maybe if she’d had a little more self-control, she wouldn’t have found herself in this mess. From the first moment she’d met him, she’d caught herself having lascivious thoughts about him, about the body beneath the flannel and denim. He was everything a real man was supposed to be.

      Yes, and he was everything a man wasn’t supposed to be—deceitful, conniving, untrustworthy. He’d made promises he’d never intended to keep. And to make matters worse, he’d made those promises in bed!

      “It’s right up here,” Hattie said.

      After shaking her head clear, Sarah squinted against the sun and pulled the car over to the side of the road. A wide path had been cut through the woods, but it was overgrown with vegetation.

      “If you wait here, I expect he’ll be coming along shortly,” Hattie said. “He’ll come out of the woods right there.”

      “Maybe you should wait with me,” Sarah suggested.

      “I need to get back to the motel. But I can come back up here ’round noon,” Hattie offered. “If you’re still here, I’ll take you back. Don’t worry, there aren’t any man-eatin’ wolves or bears in these parts. And there’ll be a few cars comin’ by if you need help before then. Just wave one down.”

      Sarah nodded, then popped the trunk and got out of the car. She dragged her suitcase to the side of the road, then waved to Hattie as the woman made a U-turn and headed back toward town.

      With a soft curse, she sat down on the edge of her bag and contemplated what she’d say to Charlie when she saw him again. First, she’d tell him exactly what she thought of his business practices. And then, she’d warn him that if he ever touched her again, he could say goodbye to the family jewels. And for good measure, she’d insult his prowess in bed. A man with such an inflated ego deserved to be taken down a peg or two.

      The muffled sound of a cell phone broke the silence, startling Sarah. She jumped up and pushed her suitcase flat, then unzipped it. The phone hadn’t worked since she’d arrived in Sutter Gap. She found it buried beneath her underwear and flipped it open. “Hello?”

      “Where were you last night?” Libby demanded. “I called your room four times and then I fell asleep. And when I called the motel a few minutes ago, the lady said you’d left. I figured maybe you were on your way home. That’s why I tried your cell phone.”