“I wouldn’t go any further if I were you,” he said in a deadly quiet tone.
“Or you’ll what? Hit me with your cane? Not much a gimp can do.”
Oh my God. Eric couldn’t see that Scott was blind. He thought Scott walked with a cane. If Eric came after him, Scott wouldn’t see it coming. How would he defend himself?
Scott stepped forward, halting Eric’s attempt to do so too. Her ex stiffened and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Tara wanted to pump her fist in the air.
How Scott acted like any other sighted man she didn’t know. It was another one of those uncanny abilities she’d seen in him.
“This isn’t over, Tara. You’ll see. In a few days you’ll see how much you miss me and come crying back into my arms.” Eric waggled a finger at her.
Please. How had she missed this pissy side of him?
“No, Eric, I won’t. Move out of the apartment.”
“No. My name is on the lease. You think you can dump me like this, you move out.”
Damn it. She squeezed the back of Scott’s shirt in agitation. Good thing she’d accepted Brianna and Scott’s offer of a room. She could start apartment hunting as soon as she got settled there. The added commission from this party would go a long way in securing rent somewhere at least.
“Fine,” she grumbled, stepping around Scott. She loved that apartment. “I’ll be by to pick up my stuff tomorrow.”
Eric’s face held a mixture of disgust and…excitement? What the fuck would he be excited about?
“Don’t be there,” she said flatly.
Eric didn’t answer. He turned on his heel and marched out of Scott’s office, slamming the door behind him.
Tara let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and slumped her shoulders. She hated that Scott had to be here for Eric’s little display. Talk about embarrassing.
“I’m so sor…”
Scott’s hand moved in a slow arc toward her face. She froze and wondered what he was doing. His wrist grazed her ear and pulled back until his palm cradled her cheek.
Her heart thudded. She rubbed her cheek on his hand.
“May I see what you look like?” he asked, throwing her for a loop.
She’d seen this done before on TV. A blind person’s way of “seeing” was by touch. How could she not grant him this?
Tara nodded. Scott brought his other hand up. His thumbs and fingers wandered ever so gently over her forehead, her eyes and nose, her cheeks, her lips, and curved around her chin. It was the most exquisite and erotic thing she’d ever experienced.
The room was so silent she could hear both of their harsh breaths. Her belly somersaulted with tender emotion. She wanted more.
“You’re beautiful, Tara,” he rasped.
Her eyes welled up. God. In all the time she’d spent with Eric, he’d never said anything as profound as those three little words to her.
She sniffed and dropped her chin to her chest. Scott lifted it back up and wiped an escaping tear from her cheek as if he’d seen it there.
“I have to kiss you.”
“Yes.”
Why deny how she felt?
He leaned into her, his thumbs at the corners of her mouth, and melded his lips to hers.
The world shifted. She felt her arms slide around his waist and tilted her head to provide better access.
There was nothing tentative from that point on. He took control of her mouth, coaxing her to open and slipping his tongue inside. The sexual dance continued for several long moments. Scott shuffled closer, insinuating his thigh between her legs, and pressed against her mound.
She moaned. Tingles erupted in her clit. It wasn’t enough. She rubbed herself on his leg.
One hand left her cheek and settled on a breast, the thumb flicking at her distended nipple. She squirmed in his hold, raking his back with her fingernails. His cock ground into her tummy.
And then he was gone. Releasing her and stepping back, leaving both of them fighting for air. Tara shook in the aftermath, both saddened it was over and angered that she wanted more. Now.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to go—”
Tara pounced on his apology and covered his red, swollen lips with two fingers. “Shush. That was the most incredible kiss. Thank you.”
He kissed her fingers, sending a shiver down her spine. Damn the man was potent.
And she was falling for him. Hard.
Chapter Four
“Everything is beautiful.”
Tara spun around from her spot at the kitchen sink where she’d been staring out into the middle of the night blackness.
“Jeez. You scared the crap out of me. What are you still doing up? It’s…” What time was it? She looked at her watch.
“Twelve-thirty, I know.” Scott smiled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”
She willed her heart to crawl back into her chest. How did one man have the right to look so good?
“Just out of curiosity, and excuse me if I sound stupid or am out of line, but how exactly do you know what I’ve done is beautiful?”
His smile widened, revealing perfect teeth. Teeth that had nibbled on her lip yesterday in his office. Teeth she wished would nibble on her— Stop. Stop right there. Don’t even go one inch further with that line of thinking. Bad.
“Because I’ve heard the girls and Brianna squealing every time they discovered something new. And my mom told me so.” He shrugged. “It must be true.”
She’d met his mom earlier today. Lydia Wyatt was wonderful despite the number of years she’d been out of Scott and Brianna’s life due to their father’s duplicity.
If it had been her, Tara wasn’t sure she would have coped as well meeting a mother she’d been told her whole life had run off and wouldn’t be back.
Of course they’d been reunited now for ten years and according to Brianna, Lydia had more than made up for the time she’d been forced out of her children’s lives.
“So how’d you do it?”
“Do what?” Tara tried to remember what they’d been talking about.
“Get all this together in one day.” He stalked across the obstacle-free kitchen toward her. No, prowled was a better word. She imagined beneath those sunglasses, his eyes would be glowing. Like a werewolf from one of her favorite paranormal books, staking his mate.
She shrugged and licked her lips as he came to a stop directly in front of her. “Whenever I take on a new project I like to dive right in. And in this case, that’s a good thing since Brianna didn’t give me much time. When I finally left your office yesterday, I got a lot of planning done. Today I shopped and put most of it together.”
Scott crossed his arms across his chest. The muscles in his forearms bulged, emphasizing what she already knew about her friend’s brother. He worked out. A lot. And man did she want to see what the rest of him looked like.
Lord she was turning into a nympho. Best friends were not supposed to lust after younger brothers. Thank God she wasn’t as old as Brianna because it would make the whole situation too weird to handle. As it stood, Tara was still three years older than him.
Did he care? Did he know?
“Do you know how old I am?” she blurted.
One of his eyebrows slowly rose.
Ground, just open up and swallow me whole, please. She covered her face with her hands. What did it matter? It’s not like he could see her.
“Twenty-nine.” His deep voice washed over her, making her entire body tingle in awareness. “Do you know how old I am?”
“I’m practically robbing the cradle,” she grumbled, then jumped when he barked out in laughter.
“There’s only three years separating us. I hardly think people will have you arrested for taking advantage.”
“Who says it’ll be me taking advantage?”
“Hmm. I don’t know.” He stepped cautiously forward.
Tara moved her foot at the last second when he would have stepped on her bare toes
. He crowded her, forcing her back into the counter. She reached back and grasped the granite surface with both hands.
She should have kept her arms in front.
His rock hard abs brushed against her upper belly, his… She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath.
Oh, mama. She licked her suddenly dry lips.
“Maybe we could take advantage of each other,” he murmured, leaning in and laying his lips on hers.
Damn man didn’t even need to coax her. She melted into him, opening her mouth to his and sucking in his tongue. His hands cradled her face; she reached up and gripped his shoulders.
“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he whispered, kissing around her face.
“Really?” Her breath came out in tiny pants. He moved down her neck and she tilted her head to give him better access.
“Hell no, I’m lying to you. I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I met you.” He nudged the collar of her flannel shirt aside.
His lips feathered along her collarbone. Her nipples hardened.
“Why didn’t you?”
“I’m blind.”
“I can see that. What does that have to do with kissing me?”
He shrugged. His hands came up to caress her throat and he rested his forehead on hers.
“Most of the women I know only want the novelty of being with a blind man.”
She pulled her head back and stared at him. He was serious. She swallowed and took a breath.
“Then you haven’t been with the right kind of woman.” How could any woman not see him for the smart, strong, absolutely gorgeous man he was? How had she not seen him for more than a friend?
“No? Maybe you know someone?”
She was crazy. Absolutely nuts.
And totally, one hundred percent sure of herself for the first time in her life.
“Maybe.” The word rasped from her lips.
“Hmm.” He nibbled the corner of her mouth again. It was the sweetest feeling in the world. A hundred times better than the rushed gropings in the dark with Eric. It felt…right. Perfect.
“Take off the sunglasses, Scott. Let me see you.”
This time he pulled back. He trailed his hands down her arms and clasped his fingers with hers.
“Promise not to laugh?”
She snorted. Shit.
“Too late.” He smiled, saving her from being totally embarrassed.
Scott sighed and whipped off the dark glasses she’d never seen him without.
His eyelids didn’t quite open all the way, and his pupils strayed, having never been trained to focus. Now she could see him as a blind person. Covered up, he was just like everyone else.
“So?” He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the short strands to make them look like he’d just climbed out of bed.
Ugh. Do. Not. Think. About. Him. In. Bed.
“You’re very handsome.”
The corners of his mouth twitched. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”
Tara stretched up on her tiptoes to reach his mouth and kissed him. “No.”
“Then can I put these back on?” he asked, holding up the shades.
“Why?” She hoped he didn’t feel the need to hide behind them anymore.
He cocked his head. “I don’t know. They’re kind of a part of me after all these years. Kinda like wearing underwear.”
She couldn’t resist teasing him and gasped. “You wear underwear?”
His entire body froze. The fingers of the hand he still held her with tightened and he audibly gulped.
“You’re not wearing panties?”
Now why did he have to make that sound so damn erotic?
She slid out of the confined space he had her trapped in. If she didn’t get out of there now, she’d be jumping him in a minute. All this talk about her panties was making her wet.
“I’ll never tell.”
He followed her with his head, sliding the glasses back on his face. Scott turned and backed up to the counter she’d vacated to rest his hips against it. His arms went back across his chest. The pose was cocky, arrogant, full of himself.
She wanted every bit of it.
Instead she bid him goodnight and ran.
Chapter Five
Scott forced his fingers to unclench from where they held the car’s door handle. He’d spent a sleepless night in hell last night after Tara had left him standing alone in the kitchen. Thinking about her in a room so close to his only added to the torture.
Had she finally gone to sleep or had she tossed and turned like he had?
This morning she’d sounded none the worse for wear. Talking to Brianna in an animated voice, she’d detailed her plans for the rest of the decorations. His nieces seemed to be in complete awe over some of her ideas.
Then she’d mentioned having to go back to her apartment to retrieve the rest of her things.
He grimaced, remembering how he’d reacted. Over his dead body would she do that without one of them with her. He’d felt the anger in Eric in his office two days ago. No way was she going to face him by herself. She’d done a bang up job trying to convince him, Brianna, Cole and Tyler she’d be fine because Eric would be at work and she’d be there alone.
None of them trusted Eric would miss this opportunity to confront her again.
Hell, Scott had his suspicions Eric was the person who’d keyed her car. Tyler was looking into it.
“Relax, man.” Tyler chuckled next to him.
“Max could have brought me, you know?” Damn. This is exactly the type of situation that irked him the most about being blind. He couldn’t help protect the people he loved. How could you defend against something you couldn’t see?
He heard Tyler sigh. “Look. Brianna’s told me some of the stuff Tara’s been through with Eric. Max won’t be able to do much if her ex starts some shit. Eric likely knows what I do for a living since Tara is friends with Bri. He’s more likely to back off Tara if he’s sees me over a limo driver.”
“How the fuck did I not know this was happening?” Another thing Scott had replayed over and over in his head in the wee hours of the last couple nights.
“My guess would be Tara didn’t want you to know.”
“Why the hell not?” They were friends. Even if they’d only known each other a few months, he’d never given her a reason not to trust him.
“Well, I’d say it’s as plain as the nose on your face, but since you can’t see the looks she gives you…”
Scott twisted in his seat to face Tyler. “You mean, all the time I’ve known her, I’ve wanted her but didn’t do anything about it, and now you’re telling me this?”
Tyler laughed.
“This is not funny, Ty.”
“Hey. Don’t shoot the messenger. Brianna’s told me that Tara doesn’t think she’s good enough for you.”
“What?” How fucked up was that?
“Apparently Tara grew up pretty poor and has a hard time believing someone wealthy might desire her.”
“Bullshit. Eric really did a fucking number on her brain, didn’t he?”
“Sounds like he’s one manipulative bastard. Thank God Tara saw through him and got the hell out before things got out of hand.”
Scott wasn’t so sure things hadn’t already gotten out of hand.
“Did you find out anything about who keyed her car?”
“No, I’m trying to find out where he was when it happened, but other than the fact I know he wasn’t at work, I’m at a dead end.”
“We know where he was, Tyler. In my office, which puts him at the car at the right time.”
“I know what you’re thinking, Scott, and yes, I’d like nothing better than to pin this on him, but until I have concrete evidence I can’t do anything. And neither can the police. They’ll look at the car, and the fact that Eric and Tara have been dating and ask, ‘Why would the man key his girlfriend’s car?’ There’s nothing that says there’s bad blood between the two of them, only her word
. Let me do my job. We’ll get him, I swear.”
Scott barely refrained from growling in frustration, but he understood everything Tyler said.
The car slowed down and made a turn.
“Why did she have to drive herself?” Scott grumbled.
“Damn, you’ve got it bad for her.”
Even if he didn’t have it bad, he’d hate what Eric had done to her.
“And on that note, we’re here.”
Scott threw his door open and stepped out.
Slush oozed over the tops of both feet, drenching his tennis shoes in icy coldness. “Thanks for the warning.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, man.”
“Yes, I can hear how sorry you are.”
Tyler grabbed Scott’s hand, placed it at his elbow and led him out of the melting crap and onto the curb.
“Anytime you want to stop snickering would be good,” Scott said.
“Tyler,” Tara huffed.
“What? Idiot jumped out of the car before I could warn him. He’s a little hot under the collar if you know what I mean.”
“May I, Scott?”
“May you what?”
“Guide you.”
Scott heard the smile in her voice.
“Where’s Kissy-Face?” she asked.
“He’s in the backseat.” He gestured over his shoulder with his thumb and dropped Tyler’s elbow. Scott reached out. “Give me your arm.”
She did. Too bad it was covered in a thick down coat. He would have loved to feel her skin against his palm.
“What do I do?” she whispered.
“Walk. I’ll follow. Tell me if there’s something I need to step over.” He smiled at her. “You make me trip and I’m taking you down with me.”
She burst out laughing.
“I wouldn’t laugh if I were you, Tara. He means it.” Tyler grunted.
“Oh? Did big, bad Tyler get taken down?”
“Hell yeah,” Scott said. “Bastard walked me right into a rock border along a path. Never said a word. I remember exactly what he said afterward too. ‘I thought you’d step over it, dumbass.’”
“Who the hell doesn’t pick up their feet?” Tyler snapped.
“Oh my God.” Tara laughed so hard she had to stop moving. Scott’s hand slipped off her arm when she bent at the waist.
Look What Santa Brought Page 3