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“This is your surprise baby shower,” he says, wrapping her in a quick hug. He even plants a quick kiss on her cheek. “Aunt Robin and Elizabeth set it up.”
“You helped
a lot too,” I say, walking over to them. Miranda hugs me, whispering a thank you into my ear. She takes turns greeting everyone and thanking them for coming, joking around with her coworkers at how they were able to pull off such a thing without her finding out. Marcus shows her the present his parents had sent over for her: a beautiful rocking chair with a handmade baby blanket draped over the back. Miranda’s tears are so genuine and grateful and I almost end up crying myself. I like seeing her happy and seeing her with friends.
I love being in Salt Gap.
Miranda sits in her brand new rocking chair with Marcus kneeling on the floor next to her, handing her presents. It was the general consensus of everyone to do presents now and save the food and games later.
Since he has everything under control, I guess I can take a much needed break and just watch the festivities from the back of the room. Actually, a break sounds like an amazing idea. My eyes find Tyler’s in the crowd. He’s sitting in the corner of the room, near the entrance to the kitchen, perched on top of a small three step ladder I had borrowed from him to hang pictures. He smiles, and it’s the kind of smile you’d give to someone you’ve known all your life.
I weave through the crowd and join him. “Hey,” I say, my goofy grin totally giving away my feelings for him.
“You’ve been standing all day,” he says. Without a warning, he grabs my hand and pulls me toward him, hooking his other arm around my waist. I’m spun around and then pulled down, his hands on my hips, until I’m sitting on his lap. “That’s better,” he says, sounding all smug and pleased with himself.
Part of me wants to be embarrassed at this outward display of affection, but the other part of me can’t get enough of it. Tyler smells like body wash and frosting, probably from the cupcake he snuck earlier. I turn my head around and kiss him on the lips. And I don’t even care who’s watching.
Chapter 9
Miranda bursts through my bedroom door the next morning. “Wake up, Aunt Robin!” The sound of the door slamming against the dresser jolts me awake and then a moment later my cell phone gets tossed at me. It’s ringing. “Your phone’s been ringing all damn morning and I just couldn’t stand it anymore,” she says. I grab the phone and press a button on the side so it’ll shut up. I don’t care who’s calling me. I stayed up way too late last night and it’s way too early this morning for something as tasking as phone calls.
“Oh, shit,” Miranda says, her eyes going wide. “I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” I ask, yawning. I turn to see what she’s staring at. Then I say the same thing. “Oh, shit!”
There’s a guy in my bed.
I mean, well, not just any guy. Tyler.
In my bed.
“Good morning?” Tyler says, making it sound like a question as he glances from me to Miranda and back. His bare chest peeks out from the sheets and I’m suddenly questioning how much alcohol I drank last night. I’m pretty sure it was exactly zero. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I tell him, turning back to Miranda. I mouth the words Oh my God while pointing secretly in his direction. She wiggles her eyebrows and makes this nonjudgmental face like what’s going on in here is none of her business. She gives me a little salute. “I’m headed to work. Guess I’ll see you guys later.”
Once I hear the front door close behind her, I spin around on my bed and glare at Tyler. He smiles. “Hello, beautiful.”
That makes my glare disappear. I suppress a smile. “What’s going on? Why are you here?” My brows narrow as I feel around, ensuring that I’m still wearing clothes. In fact, I’m wearing exactly what I wore to the baby shower last night. “Why don’t I remember going to bed with you?”
He pushes off the comforter and stands up, wearing only a pair of jeans. There is no shirt over his tanned torso. My breath catches in my throat. He yawns and lifts his hands above his head, stretching in a way that makes all of his muscles tighten in all the right places. I swallow. His yawn turns into a sneaky smile. “So you don’t remember last night?”
I lift an eyebrow. “Not really.”
“This will be fun.” He rubs the back of his head and I don’t even pretend I’m not staring at his chest.
I jump out of bed and march over to where he stands, positioning myself right in front of him. I place a finger on his chest. “No playing games with me, Tyler Hudson. You tell me what happened, right now. Did we..?” I trail off, unable to finish the sentence. The flush of blood that rushes to my face probably finishes it for me.
He shakes his head and slips his hands around my back. “No, ma’am. We didn’t. The party lasted until two in the morning and by then, you had passed out on the couch. So I carried you in here and put you to bed. Then I hung around to make sure Marcus went home-”
“Good call,” I say, sliding my hands up his chest just to feel the smooth, hard skin. His stitches are healing nicely, but I make sure not to touch them. “Thank you.”
He nods and tugs me a little closer. My bare toes slip on top of his and he wiggles them. “Anyway, I came to kiss you goodnight and you woke up a little and told me to stay with you.”
I hadn’t thought it was possible, but my cheeks turn even redder. “Oh my gosh,” I whisper. “I don’t even remember that.”
Tyler bites his lip and he’s so freaking cute I want to crawl back in bed with him and never get out again. “I kind of thought you were a little out of it,” he admits, lowering his head. “But you were insistent that I stay over, and well, I couldn’t say no to a lady.”
I slide my hands around his neck and I kiss him. “I would expect nothing less,” I whisper. We make out for a minute and his hands slide all over my body. Before things get too steamy, I pull away. “You know what I like about you?” I ask as my hands cup the back of his head. He smiles and glances upwards as he thinks. “Well, there’s a million reasons, I suppose.”
