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“Don’t,” Tyler says, panic in his eyes. “I’ll take you home later.”
I’m so tempted, but I need to pull myself together. If I go home with this guy tonight, I’ll be the one losing... yet again.
“Sorry, Tyler,” I say, the purr back in my voice for a third time. “I have to leave now.”
After walking a couple of steps away, I whirl back around and pull a piece of paper and pen from my purse, jot down my number, and move back over to him. I slip it into the front pocket of his trousers, and let my hand linger, so close to where I know he’s the hardest. Damn, I want to touch him.Touchisn’t the word I’m really thinking, of course.
“You may call me,” I say with just enough sass that a spark lights his eyes. I don’t look back at him again. I take my friend’s arm and walk away, and I don’t breathe until we’re outside in the fresh air.
“You’resospilling,” Piper growls as she hails a cab and slips inside.
“I will. I promise,” I say, leaning my head back against the vinyl headrest. “Just not yet. For now, I’m going to close my eyes and try to get my body under control.”
“You’re in trouble, Livie, big trouble. If you carry through with this, I don’t think Tyler Astor’s going to be the one getting punished.”
“Yeah, I know that too,” I say. And then I’m done talking. My friend’s right. I’m in trouble — big, huge, monstrous trouble.
ChapterSeven
Olivia
The day’s warm, exceptionally warm for May in Seattle. I changed my mind several times in the hour before finally meeting Tyler. How am I supposed to make him want me so badly that it will kill him to lose me if I keep refusing to see him?
He called me before I made it home after the night at the club and continued calling me all week. I’ve put him off long enough. Now I’m next to his car as he tugs on the tie he’s wearing.
“I think I overdressed,” he tells me, the knot slipping loose and the satin sliding through his fingers. My focus drifts to his chest, and I chastise myself for my ridiculous hormones. I don’t desire him — okay, I don’twantto desire him.
“I should’ve checked the weather before leaving the apartment,” I say, wishing I’d worn a T-shirt instead of a sweater. I don’t have anything beneath the damnable sweater, so I’m most likely going to suffer.
“Climb inside,” he tells me. “We’re running late.”
“Where are we going?”
“One of my favorite places. It’s outside the city and quiet.”
That doesn’t answer my question, but I get in and buckle up. I’m not sure if it’s the heat or the man sitting next to me, but I can’t get comfortable. After we ride in silence for about half an hour, we approach one of the ports.
“Are we taking a ferry?”
“Yes.”
We don’t have to wait long until we’re given the go-ahead to drive onto the ferry. Tyler turns to me as other passengers exit their cars and move toward the stairs, eager to sit on the deck while the boat makes its way to one of the islands near Seattle.
As he looks into my eyes, I know I’m making a foolish mistake. After I made love to Tyler eight years ago — well, to be realistic he’d used me like a cheap hooker — I’d been devastated. The man still doesn’t remember me, yet my body’s in a constant state of arousal around him. I don’t like what this says about me.
I should stop with these plans, get out of his car when we dock, go back to the shore, and find my way home. What I shouldn’t do is sit in a hot car with an even hotter man, breathing in his scent, gazing at what can only be described as perfection.
“I have a lot of work to do this weekend, so I don’t want to be out late,” I tell him.
“Really? What kind of work?”
I freeze. He doesn’t know I’m an attorney, doesn’t know anything about what I do. That’s how I want to keep it. The less he knows about me, the better.
“I don’t want to get into all the boring details,” I say with a false laugh. “Besides, if I start telling you about my work, we lose the mystery between us.”
“I like mystery, but not lies, sweetheart,” he says, and I shift in my seat. “I spoke to Piper last night when I wasn’t able to get ahold of you, and she said you girls don’t have any plans this weekend except watching movies and eating gallons of ice cream.”
“Piper told you this?” I’m horrified.
