Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54589 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 273(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 182(@300wpm)
“She’ll be pissed you left her in the dark.”
“Better to ask for an apology later, than allow her to get hurt,” he replies. “But I’m going to have a lot of explaining to do, and you can expect she’ll be at your doorstep tomorrow.”
“Good,” I say, my eyes meeting Tyler’s. “She can help me plan the perfect wedding.” I curl my fingers on the light stubble on his jaw. “For us, Tyler. Not because of the will or your father.”
“Agreed,” he says. “It’s time to put the will behind us.” He strokes my hair behind my ear, his touch tender, and my throat is thick with emotion. I didn’t know if I’d see him again. And there is so much I want to know about this man that I’ve yet to even begin to understand. He is layers of darkness and pain, complicated in ways his father has only amplified, and it kills me to know a father could want this for his son.
The ride is indeed short, and in a matter of minutes Dash is pulling into the driveway, leaving the car idling, a sign he isn’t staying. Tyler helps me out of the vehicle, and when I sway a bit, he catches me to him. “What was that?” he demands, his voice etched with concern. “Are you okay? Did they drug you?”
“No. No drugs, and I’m okay. I just had an overload of adrenaline and no food.” Eager to calm Tyler’s worries, I brush off the incident and turn my attention to my brother as he steps out of the car. “You’re leaving.” It’s not a question.
“You need time together,” he says. “I get that, but I’ll come by in the morning with Allie and we can talk about what happened and what needs to happen.” He pulls me into a bear hug and murmurs, “I love you, sis.”
“I love you, too.”
Dash releases me, offers Tyler a nod and then climbs back inside his car.
Tyler wraps his arm back around me and rotates us toward the house as we start walking. “I sent Molly’s nanny home,” he informs me.
“Good,” I say, glancing up at him and he leans down and kisses me.
Molly hears us at the door and starts barking. I’m officially bubbling over with excitement to see her. It’s just amazing how that little girl has made my life so much better. Tyler opens the door, and I’m inside in an instant, squatting down and loving on her. Molly is happy to bless me with puppy kisses and a big smile and we end up in the kitchen, offering her treats. Tyler kneels with me and he’s giving Molly all kinds of love too. I watch him, my intense man made of stone, for everyone but me and Molly, and I wish the world knew this side of him but even if they do not, I do. And he is everything I saw beneath his surface all those years we walked around our attraction.
Those late nights at the office he let his guard down and showed me little pieces of the man no one else knew existed. He made me want more of us, and I still do. His gaze lifts and locks with mine, and the punch of heat between us is combustible. I’m spellbound by the moment and the man and when he cups my face, we stand together, step into each other, our bodies aligned.
“You have no idea how many ways I was losing my mind the past few hours.”
“I hate they used me against you.”
“They used you against themselves.”
My concern is instant, at what seems to be confirmation that this is far from over. “What happened?” I ask. “What is going on?”
“Not now,” he says, his voice sandpaper rough. “Not yet.” And then his mouth presses to my mouth, and he licks past my lips. The taste of him is possession and dominance.
He doesn’t want to talk right now.
And I don’t know that I do, either.
Because we both know this isn’t over, and we have to face what tonight’s events mean. Just not yet, not right this minute.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Bella
Tyler shrugs out of his jacket and tosses it to a barstool, his hands returning to my body in a matter of a blink, his thick erection pressed to my belly. He cups my face, kissing me, drinking me in, and the taste of him is a drug. His kiss is rough and rousing and I am instantly seduced, a willing captive to his passion, to all that is this man.
I catch his shirt and pull it from his pants, shoving my hands under the starched cotton, my palms pressing to taut muscle and warm skin. A low growl escapes his lips, as if my touch undoes him, which has always really turned me on with Tyler, a man composed at every turn.