Crazy Love

by Lee Kilraine

  This time it was Agatha who snorted. Beatrice reached over and patted Agatha’s hand and whispered, “Sister, competition is a vice, but the love of good books a virtue.”

  “Almost? Well, that won’t do.” Agatha stood up, waving her glass of cabernet around as she extrapolated on the first chapter and took a vote on who wanted Tynan to continue on reading aloud with chapter two.

  Lu looked around at all the raised hands and excited faces. Every woman from the young twentysomethings up to the octogenarians appeared very eager. All except Maisey, whose frown deepened the more Agatha talked and waved her hands around.

  “Looks like it’s settled. Here’s to Tynan reading another chapter.” Agatha raised her glass higher in the air, stepped forward, and tripped over something, spilling her entire glass of red wine down the front of Tynan’s oatmeal-colored flannel shirt. It looked like he’d been shot in the chest.

  Tynan looked down at his shirt, then back up at Agatha with narrowed eyes. “Agatha, if I didn’t know what was about to happen, I’d almost be damn impressed with that move.”

  From across the circle, Lu watched Agatha grin. Tynan shook his head and held up one hand, trying to stave something off. Lu had no idea what, until Beatrice shot up out of her seat, grabbed up the nearest glass of water, and tossed it at Tynan’s chest.

  Whoa! Lu had not seen that coming.

  All eyes watched as the gunshot-looking stain over Tynan’s heart blossomed into an Andy Warhol painting. Well, holy cow. Who knew book club could be this much fun?

  “Oh, goodness! I’m sorry, Tynan. I just reacted without thinking.” Beatrice grabbed up the nearest napkin and dabbed at his shirt. “Take it off. Take it off right now and I’ll run it under cold water, otherwise it’s sure to stain.”

  “Look, it’s fine. It’s an old shirt anyw—”

  Agatha cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at him. There was some unspoken exchange between them, and then Tynan sighed and unbuttoned his shirt, accompanied by the bated breath of every single woman in the room. Yes, even the pickle-faced Maisey leaned forward over in the corner.

  Beatrice took the shirt and hustled off, murmuring her plan of attack: Soak in cold water, a brisk scrub with some Epsom salts, possibly a dash of club soda.

  Lu watched Beatrice leave the room, then turned to see why it had gotten so quiet. Unnaturally quiet, considering the number of women—

  Oh wow.

  Lu’s gaze slammed into Tynan’s body like it had hit the back of a two-ton truck. A complete stop.

  The man was a work of art. He looked hot and even more dangerous without his shirt on. He still wore a white tank undershirt, but that only highlighted his wide-as-a-linebacker shoulders, his roped and intertwined muscles, and the smooth, golden, sun-kissed skin. A few visible scars and tattoos only added to his rough edginess. His gaze landed on hers and the air in her lungs buzzed in her chest like ionized air in a lightning storm.

  And then he proceeded to make it the most talked-about book club meeting in the history of Climax by reading chapter two of Love’s Savage Secret. Chapter two opened with the first confrontation between the hero and heroine. Just words on a page . . . except it was from the hero’s point of view, and when Tynan read, “The damn woman made me so mad I didn’t know if I wanted to spank her or kiss her,” every woman in the room squirmed in her chair. Soft gasps, muted whines, and even a stifled moan or two escaped around the room. Lu pressed her lips firmly together and ignored the heat flushing from her cheeks down to her toes. She might have wiggled in her seat, but it was just a matter of finding a comfortable spot on the overstuffed chair.

  Tynan got to the end of the chapter and looked up at the chaos he’d wrought. He actually had the nerve to grin. “Well now. Who knew reading could be so . . . stimulating? Ladies, it’s been fun. Thank you for the enlightening evening.”

  Watching his sexy lips slide into a grin snapped Lu back to her senses and a sudden feeling of disquiet descended over her faster than a falling soufflé. The mixture of lust, confusion, and guilt was hard to digest. What the heck had just happened? She’d been working shoulder to shoulder with him for eight hours a day without a single spike in her heart rate. Yet just now his voice had stroked her in the most private places. She couldn’t peel her gaze from his golden skin or muscled arms. Good lord, she’d wanted to lick the jagged scar on his shoulder.

  He turned and speared Agatha with his gaze. “Debt paid. This one is done. Agreed?”

  “Quite agreed. Well done, Tynan.” She smiled a megawatt smile at him. “This one is now buried. You’ll want to wait for your shirt, won’t you?”

  “Not on your life. I’ll grab it later. Thank Beatrice for me.”

  “And for me too,” Barbara called from her seat, where she sat still fanning her face. “I never appreciated that woman’s dedication to stain fighting until tonight.”

  Agatha walked Tynan to the door. There was a short discussion between them. Agatha shrugged, then reached up and pinched Tynan’s cheek like he was five years old. He rolled his eyes and left.

  Lu glanced around dazed, unsurprised to see so many flushed faces and giggling women. She didn’t feel like giggling at all. There was an emptiness in her chest that she wanted to implode down in to. To burrow back into the cocoon of sadness she’d been living in. Because she knew she could live in that deep hole. It was the tight grip of guilt fisted around her heart at her body’s reaction to Tynan’s smooth-as-bourbon-whiskey voice that shook her to the core.

  Chapter Seven

  By the next afternoon Lu wished there were more walls to destroy in the library. She had a burning need to hit something with a hammer. What else was she supposed to do with the feelings that suddenly bubbled up when Tynan was near?

  She hadn’t had feelings for a man other than Joe. Ever. She and Joe had been each other’s first loves and she’d only had eyes for him. From the age of sixteen, it had been the 24/7, nonstop Joe channel for her. Sure she had noticed good-looking men, but noticing was worlds away from the racing pulse and swirling heat that were throwing her world off-kilter. Solar systems away.

  How had this happened? She’d worked with Tynan for over a week just fine. But throw wine on him, strip him half-naked, and listen to his deep, sexy voice read a hot, kinky scene from an erotic romance book and—hello—all her body parts had perked up.

  Last night he’d reached through the buffer she’d wrapped herself in ever since Joe had died. He’d taken her out of her safe, isolated world. Today she couldn’t ignore Tynan no matter how hard she tried. Well, not him, but her reaction to him. Impossible. She felt like she was seeing Tynan Cates for the first time. Really seeing him. And the first thing that shocked her was his gaze.

  That eerie, odd, wicked gaze of his. His eyes left her feeling exposed, as if he could see her innermost thoughts. Thoughts she’d been hiding from everyone for three years. Common sense told her he couldn’t do that, yet that didn’t stop her breath from hitching and her pulse from kicking up from a slow, wandering brook to a wild, rushing stream. One glance and her heart fluttered in her chest and warmth swirled low in her stomach.

  His size was intimidating. Joe had been five-ten with a slim yet solid build, and Tynan was like a mountain compared to Joe. Roped muscles upon muscles that rippled and contracted under his tight T-shirts as he easily threw around large pieces of equipment or wood like they were light as pillows.

  Joe had always smelled like the outdoors, where he spent much of his free time hiking or fishing. His mom had said from the time Joe could walk he’d wanted to be outdoors. She swore it was his Native American heritage, and maybe she was right. He was happiest in nature. He’d taught her to camp and what to look for out in the forest. Animal tracks for safety or food. Every summer they’d run off to fish or make out in the woods as soon as they both got off work. Even today, the smell of fresh-cut grass or the light pine scent of rosemary reminded her of Joe.

  Tynan’s scent was earthier, like the war
m spiciness of cardamom wrapped with a note of sandalwood and a dash of laundry softener. He was raw sex and home sweet home wrapped up in one yummy, mouthwatering smell. She wanted to press her nose up against his chest and breathe him in. Wait, what? No, no she didn’t.

  Except she did. She really, really did. And she didn’t know what to do with that impulse. Her new awareness of him scared her. She tried to tell herself it was just because he was so large and imposing. But the way his gaze made parts of her body tingle and melt revealed the naked truth. She was physically turned on by Tynan Cates. Ugh. That wasn’t a situation she could let stand.

  Her only saving grace was that it appeared the feeling wasn’t reciprocated. She apparently did nothing for the man. Hallelujah! He’d made that obvious from day one. Heck, not a surprise either. She wasn’t femme fatale material. What did Tynan call her? Tink. So, an angry pixie. Yeah, sadly, true. At five-three—okay, fine, almost five-three—no chest to speak of, and eyes almost too large for her face, she couldn’t be a Victoria’s Secret model if she tried. She’d heard all the pixie and Disney Princess jokes. To be honest, she’d never minded because she’d known Joe loved her. He had never made her feel less than. With Joe, her lack of height, hips, and bust line had never been something she’d worried about.

  “Let me help you with that.”

  Lu jumped when Tynan spoke from close behind her. Man, for a big man he had quiet footsteps.

  His arms reached over her head to pry out a hidden nail at the top, keeping the two-by-four stuck. When he leaned forward to tug, the heat from his body wrapped around her. It was like being surrounded by a stone wall warmed from the sun.

  “Okay, go ahead and pull.”

  She couldn’t even think with him lined up behind her. Spinning around to face him, she leaned against the piece of wood. The two-by-four. Her eyes stared into his chest. And oh lord, his scent teased her until she was close to leaning in and rubbing her whole body against him like a frisky cat. “P-pull what?”

  “Oh, lady, you don’t want to start this.” His voice came out low and gravely, almost like a growl.

  Her eyes slowly rose up his chest, over his powerful shoulders, up his thick neck to his clenched jaw. He hadn’t shaved in a few days and he looked rough and hard-edged. Her gaze fused with his, sucked up like a magnet by those eyes. Those eyes made her wish she could lock her thoughts behind a steel wall. His gaze held her captive. Bound and laid bare. Lord, please don’t let him be able to read minds.

  “I know. I really, really don’t.” She shook her head, but her hand moved of its own accord up to touch the hard muscles of his chest. Surely she meant to press him away, only her hand caressed him instead. Back and forth, as her body leaned forward into his heat before she caught herself and jerked back, pulling her hands into her body. “I guess this happens to you all the time, huh?”

  Tynan looked down at her and shook his head slowly. “Nope. Can’t say that it does. Probably it’s just curiosity, or a case of opposites attracting. Let’s go. One kiss to get it out of your system so we can focus on the job again. You know, the one I’m paying you for.”

  “A kiss? To get this curiosity out of my system?” She nodded while her insides quivered. Oh, holy crap. Wait. She hadn’t kissed anyone but Joe since before ninth grade. That was ten years ago. Joe’s lips had been the last to touch hers. Oh God, she really didn’t want to ruin that, but that was so twisted, right? She almost had to kiss this man to get past that or she’d be some crazy, unkissed woman for the rest of her life. “Yes, I think we should just do it. Go ahead. Lay it on me. Quick.”

  Lu closed her eyes to block out that it wasn’t Joe, puckered up, and waited. Nothing happened. She cracked open one eye, then both, looking up to see what was taking him so long.

  “No, I don’t think so.” He stood with his arms crossed, almost daring her from high above. “You started this when you checked out my ass last week. And you started it just now. It’s your move.”

  Oh lord. She couldn’t do this. Although . . . the man didn’t find her sexually attractive at all. What safer guy could there be to have her first kiss in over three years with? This was good. Great, even. Ha! Talk about no pressure. All she had to do was kiss him and that would be the end of it.

  “Fine.” She stepped forward into his heat and realized the first problem. Without his help, she’d have to climb him like a koala in a tree to reach his lips. “Wait. Stay right there.”

  Over in the corner was a tub of drywall mud. It was about twelve inches high, so she dragged it over along the ground—hey, it was heavy!—right in front of Tynan. She accidentally swung it onto his toes first. Thankfully, his steel-toed boots protected him from damage. He grimaced. Most of the damage. She stood on top of the tub, which brought her up almost even with him.

  She looked into his eyes and lost her breath. “Whoa. This is why I don’t do heights. You have less oxygen up here.”

  He had lowered his arms from across his chest, waiting for her to make her move.

  Oh boy; it felt as if she’d forgotten how to kiss. And where to start, where to place her hands, how to move her lips once she placed them against his. Just pucker up and kiss.

  Pucker and kiss. Pucker and kiss. She nodded to herself, ignoring Tynan’s raised eyebrow, and leaned forward. Okay, maybe threw herself forward is more like what happened, and she sort of smacked her mouth into his. Ouch. Their noses hit, too, and not in a Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan romantic comedy kind of way. Ow! “Sorry! I’m sorry. I had too much momentum. Let me try again.”

  “You know what?” Tynan backed up a step. And then another even bigger step away, his arms raised in surrender. “Never mind. I’m good.”

  “Oh yeah. You’re probably right. That . . . that was . . . you know, my bad. Sorry. Sure I get it. That’s probably a good idea.” It was like a strong wind had blown through her emotions and left her a tangled-up mess of relief, embarrassment, and sexual frustration. “It’s good to have a hands-off policy. No fraternization. I mean, that would be like a CEO messing with his secretary on his desk, right? Everyone knows that’s a bad idea.”

  He nodded slowly, as if he was reconsidering the situation. “Right.”

  “Woo, that was a close call.” She rubbed her nose where she’d hit it against Tynan’s, then jumped down off the bucket and became superefficient and hyperfocused on her work for the first time since Tynan had hired her.

  * * *

  Damn, the woman made him crazy. He lost his mind around her, but maybe that was because he couldn’t get rid of his whatever it was—attraction, chemistry, obsession—the way he would have in the past. By taking the woman to bed and having a mutually hot, satisfying fling until it flamed out. His decision to take a break from relationships had been a whole lot easier before Lu had crashed into his world. She was a human buzzsaw in his carefully constructed life.

  One kiss to get it out of your system. How stupid was that? He’d had some stupid ideas before, but that one was up near the top. His only excuse was that the touch of her hands on his chest had scrambled his brain. Then, when she’d stepped up to near eye level, he’d fallen into her mysterious brown eyes without a thought of stopping himself. Her sweet scent, today vanilla and lemons, had wrapped around him like a rope and reeled him in.

  When his phone rang he jumped to answer it. It was a perfect excuse to get the hell away from Lu. He walked to the far side of the lobby and looked out the window toward the street to take the call. Well, damn. Houdini and the cat his dog had brought home yesterday were sitting out front on the sidewalk staring in.

  “Yeah?”

  “Hello to you too, Ty.”

  He winced at the tone in Quinn’s voice. “Sorry. You just called at a bad time. What’s up?”

  “I wanted a favor, but if this is a bad time, I’ll just call—nope, I can’t call another brother. You’re my only brother who knows how to play lacrosse. I promised Henry Lee I would help coach his lacrosse team. Today’s the first practice, bu
t I just got called to an accident scene over on Highway 29.”

  He moved to stand in the open doorway and watched his dog and cat walk toward him. He’d have to leave anyway to deal with his pets, so what the heck? It would also give him some much-needed space away from Lu.

  “It’s only for forty-five minutes,” Quinn added. “It’s a bunch of six-year-old beginners. They’re just learning stick skills. You’ll probably spend most of the time telling them not to smack each other on their helmets.”

  “Okay, sure. But I have to run my dog home again first.” Houdini now sat in the doorway, his tail wagging against the ground in nervous, frantic swishes. The cat sat beside him, looking bored.

  “Just take him with you. If you teach him to fetch lacrosse balls, we’ll let him be the team mascot.”

  “Right. Okay, but you owe me one.”

  “You bet.”

  As he hung up, Lu walked over next to him.

  “What a sweet dog. Is he yours?” She squatted down and held her hand out to Houdini.

  Houdini graced her with a disdainful look and turned his head away in rejection. His shy, attention-loving dog, who until this very moment had loved every stranger he’d met, ignored her. The cat gave her a hiss, too, before skittering next to Houdini.

  Lu stood up and took a step back, tucking her hands into her overall pockets. “I don’t think your dog likes me. And your cat isn’t a fan either.”

  Yeah, it sure didn’t look like it. Maybe they sensed his tension around Lu. “So not everyone falls for your pixie magic like the whole crew did. You’ll live.”

  “Sure.” She shrugged and wandered back to knock out the stud she’d been working on.

  Tynan gave the keys to Cash to lock up, lifted his animals into his truck, and drove over to the elementary school. The group of boys was already gathered on the field, with a few parents sitting in folding sports chairs along the edge. He rolled the truck windows all the way down and commanded Houdini and the cat to stay in the truck.