Tyler sits up straight on the tailgate, wincing a little. “Oh shit,” I say, reaching for him but not touching him. “Your stitches! Did I hurt them in the elevator?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m okay. They’re not bad.” He slides his fingertips under this thighs but I’m not entirely convinced that I haven’t hurt him. “Elizabeth and I grew up together. We’ve always been friends. She’s made some really bad choices in life and pretty much every time she screwed up, I’ve had to pull her out of the hole she’d gotten herself into.”
“Did you date her?”
“No.”
My whole body seems to exhale when I hear his answer. Just about all of my jealousy can be quelled if I know they didn’t date. As long as she’s Elizabeth, the friend, and not Elizabeth, the ex, then I’ll be okay. He stays rigid though, and I notice he’s biting his lip. “What is it?” I ask.
He sighs. “For the sake of honesty, I have to tell you that we made out once.”
My stomach twists into a knot. “When?”
“Years ago. Right after high school.” He takes off his cowboy hat and runs a hand through his hair. “So, when you say that she likes me, well, you’re right. I think she’s always liked me. But I don’t like her and I never have.”
“But you made out with her. That requires some degree of liking a person,” I point out.
He shrugs. “I was a kid. I wanted to make out and I didn’t much care for who it was with. When she told me she had feelings for me, I tried feeling the same way but I just couldn’t. I love her as a friend, but that’s all it’ll ever be.”
My eyebrows narrow. My mind is whirling with all of this new information and as much as I want to go psycho girl crazy on him and get up and leave, claiming that he can’t be trusted because I’ve known other guys who can’t be trusted—I don’t. I draw in a deep breath and remain calm, and cool, and all of those qualities that make someone desirable. I force a smile. “Do you want to be with me?”
I almost regret the words the second I say them, but instead of back peddling the conversation, I gnaw on the inside of my lip and wait for his response. He brushes a strand of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear even though that’s not how my hair is styled. “I do,” he says. His smile turns sinister. “Well, I do until I get to know you better and find out if you’re some kind of weirdo or not.”
“Maybe I should be worried that you’re a weirdo,” I say, nudging him in the shoulder. He laughs. “There’s only one way to find out if I’m a weirdo.”
“And what’s that?” I try to sound coy, but I know I do a terrible job.
“Go on a date with me,” he says, his face getting serious. “And not one of those fake dates either. A real one.”
I take a bite of cotton candy. “I guess I can do that.”
Tyler’s hand slides around my back, his fingers wrapping around my side. He leans closer to me, his cheek touching mine as his lips lower to my neck. “Does that mean you want to be with me?” His breath tickles my skin, sending chills down my entire body.
I exhale, barely able to make a sound. “Mhm.”
Chapter 8
The next day, while Miranda is at work, I get started on setting up decorations for her surprise baby shower. It’s a surprise in that she thinks it’s scheduled for next week. She also thinks it’s stupid that the guest list will contain only three people: herself, me and Elizabeth.
She’s wrong, though. With Marcus’s help, Tyler and I have an awesome shower planned. Sherry from the Salt Gap Inn will be attending, along with Ms. Candy and her daughter and granddaughter who work at the baby boutique. All the waitresses at the diner are showing up, thanks to Big Large allowing some of the cooks to do the serving for two hours, so they could get off work. Of course, they’ll show up late, so as not to arouse suspicion from Miranda while she’s at work.
We’ve got it all figured out, and Marcus is quite proud of himself. He calls me early in the morning, probably right after he dropped off Miranda at the diner. “So I have to help my dad do some stuff around the house, but don’t worry, I’ll be there. I just can’t get there early for decorations.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say, feeling a little grateful for his absence. He’s nice and all, but sometimes he does too much work and I’m left feeling like I haven’t contributed anything. And, not to be a jerk, but this is my house and my shower for Miranda so I want to make sure it’s perfect.
“My sister and her best friend are coming too, of course, but my mom probably can’t make it. She’s having another arthritis flare up today.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” I say, smiling to myself because I know Miranda is terrified of Marcus’s mother. Despite the fact that his mother has always been very nice to my niece. She doesn’t say it very often, but I know Miranda is embarrassed of her status as a pregnant teenager. She expects that people are going to judge and shun her, so she has no idea how to react when they don’t do that. “You haven’t said anything that would give away our secret, have you?” I ask him with a warning tone.
He sighs into the phone. “No, Robin. I’m an amazing secret-keeper. You should know this.”
Heat rises to my face when he alludes to the secrets I’ve told him about Tyler. God, I hope he hasn’t told anyone. “You’re right,” I say quickly, hoping he’ll drop the subject. “You can definitely be trusted.”
“Damn right,” he says with a laugh. “I’ll see you later, Aunt Robin.”
He hangs up the phone right before I can ask if he just called me Aunt Robin. I’m used to Miranda saying that, but come on, I don’t need the entire town calling me that. I’m not even close to thirty years old yet.
A light tapping on my front door tells me that Elizabeth is here. At least, I’m guessing it’s Elizabeth since there are no other cars in the driveway. She beams when I open the door, holding out a massive cupcake box. It has a clear plastic top and I can already see that she was totally right when she offered to make the cupcakes for the shower. They are absolutely beautiful. My mouth falls open and I help her carry them to the counter. We leave the front and back door open since it’s a beautiful day and the cool breeze allows me to keep the air conditioning off all day. Now that Elizabeth’s ex-fiancé is in jail, we don’t have to worry about someone trying to get inside.
“These are completely gorgeous,” I say, peering at the light blue frosting with silver sprinkles and little marzipan pacifiers and baby bottles. “You really outdid yourself.”
Elizabeth smiles. “I can’t take all the credit. Big Large helped.”
My mouth falls open. “Big Large? And cupcakes?”
She nods and drops a bag of more shower supplies on the table. “Believe it or not, he’s an amazing cupcake froster. I can never get the swirls to look so perfect, so he did them for me.”
“Wow,” I say as I help her unload the stuff she brought. This town just keeps on surprising me, and unlike with Houston’s crime and scammers, Salt Gap surprises me in a good way. We fall into a comfortable silence as we unpack and hang up decorations, making my home look like the aftermath of a baby store explosion.
“So, you and Tyler?” Elizabeth asks while smoothing out a plastic tablecloth over the kitchen table. “Y’all are sort of an item now, I guess?”
“I think so,” I say, nodding my head. “I mean we’ve had a talk about how we both like each other so…yeah. But no official dates or anything yet.”
Elizabeth’s lips press into a tight smile. “That’s good. That’s really good for you, Robin.” She smiles wider and it actually looks sincere. “He’s a good man. Tyler’s a really good man and there aren’t many of them around so I’m happy that you got one.”
“Thanks,” I say. I try to notice any hint of disdain or jealousy in her voice, but if it’s there, she’s not showing it. She glances at her left hand, where her engagement ring used to be. Guilt falls over me. “You’ll find someone too,” I say. “You just need to get out of town for a whil
e. There are plenty of great men left.”
“Well if you know any, make sure you send them my way.” She laughs and grabs a box of streamer decorations. “My standards aren’t too high, either. Basically if a man has a decent job and won’t threaten to kick my ass anytime he gets mad, then sign me up.”
She laughs about it, but her remark stings, leaving an uneasy feeling in my gut. Elizabeth is a sweet, beautiful and amazing person and she deserves a good man. She probably deserves one more than I do, and yet I’m the one with Tyler’s number saved into my phone with a heart next to it. I should be happy about my newfound prospect of love, and yet I can’t shake the feeling that I don’t deserve any of it.
I stare at Grandpa’s watch on my wrist, but I don’t know why. It never helps. I still feel awful for taking Tyler away from Elizabeth. He did say he didn’t like her in that way, but what if I had never shown up? Would he be with her right now?
I was so caught up in the task of decorating the house and setting out trays of finger foods, that I hadn’t heard the sound of anyone arriving. So when Tyler pokes his head in the door and says, “Hey, ladies!” I jump so hard I drop a tray of ice. Luckily, only two squares of ice fall out of the tray, skidding across the tile floor.
“Tyler!” Elizabeth chastises, placing a hand on her hip. “Don’t go around scaring your girlfriend! She’s very busy today.”
He laughs and lets himself into my home, which is actually his property, while carrying a massive gift bag. The thing is nearly three feet tall. “Where should I put this?” he asks, lifting it with one hand and wrapping the other arm around me. He kisses me on the cheek, which makes me blush like crazy and I try looking anywhere but at him so he won’t notice. “In the living room, I guess,” I say. “What did you get her that’s so freaking huge?”
He shakes his head. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
The duplex feels so much bigger when it’s just Miranda and me hanging out on our couch. Now, with nearly twenty people in my living room, everything is small and jam packed with presents spilling out in every direction. I hand Sherry a pink paper cup of punch and then look around for a place to sit. We should have borrowed more folding chairs from the fairgrounds. I think I’d grabbed a dozen and that’s not nearly enough.
Elizabeth waves her arms over her head to get everyone’s attention. “She’s here!” she whisper-yells. The talking dies down and we all wait excitedly for Miranda to walk in the front door. A cell phone rings and Marcus silences it. “That was her,” he whispers, trying to hold back a laugh. The front door opens and Miranda walks inside, phone to her ear.
“Surprise!” We yell it exactly as planned and it couldn’t have gone any better. Miranda’s mouth falls open and tears spill onto her cheeks almost instantly. “That’s why you didn’t answer the phone!” she says to Marcus, playfully slapping him on the arm.
“This is your surprise baby shower,” he says, wrapping her in a quick hug. He even plants a quick kiss on her cheek. “Aunt Robin and Elizabeth set it up.”
“You helped a lot too,” I say, walking over to them. Miranda hugs me, whispering a thank you into my ear. She takes turns greeting everyone and thanking them for coming, joking around with her coworkers at how they were able to pull off such a thing without her finding out. Marcus shows her the present his parents had sent over for her: a beautiful rocking chair with a handmade baby blanket draped over the back. Miranda’s tears are so genuine and grateful and I almost end up crying myself. I like seeing her happy and seeing her with friends.
I love being in Salt Gap.
Miranda sits in her brand new rocking chair with Marcus kneeling on the floor next to her, handing her presents. It was the general consensus of everyone to do presents now and save the food and games later.
Since he has everything under control, I guess I can take a much needed break and just watch the festivities from the back of the room. Actually, a break sounds like an amazing idea. My eyes find Tyler’s in the crowd. He’s sitting in the corner of the room, near the entrance to the kitchen, perched on top of a small three step ladder I had borrowed from him to hang pictures. He smiles, and it’s the kind of smile you’d give to someone you’ve known all your life.
I weave through the crowd and join him. “Hey,” I say, my goofy grin totally giving away my feelings for him.
“You’ve been standing all day,” he says. Without a warning, he grabs my hand and pulls me toward him, hooking his other arm around my waist. I’m spun around and then pulled down, his hands on my hips, until I’m sitting on his lap. “That’s better,” he says, sounding all smug and pleased with himself.
Part of me wants to be embarrassed at this outward display of affection, but the other part of me can’t get enough of it. Tyler smells like body wash and frosting, probably from the cupcake he snuck earlier. I turn my head around and kiss him on the lips. And I don’t even care who’s watching.
Chapter 9
Miranda bursts through my bedroom door the next morning. “Wake up, Aunt Robin!” The sound of the door slamming against the dresser jolts me awake and then a moment later my cell phone gets tossed at me. It’s ringing. “Your phone’s been ringing all damn morning and I just couldn’t stand it anymore,” she says. I grab the phone and press a button on the side so it’ll shut up. I don’t care who’s calling me. I stayed up way too late last night and it’s way too early this morning for something as tasking as phone calls.
“Oh, shit,” Miranda says, her eyes going wide. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” I ask, yawning. I turn to see what she’s staring at. Then I say the same thing. “Oh, shit!”
There’s a guy in my bed.
I mean, well, not just any guy. Tyler.
In my bed.
“Good morning?” Tyler says, making it sound like a question as he glances from me to Miranda and back. His bare chest peeks out from the sheets and I’m suddenly questioning how much alcohol I drank last night. I’m pretty sure it was exactly zero. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I tell him, turning back to Miranda. I mouth the words Oh my God while pointing secretly in his direction. She wiggles her eyebrows and makes this nonjudgmental face like what’s going on in here is none of her business. She gives me a little salute. “I’m headed to work. Guess I’ll see you guys later.”
Once I hear the front door close behind her, I spin around on my bed and glare at Tyler. He smiles. “Hello, beautiful.”
That makes my glare disappear. I suppress a smile. “What’s going on? Why are you here?” My brows narrow as I feel around, ensuring that I’m still wearing clothes. In fact, I’m wearing exactly what I wore to the baby shower last night. “Why don’t I remember going to bed with you?”
He pushes off the comforter and stands up, wearing only a pair of jeans. There is no shirt over his tanned torso. My breath catches in my throat. He yawns and lifts his hands above his head, stretching in a way that makes all of his muscles tighten in all the right places. I swallow. His yawn turns into a sneaky smile. “So you don’t remember last night?”
I lift an eyebrow. “Not really.”
“This will be fun.” He rubs the back of his head and I don’t even pretend I’m not staring at his chest.
I jump out of bed and march over to where he stands, positioning myself right in front of him. I place a finger on his chest. “No playing games with me, Tyler Hudson. You tell me what happened, right now. Did we..?” I trail off, unable to finish the sentence. The flush of blood that rushes to my face probably finishes it for me.
He shakes his head and slips his hands around my back. “No, ma’am. We didn’t. The party lasted until two in the morning and by then, you had passed out on the couch. So I carried you in here and put you to bed. Then I hung around to make sure Marcus went home-”
“Good call,” I say, sliding my hands up his chest just to feel the smooth, hard skin. His stitches are healing nicely, but I make sure not to touch them. “Thank you.”
He nods and tugs me a little closer. My bare toes slip on top of his and he wiggles them. “Anyway, I came to kiss you goodnight and you woke up a little and told me to stay with you.”
I hadn’t thought it was possible, but my cheeks turn even redder. “Oh my gosh,” I whisper. “I don’t even remember that.”
Tyler bites his lip and he’s so freaking cute I want to crawl back in bed with him and never get out again. “I kind of thought you were a little out of it,” he admits, lowering his head. “But you were insistent that I stay over, and well, I couldn’t say no to a lady.”
I slide my hands around his neck and I kiss him. “I would expect nothing less,” I whisper. We make out for a minute and his hands slide all over my body. Before things get too steamy, I pull away. “You know what I like about you?” I ask as my hands cup the back of his head. He smiles and glances upwards as he thinks. “Well, there’s a million reasons, I suppose.”
“Oh yeah?” I say, eyeing him. “Like what?”
“Well my charming good looks for one, and my—” I shut him up with another kiss and shake my head. “No,” I say with a laugh. “That isn’t why I like you. I like how you thought I was an idiot for refusing to date because of my bad experiences…”
“I never thought that,” he interjects but I shake my head and continue. “It’s okay, I know you did. You thought I was being stubborn and denying myself relationships for no good reason. But what I like about you is that you never told me that. You never made fun of me or gave up on me. You just let me figure it out on my own.”
Tyler’s eyes peer into mine and he holds me tightly to him. “That’s a perfect answer.”
My phone bursts into a ring again, totally ruining the moment. I groan and Tyler lets me go, saying I should probably get it. I move to the other side of the bed and fish my phone out from under the comforter.
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