Wren kept watching her. “More than a friend.”
This wasn’t a secret and she refused to act like it was. “Tiffany had a crush. I had a crush. They kissed and Tiffany decided she didn’t feel anything. We were kids. It was no big deal.”
“Have you ever watched a true crime show?” Wren sighed at her. “That’s the basic fact pattern in about fifty percent of them.”
She shook her head. She wanted to shake everything. “I don’t believe it.”
“Okay. Look, this is just information.” Wren reached out his hand again. This time he held it palm up until she put her hand in his. “Now we analyze it. Compare it to the facts, talk to him.”
He made it all sound so easy. So reasonable. “Tyler kind of hates you.”
“That’s hard to believe,” Garrett said as he popped a carrot in his mouth.
Wren scoffed. “The feeling is mutual.”
Which meant trouble. She had enough of that right now. Her life had been turned upside down. Wren stormed in. She was still fighting for equilibrium. “I’ll go alone and—”
“No.” Wren’s tone suggested this issue had been settled.
Wrong. “You don’t get to say no.”
“But I am.”
Garrett grabbed a piece of the roast this time. “You guys are cute together.”
“We’ll meet him in public, ask a few questions and that’s it. Public is better because I’m less likely to strangle him.” Wren threw up his hands as if he’d solved every issue and there was no more need to talk. “Done.”
She thought about stabbing him with a fork. “Why do I think it won’t be that easy?”
“Because you’ve spent time with Wren,” Garrett mumbled under his breath. “He’s known for being difficult.”
Wren moved the platter away from Garrett. “Anything else?”
“That’s it.” Garrett looked over the table and to the roast, as if willing it to come back to him. “Unless you want to invite me to dinner.”
“Of course,” she agreed, and jumped up to find him a plate. She figured that was easier than listening to Wren say no and watching Garrett look sad. She also needed a diversion, a reason not to think about Tyler and what all of this meant. “While we eat you can tell me all about Wren before he was Wren or Brian or whatever other name he went by other than Levi Upton.”
“She even knows you changed your name?”
Wren nodded. “And some other stuff.”
“But not all, so we should eat.” She put a plate in front of Garrett. “That way you can tell me the interesting parts he left out.”
“Emery.”
She ignored Wren’s disapproving tone and smiled at Garrett. “Make sure to chew before you start gossiping.”
Garrett smiled. “I like her.”
Wren didn’t look as thrilled. “I usually do.”
“You will again.” She shoved the platter in Garrett’s general direction. “Now, talk.”
“Did Wren tell you he also told Rick his real name?” Garrett asked. “Well, that he was Wren. I can’t remember if Rick knows the Levi part.”
“You did?” That stunned her. She’d been so careful not to tell anyone. “Why?”
Wren smoothed his napkin but didn’t look up. “Because you asked me to.”
She almost choked. “What?”
He waved the words away, looking completely uncomfortable while he did it. “You said something about us having a relationship and you not wanting to worry about messing up and divulging it.”
She remembered most of that conversation, but that’s not what had her heart melting into a giant puddle of goo. “That’s really why? Because of me?”
He looked at her then. “Isn’t that good enough?”
“It is.” More than that, it was perfect.
Garrett grabbed his fork. “Now, let me tell you some stories.”
CHAPTER 27
Wren watched the scene unfold from the counter of The Beanery, standing there among the bags of beans for sale. He’d ordered a cup of coffee and waited off to the side, out of clear view of the table but where he could still see Emery. When Tyler came in, looking disheveled, face drawn, he headed right for her. His laser focus allowed Wren to move in. Step right up behind the guy and listen in.
Tyler flopped down in the chair across from Emery. “I’m not used to being summoned.”
“That seems like an overreaction since I asked you to join me for coffee.” She slid a cup over to Tyler.
He didn’t reach for it. He folded his arms in front of him and slipped down in the chair. “It didn’t sound that way.”
Looked like Tyler had the angry-young-man vibe down today. He spoke in a clipped tone and his body language suggested he did not want to be there. Wren knew when she called him earlier and asked to meet him that Tyler wanted to come to her house. To talk in private. Wren nearly grabbed the phone from her and threatened the guy, but Emery handled it like she handled everything. With more grace than Wren had at his disposal.
She was in total control of the meeting, too. At eleven on a weekday, the place still buzzed with customers. Most came in, got their coffee and left. A few sat scattered around nearby tables. None within easy earshot.
She cradled her to-go cup in her hands. Rolled it between her palms. The rest of her stayed still, which was not usual for her. Even in a calm situation she was a bundle of nerves and energy. Always moving. Now she waited. Looked Tyler up and down as concern moved into her eyes.
Yeah, that was enough of that.
“We need to talk. All of us.” Wren pulled out a chair and joined them. Ignored Emery’s scowl because he had warned her he’d be joining them rather than just looming behind them. This should not be a surprise. It wasn’t his fault if she thought he meant he’d step in after she got some answers from Tyler.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Tyler didn’t even look at Wren, but he did raise his voice. Stayed just this side of a yell, but was loud enough to have a few heads turning.
Even though Tyler’s demeanor didn’t match the furious tone, it didn’t matter. Wren was not a fan of yelling. “Keep your voice down.”
“Why?”
He leaned in, hoping to make his position perfectly clear. “Because I am looking for any excuse to punch you.”
“This is the guy you’re dating?” Tyler fell back into a slouch as he stared at Emery. “Your father figured it out, by the way.”
She made a face and not a good one. “Why are you and Dad talking?”
“We know each other.” Tyler shrugged. “We talk.”
Emery looked less concerned and more wary by the second. “What does that mean?”
“Okay.” As much as Wren wondered about the connection between Tyler and her dad, this wasn’t getting them anywhere on the questions about Tyler. Wren put a hand on the table. “Let’s everyone take a breath.”
“I’m not really in the mood to listen to you pontificate.”
Wren glanced at Emery. “Do I pontificate?”
That wasn’t a word he heard every day. It had been well off his radar for years. He ordered and demanded but wasn’t really given to long speeches. But if Tyler wanted to hear one, Wren would oblige.
She shot him a crooked smile. “Sometimes, but it’s cute.”
“Emery, what the fuck?” Tyler’s voice didn’t rise. His affect had gone flat. “Why him?”
Medication, maybe? Wren wasn’t sure, but except for one yell the heated anger from their last meeting seemed muted. The edges were gone. Hell, Tyler could barely sit up straight. Wren waited for him to drift away and slide to the floor.
Emery’s finger tightened around her coffee cup. “Why did you take the leave of absence from your job?”
“You’re checking up on me now? Yeah, no thanks. I have parents for that.” Tyler stood up. More like stumbled to his feet.
Yeah, something wasn’t right. Wren had his bodyguards right outside, but he didn’t want to call them. Emery didn’t
need a scene and this kid needed coffee. “Sit down.”
Tyler shook his head. “She might jump when you order, but I don’t.”
That was the worst description of Emery that Wren had ever heard, and that was including her father, which was pretty damn bad. “You don’t know her at all, do you?”
“Explain it to me, Tyler. What’s going on with you?” Emery asked. “You seemed fine the other night, but now you’re a mess.”
“Thanks.”
“We’ve been friends most of our lives. I’m sitting right here.” Emery’s voice didn’t change. She didn’t plead. She sounded reasonable. Caring yet firm. “I tell you I’m trying to kick-start the investigation and you just show up. You come into my building without using the front door. The behavior is weird.” She sighed. “Just talk to me.”
Tyler hesitated for a second, but something must have gotten through because he sat down again. This time he played with the cup. Spun it around a few times. Took the lid on and off. Wren was about to grab the thing and hide it when Tyler finally started talking.
“I worried he had men outside.” He glanced at Wren. “I didn’t want to be jumped again.” He leaned in and whispered as he talked to Emery. “But how did you know about me not using the front door?”
No, they were not doing it this way. Wren’s head would explode if they just sat there exchanging questions. “Answer her.”
“I did.”
Not even close, but Wren was happy to move on. The biggest question, the one he really cared because it put Tyler in town, still sat out there. “The leave of absence.”
Tyler’s fingers clenched around the cup. His eyes looked a little wild now. “It’s not your business.”
“Is it about Tiffany?” Emery reached her hand across the table and rested it on Tyler’s arm.
The touch seemed to calm him down when it looked like he was going to spin out of control. Wren didn’t like the frantic feel to the guy all of a sudden. His mood swung from one end of the spectrum to the other. He went from being out of it to looking hunted.
Wren recognized that feeling of being trapped. He’d lived with it for years. “You might feel better if you just say it, Tyler.”
“I’m not like you.” Tyler’s gaze shifted away from Emery. Bounced around the room. “You moved forward but never forgot her.”
Emery frowned. “Did you?”
“That’s the problem. No.” Tyler put his hand over Emery’s. “God, you mentioned her name and—bang—I was back there again. Panicking. I can’t sleep or eat. All I see . . . I remember the police and all those questions.”
“I understand,” she said in a soft voice.
Wren did, too. The struggle was right there on Tyler’s face. The guilt and the frustration. The feeling of not having mourned enough and of being too happy with his life.
“Everything changed that day. Who I was and what I believed. How my parents looked at me. The way friends and family whispered.” Tyler’s words trailed off, but the unspoken part about how everyone thought he did something to Tiffany lingered in the silence. “I went to that place in my mind and the bottom fell out. Again.”
“Again?” Wren asked.
Tyler wasn’t holding back now. His chest heaved as he talked. Every word sounded as if it were being dragged out of him. “The last time I had to go away to get my head straight. I learned these tools to help with what really happened and only own the parts that were my responsibility, like going away to school instead of being here to finish off the investigation. Tools to help me stay focused on the future, but they aren’t working this time.”
Well, shit. Wren didn’t want to get it. He wanted to decide Tyler’s culpability and walk away, but that’s not really what he was hearing. “It’s guilt.”
Emery’s eyes grew huge as she stared at him. “Hey!”
He rushed to explain. “Survivor’s guilt.”
Tyler snorted. “What do you know about it?”
“A lot.” Everything. Too much. “Your world changed, but your life didn’t stop. The reminders were everywhere and you couldn’t escape them or ignore them. When you tried you only felt worse.”
Tyler nodded but didn’t say anything.
Wren kept going, reliving as much as explaining. “You go back and forth between being plowed under with grief and guilt and having good days. Sometimes the good days are worse because, for a short time, you forget about Tiffany and then you hate yourself for that, too.”
“Did you know her?” There was no anger or distrust in Tyler’s voice now.
“No, but I know loss.” Wren glanced at Emery. “So does she. She feels it, too. Anyone who’s been in this situation does.”
“You don’t get it.” Tyler’s head dropped and he stared at the table. “I upset Tiffany. We kissed and then she cut me off and I called her names. Stupid kid shit, but still. Our last conversation was me calling her a slut, which was so . . .”
“Something dumb a kid would say,” Wren said, filling the blank.
Emery’s hand squeezed Tyler’s arm. “Do you know what happened to her?”
“God, I wish I did. Maybe then all of the shit in my head would stop.”
“There are good doctors.” Emery didn’t break the connection with Tyler. She stayed there, comforting with her words and hand. “I’ve seen some over the years.”
“I’ve had good doctors.” Tyler looked up again. “How does this not kick your ass every day?”
“God, Tyler. Why do you think I’m still searching for her?” The ache in her voice mirrored the pain pulling across her mouth and lurking in her eyes.
He shrugged. “Because you’re a better person than the rest of us.”
Wren finally found something he agreed with from Tyler. She was better.
“Because it’s the only way I can get through,” she said. “And you will, too.”
Wren nodded. “You will.”
Damn, he hoped that was true.
Emery grabbed on to the headboard and lifted her body up one last time. Almost separated from Wren but kept the very tip of him inside before plunging back down again. Feeling him fill her. Listening to his labored breathing.
The heat of their bodies and sweat from the lovemaking set her skin on fire. A final thrust of Wren deep inside her, of riding him as she straddled him on that big bed, and she came. Every nerve ending tingled and the pulsing inside her wouldn’t stop.
Her hips moved and energy bounced around the room. The electricity between them sparked hotter each time.
She leaned in and kissed him. Put her mouth over his as he gasped from the force of the orgasm hitting him. She breathed him in. Put her hands on his and traveled up and down her sides. She fell against him with her breasts smashed against his chest. Heavy breathing had her turning her head to the side. The frantic beat of his heart echoed in her ear.
Her body still shook from the force of it all. From switching her mind off and surrendering. After a terrible day and more than two hours talking Tyler into getting help and easing off the self-medication, she’d wanted an escape. Wren offered one.
They’d barely made it upstairs when they got home. Stripping their clothes off as they mounted each stair, they’d tripped and fumbled their way down the hall. Once inside with them both naked she’d been out of control.
He took it all. Let her be in charge and set the pace. She loved that about him. The absolute confidence. The self-assurance that came with knowing when she felt free in the sex he would enjoy it even more.
It was about attraction and trust. A mutual respect.
Then there was the part where she was falling for him. Hard and fast, almost stupidly so. He was wrong for her in so many ways and right in so many others. They clicked. And she couldn’t deny the need that rolled through her when he touched her, or how much she loved the simple act of looking at him across the breakfast table.
She kissed his bare chest. Ran her hand over the muscles on his arm, savoring the hardness of him
in comparison to her softness. “I love that position.”
He chuckled and his body vibrated under hers. “You’re very good at it.”
She knew he meant it. “You do know how to make a woman feel special.”
He made her smile. Sometimes he still came up with some sentence that had her reaching for a Wren-to-English dictionary, but he was more relaxed now. More accepting of her putting a stamp on every aspect of his life.
“You are that.”
She was so lost in her thinking that she missed what he said. “What?”
“Special.” He put his fingers on her throat. Lifted her head so they could see each other. “And I think it’s unbelievably sexy how amazing you are in bed.”
“You make me feel confident. Pretty and powerful.”
He smiled down at her. “You are all of that, too, and more.”
She tucked her head under his chin. “Keep that fancy talk up and I’m not going to give you a lot of downtime before the next round.”
“You know I was serious, right?” His fingers tangled in her hair.
She lifted her head again because his tone sounded so serious. She also had no idea what he was talking about. “You lost me.”
“When I told you the other night that I wanted you to stay here. That wasn’t a line or me being chivalrous. It was selfish as hell. I want you here for me. For us to get to know each other better.”
This was serious. The kind of serious that usually made her shaky and had her reassessing a relationship as she sprinted to the door. She waited for that panic sensation to whoosh through her and wipe out everything else. For her brain to click on and remind her that she had a vow to Tiffany to uphold and shouldn’t find happiness until she did.
She didn’t even sense a touch of any of it, which made no sense. They barely knew each other. He lived this reclusive dangerous life, things she did not want.
All good arguments, but for some reason she couldn’t say any of them. “For a man who claimed not to get the concept of dating, you seem to be embracing it.”
He frowned at her, which was a pretty regular thing with him. “Is that a no?”
“It’s surprise.” She let the words settle in her brain. Thought about how big a step he was taking. The risk, one she was too scared to commit to.
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