Page 22 of Long Story Short

He smirks, his eyes darting to where his knuckles form small circles on my skin. I hope the darkness of the night hides my skin’s reaction to his touch. “You know where to find me whenever you need one.”

I watch him closely. For a moment, I wonder if it’d be possible to finish my book in six weeks while also spending more time with him. If I weren’t working on such a tight deadline, I might say yes to spending my summer with a handsome stranger with good manners who seems actually interested in me. But I have to finish this book. Not only that, but I want to make it the best book I’ve written so far. I want to meet the deadline and blow everyone away at my publisher and I can’t do that if I’m spending my time with Tyson.

His eyes meet mine again, and I can’t help but sigh. But it is tempting. He’s tempting.

His hand drops to his side once again as he cocks his head in the direction of my house. “Let me finish walking you home.”

I nod and follow after him. He pauses in front of me for a moment, allowing me to catch up to him before our steps sync up. There’s a soft breeze around us, blowing the scent of his cologne into my nose. It’s intoxicating. I don’t know what it is…something masculine with a hint of sweetness that makes me want to lean in and get lost in the smell of him.

Neither one of us says anything else as we make our way to my front door. We both come to a stop underneath the porch light I left on before heading over to Tyson’s house.

Tyson turns to face me. His eyes rake over my body once before he shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Thanks for having dinner with me,” he says, finally breaking the silence as his gaze traces over my face.

My lips spread into a smile because no matter how hesitant I was to accept his offer, I’m glad I did. The evening was perfect. “Thank you for inviting me. The food was incredible.”

The corner of his mouth twitches as he glances at his feet. “And what about the company?”

My stomach tightens. There’s something incredibly attractive about how he can seem so confident and yet so vulnerable at the same time. I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear as I meet his stare, trying to decide what to say back to him. I know I should probably draw the line again and not give him hope by flirting with him. I really should only focus on this book for the next six weeks, but I don’t want to.

“The company was okay,” I tease.

My smile only gets bigger as his eyes go wide.

Tyson’s eyes flutter closed as he presses a hand to his chest. He lets out a loud groan before opening his eyes once again. “Really?” he asks, not bothering to hide the hurt in his voice. “Just okay?”

I toss my hair over my shoulder and shrug. “Yeah. Just okay.”

“It was the part about almost burning my house down, wasn’t it?”

I can’t help but laugh. “That has nothing to do with the company.”

He presses his other hand to his chest and shakes his head. “Here I am trying to give you an out, and you still find a way to wound me.”

I step closer and reach toward him, not even thinking about it as I pull one of his hands from his chest. “I’m kidding, Tyson. The company was great.”

He smiles. “That’s more like it. Although I’d still prefer you call me Ty.”

A small laugh escapes me as I try to ignore how close we are. I’m so close I can see where the skin along his cheekbones and near his hairline is pinker than the rest of him, the sunburn now only noticeable thanks to our close proximity.

“It was a great night. Thank you again.” My gaze flicks to his lips; I can’t help it. He leans in a fraction of an inch closer, and I know all I’d have to do is reciprocate the movement and he’d kiss me.

I swallow as I try to fight the urge.

I take a step back, needing to put space between us. Even if I weren’t on a major deadline, I don’t know if it’d be a good idea to be kissing Tyson tonight anyway. We’ve only just met.

I’m still close enough to him to see the way his jaw clenches. There’s a muscle along his jawline that ticks away. After a few moments, it stops, and he runs his hand over his mouth and nods. “Remember, I’m here if you need a pep talk,” he offers, his voice raspy.

I nod. “I’m going to hold you to that.”

There’s emotion back in his face as the corner of his lip tilts up in a smirk. “I’m counting on that. Good night, Josie.”

He stares at me for a few seconds longer before turning around and walking back to his house. I watch him go, his walk slow. He stops when he’s just about out of my line of sight. He looks over his shoulder, his hands still tucked in his pockets. I don’t move, too curious to find out if he’s going to say something.

Time seems to stand still as he holds my gaze for a few more moments before he looks ahead once again and walks away.

I stand on my doorstep for a little bit longer before finally heading inside. Mouse greets me at the door immediately. He lets out a meow of disapproval, letting it be known he didn’t like to be left alone.