Until he was just about to leave the locker room for the pool and heard a splash.
Ty stepped out and scanned the pool area, then breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t an intruder. There was someone swimming laps, his grace and size meaning it could be only one person.
Kyle.
Ty didn’t associate his partner with insomnia. He stood at the end of the pool and waiting, not wanting to startle his friend. Kyle surfaced at the far end and turned, doing a butterfly stroke down the length of the pool. Ty admired his stroke, as always, then frowned at the sight of something in the middle of Kyle’s chest.
Kyle had no chest hair. He was fair, and waxed away the little hair he had. It was his joke that the ladies liked smooth skin best. This mark was dark and circular, at least six inches across, although Ty couldn’t see what it was. Kyle reached the end of the pool and surfaced, then jumped a little when he saw Ty. He pulled up his goggles and surveyed Ty with a smile. “Can’t sleep?”
“I don’t want to keep Amy from sleeping. You?”
Kyle flexed his fingers on the lip of the pool. “Restless energy. It’s always like that when a brilliant plan is coming together.”
Ty assumed he was talking about the expansion. “San Francisco sounds like a good option. Your research looks solid...”
“Not F5,” Kyle said, then hauled himself out of the pool. He ran a hand over his hair, squeezing out the water, and would have looked like the billboard in Times Square if his expression had been less rueful.
“What then?” Ty asked, then Kyle turned to face him and he forgot his question. “You got a tattoo? What about all that talk of never marring perfection?”
“I got over it,” Kyle said with resolve.
This had to be important.
Ty looked closer. The tattoo was huge. It wasn’t some cute little whim, but a serious chest piece. A commitment in black and blue. Ty made out the detail of the script, and Kyle let him look.
Their gazes met and Kyle’s was unrepentant. “I was wrong to let you believe I didn’t know her.”
“When did you meet?”
“Before that promise was made. The previous March, when I went home for one of Mom’s weddings.” Kyle shrugged. “I didn’t even know Lor’s name.” He smiled. “But she had my number, even then.”
Ty’s protective urges surged to the fore, but he’s promised to back off and let Lauren make her own choices. He held Kyle’s gaze, seeing how serious the other man was. A lot of little hints suddenly made more sense than they had. “Does she know about it?”
“Not yet.”
“And what if she doesn’t want what you offer?”
“It won’t change anything,” Kyle said with a smile and a shake of his head. “The deed is done. The truth is forever. It’s up to her whether we do anything more about it or not.” He smiled at Ty. “I’ve got this friend who taught me that the big choice is always the lady’s to make.”
Ty smiled. “When are you going to tell her?”
“Christmas.” Kyle sighed and scanned the pool area. “It’s killing me, but she said she didn’t want to even think about dating until her birthday.”
Ty’s smile broadened at that. He liked that Kyle was listening to Lauren and had to figure it was a good sign. “Eastern or GMT?” he asked lightly.
Kyle spun to face him, then he started to grin. “Brilliant,” he whispered. “Having an answer even five hours sooner would be a relief. Mind if I steal it?”
“You know the terms. Don’t hurt my sisters.”
Kyle nodded. “I know the terms. I never forget them, Ty, but the thing is, I never forgot Lor either. She’s the one, and I didn’t even believe there was one.”
They shook hands then, in perfect understanding. “Good luck,” Ty said and Kyle thanked him.
“Race you,” Kyle invited with a familiar glint in his eye. “Twenty laps.”
“You’re on,” Ty said. They chose their lanes and dove in unison, the silence of the club broken by the sound of splashing water. For once, Ty was glad to share the club in the middle of the night.
He had a feeling that Lauren’s birthday was going to be a happy one.
* * *
It was seven o’clock on Christmas Eve when the front doorbell rang at the house in Mamaroneck.
Exactly seven o’clock.
Lauren was packing a few things in case she decided to stay overnight when she went to her parents’ house the next day. She wasn’t expecting anyone to stop by and she didn’t know many people in town yet, so she was curious when she answered the door.
It was Kyle.
Her heart squeezed tight at the sight of him, but she tried to keep her expression casual. Even if he just wanted sex, that would be fine by her.
She’d missed him so much.
He looked as yummy as ever. He had a bit more of a tan, but that just made him look a bit more dangerous in his black leather jacket. It made his eyes look more vividly blue and his hair lighter, too. She was reminded of the surfer boy she’d met all those years ago, except that he was watching her so intently. She felt herself being to blush.
“Merry Christmas,” he said and offered a huge box. “And happy birthday.”
“It’s not the twenty-fifth yet,” she said, a little surprised that he’d gotten the day wrong.
“It is in Greenwich. Your big day has officially begun.”
Lauren smiled. “I guess it has.”
He nodded, looking decisive and determined. “I wanted to make sure I was first in line.”
Lauren didn’t know what to say. Her heart started to pound.
“You’ll never guess who I talked to the other day,” Kyle said.
“Then tell me.”
His eyes widened. “The ghost of Christmas future.”
“Even I know that Dickens wasn’t a nineteenth-century romantic poet.” She stepped back and invited him into the foyer with a gesture.
Kyle laughed. “Different course.”
“Just as successful as the one on romantic poets?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Totally different crowd. Goths. Lots of eyeliner and black. Not my thing.”
Lauren fought a smile. “Was Poe on the reading list?”
“Poe and Thackery and Dickens.” Kyle grimaced. “At least they could have tossed in some Austen to mix it up a bit.”
“To tempt your romantic girls,”
“Enough of that. Let me tell you about the ghost.”
“With his chains and moans.”
“Pretty much.”
“Does this make you Bob Cratchit or Scrooge?”
Kyle made a face. “I’m hoping neither. My father called from JFK. It’s our version of Christmas. He calls me from an airport somewhere, tells me about his latest conquest and when he’s going to dump her.”
“Nice.”
“Not at all nice.” He followed her and shook the snow out of his hair, his gaze never leaving hers. He seemed larger in the small space and she felt more aware of him. “I realized, though, that he might have been my future, calling in. One woman after another. No emotional connection with anybody. It’s just all about him and his pleasure.”
“Might have been?”
“Might have been,” Kyle said with resolve. “Because you pulled me back from that by making me take stock.” He raised his hands. “I now change diapers.”
Lauren laughed.
“It’s quite humbling how much a little baby needs you.”
“Terrifying.”
“Yes.” His gaze clung to hers again. “I never thought I could do it, but now I think I might. Now I want a home instead of just a place to stay.”
Lauren just watched him in silence.
Kyle reached out and touched her cheek. “And that’s all because of you.”
Lauren couldn’t hold his gaze, not when he was so intense. She lifted the box, which was really light. “So, this is a thank-you gift?”
“It’s a birthday gift, too. Go on. Op
en it.”
Lauren went into the kitchen, hearing Kyle follow her, and set the box on the counter. The scent warned her of its contents.
Lilacs.
She flicked at look at Kyle, who smiled, then opened the top.
It was filled with deep purple lilacs, the kind she loved best.
She took a deep breath of their perfume, then spun to face him. “But it’s December! Where did you get them?”
“I’ll never tell.” Kyle was looking very pleased that she was so excited. Then he shook a finger at her. “Actually, I have a secret weapon called Mr. Bernard.”
Lauren laughed. “He can solve anything.”
“I know. He’s great.”
Which meant that Kyle had been to the apartment. “Was everything okay there?”
“Almost perfect. Thanks for the stuff you left. I like that couch.”
“Good. I hoped you would.” She lifted out the bouquet and inhaled deeply of the scent again, knowing she had to ask. “You’re bringing flowers. Does this mean you want sex? Because you could have just said so.”
Kyle leaned against the counter beside her and grinned, looking so hot that her mouth went dry. She had missed him. If he wanted sex, she was more than ready to agree. He dropped his voice to a whisper, those eyes twinkling all the time. “But then you would have thought I only wanted sex.”
“Don’t you?”
He shook his head. “You really did change the game, Lor. There really has never been another woman who could challenge that memory of our night together. I thought that was the sum of it.”
“A thing of beauty and a joy forever.”
“But when you called me last summer, you proved me wrong again. Each time was better than the last. I figured it was time I learned to believe in forever.” His gaze clung to hers and he looked so earnest that she wanted to believe him.
But she didn’t dare.
“You?” she teased lightly. “Mr. Right Now?”
“Right now is good. Right now can be great. But right now with you is always the best of all. My thinking is that we could build a forever with a whole lot of right-nows in a row.” He nodded. “It would even be a first, which would make it fresh and new.”
Lauren held his gaze, hoping.
“But, I knew you’d be skeptical,” he continued. “I figured I had to convince you.”
“I can guess your plan on that.”
“Well, great sex is part of it, but there are a couple of other elements, too.”
“The flowers?”
He nodded. “Plus I bought a house.”
“You? Is it a mobile home?”
Kyle laughed. “No. Its foundation is pretty impressive, actually, given that it’s in an earthquake zone. I need some help with turning it from a house to a home, but there’s room for everybody, not just me.”
“Everybody?”
“There’s a suite for my mom to visit, including whoever she brings with her. There’s space for Dave and Olivia and their kids to come and hang out for a while. I put up a bulletin board and it’s already got a hundred pictures on it.” He shook his head. “That Sasha has me wrapped around her little finger.”
Lauren laughed. “I guess so if you’re changing diapers.”
“And the master suite is huge, with lots of closets, just in case you’d like to make it your home, too.” His gaze locked with hers, his expression expectant.
Hopeful.
“I have a house, right here,” Lauren managed to say.
“I know. I thought we might share.”
“That sounds complicated. Where’s your house?”
“In Santa Cruz.” He was deadly serious. “At the intersection of Right Now and Forever.”
Her chest tightened again. “Are you moving out there?”
“Part time. Theo and I decided that San Francisco was the next obvious place to establish an F5 club. I’m going to take lead on that project, as well as spend some more time with Mom, Dave and the sprouts while I’m out there. I’d really like if you came along. I know that your divorce needs to come through before we could get married, but maybe that will just give me a little more time to convince you that I’m serious.”
“I seem to recall that you can be very persuasive,” she found herself saying.
“So are you.” He shook his head. “It was those book boxes of yours that got me thinking. I like being in the Joy Forever box. I don’t want to be in the End in the Beginning box. Ever.” He raised his gaze to hers. “I don’t like that you were hurt, Lor, but I would like it even less if I was the one to hurt you.”
She bit her lip and waited.
“I love you,” he confessed. “I’ve always loved you, and part of that is because you don’t try to change me. I don’t want to try to change you. I’d like to be with you, but it won’t work if you’re always waiting for me to disappear or for something to go wrong. I believe that expectations shape the end result, so we need to both believe it can work or it won’t.”
“I understand.”
“Once I said to you that only ink was forever, so I had something done while I was out west.”
“Something done,” Lauren echoed, mystified.
Kyle smiled and peeled off his jacket. If he was going to seduce her, Lauren wouldn’t protest. But that wasn’t his plan. He paused with his hands on the hem of his T-shirt. “It hurt like a bitch, for whatever that’s worth.”
She didn’t answer because he tugged off his shirt, revealing the tattoo on his chest. It was right in the middle and was large. It was an optical illusion, as if two doors had been opened in the middle of his chest to reveal the interior.
The two doors looked like they were pinned wide open, and they had apparently been closed with an open-ended zipper. A steampunk heart filled the revealed compartment. There were gears and pulleys and steam, but emblazoned on the heart was a stamp.
Property of Lauren.
Lauren felt her lips part in surprise.
Then she put her finger on her name and felt bone right beneath his warm skin. “Ow,” she said, and stole an upward glimpse.
“Ow,” Kyle agreed, a glint in his eyes. “Wherever you are is home because it’s where my heart is. Whatever you want is on my agenda because I want to make you happy more than anything in the world. If you’re not ready or you’re not convinced you can trust me, that’s okay. It won’t change anything. I’ve loved you since I met you and I’ll love you for the rest of my life. Maybe even longer than that.”
He tipped up her chin with a fingertip. “You can call me anytime for anything. Believe that if you don’t believe anything else.” He brushed his lips across hers, launching a tide of welcome heat through her body.
He turned and picked up his shirt again, moving to tug it over his head.
“I think you should leave that off,” Lauren said and he glanced her way. She smiled at him. “I like the view.”
“You’re also welcome to keep me as eye candy,” he offered. “A boy toy to be used for your pleasure...” He got no further because Lauren threw herself at him. He caught her and backed into the door. He framed her face in his hands and touched the tip of his nose to hers.
“I love you, too, Kyle,” she admitted, feeling better for saying the words out loud.
“I guess I just needed you to dare me into trying something new for the first time,” he said with a slow smile. “But then, I keep saying it’s all about having the right motivation. When I realized I could lose you forever, everything became very clear.”
“Clear as crystal,” Lauren whispered and Kyle nodded.
“Absolutely.” His eyes twinkled as he pulled her a little closer. “How about a little birthday celebration?”
“There’s only one way I want to begin the day,” she said.
“I had this idea that we could go to Santa Cruz in the new year. You could check out the house, meet Sasha, and maybe even agree to marry me one of these days.”
“I can’t think of anything I
’d rather do,” Lauren said, watched Kyle smile, then pulled his head down for a very satisfying kiss. Kyle was the only man she’d ever really wanted, the one whose only expectation of her was that she’d follow her heart, and now he was all hers.
Forever.
In the Midnight Hour
Book #3 of the Flatiron Five series
Damon has a secret…
Every Friday night, the F5 partner who is the quiet powerhouse leaves on the dot of five. Where does he go? What does he do? His partners want to know, but Damon can’t bring himself to share the truth about his mom’s illness. She’s the only family he’s ever known, the anchor in his life, and he can’t imagine how he’ll go on without her. In the middle of the night, when he’s most alone, he wants proof that he’s not completely powerless. He doesn’t expect to find such a willing, or seductive, volunteer.
* * *
Haley loves solving mysteries…
Especially ones like the gorgeous guy who visits her favorite patient every Friday night. He must be Natalia’s son, but is he also the model on the billboard for that fitness club downtown? Where did he learn therapeutic massage? Even though she’s a nurse, Haley’s interest in his skill isn’t just professional. She wants to feel those hands on her own skin. Late one night, she takes a chance and asks for a lesson from him, only to learn that she has a hunger for the sensation only Damon can give.
Excerpt from In the Midnight Hour
Copyright ©2017 Deborah A. Cooke
* * *
Haley had heard about him, of course. The mysterious man who showed up every Friday night to give their patient in palliative care a massage. That woman’s hunky and mysterious son, if she listened to the other nurses. There was a lot of speculation about him and whatever he did—and what kind of relationships he had.
Haley didn’t care much about his social life. What intrigued her was the difference in Natalia’s charts. As a therapeutic nurse, she was always interested in easing discomfort, and there was no denying that Natalia slept better and more deeply every Friday night.
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