“Why?”
“I have a business to run. Preps to do before tomorrow.”
“Oh.” He sat up. “I’ll make some coffee, so I don’t fall asleep driving you home. You wore me out, woman, taking advantage of me like that.”
“Aw, couldn’t keep up? Maybe you better do more laps in the pool.”
He laughed, grabbed her and pushed her to the bed. His mouth came down on hers and Caroline knew if she didn’t stop him, she would never get home tonight. Yeah, the shop would be okay if she waited, but something told her it was a bad idea to spend the night the first time they had sex.
She pushed against his chest. “Don’t you start in again. I have to leave.” Getting out of bed, she went to the bathroom and washed up a bit, then found her clothes on his bedroom floor and dressed. Tyler had already left the room, probably to make coffee, so she took a moment to check out the decor.
The neo-expressionist paintings on the wall looked like gallery art. Good art, not tacky stuff. If he had chosen them himself, as he’d implied, the guy knew what he was doing. Well, a person did have to be kind of intelligent to go to Princeton.
Funny, because intellectual men had always been a turn-on for her, but she had thought Tyler would be her first excursion into brainless hunk land. Could he actually be both?
She hurried downstairs before she started thinking about how perfect he was. “Tyler?”
“I’m in here.”
She walked into a triangular kitchen with floor-to-ceiling white cabinets and fixtures. “You like white walls, I see.”
“Yeah. In the winter when it gets cold I can pretend it is still summer.”
“Your favorite season, I take it?”
He nodded and handed her a thick gray mug. “It’s not as good as Three Girls, but it does the trick. You said you like Americano with half and half only, right?”
“Yes. Thank you for remembering.”
“Do you want to go out on the porch?”
“I would still like a little tour of your house. Those paintings in your bedroom are really tops. Did you choose them?”
“I did .”
“You have a really good eye. Did you take a course about art in college?”
“No, I had a girlfriend who was a painter and I learned a lot from her. She made me go to all the shows and after we broke up I was still hooked. So when I started earning enough, I started my own collection.”
Caroline was impressed. Art had been so important to her for so much of her life. Being a famous artist had been her one dream. And that dream had actually happened for her, only to shatter in pieces a couple years later, taking her down with it.
Tyler walked her to a study that had more traditional-style paintings that went well with the old world-library-style furnishings. A modern-style dining room had a glass sculpture in a corner and a large colorful abstract on the main wall. The hallway was dotted with small paintings and photographs.
“This one is my favorite,” Tyler said as he walked into the living room that had a high double-floor cathedral ceiling. The art piece that went from the first floor all the way to the second story was like a giant-sized wind chime with sculpted pieces floating in the air at different heights, catching the light.
Caroline froze. It was one of hers. After her biggest show, they’d had so many purchases to install that the dealer had hired assistants to set up several of them in people’s homes. The last time Caroline had seen this piece was when she had completed it in her Manhattan studio.
“Have you ever seen Luna’s work before?” Tyler asked.
Caroline’s heart raced. Should she tell him that she was the artist who’d called herself Luna? He had told her about his past with the therapy center. But that was different. He’d been injured and turned it into something good. Caroline had been betrayed by her husband and swindled by her art dealer and turned to alcohol to escape it all. Would Tyler end what they had begun if he found out how low she had fallen?
Tyler took her silence for a no and went on. “Luna was big about three years ago. But she disappeared. Heard she got into drugs or something. Fame and fortune can affect some people that way.”
Anger surged. Caroline wanted to defend the innocent girl she had been. But the truth was she did not know Tyler well enough to let herself be that vulnerable with him. Just because they’d had great sex did not mean it was safe to expose her painful past to him.
“Oh, look, it’s seven o’clock,” she said, her voice wooden. “I really have to go.”
The drive back to her place was quiet and she made the excuse that he had tired her out. When he walked her to her door, he gave her a kiss that was no doubt meant to remind her of how good they were together.
But seeing her artwork in his house made Caroline realize that she could dye her hair back to a normal color and take out her piercings, but a part of her would always be the wild, blue-haired artist named Luna.
Chapter 10
“You slept with him,” Brina said, turning away from their 1990 Probat L5 Roaster. They had one part-time employee who helped with the coffee bean roasting, but mostly they did it themselves. “You’ve got that look.”
Caroline could not suppress the broad smile that spread across her face. “I like him even more than I expected. A little too much and it scares me.”
“If you’re worried about getting too hooked on him you could always try going out with some of the other guys messaging you on the app. Didn’t you say there were around forty of them?”
“It is past fifty now. I think some of them just try every girl on there.”
“Or maybe we made a great profile.”
“A profile that is not completely honest. You even said I want marriage and children.”
Brina’s hand went to her hip. “There is nothing dishonest in it. You do want to have a family someday, don’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but I really went off the rails a few years ago.”
“Nobody spells out their whole history to strangers. It’s about time you got over your shame around your little stint in rehab. For all you know, Mr. Westfall has had a few slips himself.”
Caroline thought about the flowers he had gotten from that family and the story around it. She didn’t share that with Brina because he had asked her to keep it private. She just sighed and said, “No. Not him. Never.”
“Sounds like you’re putting him on a pedestal. That is so unlike you, Ms. Snark who usually finds fault with every guy. Did you put Jackson on a pedestal?”
“Nope. He chased me. Or rather my burgeoning art career. I realized later that it was not me he was attracted to. It was the fact that I had gone OTT and he was hoping I would be his ticket into the big leagues in the art world.”
“That little shit. Didn’t he go back to Missouri or something?”
“Yeah, his brother has a construction firm that he works for. My lawsuit is the only reason I care about where he is.”
The front door chimed. It was eleven thirty on a Monday and their morning takeout rush in the cafe was over, but there were usually a few stragglers.
“I’ll get it,” Caroline said, wanting a chance to check her phone without Brina noticing. She had not heard from Tyler all day yesterday and, despite her belief that he was a good guy, a part of her feared he was finished with her now that he had gotten in her pants.
But there he was. Walking toward the counter, looking so hot in a tight gray tee and cargo shorts. His eyes met hers and she expected his cute-guy grin, but instead she got a heated gaze. Okay, that must mean he liked their bed play last night and was in no way finished with her.
“The usual?” she asked.
He nodded.
“To go?”
He looked around at the now empty room. “You got a minute?”
“Sure.” She made his 3G Mocha Java and handed it to him. She always kept a fresh pot of plain old drip-brewed coffee, so she poured herself a cup and went out to sit at the table he had taken.
“Have you ever gone water skiing?” he asked out of the blue.
“Water skiing? No.”
“Want to try it?”
“Today? You mean like—”
“This afternoon.”
“I have to work.”
“No, you don’t,” a voice from the counter said. “Jenny is coming in so I can handle lunch without you.”
“Tyler, this is my partner, Brina Lansky,” Caroline said.
“Nice meeting you.” He got up and walked over to shake her hand. “And thanks for letting Caroline take off.”
“No problem,” Brina said. “She has done it for me plenty of times. In fact, she is free to go now if you want.”
Caroline hesitated. “Any chance you’d want to just have lunch somewhere? I mean, we could try the waterskiing thing another day.”
There was that cute-guy grin. Caroline would bet that smile could get him anything he wanted from anyone. Anyone female. “We can take Adriana to Greenport.”
“Adriana is his boat,” Caroline supplied, seeing Brina’s questioning look. “Okay, I’ll run upstairs and change.”
The day was like a dream. After an exhilarating ride on the water, Tyler docked Adriana in a Greenport marina next to some really big private yachts that he said often stopped there on their cruises. They ate a big lunch at The Blue Albatross and then wandered around the small resort town, looking in shops.
“Have you ever gone to Bajinx?” she asked him, as they approached the shop.
“Yeah. Bought my mother a bunch of their scented soaps and lotions and a wind chime for her last birthday.”
“A wind chime?” she asked. Tyler already owned one of her major art pieces. Could it be he had also bought one of the wind chimes she made and sold at Bajinx? “You like those?”
“Yeah, they remind me of the distant clinking sounds of a marina.” He looked at her. “You think I’m nuts.”
“No, I don’t.”
“I grew up running around the docks of my family’s marina.”
“I understand,” Caroline said. “Believe it or not, the distant hum of cars and trucks on a highway at night are like that for me. I grew up near the New Jersey Turnpike.”
“Hey, Caroline,” Jinx called out as they stepped into the store. “Got more goodies for us to sell?”
Tyler squinted at her, tilting his head in question, and Caroline said, “That was why I reacted to the gift you bought your mother. I make the wind chimes they sell here.”
“No way. Spooky,” he said.
Not nearly as spooky as the seventy-thousand-dollar sculpture by Luna in his living room.
Jinx walked over to them and nodded at Tyler. “Haven’t I seen you in here before?”
“A few times,” he said. “You’ve got great stuff.”
“Jinx, this is Tyler Westfall. Ty, this is Jinx D’Alessio, the jewelry half of the Bailey-Jinx team that owns the store.”
“What does Bailey make?” he asked.
“All the scented soaps and lotions and candles,” Jinx replied. “And she even has a line of scented hats that she does with Lexi who owns the dress shop next door.”
“I really like your jewelry designs,” Tyler said, and Caroline got a twinge of jealousy wondering if he had bought something here for a former girlfriend.
What was wrong with her? When they first walked in, a twinge of jealousy hit her when she saw Tyler noticing Jinx, who was a tiny woman with a sexy build and an Ava Gardner face. Now she was worrying about some girl he might have liked in the past? Not good. Caroline was not the jealous type. She had always felt sorry for women who got into that.
“Have you ever bought any of my work?” Jinx asked.
“No, but, uh…” Tyler started looking at the glass case near them. Then he turned to Caroline and pointed to a pair of big silver dangle earrings. “These would look good on you. Do you like them?”
“Uh, yeah. They are beautiful.” Things were getting spookier. The earrings he picked out were quarter moons with an aquamarine stone. They looked exactly like the kind Luna would have worn.
He asked Jinx to bring them out and then he held them up to Caroline’s earlobe. “We’ll take those,” he said, and handed Jinx a credit card.
Caroline was about to object, but she did not want to ruin a sale for Jinx. She also did not want to feel like Tyler was buying her. It was way too soon for a gift like this.
Tyler sensed her feelings, just as he’d been able to do over the past few dates they’d had. When Jinx went to the POS to ring up the purchase, he leaned toward her and whispered, “It’s only a pair of earrings, Caroline. Just to celebrate our fun day today, okay? They match your moon and stars tattoo. And your belly jewel.”
“All right,” she said, heat running through her at the memory of his tongue on her tummy. Then she added, “Aquamarine is my birthstone.”
“Yeah, I remember you said you were a Pisces.”
Wow. A man who actually listened to everything a woman said.
Jinx returned and handed him his receipt and the boxed earrings. “Or did you want to wear them now?” she asked Caroline.
Tyler took the earrings out of the box. “What if you move the bottom studs you’re wearing to another hole? You’ve got extras.”
Caroline smirked. Here she was trying to tone down her style, and Tyler was pushing her in the other direction. She wondered if he would have liked Luna if they had been introduced at one of her shows. Had they met before? No, Caroline would have remembered a guy this hot at one of her gallery openings.
After walking all over town with him, she was tired by the time the headed back to the marina, but Tyler insisted they at least take a ride on the antique carousel in Mitchell Park. “Come on, it’s part of history.”
There were about thirty carousel horses and Tyler chose to climb on one that was painted a bright red with a green saddle. Caroline took a silver one. He teased her with silly cowboy jokes as they circled around to the organ music. She was still laughing when they reached the docks and had to admit she did not want this date to end.
Tyler helped her onto the boat and said, “Want a beer?”
“No, thanks. But I do want to use the bathroom before we head back.”
They went down to the cabins and when she came out of the bathroom she saw Tyler had sprawled on the bed on his back, his arms spread wide. Caroline flopped down next to him.
Within seconds they were in each other’s arms, their movements growing frantic, and Caroline was suddenly desperate to have him plunge into her. Tyler unzipped her jeans and tugged at them. At least this time she had pretty silky bikinis on. Yeah, that was one thing she had changed into when she went upstairs at the cafe. Just in case.
Giving up on getting her tight jeans off her, he rolled off the bed and said, “Let’s get undressed.”
Caroline stood. She had never peeled off her clothes so fast. As soon as she did, he pulled her close, and their skin-to-skin hug felt so good. His tongue deep in her mouth, he next moved his lips to her chin, her breasts, then down to her sweet spot. She threaded her fingers into his hair as he worked her into a frenzy.
When she came, her knees buckled and he caught her and carried her to the bed. She reached out for his hard shaft and he moaned as she took it into her mouth. As she licked and sucked, her gaze traveled over his perfect body, his handsome face. He was like every fantasy she’d ever had coming to life.
“I can’t hold on…” he warned her.
“Then go ahead.” He exploded in her mouth and she lapped up every last drop.
Tyler folded onto the bed and held her in his arms, his kiss a gentle thanks. And Caroline realized she had never wanted any man so much, never felt the kinds of things Tyler brought out in her.
His hand playing with her nipple
s, he nuzzled her neck under her ear, making her giggle like a teen. He kissed her eyes, her nose, then sank into her mouth once more. Caroline felt him growing hard near her thigh. He reached to a cabinet in the headboard and pulled out a condom. A thought that he might do this often with many women flitted through her mind, but she pushed it away, not wanting to spoil this blissful moment.
He pulled her on top of him and she straddled his thighs, lifting herself and setting his shaft at her opening. She lowered a little bit, then rose again almost all the way, lowered a little further, then up, lowered and up.
“Please. You’re killing me,” he ground out.
Caroline chuckled and continued to tease him until he grabbed her hips and pulled her down on him. They both let out a deep sigh and Caroline began riding him, Tyler thrusting into her as he held her butt tight. Then he rolled her onto her back and drove into her hard and fast, his mouth finding hers, his pounding relentless, until they soared over the edge together.
When Tyler went to the bathroom and got rid of his condom, Caroline figured she should go rinse off, then start getting ready to go home. But just as she began the shower, the glass door opened and Tyler stepped in smiling at her. It was a tight fit, but she liked having him close. He lathered her hair and her back, then turned her, his mouth all over her as he worked on the front. Caroline took the soap and did the same to him. When she finished, he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in tight, and kissed her hard.
The thoughts going through Caroline’s head were dangerous, the kind that could get her heart shattered. So, she gently pulled away and stepped out of the stall.
Tyler followed, drying himself off and handing her a big blue-T-shirt.
Confused, Caroline asked, “You want me to put this on you?”
“No, I want you to put it on you.”
“But my clothes are dry.” She picked up her bra.
He touched her wrist. “Don’t go. Let’s stay on the boat tonight. I have soft comfy workout pants you could wear if you get cold.”
While part of her was thrilled he wanted this—since she did too—another part thought it was too soon. “We’ve only had four dates.”
Tyler's Blind Date Experiment Page 7
