Tyler's Blind Date Experiment

by Alicia Street

  “Are you crazy? Who knows—”

  “I know, that’s who. I know I will never love anyone but you.” He touched his chest over his heart. “I know that right in here and that is not going to change.”

  Caroline tried to control her reaction, but before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face and she was mumbling, “I love you too, Tyler, and deep inside I know this is not some temporary thing. I’m just a little afraid to look it in the eye.”

  He put his arms around her, tucking her head under his chin. “We will figure it out together. Now, let’s clean up so I can have my 3G Mocha Java.”

  When they were back in their pants and shoes, Caroline decided to make new coffee, although Tyler greedily sipped his special drink even though it was luke warm now.

  They sat at a table munching coconut chocolate chip cookies with their coffee. Caroline hated to bring the subject up again but had to know. “So, is everybody talking about me at the Yacht World?”

  “No. Absolutely not. I told my parents about the whole thing. My father questioned Larry and Matt and asked them about “the rumor” as he called it and who else might have heard it. Larry had only told one woman on the sales force, and my father brought all three into his office and informed them Caleb made up the story, that it was not true, and if anyone started spreading it around, they would be out of a job.”

  “Wow. That was nice of him.”

  “Yeah, he was really sympathetic. Of course my mother told me what a buffoon I am.” He took a bite of his cookie. “Why haven’t you returned any of Lee Kaplan’s messages?”

  Her jaw dropped open and she stared at him. “I thought it was some reporter looking for a story.”

  “Didn’t he say he was an art dealer in his messages?”

  “Uh, yeah, he did. But I was—”

  “Too busy running around with a bunch of losers.”

  “How did you know?”

  He gave her that cute and sexy grin of his, and she knew that was all she was going to get on that.

  “So, Tyler, it was you who sent this art dealer to me? Why?”

  “Because he is one of the movers and shakers on the scene now and when I spoke to him about Luna, he said he loved your work and was excited about the idea of bringing you out of hiding.”

  “But I have this business, and obligations to my partners.”

  “You don’t have to abandon the cafe. Just hire more help and work fewer hours. You need to get back to your art.”

  “Tyler, I don’t have a studio to work in anymore. This house is not—”

  “I can make you a studio in my house. I have rooms that I don’t use, even one with a double ceiling height.”

  “But you don’t want me always in your space.”

  “Yes, I do. I’d like you to move in with me.”

  “No. Absolutely not. Way too soon.”

  He toyed with her hand. “Then it would be a good test to have your studio in my house. Spending time together when it is not a date.”

  Caroline heaved a sigh. “This is a big decision.”

  “When you were yelling at me you said it was your dream. Well, this would be another chance to have it. And I want you to have it. You deserve that. Please call him.”

  “All right, I will.” She shook her head, almost unable to believe it. “Thank you. Do you know you are the sweetest man alive?”

  “Yes.”

  Caroline laughed and dropped a kiss on his mouth. Then he pulled a small package out of his pants pocket and unwrapped it on the table. Her moon earrings and necklace—and next to it a matching ring.

  Tyler put the necklace over her head and Caroline put on her earrings. When he slid the ring on her left ring finger, a tingling warmth filled her and she imagined what it might be like to have Tyler put a wedding ring there.

  Just as she thought that, he said, “I hope we do the real deal someday soon.”

  Her heart swelling and filled with love, she just lifted her coffee mug in the air, and said, “To the adventures of Caroline and Tyler.”

  THE END

  A Note from the Author

  Thank you for reading TYLER’S BLIND DATE EXPERIMENT. If you enjoyed it, I hope you will consider posting a review. Even one line can help an author or another reader. For updates on new releases, sales, or contests, please join my newsletter list. Your email would never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time.

  If you’d like to send me feedback or just say hello you can write me at alicia@aliciastreetauthor.com

  I love hearing from readers and always answer every message.

  If you enjoyed hanging out with the women of Three Girls Roasting Company, you can read Trinity’s story in FINN’S CHRISTMAS DILEMMA. Scroll forward to read the bonus excerpt included with this book. And Brina’s story will be coming soon!

  You can also check out the rest of the Hot Hunks Collection here.

  Bonus Excerpt

  Please enjoy this scene from Finn’s Christmas Dilemma…

  It was almost closing time when the bells over the door of the Three Girls Roasting Company cafe jingled and Trinity Collins looked up to see a dark-haired guy in a black leather jacket and shades stroll in. At first glance her woman-sensors saw only the hot-looking body and movie star face, but then she noticed his granite-carved jaw had a sweet cleft in the chin and he walked with the confident, graceful stride of an athlete, or rather her favorite kind of athlete—a dancer.

  Finn Brogan.

  Her heart swelled and the old Trinity would have raced up to him and thrown her arms around him. But something inside the new Trinity made her chicken out. Kept her feet frozen in place.

  As she watched heads turn at three of her four tables, a sizzling excitement buzzing through her female clientele, Trinity was reminded of those old tortoise and hare fables. Who would have thought their roles would switch so drastically?

  Before Finn made it another step, he was surrounded by three women, followed by two giggling teens, all asking for selfies with him while gushing over his amazing talent and talking about their favorite dances from Dance Time the weekly TV show where Finn sat on a panel as one of the celebrity judges that also occasionally offered performances themselves.

  Despite getting the wind knocked out of her sails, the competitive streak that had always run deep in Trinity had survived the fray and now reared its head and got her feet moving. She was glad at least she had worn her skinny jeans today even though the olive green sweater was not her best color.

  “Oh my God, I don’t believe it!” she called out and raced across the cafe.

  He looked up at her with that same boyish smile she knew so well, and suddenly she got an image of the two of them on a summer evening chasing fireflies in her backyard. Pushing her way through the cluster of groupies, she wrapped her arms around his strong muscular torso. Finn hugged her back and, yeah, it felt real good.

  Trinity stepped back and eyed him up and down. He’d always been gorgeous and he’d only gotten better with age. “Wow. Look at you. How’s it feel to be a big star?”

  “I’m not a star,” he said, with a shy tilt of his head that no doubt had the women watching them wetting their panties. “Just a guy who loves to dance and got a lucky break.”

  That got an “awww” from their female audience. Trinity gestured to the women surrounding them and said, “I’m sure these ladies would disagree.”

  “No, it’s true,” he said. “There are lots of talented guys out there who can do what I do. I just happened to be at the right place at the right time.”

  Trinity shook her head at his endearing shrug. “Typical Finn. Haven’t changed a bit. Still way too humble.”

  “Hey, how’s the coffee around here?” he asked, obviously trying to change the subject.

  “Come on in and find out,” Trinity said, threading her arm through his and leading him toward the back of the cafe.

  Before they reached the counter, she heard her two business partners and fel
low baristas whispering.

  “He’s even sexier in real time than he is on TV,” Brina said.

  Caroline added, “Odd that someone who’s on fire in front of a camera gets bashful with all the attention he’s getting here.”

  Not sure if Finn heard them but deciding to ignore that, Trinity stepped up to her friends and said, “Finn, meet Caroline and Brina. These ladies are my partners in crime who opened this cafe with me.”

  “Nice to meet you.”

  “Did you know Finn is a NoFo boy? We grew up together not far from here,” Trinity said, then headed to a cushioned love seat in the corner of the room.

  Nellie, her elderly black cat who was dozing in the back hallway, came toward them and sniffed Finn, who easily won her over with some scratching behind the ear.

  “You have a great little place here,” Finn said, his head pivoting back and forth, his gaze taking in the whole cafe.

  Trinity wondered what it looked like in his eyes. It had been the first floor of a residential house. One side of the large front room had square wooden four-seater tables, each topped with a vase of whatever flower was in season—orange mums and alstroemeria right now. The other side of the room had homey antique sofas and club chairs next to low coffee tables filled with magazines and books. A local artist’s paintings hung on one wall, a working fireplace with a mirror over the mantel on the other, chalkboard menus and goofy signs with sayings throughout. The counter area of course was crowded with the paraphernalia of making and serving their specialty coffees and teas, plus a glass case with baked goods.

  “How do you like your coffee?” Trinity asked. “Cappuccino, Macchiato, Americano? Or would you prefer chai or tea?”

  “I’ll have plain old American coffee,” he said.

  Caroline showed up at their table. She was a full-bodied woman, her hair clipped at her chin, tats on her arms, piercings in her nose, lip and ears. “I’ll fill the order so you can visit with your friend.”

  “Thanks.” Trinity gave her a grateful look.

  “Trinity told me you two used to be best buds as kids and you met when you were, like, six years old,” Caroline said to Finn.

  “Yep,” Finn said, with a nod and a grin. “I was super excited when a ‘boy’ my age moved in next door.”

  “What?” Caroline squinted at Trinity, who smirked.

  “My mom used to cut my unruly hair really short.” She ran a hand over her short, russet cherub-like curls. “Between that and my scrufty jeans and sneakers, Finn thought I was a boy when he came running over to my backyard to introduce himself. When I told him I wasn’t, he was so disappointed I had to pull out the stops and do damage control to prove myself.”

  Finn laughed. “And did she ever. Demonstrating an array of wicked skateboard tricks, then monkey-climbing a huge oak tree. Naming a whole catalogue of characters from Harry Potter. Tying a sailor’s knot. Endless feats. By the time she was done, I decided it was okay that Trinity was a girl because she was the smartest, neatest, coolest person I’d ever met.”

  Caroline barked a laugh. “I can just picture Trin doing all that, working her butt off to convince you.”

  “Hey, it worked,” Finn said. “I still think she is the smartest, neatest, coolest person I’ve ever met.” He gave Trinity a look she could not quite interpret. Friendship? Definitely. Affection? Probably. Flirtation? Not sure.

  “So, which coffee do you want in your Americano?” Trinity said, worried her friend might take the conversation somewhere awkward. The two women had watched Dance Time together a few times and Trinity had told Caroline that Finn was the object of her long-suffering unrequited love. He’d always seen her as a friend first and a girl second, and she had been thankful for it—until she turned fifteen and wanted him to see her as more than a friend. When he couldn’t jump that bridge, she had dumped him like a rock, leaving him behind as she claimed her stardom as high school queen, then on the stage of the fashion world. A move she now regretted.

  “We’ve got an amazing house blend that is smooth Guatemalan,” Caroline said.

  Finn nodded. “Sounds good.”

  “How about a sandwich?” Caroline asked.

  “No, thanks, I ate a late lunch.”

  “Come on, Finn. It’s on us,” Caroline said. “At least have an almond croissant? They are the best.”

  Trinity looked up at Caroline. “He’s a cookie man. Bring an assortment on a platter. Especially the new ones my mom made.”

  “Will do,” Caroline said, turning away.

  “So you keep your mom busy supplying cookies, huh?” Finn said.

  “We do. She told me she made you pumpkin peanut butter cookies for Thanksgiving.”

  “Yeah. I can’t believe she remembered my favorite. I confess I got out of bed last night and went to the kitchen and polished off the whole tin.”

  Trinity forced a smile, trying really hard not to picture Finn in bed.

  Or slinking into the kitchen in pajama bottoms hanging low on his narrow hips, his muscular chest bare.

  Or maybe he was in boxer shorts.

  Or naked.

  Stop.

  She cleared her throat. “I sell Mom’s pumpkin peanut butter cookies, her chocolate coconut, her oatmeal date, and a butterscotch peach that you will go nuts for.”

  “Your mother is so creative. I haven’t visited her yet. I thanked her by phone because I had to leave my parents’ house before she got home from dinner at your brother’s last night.”

  Caroline returned with their coffees and set the platter of assorted cookies on the table.

  “Whoa. Cookie heaven,” Finn said. He looked up at her. “You want to sit down with us and have some?”

  “No, thanks,” Caroline said. “But I do have a question for you. Trinity told me she is the reason you started dancing. Is that true?”

  “Actually, it was her father,” Finn said with that boyish grin of his.

  Trinity tsked. “I was fourteen and my dad couldn’t pick me up from my ballet class one night. He didn’t want me riding my bike alone in the dark, and since Finn and I did most everything together anyway, he asked him if he would ride his bike next to me to and from the dance academy and keep me safe. I wanted Finn to go do something else while I was in class, but no, he had to stand there at the doorway and watch, which made me really nervous so I kept messing up steps.”

  Finn mugged a face. “Sure. Blame it on me.”

  Trinity pursed her lips. “Then he started doing the steps himself in the hallway just outside the door, wanting to show me up, since we competed all the time.”

  “That is not true and you know it. I had never seen a ballet class before and found it interesting, so I wanted to try doing the stuff.”

  “Yeah, right.”

  He looked up at Caroline. “I used to do tumbling in gymnastics and it was so similar I couldn’t resist.”

  “Well,” Trinity said, “the teacher saw him dancing outside the door and pretty soon she was watching him more than the kids in class. So, what does she do? She invites him in. And the rest, as they say, is history.”

  “That is a great story,” Caroline said. Some customers came in and Trinity started to get up. “It’s okay, Trin. I got it. Take your time with your friend.”

  As soon as she left, Finn said, “How come you quit modeling? I heard you were getting some major contracts, working for some big houses, living it up in Paris and Rome…”

  “Geeze, Finn, we’ve barely said hello, but you never were one for small talk.”

  He shrugged. “A friend of mine passed away a month ago and at my last visit with him he said, ‘Be mindful of how you spend your days because none of us ever knows how many we’ve got left.’”

  “Was it that Broadway choreographer, Wayne Rupert, the one who picked you for your first show? I read he recently died.”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “And, no, he was not my lover. Just a mentor and good friend.”

/>   Trinity felt her cheeks go pink. Finn had always been able to read her thoughts so easily.

  Ironically, when they were alone again, Trinity clammed up as if she were with a stranger. She hadn’t seen Finn—except on TV—in about six years. Was he still the same person she had known back then? Heck, was she the same person? Not even close. And she wasn’t sure if she wanted Finn to know about the other person she had become until she worked some things out.

  Before he could go back to the question she was not ready to answer, Trinity said, “I heard you are here to do a special guest performance for Casey’s holiday fundraiser?”

  “Yeah, I should have done it sooner, but I had work commitments every year before. I owe her. Remember when she found out my parents wouldn’t pay for classes and that my father had a fit over me being in a dance studio? Casey was so kind to me. Her school ended up being more of a home to me than my parents’ house.”

  “You never paid a cent for classes all those years, did you?”

  “Nope. And the pretend jobs I was supposedly doing for my scholarships were nothing compared to what I had to do at home or at that moving company I worked for during high school.” He took a bite of a cookie and made a sound so sexy Trinity had to look away from his beautiful mouth. “This is great. I suppose some of these are also from local bakers you work with?”

  “Yeah, I use as many local vendors as possible. Local farm produce for the breakfasts we serve and we have a refrigerator section with local cheeses and yogurts. Back to my roots and digging in to stay.” Oops. That would no doubt inspire him to ask about her career change again, so she went on with, “How was Thanksgiving with your dad and all?”

  He shook his head. “Awkward. Tense. I’ll be staying here a month and I’m hoping by the time I leave I’ll get my father to at least do more than growl at me.”

  “He is so unfair.”

  “I don’t agree with him, but I understand. He’s been a building tradesman his whole life, and that’s a world that is dominated by men. He was raised by a father who had to struggle for every dime and didn’t believe in sparing his children from the harsh realities of life. Even though my father was verbally and physically rough on me and my brothers, he never crossed over the line into abuse, and for that I am thankful. So I guess I keep holding on to the possibility that he might someday…love me enough to move out of his comfort zone.”