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I don’t know what I’m doing.
I don’t know anything anymore when it comes to this man.
And oh, he shaved. His beautiful face is on full display, and he’s even more handsome.
His scruff was short and well-groomed, but this look – his clean, smooth face – makes him seem like he’s been carved from marble. Just like the rest of his body.
“Hey, sugar,” he greets, a little smirk playing on his lips like he knows how much of a mess I am on the inside, and knows it’s because of him.
“Hi,” I say, a little breathless. His hair is still wet as if he just got out of the shower, and his fresh scent of soap and pure masculinity floats through my senses like a spell, pulling me under its captivating force.
“Come on, I want to show you your surprise.” Grabbing my hand, he walks me around the house and down the back porch steps. We walk along the edge, and while I’m busy looking out at the ocean, I don’t see my surprise until he stops walking and I look down.
Oh. My. God.
I look up at him with wide eyes, and he smiles shyly down at me.
“Tyler,” I whisper, looking back down.
He’s set up a picnic.
A plaid blanket is spread out on the grass for us to sit on, with another laid out on one of the long, flat rocks with an assortment of food. There’s a bottle of wine and two plastic cups, bread, cheese, grapes, sandwiches, and of course, dessert.
“You did this for me?” I ask, not sure why he would go through the trouble.
“Of course.” Wrapping one arm around my waist, he cups my cheek and plants a soft, chaste kiss to my lips. Almost as if he’s afraid to give me more than that for fear I’ll either run or break.
I might do both.
Sitting on the soft blanket, he pours us each a glass of wine and touches his cup to mine. “To you,” he toasts.
“Why me?”
“Why not you?” he says simply, as if it’s obvious.
I give him a small smile and take a sip, needing the wine to soak into my veins so I’ll calm down enough to have some semblance of a coherent thought.
Him doing this for me, it feels like more. It feels like more effort than necessary on his part in order to get me naked.
It’s not right. It’s not fair. It’s making me think things and feel things that are going to bring me nothing but heartbreak.
“How was work today?” he asks, and I choke on my next sip.
Shit.
Does he know about Caleb?
Tyler rubs my back soothingly as I cough wildly. I breathe in gulps of air until I’m calm again, and I smile sheepishly. “Sorry.”
“For what? You good?”
“Yeah. Um, work was fine. Busy.”
“Yeah, I heard that.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
“Jack mentioned that Courtney said business has been good since you’ve been there. People like your stuff.”
