by Maggie Marr
“Well?” Nonna stood in the doorway with a giant smile on her face, and behind her four other women gathered around the door.
“I know you heard.” Brinn stood, slipped her phone into her back pocket, and folded her arms over her chest. “You bunch of magpies. I bet you knew he was going to call.”
“We cannot compromise our sources.” Mabel wiggled her eyebrows.
Roberta ducked her head around the group. “But there was some chatter about just how smitten you two seemed at lunch.”
Brinn had dreamed of dating Tyler Emerson when she was a girl and still found him gorgeous now that she was a grown woman.
Her stomach pitched. Even with her excitement, she couldn’t quell the nagging voice in her head that whispered she hadn’t been the type of girl Tyler went for when he was younger, so why would she be the type of woman he’d want to date now?
“Come on, girls.” Nonna turned toward the Bunco Babes. “It’s late. Nearly past my bedtime and we’re still only on fours.”
Brinn followed them into the hall. Why worry about the date with Tyler? This was dinner and a movie, not a wedding proposal. Brinn walked into the kitchen, certain that she’d now hear what the Bunco Babes thought she should wear this Friday and how to make Tyler Emerson fall for her.
Chapter Seven
He hadn’t strolled along Main Street during the Christmas season since before he left Powder Springs for college. Tourists, holiday shoppers, and people simply enjoying a warmer winter evening than they’d had in the past couple of weeks darted down the cobblestone sidewalk. He’d planned on taking Brinn to a movie, but they talked so long over their burgers at the Around the Block diner that they missed the start time.
Former classmates and friends of his parents waved and nodded at them as they walked down Main. Curious looks from locals were pointed their way. Tomorrow he and Brinn would be the big Powder Springs gossip. So what. Despite the cold, warmth cascaded through him, an enjoyment caused by being with someone he felt comfortable with. He hadn’t felt this calm a very long while.
“You’re happy that you moved back from San Francisco?” Tyler wanted to keep their conversation going. Listening to Brinn talk was easy. She told good stories and her face lit with excitement when she talked about her work and the bakery and her family.
Brinn pulled at her black curls that peeked out from beneath her white wool cap. “Even when I went away to culinary school in San Francisco, I always thought I’d eventually move back to Powder Springs. So when I walked in on—” Her eyes clouded with a memory and she stopped speaking. Her gaze dropped to the ground, almost as though her words had gotten away from her. Brinn pressed her lips tight and then her brown eyes glanced back up at him. “When I discovered that staying in San Francisco wasn’t an option, I was sad at first, but I love Powder Springs.”
His breath hitched in his chest. The pain had disappeared from her gaze and her eyes were full of light again, her smile so warm that he could almost think he’d imagined the pain.
“Do you feel the same way about leaving Denver and coming home for a while?”
Tyler nodded. “Powder Springs is what I want for Charlotte. I want the same kind of magical childhood for her that I had here. Especially now.”
“You should bring Charlotte back out to the Grande next week. The Christmas castle looks more like a castle. This time she won’t be disappointed.”
“I peeked in on you the other day.”
Brinn turned to him with a surprised smile. “You should have stopped and said hello.”
“You looked so serious. I didn’t want to interrupt. You were so focused on your work.” He creased his eyebrows and pursed his lips as though trying to recreate the look he’d seen on Brinn’s face.
She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “That’s what I look like?”
“Much cuter than any look I could do.” Tyler flashed her a smile. “I know what it’s like to be in that zone. I didn’t want to pull you out of it.”
“Well, thank you for that.” She stopped walking and turned to him. “But next time say hi.” Her voice was nearly a whisper.
His heart flipped in his chest. He could spend hours with Brinn Bartoli, walking down Main Street, eating at the diner, watching a movie… or missing a movie. Worry didn’t bounce around his gut when he was with Brinn.
“I will.” He angled closer to her as they walked, and the scents of vanilla and cinnamon filled his nose. An electrical pulse zipped through him. Yep, there it was again. When he was close to her, when he looked into her eyes, when he caught her face in profile—there was a heat, an anxiousness, a want that latched onto him because dammit, he was attracted to Brinn. The urge to grasp Brinn’s hand or even put his arm around her waist as they walked through town shot through him. His gloved hands remained at his sides. The desire to touch her, to pull her close, to turn to her and tilt her head toward his so that he might grasp her lips with his became more intense with every hour that passed. She was comfortable and familiar and just easy to be with in a way he’d never experienced. In a way he wanted to continue experiencing.
They stopped in front of the store window at Curios & Crowns, and Brinn pointed into the window. “See the angels?”
Tyler nodded.
“Savannah McGrath does those each Christmas. I had a special one made for Ma. Should be done next week. I love Savannah’s work.”
“We commissioned one of her pieces last year as a focal point outside one of our new buildings in Denver. People always stop to look.”
“She makes her work come alive.” Brinn turned from the window, and they continued walking down Main.
“Look where we are.” Tyler pointed to the door of Bea & Barbara’s Bakery. “Want to go in?”
Brinn’s mouth squished into a line. She peered inside the front window as though she were looking for someone.
“Uh, sure.” She pulled open the door before he could and darted inside the bakery. A bell jingled and Brinn muttered something under her breath. They walked toward the counter where a familiar-looking woman with bright pink hair and a leopard-print apron stood helping customers.
“Hey, you two!”
Brinn waved. She waited until the pink-haired woman finished with the customers. “Tyler, this is Alison.”
Alison’s hand jutted out. “I was five years behind you in school. But my cousin was a year ahead of your class. Mathilda Cooper?”
“Right!” Tyler nodded and smiled. “I remember Mathilda. Whatever happened to her?”
“Married an Air Force guy. They travel all over the world. Have three kids. We see them sometimes on holidays.”
Brinn shot Alison a look. What was that about? He couldn’t read what was going on between the two of them. Alison’s eyes widened and she shook her head no. Brinn smiled and her shoulders relaxed.
“How about a couple of cinnamon coffees and cannoli?” Alison opened the display case and started plopping the sweet confections into a box.
“No coffee for me. I have to be at the Grande by eight tomorrow.”
Tyler glanced at his watch. The time was already close to ten. “Brinn, I’m sorry.” He reached for the box of cannoli and tried to give Alison some money, but she wouldn’t take it. “I thought you’d have Saturday off from the Grande, and it’s nearly ten. I should probably get you home.”
Brinn’s shoulders sagged the tiniest bit at his suggestion. Was he doing a bad job on their date? He thought they were having fun, but when they’d stopped at the bakery, Brinn’s entire demeanor changed. Suddenly he wasn’t certain she wanted to be on a date with him.
“I’ll drive you home.” Tyler took the box of cannoli and followed Brinn out the front door of the bakery.
A few minutes later, they climbed into his truck, which was still parked in front of the diner. He drove through town and headed the direction of Brinn’s house. Silence filled the cab. This silence held a heavy feeling, much different than their time at the diner or walking down Main S
treet. A quiet had built between them since they’d entered the bakery.
He pulled into her drive. White lights trimmed the edges of Brinn’s windows, and a tree sat on the other side of the front window. What would it be like to start a fire and sit on the couch and kiss Brinn? He’d like to find out.
“Would you like to come in?”
“I wouldn’t want to impose.” Tyler stared out the front window of his truck.
“It’s not an imposition. I would love for you to come in, it’s just”—Brinn brushed her mittened hand across her forehead—“I’m sorry. I don’t feel like I’ve been myself tonight.”
Her eyes held such sincerity. A vulnerability that he completely understood. This was her first date in a long while too, perhaps even longer than it had been for him.
“I”—her gaze fluttered away and then she turned back to him—“I haven’t been on a date in a really long time.” Her voice was soft and it seemed almost laced with embarrassment. “When you first called, I wasn’t even certain that this”—she waved her mittened hand between them—“was a date.” She tapped her hand on her lips and tilted her head. “I mean, I thought this was a date and I hoped it was, but it, wellllll…” She glanced again toward her front door. “A date with you just didn’t seem possible.”
Tyler squinted. Not possible? Their date was an impossibility? Brinn bit her lip. Those warm brown eyes of hers. Damn. He could fall into those eyes.
“I didn’t even tell Ma. I knew she’d hear about it because town is so small. I just didn’t want all the questions that went with having dinner with you.”
“Ah, the joys of a small town.” Tyler pressed his head back against the leather headrest. The knot that had tightened in his chest started to loosen. “She’ll know by tomorrow.”
“Right. I just”—she looked at him—“I’m not sure how to do this. I’ve never really dated in Powder Springs, and not that we’re dating.” She lifted both her hands.
He reached out his hand and grasped hers. “I’d love to take you out again.”
A gasp flew over Brinn’s lips.
Want tightened in his belly and traveled farther down to below his belt. His gaze caught hers. The desire to kiss her throbbed through him. To lean forward and bridge the space between them in the cab of his truck. To press his lips to hers and wrap his fingers in those thick ringlet curls.
But he didn’t.
She looked too shocked and surprised over his admission that he wanted to take her out again. Maybe dating him wasn’t what she wanted. Maybe she was trying to be polite and tell him that they were just friends and he wasn’t picking up on the signs.
A smile spread over Brinn’s face. “I’d love that.” Her eyes brightened.
Tyler’s heart felt lighter than air.
“So you’ll come in? Before your coffee gets cold?”
Tyler nodded. In this moment, there wasn’t anything he wanted more than to walk into Brinn’s cozy little house with its white lights and a Christmas tree, then stare even longer into those beautiful brown eyes.
Chapter Eight
Brinn flipped on the lights and rushed ahead into the house. Tyler Emerson was in her house. Brinn closed her eyes and forced breath in and out of her lungs. The enormity of this event was nearly incomprehensible. The boy, and now man, that she’d crushed on since she was ten years old was alone, with her, in her house.
She scanned the living room. Her place seemed cleanish. No glasses on the end table or plates balancing on the sofa cushions. Her bedroom was a disaster zone thanks to her inability to pick an outfit without first trying on every piece of clothing she owned, but what were the odds that Tyler would end up in her bedroom?
She pulled off her winter coat and opened the front closet door. “Sorry it’s such a mess.” She picked up a pair of tennis shoes and tossed them into the closet.
“Mess? You should have seen my place in Denver before Charlotte and I found a housekeeper. My baby girl was growing up in a biohazard.”
Tyler’s gaze trailed around the room. How did her place look to him with her red and white tree and her Christmas snow globe collection on the bookshelf?
“Your place looks great.” He walked to the built-in breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from the dining room and set the box of cannoli on the counter.
Her heart fluttered in her chest. Brinn hurried into the kitchen. “Let me get some plates.” She rubbed her hands together and flitted about the kitchen. She grabbed two plates from the cabinet beside the stove and a real coffee cup from above the sink. She picked up Tyler’s to-go coffee and dumped it into the ceramic mug.
“There you go, that’s better.” She lifted a cannoli out of the box. Feeding people, taking care of them, baking, that calmed her. Her mind could accept that Tyler was here, at her house, for a cannoli, but the idea that he was here for her? Nope. Too much to digest. Sweet treats for a friend was understandable. Tyler in her home, after a date, after he’d said he wanted to take her out again? Her brain might pop out of her head. She pushed the plate across the breakfast bar toward Tyler and held out a fork.
He cut into the cannoli. “Did you make this?” That beautiful smile, filled with charm, curled up across Tyler’s face. She could stare at that smile for days.
“I did. These are really fresh. We had to make more halfway through the day. I did them once I got back from the Grande.”
Tyler lifted the golden-brown pastry filled with mascarpone and pistachio to his lips.
Brinn’s heart froze in place. Please let him like her cannoli. Nonna said the way to a man was through his mouth, which led to his stomach, which caused his heart to fall. His gorgeous, full-lipped mouth opened. Damn, she could kiss that mouth.
Heat flamed up her neck.
The fork slid between his lips. “Oh my God, Brinn, do you have any idea how good this is?”
Brinn ducked her head and a smile widened across her face. She did. She was a pretty great baker and pastry chef. Always nice to get an acknowledgement of all the work she’d put into mastering her craft.
Tyler held his fork toward her with a bite of cannoli on the end. Her gaze met his. Heat fired in her belly. Tingles collided in her fingertips. He was so close, his mouth was so close. She opened her mouth and Tyler slid the fork between her lips. The sweet taste of mascarpone with bits of pistachio rolled over her taste buds. So intimate.
Tyler leaned forward, his lips now millimeters from hers. “Amazing.”
Her tongue swept out over her bottom lip, which she pulled under her top two teeth.
“And I don’t mean the cannoli.” He moved forward and his lips were on hers.
Brinn’s body burst into flame. His tongue pressed along the seam of her lips and Brinn opened her mouth to his. Tyler’s fingertips wove through her hair as his other hand reached out and grasped her shoulders. He stood and Brinn stood with him. The length of her body pressed to his. His maleness pressed against her hip and her nipple pebbled beneath her shirt. How long since she kissed a man? How long since there’d been a man she wanted to kiss?
Tyler’s hand cupped her chin, and he pulled his lips from her mouth and kissed along her neck. Deep tendrils of heat thickened through her body as his mouth and hot lips trailed across her skin. The desire to strip off his clothes, to strip off her clothes and get into bed with this man clawed through her. His fingertips slid under her sweater and trailed along the edge of her jeans. His hands, those hands. His touch drew her in. Until…
Oh no. Her muffin top. His hand spread over her belly. Her very soft belly that proved that not only did she bake a lot of cannoli, but she ate a lot of them too.
Brinn pulled away.
“I’m sorry Brinn, I didn’t mean to…” His gaze clouded. “I didn’t mean to move too fast.” His lips pressed to her forehead. He didn’t. He hadn’t. She wanted to wrap herself up in bedsheets with Tyler.
“It’s not you.”
Would these insecurities forever plague her? How fabulou
s to have the perfect body and classically beautiful face, the type of beauty that made men swoon. But that wasn’t her. She was a little round, a little soft, a little handsome, and not at all what Tyler was used to. His ex-wife had been near supermodel proportions, and that definitely wasn’t Brinn.
Even Tyler looked like a god cut from marble. How could she possibly measure up to the women that Tyler had been with? If his ex-wife was any indication, he usually went for tall, leggy, and big-boobed. She had the big-boobed part, but the tall and leggy? Not so much. A man like Tyler could have his pick of women, so why would he choose her?
He wouldn’t. This, whatever it was, had to be convenience. The whole thing was convenient for Tyler. Not real.
His brows creased. He lifted her chin with his fingertips and forced her to meet his gaze. “Brinn? What is it?”
She stepped back. Away from him. She couldn’t help it. She’d made a horrible mistake with Marco. A mistake she never wanted to repeat.
“I…” Her gaze fluttered toward the floor. What could she say that wouldn’t make her sound desperate and needy and just completely weak and pathetic? “I have something for Charlotte!” Brinn walked away and cool air replaced the heat between them. “I’m sorry, I just thought of it, and I don’t want to forget.” Brinn moved around the counter and back into the kitchen, where she opened the cabinet beside the refrigerator and pulled down a wicker basket. She picked up three cellophane-wrapped cookie castles. “There are three granddaughters, right?”
Tyler smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “They’ll love them.”
Brinn walked out of the kitchen and handed him the three wrapped cookie castles.
“I guess I should go. Early morning for you tomorrow.”
Ache cascaded through her heart. If only she could make the leap. Believe that Tyler really did want her, no matter how pudgy or rectangular her body was. She wasn’t ready. As much as she liked Tyler, as much as he turned her on, how could she ever believe that he would be interested in a girl like her?