by Nina Lane
“Take off early,” he suggested. “I’ll handle my afternoon schedule.” His eyebrows drew together as he studied her. “You look very nice, by the way. New haircut?”
“New everything.” Kate gestured to her suit. “I asked your aunt Julia to help me improve my appearance. She knows what she’s doing.”
“She does, but for what it’s worth, you didn’t need improving.”
“Thank you, sir.” As much as she respected Luke, Tyler had told her the same thing. And it had meant so much more coming from him.
Luke headed into his office. “Email me the afternoon call list before you leave, please.”
“Really, there’s no need for me to leave early. I’m fine. I just took two aspirin.”
“Kate, go home,” he ordered. “No arguments.”
She’d heard him use that commanding tone with any number of other employees. This was terrible. She’d told herself—she’d told Luke—that she wouldn’t let things with Tyler affect her performance at work. But ever since they’d gotten together, everything had changed.
With a sigh, she emailed him the list and packed up her briefcase. She took a folder from her filing cabinet, figuring she could make some use of the afternoon.
Outside, the morning coastal fog had burned off, leaving a blue sky and warm, glowing sun in its wake. Kate walked to the parking lot and saw Miles coming toward the main office, his blond head bent as he studied something attached to his ubiquitous clipboard.
A strange feeling rippled through Kate. Fear?
She shook her head. Silly.
As Miles drew closer, she couldn’t help noticing how different he was from Tyler. Miles was so smooth and polished, utterly lacking Tyler’s rakish charm and potent masculinity. Not to mention his good humor and his perceptive noticing of everything about her.
“Hello, Miles.” She lifted a hand to shade her eyes from the sun. “Coming back from lunch?”
“Yes, I just met a friend downtown.” His blue gaze focused on her face, but without that faintly indifferent quality with which he usually looked at her.
Downtown. She hoped the “friend” hadn’t been Melanie McGuffin, though the hope was based less on jealousy and more on the fact that Melanie was a bitch. She didn’t deserve a nice man like Miles.
“Did you go anywhere special?” she asked.
“Sushi at Takara. I had the salmon roll.”
He liked sushi. Good to know. Unfortunately she didn’t.
She took a step back, expecting him to do the same with his usual, “Have a nice day, Kate,” but he didn’t move. Instead he continued his intense scrutiny of her—almost like he was seeing her for the first time. She’d lost track of how many times she’d wished he would look at her that way, with actual interest sparking in his brown eyes.
“Did you do something to your hair?” Miles asked.
“Oh.” Kate touched her hair, which she’d been wearing loose thanks to the new Julia-inspired style. “Yes, I had it cut recently.”
“It looks nice.”
Wow. A compliment from Miles Norwood. She might get excited any second now. Or not.
His gaze slid over her body clad in the Vera Wang suit. “Kate, would you like to have lunch with me on Monday? They’re offering a new seaweed-tofu scramble at the Licorice Café.”
Kate could only stare at him, shocked at the sudden realization of an event for which she had desperately hoped. Miles Norwood, her heartthrob crush, the brilliant data analyst who was her perfect soul mate, had just asked her to have lunch. How many times had she imagined this moment?
“Uh…okay,” she said faintly, the words coming out almost of their own volition because in all her daydreams, not once had she ever imagined herself responding any other way.
“Great.” He smiled, displaying a blindingly white set of teeth. “I’ll meet you there around noon.”
“Great,” she echoed.
He nodded and walked back to the main building. Kate broke out of her stupor and continued on her way. She shook off the distressed feeling that she was being disloyal to Tyler. This had been the point of all these shenanigans.
Tyler was helping her be more romantically appealing to Miles. It was her own damned fault if the thought of dating Miles now held about as much appeal as…a seaweed-tofu scramble.
Not that this was a date. This was just lunch between colleagues. And maybe it would help her gain some emotional distance from Tyler.
She’d look forward to it soon enough—after all these months of pining for Miles and then getting overly caught up with Tyler, this dream come true had just caught her off guard. That was all.
She drove to downtown Indigo Bay and parked near the in-progress branch of Wild Child. A Knight Securities truck sat by the curb, and the door was open to let the air circulate through the freshly painted interior.
Hannah and Polly both stood on ladders, painting a stenciled filigree border close to the ceiling. Gavin Knight was busy wiring something into the counter. And priming the wall on the other side of the room was…Tyler.
A mixture of both excitement and unease filled Kate—because as much as she wanted to be with him, her feelings were like a helium balloon, growing and expanding to immense proportions. Pressing against the walls of her heart. She wasn’t at all certain she could keep so big a secret.
“Hi, Kate.” Polly peered down from the ladder, pushing a lock of hair back under her bandana. “Wow, you look fantastic. Is that a new suit?”
Kate nodded, feeling Tyler looking at her as if he wanted to eat her.
“Courtesy of Julia Bennett,” she told Polly.
Polly laughed. “She got her claws into you, huh? Good for her. Are you taking off early?”
“CEO’s orders.” Kate put the folder on a nearby table and tapped it with her forefinger. “Just wanted to drop these by on my way home. Placement permits for the dumpsters out back and the signage.”
“Great, thanks.”
Kate worked up the courage to look at Tyler, her whole body flushing with heat. He hadn’t taken his eyes off her.
Her blood warmed. In a paint-splattered T-shirt and worn jeans, his hair-roughened arms corded with muscle, Tyler was the exact opposite of polished Miles. And there was no question that her body liked what Tyler could offer.
Heck. Her body wanted what he could offer. Craved it. Lusted for it.
“Hi, Tyler.” She smiled weakly and gave him a little wave. “How are you?”
“I’m good, Kate. How are you?”
Wishing you’d come over here, haul me into your arms, and kiss me senseless.
“I’m fine,” she squeaked. “Why aren’t you at the library?”
“I took off early too. Came to help finish painting.”
Polly glanced from her to Tyler and back again. “So, Kate, do you want anything to eat or drink? There are still some sandwiches in the back left from the lunch Evan brought over.”
“No, thanks.” She backed toward the door, her nerves humming. “I’m just going to head home. Thanks.”
She turned and hurried out. She had almost reached her car when Tyler fell into step beside her. Every cell in her body lit up with pleasure.
“Come on, Darling.” He indicated his Trans Am parked at the curb. “We’ll get your car later. I want to talk to you about something.”
She had to talk to him about “something,” too. Namely, the fact that she was having lunch with Miles Norwood on Monday.
Though her chest tightened with misgiving, she got into the Trans Am and tried to work up the courage to tell him. He knew the point of all this had been for her to attract Miles. Technically, he should be happy about the fact that she was having lunch with the other man because that could lead to them actually dating.
But Kate couldn’t bear the thought of Tyler being happy about her even having lunch with another man, much less dating him.
And what would happen if she did actually start seeing Miles? Surely that would be the end of her and Tyler, because eve
n though he’d said that fuck buddies sometimes dated other people, she would never be able to date one man while being in lo…sleeping with another. And she’d certainly never tell Miles about Tyler, which would mean she’d have to lie…so no. That would be it. Dating Miles meant her relationship with Tyler would end.
Except lunch at the corporate headquarters wasn’t a date. Maybe Miles wanted to discuss the data analyst report she’d compiled for the next board meeting. There was no need for her to tell Tyler about a business lunch. If it turned out that Miles did intend for the lunch to be a prelude to a real date, then she had time to figure that out later.
Relieved at having come to that conclusion, Kate settled against the leather seat. Tyler drove through downtown and navigated back to her house. He pulled into the driveway and parked.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked.
“I was going to tell you at the library, but you didn’t show up this morning.” He opened the trunk to take out a cardboard storage box. “So I was going to come over after work.”
“Is that a box of library books?” Kate unlocked her front door and preceded him into the house.
“Yep. Take a look.” He set the box on the coffee table and removed the lid. “I found a whole stack of them.”
Kate leafed through one of the tattered leather-bound books, which contained pages of scrawled, handwritten notes, and drawings.
“Are these all recipes?” she asked.
“Some of them are also Stone Confectioners’ history,” Tyler said. “But there are a bunch of recipes, some with additional notes about what worked and what didn’t. There are also drawings of candy and chocolate-making machines, and lists of what Edward Stone wanted to sell.”
“These are amazing.” Kate scanned a page filled with information about tempering chocolate. “How many are there?”
“A couple dozen, at least. They were shoved way in the back of the alcove. Remember when you said it would be fun to try to recreate the recipes? I asked Spencer if he could do that, but what if Sugar Rush put out a line of historical Stone Confectioners’ chocolate and candy, like the kind Edward Stone sold in the nineteenth century? And based on the same recipes?”
Kate was struck by the eagerness in his eyes, the energy radiating from him. Like light.
“Tyler, that’s an incredible idea,” she said. “Have you mentioned it to Luke?”
He shook his head. “I wanted to talk to you first. I didn’t tell Spence why I was interested in seeing if the recipes could still be made.”
“The tech department is working on a revamp of the website and including a whole new section about the history of Sugar Rush. That would be a great thing to tie in with a proposal for a historical product line.”
“You think we could do an actual proposal?”
We. Two tiny letters that contained a thousand possibilities. He studied one of the pages, a line of concentration between his dark eyebrows and a paint smudge on his forehead. The fragile book looked incongruous in his big hands, but he held it with infinite care, like he was holding his family’s history.
Oh, I love you, Tyler Stone.
He glanced up and caught her staring at him. Kate jerked her attention back to the book she held.
“You should definitely write a proposal,” she said.
“We should write a proposal.”
“It’s your idea, Tyler.”
“No.” He shook his head. “It’s our idea. I wouldn’t have thought of it if you hadn’t brought it up. I won’t do it without you. Hell, I can’t do it without you. I don’t know anything about business proposals.”
Kate’s insides softened with tenderness. “I’ll help you with it. I know Luke would be interested in a project like this. I’m sure your father would be as well.”
“So how do we start?”
She smiled. “With a notepad and a pencil.”
She went into the bedroom to change out of her suit and into a pair of yoga pants and a pink T-shirt. For the next few hours, she and Tyler sat at her dining table, perusing all the books and taking notes about recipes, ingredients, techniques. Tyler did a lengthy internet search about historical candy products, and Kate dug into her files for information about marketing and the company customer base.
“Tomorrow, we can look for ads that show the original packaging,” she suggested, lifting her arms above her head to stretch. “We can include a section in the proposal about retro packaging. Maybe include Stone Confectioners somewhere on the package to show it’s the heritage of Sugar Rush.”
Tyler sat back in his chair, surveying the clutter of books on the table and the notepads filled with scribbled notes.
“Thanks for doing this with me.” He glanced at his watch. “Almost five. Come on, I’ll repay you with an early dinner. I didn’t eat lunch.”
“I have a baked ziti in the fridge.” Kate got to her feet. “I made it last night, so it just has to be heated up.”
They went into the kitchen. She put the casserole in the oven, and Tyler uncorked a bottle of wine. After pouring, they clinked the glasses together.
“To great ideas,” Kate said.
“And great friends.” He winked at her and took a swallow of wine.
Friends. They were great friends. She could be happy with that alone. Again, it was more than a lot of people had.
After a dinner spent discussing everything from their favorite candy to the latest storyline in the Batman franchise, they sat in the living room finishing up bowls of chocolate-chip ice cream.
Tyler leaned over to put his empty plate on the coffee table. He picked up the DVD of My Fair Lady. “Were you watching this?”
“Re-watching,” Kate corrected. “I had it on last night while I was working. I can’t believe you’ve never seen it.”
“Have you seen My Bare Lady?” He lifted an eyebrow in challenge.
“I have not.” Kate took the disc from the box and slipped it into the DVD player.
“But you’ve seen porn, right?”
“Of course I’ve seen porn.” She scoffed and sat beside him on the sofa with the TV remote. “I have an internet connection, for heaven’s sake. Come on, let’s rectify this lack in your education.”
She hit the play button before he could stop her. Tyler let out a sigh of resignation, but settled back against the cushions. Five minutes in, he was yawning, but ten minutes in, he muttered something about the movie being “not horrible” and asked if she had any popcorn.
Kate left him watching the movie while she made popcorn. She returned and handed him the bowl, then settled beside him again. If she let herself, she could imagine so many more evenings like this, seated close to Tyler on the sofa after a day at work. Feeling the warmth of his strong thigh beside hers, the brush of his granite-hard arm, the rumbling sound of his snore…
Snore?
“Tyler.” Kate pinched his arm lightly. “Really? You fell asleep?”
“Sorry.” He pulled himself out of a doze, his eyes unfocused as he peered at the TV. “I’m awake. Is there still rain in Spain?”
“It’s halfway over.” Kate shook her head at him in amusement before turning off the DVD player. “I see you found it thrilling.”
“It wasn’t bad.” He rubbed his eyes. “Higgins is kind of a dick, though, huh?”
“No more so than the Higgins in My Bare Lady, I assume,” Kate replied dryly. “Especially if, as you said, there is spanking involved.”
“Want to see for yourself?”
Kate’s heart bumped against her chest. He wasn’t serious…was he?
“Um…you carry the movie around with you?” she asked.
“No. But it’s probably for rent.” Tyler reached for the remote. He did a quick search and pulled the movie up on a channel. He hit the rent button, and a box appeared onscreen prompting him for a password.
He handed the remote to Kate. She hesitated for an instant, then punched in the password and confirmed the rental. Seconds later
, the movie started.
With a bang.
Chapter
TWENTY
“Oh, yeah…fuck me harder…I feel your cock so deep inside me…yeah…spank me…”
Oh my God.
She wasn’t doing this. She was not sitting here in her very own living room, watching a porn flick with Tyler Stone. She was not getting tingly and hot and intensely curious.
Except that she was.
“This is a bad idea,” she said, her voice oddly squeaky.
Tyler shot her a grin. He was sprawled on the other side of the sofa, his feet planted on the floor and his long, muscular body relaxed. Watching porn with a woman was likely no big deal to him.
Heck, he and his dates probably created their own porn movies in the bedroom. Based on what she’d seen of his girlfriends on social media, they all had bodies that would look amazing naked.
Not that she wanted to be thinking about his dates or girlfriends.
Him, on the other hand. That sculpted wall of muscle with hard, corded thighs and a ripped abdomen with a trail of hair leading right down to—
Lord. Was it okay to want to jump his bones because of a porn flick? Why did that feel so dirty? And so wildly exciting?
She shifted, folding her arms over her breasts and crossing her legs. She tore her gaze away from Tyler and refocused on the screen, where the movie had gotten right down to action with Higgins banging one of his students on his desk.
The girl was stretched out on her belly, gripping the other side of the desk with him thrusting his ridiculously big cock into her from behind. Her ass bounced with every thrust, and they were both grunting and moaning so loudly that Kate hoped her neighbors didn’t hear.
“I’m pretty sure that’s against university rules,” she remarked.
Tyler chuckled. “You don’t ever break the rules, huh?”
“Not that rule.”
She wiggled again and squeezed her thighs together, letting out her breath slowly. She was almost embarrassed by how wet she already was—though she wasn’t sure if her arousal was from the movie or the sudden image of Tyler doing the same thing to her. On her desk.
She bit her lip to stifle a moan. If she were alone, she’d already have her hand down her panties.
