Blindsided by Brooke

by Theresa Paolo

  “Not this week,” Louise said. “We’re getting back that title.”

  Daisy laughed. “Anything so I don’t have to listen to Nick and Tyler brag about kicking our butts.”

  Brooke rolled her eyes at Tyler’s name. She couldn’t even hear someone talking about him without getting angry.

  Not one to miss anything, Daisy called her on it. “What was that about?”

  “Nothing,” Brooke said. “I’m just tired of them acting like they’re the best when clearly they’ve just been lucky.”

  “Speak of the devil.” Daisy tossed her blonde curls over her shoulders and gazed up at her fiancé.

  “Just wanted to wish you ladies good luck,” Nick said.

  Tyler stood beside Nick, and Brooke did everything in her power to look everywhere but at him. He looked too good in his casual t-shirt and navy-blue shorts. It was the side of Tyler she always liked, the side that didn’t need to try too hard. It was when he looked his most comfortable in his own skin that she could see herself falling for him.

  She mentally smacked herself because who was she fooling? She was already falling for the idiot. She shook him out of her mind and focused on winning the game tonight.

  “We don’t need your luck,” Brooke quipped, but cast a self-righteous glance in Tyler’s direction.

  His eyes lingered on her, and she was happy she decided on the dress. Make him realize what he was missing out on. He moved like he was going to say something to her, but Mason’s voice boomed over the crowd.

  “Game starts in five minutes. Grab your beers and hit the bathroom now,” he said.

  Voices rose as soon as he finished and the sound of people standing up and making their way to the bar echoed through the space.

  Brooke got up to get a drink, but mostly to get as far away from Tyler as possible. She hated that he had any effect on her at all, and it was driving her insane.

  She pushed past him, knocking her arm into his, causing him to stumble back.

  “You could say excuse me,” he called after her, but she ignored him. It was the first words he’d uttered to her since Calhoun’s, and if that’s all he had to say then he could just keep his mouth shut for the foreseeable future. Preferably forever.

  Cassie moved with ease behind the bar, not getting frantic despite the growing crowd. She pointed to each person, grabbing their glasses and refilling and most of the time didn’t ask what they had been drinking, most likely going from memory. It was impressive to watch.

  Brooke waited her turn, deciding she was going to order an IPA tonight.

  “Are you avoiding me?” Tyler said against her ear.

  She ignored the way his heat radiated off him and how his breath sent a trail of goosebumps popping along her neck. She had nothing to say to him. If he wanted to talk to her, he could have picked up a phone and made a damn call. She had no patience for his games.

  Cassie pointed at her, and Brooke moved to the bar and ordered her drink. Tyler stood behind her entirely too close, but she refused to acknowledge him. To acknowledge him meant she cared, and she didn’t.

  Cassie placed the pint glass on the bar and slid it toward Brooke. “Want to open a tab?” Cassie asked.

  “Put it on mine,” Tyler said, and Brooke glared at him before turning to Cassie and handing her a ten.

  “I might not have my trust fund anymore, but I can still afford to buy you a drink.”

  She got her change from Cassie, left a tip and took her beer. Tyler was still there, hovering like a damn gnat that she wanted to swat away. “Why don’t you buy a drink for someone who cares?” She pushed past him and went straight to her table, digging deep to keep from looking back.

  She sat down at the table and all eyes settled on her. “What?”

  “What’s going on with you and Tyler?” Daisy asked.

  Louise eyed her. “You haven’t told her?”

  Daisy’s nose crinkled. “Told me what?”

  “Are we ready for some trivia?” Mason called out, and Brooke relaxed, thankful Mason inadvertently saved her from a conversation she did not feel like having. Brooke took a sip of her beer and waited for the questions to begin.

  Cassie joined Mason and they took turns asking questions. Terry and Betty’s team were giving everyone a run for their money tonight, and Brooke knew they had to up their game. She’d prefer to lose to the older women than Tyler’s team of testosterone, but she preferred not to lose at all. Right now, they were down by two questions while Tyler’s and Terry’s team were tied.

  “Come on, girls. We got this,” she said in between questions.

  Mason asked a question, and Brooke rang in, blurting out the answer without consulting the team.

  “I’m sorry, that is wrong,” Mason said.

  Tyler turned to face them. “You do realize the whole point is to answer correctly, right?”

  “Why don’t you shut up and worry about your own team?” Brooke spat.

  He held his hands up and spun in his chair. She resisted the urge to the throw the nearest object at his head.

  The questions continued, and Brooke’s team made a comeback as Terry’s team started to enjoy their drinks a little too much. Now one question away to victory, Brooke was ready to steal the win.

  Mason started the question and Brooke’s entire team whispered the answer and she held her hand over the bell waiting for Mason to finish reading.

  On the last word she lowered her hand, and just as she brought her hand down, a bell sounded to her left. Tyler blurted out the answer.

  “That is correct!” Mason declared.

  “Bullshit!” Brooke jumped up from her seat.

  “Here we go,” Daisy said.

  Brooke pointed at Mason. “You didn’t finish the question before he rang in.”

  “Oh, give me a break,” Tyler said. “I absolutely did.”

  “No, you didn’t! You seem to have a problem with being premature.”

  He shot her a look and shook his head. “I’ve never had complaints before.”

  “Why don’t we take this one to the judges,” Mason said. “Cassie?”

  “You know what your problem is,” Brooke said, eyes pinned to Tyler’s. “You think you’re always right. That you can do no wrong, but newsflash, you mess up just as much as the rest of us. Have a little self-respect and admit it.”

  “Look who’s talking,” he said.

  “I can admit when I’ve made a mistake.” She glared at him with all the anger and rage coursing through her body.

  “I thought you two were doodle bopping,” Betty Hayes said, hand waving in the air.

  “What in the world is doodle bopping?” Terry asked, her voice echoing through the brewery.

  “You know,” Betty said. “Doing the dipsey do.

  “Please stop, Grandma,” Daisy said, putting a hand over her face before flashing a look at Kate who was at a table in the back.

  Terry laughed, and Betty did not heed her granddaughter’s request. “You know, mattress dancing.”

  Terry laughed louder. “What?”

  “Oh for Pete’s sake, Terry, they’re screwing.”

  “Why didn’t you just say that?” Terry said.

  “I was trying to be respectful,” Betty explained.

  Tyler’s eyes met Brooke’s, and she refused to be embarrassed. “Biggest mistake of my life,” she said and a horrified expression flashed in his eyes. “Can’t believe I waited twenty-four years for that disappointment.”

  Gasps exploded around her. Tyler jumped up from his seat and marched toward her. He grabbed her by the arm. “Excuse us,” he announced to the brewery as he dragged her outside.

  The brewery door slammed behind them, and she ripped her arm from his grasp. “Let go of me!” He did as she asked, and she stumbled backward, catching herself before she fell on her ass. “What the hell is your problem?”

  “My problem? I’m not the one who just announced to the entire town that you gave me your virginity.”
/>   “You’re only mad because I said it was a mistake.”

  “You’re damn right I’m mad about that.”

  “I’m sorry did I embarrass you? Well, too bad.”

  He thrust his hands through his hair, tugging on the ends before dropping his hands to his side. He moved toward her, finger pointing then stopped suddenly and spun away. “You can drive a person fucking crazy, you know that?”

  “Feeling’s mutual. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a game to win.”

  She paraded away when his hand wrapped around her wrist and yanked her to him. “Fuck the game!” he yelled. “We’re not finished here.”

  “Then what the hell do you want? Because we’ve been out here for less than five minutes, and the only thing you’ve done is insult me.”

  “Like you insulted me in there?” He hitched his finger over his shoulder toward the entrance of the brewery.

  “We’re still on this? God, Tyler if I knew you were that insecure—”

  “Did you mean it?” he asked, cutting her off. He remained hard faced and stoic. “Did you?”

  She had no desire to answer him. She turned her nose up and looked away.

  “Damn it, Brooke, answer me! Did you mean what you said in there?” He cupped her face, giving her no choice but to look into the blue depths of his eyes. “Did you?” Anguish filled his tone and tightened the skin around his jaw.

  Her pulse rioted at his closeness. His scent surrounded her and made too many memories pop into her mind. She tried to ignore them. Tried to forget how he had made her feel when he kissed her and held her so close. His forehead dropped to hers, his breath coming out in a shuddering rush. “Did you?” he asked again, desperation overtaking the words.

  “No,” she said, and she felt the tension release from his body. “I wanted to hurt you.” She turned her head away from him. “Like you hurt me… dismissing me and not calling.”

  “You pissed me off. I needed time to cool off and figure shit out,” he said, his breath warm on her ear. He pulled back, leveling her with his gaze. “You were right, but you didn’t have to go about it the way you did.”

  “I panicked,” she said. “I was afraid you were going to make a massive mistake.”

  “It was my mistake to make.” His voice rose, and he ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t do well with people telling me what to do.”

  She threw her arms in the air. “What the hell was I supposed to do? Just let it happen?”

  “Take me aside and talk it out with me. Don’t cut me out of my own meeting and make me look like I’m incompetent.”

  “I didn’t.”

  “You did.”

  “I didn’t see it that way.”

  “I know you didn’t, and that’s the problem.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest, chin tilted upward. “I’m sorry if that’s how it came across. It wasn’t my intention.”

  “I appreciate that. And honestly, for you to call me out on it made me step back and realize I’m impulsive, always have been, and combine that with my one-track mind, it’s a dangerous combination that’s gotten me in trouble time and time again. I guess I was just mad that I couldn’t see that for myself and it was a part of me that I had to accept. It wasn’t easy.”

  “You still could have called, sent a text, let me know you didn’t hate me.” Her voice cracked, and she angrily swung her face away from him.

  His thumb caressed the curve of her jaw. “I could never hate you. Trust me, I’ve tried so many times. It’s impossible. The more I try to resist you the more I want you. The more I try to despise you… it only makes me l…”

  Her eyes shot to his, waiting for him to finish his sentence.

  “Like you,” he said after a moment of hesitation.

  It was silly of her to think he loved her. Sex didn’t equal instant love, and she knew better than to set her expectations high, but she couldn’t dismiss the disappointment that consumed her.

  He didn’t hate her though, and that was good enough for her. “I don’t hate you either,” she said. “Even if you are a big idiot.” She smiled. “Competent, but still an idiot.”

  “Come here.” He grabbed her face, bringing her mouth to his and devastating her with a single kiss. “I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time.”

  “I’m new to this whole relationship thing,” she said. “I think we both need to do better.”

  He kissed her again, and the anger that had consumed her dissolved beneath his lips. “And just for the record,” he said, resting his head against hers, “I don’t have a problem with being premature.”

  “I think you might need to prove that later.”

  “You can count on it.” His lips moved against hers. “Or I could prove it now.” His hand trailed down her side, sneaking beneath her dress.

  She swatted his hand away though she wanted to feel his touch more than anything, but right outside the brewery was a little too risqué for her. “Why don’t I go grab my bag and we can get out of here?”

  “Hurry up.”

  He gave her a smack on the ass as she went to pull open the door. She turned to him with mock shock on her face and when she went to walk into the brewery, she watched as everyone scattered to their seats, pretending as if they weren’t just spying on them.

  Terry didn’t make it to her seat, and Brooke caught her teetering away on her five-inch heels.

  Brooke looked around the brewery at all the familiar faces. “We patched things up,” she said. “But I’m sure you all know that.”

  Tyler poked his head in. “Have a good night everyone.” He scooped Brooke into his arms, and she let out a yelp that quickly morphed into a laugh.

  “Don’t you want to know the judge’s verdict?” Mason asked.

  Brooke glanced at Tyler and in unison they said, “Nope.”

  “What?” Daisy exclaimed.

  “Oh sweetie, leave them alone,” Betty said.

  “Yeah,” Terry said. “They need to go diddly do or whatever the heck it was you said.”

  Brooke buried her head in Tyler’s neck as heat exploded in her cheeks. The brewery erupted into laughter, but with her nose pressed against Tyler’s skin, his familiar scent surrounding her, she no longer cared.

  Chapter 17

  Brooke’s bare legs were too close yet too far away. Tyler loved his truck, but right now he wished he had a bench seat so he could close the gap between them and settle his hand beneath her dress. He swallowed down the desire to pull his truck off to the side of the road and focused on getting to his place before his pants busted open from the strain of his erection.

  He reached across the console, taking her hand in his, needing to touch her in some way. She laced their fingers together, and he brought their joined hands to his mouth, pressing a kiss to her knuckles.

  “I forgot to tell you,” she said, “I spoke with Sam and he said he has an old Red Maple Falls Fire helmet he can give us for the house. I thought it would be cool to hang on the wall, give people a sense of the community.”

  “I love that idea.” He glanced over, and she smiled, a slight blush blooming on the apples of her cheeks.

  “I also spoke with Louise who is going to speak with Shay. I stopped by Kate’s studio and she gave me a pamphlet about her glassblowing classes along with a schedule. She also said you can stop by her studio any time and pick a piece to go in the house. There were quite a few I thought would go great on the coffee table, but I wanted to get your opinion first.”

  “You’re amazing,” he said.

  “I’m just good at getting things done.”

  “Because you’re amazing.” He held his hand up. “And don’t try to argue it because you’re not going to change my mind.”

  She pursed her lips and gave him a mean-spirited look that was in good fun and only made her that much more adorable.

  “Keep making that face, and I’ll pull over.”

  Her teeth slid over her bottom lip. “I’d be okay with that.
”

  His gaze swung to her, and she rubbed her thighs together, body arching in impatience. The truck veered to the left, and he quickly corrected the mistake. “You’re going to kill me.”

  “Which is why you should pull over.”

  “You deserve better than the passenger seat of my pickup.”

  “Why? Isn’t having sex in a vehicle a rite of passage? I’ve missed out on all that stuff, and I want to make up for it with you.”

  Sweat beaded on his forehead and his erection jumped in his pants. “And I want to give you whatever you want, but right now, I want to take my time with you, and I won’t be able to do that in this truck.”

  She brought their hands to her mouth and kissed his fingers one by one before slipping a digit into her mouth. Her tongue twirled around the tip, sensation shooting through his veins and centering at his core. He yanked his finger away from those dangerous little lips.

  “Keep that up and we won’t make it to my place.”

  “That’s the plan,” she said.

  “I mean you’re going to make me crash. And how are you already a little sex kitten?”

  “Kitten?” She laughed.

  “Do you prefer vixen?”

  “I do. It sounds sexier. Not so cute.”

  “You manage to pull off both,” he said.

  She placed his hand on her thigh, inching her dress up revealing the tiniest strip of white lace. “I have cable,” she said.

  “Huh?” he mumbled, too focused on the feel of her soft skin beneath his hand.

  “That’s how I know things. TV, the internet, magazines… I might have been a virgin only a few days ago, but I’m pretty well versed on sexual foreplay.”

  “Like I said… amazing.” He brushed his thumb across the white lace, shocked to find her already wet and ready. He tugged the material aside and ran his finger through her slick folds. She moaned, ass squirming in the seat as he dipped into the wetness.

  She moved against his finger, and he tried to keep his attention on the road, but the sexy noises coming out of her was impossible to ignore. “It feels so good,” she moaned and he couldn’t wait another second. He needed to be inside her. He pulled his truck onto an off-road path.