Those sorts of thoughts were exactly what Sherry’s presence was supposed to quell.
She led them from downward dog to cobra, encouraging Sherry to use her knees if she needed to. When Hayden turned to tell Tate the same thing, he lowered into the pushup-like pose with what appeared to be very little effort. A closer look at his biceps and she realized they shook subtly as he took his time, holding himself in plank pose a moment before dropping his waist and pushing up with his arms.
She stared, unabashedly, which he must’ve noticed a moment later, when he sent her a cocky smirk.
Show-off.
She returned to her mat and walked them through one more sun salutation, ending in mountain pose: standing, hands in prayer pose at the chest.
“Namaste,” Hayden said. “That concludes our lesson for the day.”
“Woo! That was intense, girlfriend!” Sherry waved her hands in front of her pink face. “I’m sure Tate would’ve preferred a less chatty partner, though.”
Sherry winked at him, and Hayden smothered a laugh. Sherry was happily married and treated Tate like she would a friend or any other familiar resident of SWC.
You know, the same way you should be treating him.
“I have to return to the office,” Sherry announced. “Can I call to schedule a follow-up after the holiday?”
“Whenever you like.” Hayden walked Sherry to the door, chatting to stall while waiting for Tate to leave. Instead, Tate was at the front desk, his rolled mat on the surface.
Crap. She forgot he needed to pay.
Sherry left and Hayden made her way to the front desk, her heart hammering.
“If you admit that you booked Sherry because you couldn’t trust yourself to be alone with me, I’ll forgive you for it,” he told her.
“Ha!” She left it at that because any response other than “Yep, that’s correct!” would have been a lie.
She didn’t trust herself alone with him. His kiss the other night had been too welcome, his presence too distracting. She had enough drama in her life without creating some of her own.
Last night after he left she’d thought more about the chaos in Tate’s life. Not one parental pair but two. And a surprise twin brother. Hayden had come to Spright Island specifically to avoid drama not become embroiled in it. That, and the fact she didn’t trust herself to be alone with him, was why she’d scheduled Sherry for the same timeslot.
Tate wasn’t unlike that second serving of ice cream she knew she shouldn’t have. It seemed that no amount of willpower could keep her from one more taste.
“Thirty-two dollars.”
He handed her his credit card.
“It’s a really good mat,” she explained needlessly as she charged his card. Anything to fill the dead air between them.
“I wasn’t arguing.”
“No, I guess you wouldn’t.” She imagined thirty-two dollars to Tate Duncan must be what thirty-two cents felt like to her.
“What’s going on, Hayden? Do you find me particularly hard to get along with?”
“I—Sorry. That was rude.” She handed his card back and flipped the screen around for him to sign it. When he was finished, she tucked her iPad into the drawer and, with no other task before her, was forced to meet his eyes.
He stood there like he had nowhere else to be.
“I didn’t schedule Sherry only because I didn’t want to be alone with you. It worked well since you’re both beginners.”
He nodded slowly.
“Plus, what did you expect after you barged in here—”
“I barged?”
“—and demanded—”
“Demanded?”
She huffed out a breath. If was going to continue calling her bluff, she really should stop lying about her true intentions. But there was a nugget of truth she could cling to.
“My schedule has been nuts this week. Everyone’s trying to get in before Thanksgiving.”
“Ah. And you fit me in.” He grinned. “Because you couldn’t tell me no.”
She made a pathetic choking sound. How arrogant was this guy, anyway? And how did he keep guessing right?
“Because I have to make a living. I don’t have billions stashed away...” She almost added “like some people” but she was already protesting too much.
“Right,” he agreed, but something in his expression told her he’d gleaned what she hadn’t said. “Well, thank you. For the mat.”
He went to grab his coat, slipping it over his arms and holding the rolled mat between his knees.
Feeling a dab of guilt, she moved toward him and vomited out a generic nicety. “Thank you for booking your session. I hope you’ll consider a membership.”
His hand resting on the door handle, he turned as she stopped advancing, putting her mere inches from his handsome face. “I was thinking about another kind of one-on-one session. Are you available for dinner?”
She hadn’t been prepared for that. Words eluded her. She knew that agreeing to go out with him was a bad idea, but when faced with his glittering blue eyes she couldn’t quite remember why.
“Just so you know—” that blue gaze dipped to her mouth “—if you were ready, I’d kiss the hell out of you right now. Just to make sure I didn’t imagine how good you tasted before.”
She gaped at him, but he didn’t advance to kiss her. Instead he turned around and stepped outside.
Before she could shut the door, he pushed it open a crack. “Think about dinner. I’ll ask again.”
She locked up behind him, watching him through the glass. He had a sure, strong gait, a disgustingly handsome mug, and looked as good in a suit as he did in sweatpants.
There were a multitude of reactions fighting for first place. She wanted to open the door and yell for him to come back. She wanted to run upstairs and shut the blinds. She wanted to jog across the street and grab him by the ears and kiss the hell out of him.
Especially that last one.
While she warred with those options, frozen in stunned bliss at the possibilities, Tate grew farther and farther away until he was a shadowy blur disappearing into a path into the woods.
“Damn him.” But she didn’t mean it. She was looking forward to next time—when she would leave him slack-jawed and without a response.
Six
Chaz’s Pub in Seattle was a far cry from the Brass Pony, with its scuffed floors and beaten tables. Tate walked in for the first time, took in the colorful red and green decorations, and decided he liked the place. Any establishment that decorated for Christmas before Thanksgiving had his undying respect.
His brother Reid had invited him out to celebrate “the biggest drinking day of the year,” tacking on, “You’re British and it’s your duty to get pissed.”
As overwhelming as it was to learn he had a brother and a set of parents he’d never met, Tate had to smile. Could’ve been the yoga. He’d been more relaxed since the session with Hayden, though the buzz afterwards could likely be blamed more on sexual tension than downward dog.
The sexual tension part wasn’t entirely her fault. Tate and Claire hadn’t slept together since he’d found out about his family, and shortly after that she’d ended their engagement. In other words, it’d been a while.
Plus, Hayden was sexy as hell, had a way of revving him up and calming him down simultaneously. When she hadn’t been touching him to move his body into proper form, he’d noticed her sliding from position to position. It’d been like watching an erotic dance.
She was a unique experience, that was for damn sure.
“Tate, hey!”
A petite brunette bounced over to him, pulling him from his thoughts. Reid’s fiancée, Drew Fleming was as sweet as she was adorable and at the same time up to absolutely no good. He’d met her before—Reid had brought her when they’d gone out for
drinks or dinners.
She looped her left arm in Tate’s, and he glanced down at the sizable diamond ring on her hand. Reid had proposed around the time Tate’s engagement had ended, as if Reid was an alien who had taken over Tate’s life. Wasn’t Tate supposed to be the one with the stable family life and fiancée?
“The boys are over there. I’ll walk with you. But then I’m returning to the dance floor with the girls. Andy and Sabrina,” she reminded him.
“Fiancées of Gage and Flynn.”
“You remembered!”
He had. Gage and Flynn were Reid’s best friends and coworkers. He’d met the whole gang in passing at one time or another.
Drew guided Tate to a high, round table with several stools surrounding it. Full glasses of Guinness were in front of each of the guys, suggesting they hadn’t been here long.
“There he is.” Reid wore the wide smile Tate envied. Not that Tate didn’t want his brother to be happy, but he’d like to stockpile some of that for himself. Wanted to feel with certainty that tomorrow would come, and things would return to normal again.
“Found a stray,” Drew released Tate and laid a kiss on Reid’s cheek. He didn’t let her get away, snagging her waist and dipping her low while kissing her thoroughly. Next to them, Flynn grinned, but Gage was less enthralled by the PDA.
“Still getting used to that,” Gage grumbled as Tate took his seat. Gage was Drew’s older brother, and Reid and Drew had kept their relationship from Gage until long after things had gotten serious between them.
“Hang in there, buddy.” Flynn slapped Gage’s back and let out a baritone chuckle. “Tate, man, how are you?”
Tate nodded, having no other word than a generic “fine.”
“You need a beer,” Flynn announced, waving down a waitress and to order one.
“Off with you, then.” Reid swatted his fiancée’s butt and she giggled, radiantly aglow. Once she’d scampered off, Reid’s smile stuck to his face like glue. “She’s pregnant.”
Flynn nearly spit out his beer.
Gage turned an interesting shade of pale green.
“Congratulations,” Tate said, figuring that was a safe response given the size of Reid’s grin.
“Are pigs flying?” Flynn asked, his eyebrows meeting over the bridge of his nose. “Did hell freeze over? Am I having a stroke?” He turned to Gage and asked, “Do you smell burned toast?”
Gage shook his head, but his color returned. “Maybe we’re all suffering from strokes. Reid Singleton: engaged and soon-to-be dad. What gives?”
“Drew. She’s...Drew.” Reid grinned bigger.
“I know how amazing she is. She’s my sister.” Then, as if it dawned on him at that moment, Gage smiled, too. “I’m going to be an uncle.”
“Me, too. Technically.” Flynn shrugged.
“And you,” Reid dipped his chin at Tate. “Legitimately.”
Right. Tate hadn’t thought about that. Reid wasn’t only a friend he was getting to know. He was a blood relative. The waitress delivered a Guinness, and Tate drank down the top third without coming up for air.
A pair of high-pitched squeals lifted on the air, and the guys turned toward the dance floor, where a brunette with glasses and a tall redhead were hugging Drew simultaneously.
“She told ’em. I knew she couldn’t hold out.” Reid said that with a smile as well, and if Tate had to guess, he’d say his brother’s joy wasn’t going anywhere soon.
“Sláinte.” Flynn held his glass aloft, and the four of them banged the beers together. “So what have you been up to with the wellness commune, Duncan?”
He’d only met Flynn twice, but had determined that joking was Flynn’s style. Tate liked Reid’s friends and their fiancées. They were good people.
“Planning on a big Thanksgiving dinner Friday for the residents,” Tate answered. “Serving Kool-Aid at the end for the really dedicated.”
The guys laughed at the cult reference. Tate took it as a win. He knew the way Spright Wellness Community had been perceived it the past, but the place had gained a reputation for luxury living, thanks to Tate. Visitors flocked to the island and filled their community to capacity to eat, shop or simply spend time in nature.
“What about you guys?” Tate asked.
“Family dinner.” Reid slid a glance at Gage. “With that wanker.”
“I tried to disinvite him, but Mom said it’d ruin the holiday,” Gage returned, poker-faced.
“We’re going to California to Sab’s parents. Her brother, Luke, is flying in from Chicago to join us.”
“He’s in Chi-town now?” Reid asked. “Sabrina never told me that.”
“Yeah. His new gym franchise took off and he moved there to open another one. Rumor has it he’s bringing a girl. Another one bites the dust.” Flynn hadn’t kept it a secret that his family was no longer. He’d mentioned inheriting Monarch Consulting after his father had died. That had brought mention of his late mother followed by a tasteless joke about how his brother was “banging my ex-wife.” Flynn didn’t seem as bitter about it as he was matter-of-fact, which Tate respected. Here he was trying to handle one curveball, and Flynn had been swinging at them his entire adult life.
“What about you?” Reid asked. “Other than Friday. Any plans?”
“Uh, no. Not really. Couldn’t make the trip to Cali to see the parents.”
Reid nodded slowly, like there was a thought he didn’t want to say aloud in front of the guys. Like maybe he’d figured out that Tate couldn’t handle a family holiday with his adoptive parents after finding out they’d basically bought him off the black market. They hadn’t known the truth, though, and that was the only reason he was still speaking to them. “The Brass Pony is serving an eight-course dinner. I thought about going.”
“You’re welcome to join us,” Gage said, even as Tate held up a hand to tell him he didn’t have to do that. “I’m not asking because you’re a charity case. I’m asking because you’re Reid’s brother. Plus my parents cook enough to feed the county.”
As kind as the invite was, a holiday spent with a family he didn’t know and as the only single guy at the table sounded like Tate’s worst nightmare. Rather than say that, he covered with, “Actually, I have a friend who lives in town. I asked her to join me.”
Technically he hadn’t asked Hayden out for that specific night but the dinner invitation could have been for whenever, wherever.
“You dog. Dating again already?” Reid smirked.
“Claire and I weren’t...” Tate took in the three girls who belonged with the men at the table as he tried to decide how to finish that sentence. For lack of a better term, he landed on, “Like you and your girls.”
“Enviably gorgeous?” Reid said.
“In love,” Tate said, bringing the table’s laughter to a halt.
“Damn.” Flynn finished his beer and gestured for another round for the table. Tate took another hearty gulp to catch up, but he still wasn’t close. “Duncan called us out.”
“He does that,” Reid said.
“I like him,” Gage decided. “Even if he doesn’t want to hang out with my loony family on turkey day.”
The guys continued bantering, and Tate, for a change, found himself relaxing into the conversation, the beer and the round of appetizers they ended up ordering. He didn’t feel like the odd man out with the girls back at the table, tittering about Drew’s pregnancy and making sure she had first dibs on every appetizer plate, but it did make him think of Hayden and how well she would’ve fit in here.
It was time to extend that dinner invitation again. And this time, earn a yes.
Seven
Hayden, sitting at a table in Succulence, a trendy, gourmet vegetarian restaurant in SWC, waved her friends over. Arlene gave an exuberant wave and pulled Emily in alongside her.
Hayden h
ad met Arlene and Em last year, and they’d become fast friends. In SWC, residents were more interested in what they had in common rather than what set them apart. It made for deep discussions early on and, had cemented the three of them.
Well, originally there had been four. But Bailey had been AWOL since having a baby. Joyously married, she’d always been in a category of her own. Hayden recalled many, many nights when she and Arlene and Em would complain about their recent bad date or #singlelife and Bailey didn’t have anything to contribute. Hayden missed her, but was confident Bailey would fold back into the fray. They were too close for their friendship to end over a few lifestyle differences. Besides, one of the three of them was bound to be married or at least happily coupled off eventually...right?
“Girls’ night is on!” Arlene, boisterous and bold, had so much confidence it was infectious. She was also hilarious. More often than not she had Hayden clutching her side in laughter while tears streamed down her face.
“So good to see you!” Emily gave Hayden a tight squeeze. “I feel like I’ve been gone a year.” Emily had recently gone on an excursion to Spain for the lifestyle blog she wrote.
“It felt that way for all of us,” Hayden agreed.
“Except we remembered you and you forgot all about us.” Arlene threw her purse onto the chair. “First round on me. What’s your pleasure? And before you ask, we’re doing a shot followed by a cocktail. That’s the minimum.”
“Uh...” Hayden wasn’t exactly a shot kind of girl. Not anymore.
“It ain’t like any of us drove here.” Arlene’s blond hair was big with a lot of volume, like the rest of her. “And it is the biggest drinking holiday of the year.”
“Because everyone dreads going home to family,” Emily supplied. “Peppermint schnapps followed by a cosmo.”
“I like your style.” Arlene raised her brows at Hayden.
“Well...”
“Tequila,” Arlene decided.
“What? No!” Hayden laughed.
“Yes. You can follow it with a light beer.”
“I’ll have a white Russian.” Hayden lifted an eyebrow.
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