by Haley Travis
“Good to see you,” he said, leaning in to give her a hug. Then he turned to me, “Tana, this is Sylvia, the most talented bartender in the city.”
I shook her hand as she smiled warmly. “Lovely to meet you, Tana. What can I get you to drink?”
“Oh, I have no idea,” I said, looking around at the huge selection of fancy liquor bottles. “Whatever is easiest, I guess.”
She held up her hands, laughing. “Easy isn’t the point tonight. We’re mixing unique cocktails so that we come up with something new for the opening party.”
“Oh. Well…” I looked up at Tyler. “I’m not really a cocktail expert. What are you having?”
He took my hand again. “Just give her a hint, and she’ll make something that you’ll love.”
“Okay. I like anything with fruit and ginger ale, I guess.”
She looked me up and down as if she was analyzing my soul, somehow. “Do you like flavors that are a tiny bit sweet, but not too much?” she asked.
“Yes.”
She snapped her fingers in the air. “Got it.”
She fussed around with various bottles, a little ice, a can of sparkling water, and an old-fashioned brandy snifter. “For the moment, this is called The Tana,” she announced with a laugh, adding a spear with a maraschino cherry as she handed it to me.
I took a sip, my eyes growing wide as I handed it to Tyler. He tried it, then instantly began nodding with me.
“I’m not normally big on pineapple,” he said, “But with the cherry juice, lime, and passionfruit, it fits right in there.”
“This is amazing,” I said. “Thank you, I don’t think I’ve ever had anything this good.”
Sylvia leaned over the table , looking at me carefully. “Now be honest. What would you do to make that even better? Think outrageously.”
I stared into the glass. “Well, I’m not going to suggest using a pizza slice as a coaster, because that’s a little impractical.”
It felt weirdly satisfying to have them both laughing with me. I was normally pretty quiet, but with Tyler right beside me, I felt far more comfortable speaking up.
“I guess if you wanted to balance the flavor, you could add a chunk of pineapple or lime,” I pondered. “But if you want to be outrageous, and really make a point, you could have five spears with cherries so that they sat in a circle.”
Sylvia nodded, thinking.
“It might be too much,” I said quickly, “But it would be like the drink is being surrounded by the cherries.”
“Holy shit, you’re right!” I spun around to see the orange-haired man who I assumed was the artist and host running from the room.
“That’s Stanley,” Tyler said. “Don’t be alarmed – he gets all hyper at these things, and jumps right into his last-minute ideas.”
“Clear the way,” Stanley shouted, dragging a furniture dolly from the back room that held three more partially finished flamingos.
They were all gray, unpainted, but he added them to the semi-circle of sculptures, creating a full circle with just a small space to walk into the center. Then he grabbed a giant hot pink pillow from a sofa in the corner and placed it in the center.
“That’s it!” he shrieked. “You can’t just view the flamingos. You have to be surrounded by them.” He began dragging people one by one to sit in the center of his sculpture circle so that they could take it all in.
Tyler and I stepped out of the way so that Sylvia could serve drinks to newcomers. He took my hand, guiding me to the now pillow-free sofa in the far corner.
“Look what you’ve done,” he laughed, sitting close beside me. “You were the catalyst to an artistic breakthrough.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I protested quietly.
“Yes, you did, and you’re amazing,” he said softly, staring into my eyes.
We each took another sip of my special drink, then he placed it aside on a table so that he could turn toward me, wrapping an arm around me.
“You know, I’ve never liked a girl enough to bring her to meet my friends,” he said softly, reaching up to tuck my hair behind my ear. “I don’t want to frighten you off, but I need to be honest. Tana, I think you’re amazing. I feel like we’re already a couple.”
Nodding slowly, I was incredibly aware of the way we were both leaning toward each other. “I’ve never been part of a couple before,“ I said softly. “Is there a handbook I should read so that I don’t do anything wrong?”
His arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against him. “You could never do anything wrong, Tana. You’re so beautiful and light. I love the way your eyes sparkle when you’re curious. I love the way you actually took the time to make dinner more equal from a caloric perspective.”
I began to laugh, but then he kissed me. This time it wasn’t a tiny brush of his lips. His mouth settled over mine as he pulled me closer, and my hands automatically circled his neck.
As his lips caressed mine, I could feel how much he wanted me. It was strangely overwhelming. I’d never truly been this close to a man before, and it felt like he was hungry for me.
My lips gently parted as his tongue tentatively curled inside my mouth, making me shiver with arousal. My body was becoming aware of its own hunger, which was a new and fascinating sensation.
He finally pulled back, murmuring, “Tana, you’re so sexy. If there weren’t so many people around, I swear I would ask permission to undress you right here.”
I began to giggle, even though I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t joking. My mouth opened to try to speak, but suddenly my elbow was being shaken.
“Genius girl, you have to tell me what you see,” the orange-haired man said excitedly. He was giddy like a kid who had just eaten all of the Halloween candy.
Tyler just laughed. “Tana, Stanley. Stanley, Tana.”
I was practically dragged to the center of the sculpture circle, where I was expected to sit on the pillow and describe precisely what I experienced.
After babbling as much as I could about being surrounded by something fun, but ridiculously over the top, Stanley clapped and jumped up and down a few times before allowing me to leave the circle.
The studio was starting to get pretty crowded when Tyler whispered in my ear, “Are you ready to leave?”
“Sure.”
We waved goodbye to a few people, then headed for the strange wooden stairs. Tyler placed his hands on my hips, walking up the stairs close behind me. “I’m helping,” he laughed.
The way he touched me so casually was unbelievably cute, but also very sexy. It was making me feel more comfortable with him, and also a little fluttery.
As soon as we were back out on the street, he spun me into his arms under a bakery shop awning. “Tana, You were absolutely incredible.”
“I didn’t do anything,” I said.
“You did,” he murmured, kissing along the arch of my left eyebrow. “You were open-minded, and fun, and didn’t once look down on people for being a little weird.”
“I was going to say something about the guy with rubber ducks tied to his belt, but certainly not in front of him,” I giggled.
His strong arms held me tight against his massive chest in such a comforting way that I could have stayed there forever.
“So many women won’t go anywhere unless they have an address, and an itinerary. They have to know what to wear, and how to be. You let yourself go with the flow. You have no idea how refreshing that is,” he smiled.
I carefully swallowed the thought that perhaps he had the misfortune to date uptight, fussy women.
“I know that it’s getting late and I should walk you home, but I don’t want tonight to end,” he said gently, grazing his lips against mine softly.
“Tomorrow’s Sunday,” I said. “I don’t have to be up at any particular time.”
Tyler’s eyes blazed. “Are you suggesting that we go to my place and watch movies?”
“Oh,” I stammered, “I was thinking maybe we could go
to another lounge or something, but…sure.”
“Sweetheart,” he said, rocking me slightly, “I’m not asking for anything. I don’t expect anything. I know it’s way too soon to be thinking about getting naked, okay?”
Exhaling harder than I had intended, I nodded against his shoulder. “Thank you for understanding.”
He took my hand and we began walking toward his house. “Tana, I don’t want you to ever be uncomfortable around me. If you don’t want to do something, or if you want to change anything, just tell me. Let’s be super honest with each other. It makes everything so much easier.”
“Deal,” I said.
I heard a strange buzzing noise, and for half a second thought it was a wasp until Tyler took his phone out of his pocket to see who was calling. “Tana, I’m so sorry, I have to take this.”
“Sure, no problem.”
Even with the noise of the bars and clubs along the way, I couldn’t help but hear most of his conversation. It was obviously his uncle, who was concerned about possibly losing a couple of job pitches next week.
“I’ll go over everything when I’m in the office Monday, and straighten everything out,” Tyler said. “Please don’t worry about it. I’ll go meet with them in person if I have to. And honestly, if we got all three contracts, we’d probably have to hire extra people, and I know how much you hate hiring,” he chuckled.
He ended the call quickly, and he put away the phone as we turned onto his street. “I’m so sorry about that,” he said. “Uncle John only calls outside of work hours if it’s really important.”
“It’s fine,” I said. “It’s a shame that you’re having stress on the weekend though.”
He shook his head, growling deep in his throat while making an absolutely insane face, making me laugh. “It’s the head jerk at Wright Construction,” he said. “If they’d just stay in their own lane, and stick to their own jobs, everything would be fine. But once a year or so, the owner swoops in and starts making pathetically low bids for jobs that he could barely handle just so that we’re forced to lower our pricing for a few clients.”
A shiver ran through me. It was not from the crisp night air.
“That’s crazy,” I said, trying to make my voice sound calm. “Why would they bother?”
Tyler led me into his beautiful house, and we kicked off our shoes. “Rumor has it that he treats his employees like garbage, so the ones who have any decent skills are picked up by other carpenters and contractors around the city. His twisted mind sees that as some sort of treason, so he takes it out on other companies whenever he’s in the mood.”
Tyler shook his head sadly. “I’ve heard that he’s a heavy drinker, so maybe he’s gone off the deep end. Who knows.”
All negative thoughts instantly disappeared as he swept me into a gigantic movie star kiss, draping me over his arm, melting every part of me down to my toes. I loved how he felt so hungry for me, but without being the slightest bit pushy.
“Would you like a less fancy cocktail?” he asked, straightening me up. “Glass of wine? Hot chocolate?”
“Hot chocolate with just a tiny bit of Kahlúa in it?” I asked. “You know, for flavor balance.”
“Stanley was right. You’re a creative genius.”
Tyler sat me on the couch, refusing to let me help. As I looked around his living room, I couldn’t believe what a fun little adventure tonight had been.
The only dark spot had been the mention of Wright Construction. There was no way I could tell Tyler that the drunk jerk who was causing trouble for his business was also my father.
He’d taken off when I was around five, so my mother raised me alone, and after feeling utterly abandoned for a while, I tried to forget all about him. I rarely saw him, hadn’t done so in nearly a year, and I certainly had nothing to do with his business affairs. But still. I felt horrible not confessing, even though I hadn’t done anything wrong.
Thank goodness that Wright was a very common last name. There was really no reason for it to ever come up.
CHAPTER FIVE
* Tyler *
Two hours later, after watching an old movie that was constantly interrupted by kisses, tickles, and animated conversation, I turned down the lights. Our mugs were empty, but my arms and heart were full of this unbelievably breathtaking girl. She was so sweet in every way and I could have listened to every story of her life forever.
As she fell asleep snuggled against my shoulder, I realized that forever was precisely what I wanted .
I turned off the TV, shifting very slowly until I was lying down. Grabbing the blanket from the back of the couch, I pulled it over us. Tana shifted, tucking her chin as she brought her cheek onto my chest, her hand splayed across my collarbone.
Strangely, it thrilled me how soundly she was asleep in my arms. It meant that she trusted me completely. It meant that she was comfortable with me. I had worried in the beginning that she was a bit quiet, but it didn’t seem to take much at all to bring her out.
Although I was a bit proud of myself for having put together a damn solid first date, it was Tana who was the life of the party to me.
I was beginning to fall asleep when I felt her twitch, then I heard a soft gasp.
“Shh,” I murmured against her forehead. “Just sleep, sweetheart.”
She relaxed after a moment, then her breathing became slow and regular again.
I was just drifting off when I felt her top leg slowly start to slide on top of mine. She rolled slightly until her pelvis was over my hip, and her entire chest was pressed against me.
Her left hand was curled under my neck, and her fingers began to stroke my skin lightly. Her other hand began to trail in circles across my chest and stomach.
It was hard not to groan. It was hard not to move. And within a minute, I hoped that she didn’t lower her hand any more because…it was hard.
“What do you think you’re up to, gorgeous?” I whispered.
“Is this alright?” she asked.
“You can do anything you want to me, sweetheart. But it’s going to be tricky to sleep if you get us all riled up.”
She tugged the neckline of my t-shirt down a little, then I felt her lips gently kissing along my collarbone. “That’s the thing,” she whispered. “I’ve never felt riled up before. So I don’t quite know what to do about it.”
I was pretty sure that she was completely innocent, and that thought should not have sent sparks swirling through my veins. But it did.
“Tell me what you want,” I said softly, my hand slipping down to massage her luscious round ass through her dress. My other hand glided over to trail my fingertips along her jaw, then down her throat, stopping just above her breast.
“I think I want you to touch me,” she barely breathed.
My hand slid into the top of her dress, under her bra, to caress her soft skin. “Like this?”
“Yes,” she sighed.
My right hand reached further down, massaging her cute butt and hips, pulling her tighter against me. Shifting her in my arms, I brought her lips up to mine.
This time her kisses weren’t just eager, they were fiery. I could feel that electric current running between us as she rolled to lie completely on top of me. A deep groan rattled through me as she pressed against my erection.
In the dim light from the window, I saw her eyes grow wide. “Is this okay?”
“Everything you do is wonderful, sweetheart.”
She watched me carefully as she moved her hips from side to side, pressing against me through our clothing.
Tana’s eyes drifted closed as she teased us both. “This feels so good, but I don’t know…” A tiny moan shuddered through her body as I reached up to squeeze both breasts, pinching her nipples softly through the fabric. “I just don’t know what I want quite yet,” she murmured.
Taking hold of her, I spun us both so that she was on her back on the couch. “I can tell that you’re nervous. Try to relax. How about I just make you come so
that you can sleep?”
She giggled, reaching up to pull my lips to hers. This time she was more determined, her lips crushing against mine. Her mouth opened as my tongue pressed in, heat pulsing through me as I realized I wouldn’t be satisfied until I touched her everywhere.
As I unbuttoned her dress down the front, her eyes gleamed in the near dark. Her lips were unbelievably soft, sweeter than candy, but the spice simmering underneath was what I was really after.
She moaned as I pulled her dress open, shoving her bra up to her shoulders as I sucked a rosy nipple between my lips. “Yes,” she cried, gripping the back of my hair.
