Surrendering To His Mrs. Right (Soul Food Diner) (3 page)

She picked up her spoon
and dug into her cobbler too. There was a new awareness sizzling through her body and it was directly linked to Tim.

Tim
balanced a box with bottles to stock up the small fridge next to the outdoor fireplace by the hot tub. It wasn’t like he was expecting company this holiday. But he was a creature of habit unlike his brother once he liked something he stuck to it. It was hard to understand why Liam disliked The Diner so much. Everyone there had been welcoming. And the food was delicious. Indy seemed to like being there, despite all the male attention she didn’t appear to want.

The phone rang
and he shifted the box to one hand to answer it. “Hello.”

“Hey, bro.”
Speak of the devil, he'd just been thinking about him.

“Liam.” Tim clamped
the phone between his head and shoulder.

“I sent you my flight information for the redeye I’
ll be taking home. Did you get it?”

Nothing like waiting until the eleventh hour to book his flight. Typical. “I saw the email you sent but haven’t checked it yet.” He removed bottles from the box and slid them into the fridge.

“Is Indy in safe and sound?”

Why did his brother think he’d have any clue? “Haven’t you talked to her since she got in?”

“Not yet. I just figured since her mother said you picked her up you’d know.”

His heart pounded.
Act relaxed, Liam probably didn't suspect his intentions toward Indy. “Right. Safe and sound.” Overreacting would put his brother on high alert. Like when Liam caught them talking on the patio the night before she flew out to Yale. He wouldn’t let up about it for weeks.

“Good.”

This was his chance to find out what was going on with Indy. If his brother flipped, he’d back off. “So what’s the deal with her?”

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. She seemed kind of quiet.” It was hard to put a finger on the awkwardness. “I figured you’d know what’s going on.”

“Nothing as far as I know. Tim, I hate to break it to you, but you’re not the kinda guy people chitchat with.”

Not a newsflash. “I’ve been in a car with Indy before and she spoke without a pause for air despite my lack of small talk.” The memory of her moving those full lips made him smile.

“Honestly?” Liam’s tone didn’t lean to confidence in Tim.

“Yes.” As if Tim would make something like that up. Liam hadn’t said much about Indy this last semester. Maybe she’d been seeing someone. “Was she involved?”

“Indy, see some next
dude? Ehh, no. She would have told me.”

“You know her best. She was different.” Distracted. Sad.

“Noted.” Liam huffed. “Look, I’ve got to run to some tree cutting thing with Brenda’s family.”

“Sure, bye.”

“Later, bro.” A click came from the phone.

He wiped his forehead
despite to cooling evening air. A record heat wave was under way this year. He couldn’t deny feeling the effects, but the main culprit was a rum-skinned beauty. The flames flickered and danced in the Malibu night. Only one thing could’ve made this better: someone to share it with. Indy. There was definitely potential from his perspective, but what about from hers?

He pulled off his swimming trunks and
sank into the salt-water hot tub under the awning gave him some privacy from the neighbors. Warm water wrapped around him, and he melted back against the seat.

Had he
said too much when the man had been checking Indy out? After his comment, Indy had got quiet and stayed that way through most of the wonderful meal. For whatever reason, she seemed more animated around Liam and more settled when it was just Tim and her. Sometimes—okay, most times—his attempts at flattery backfired. Unlike Liam, he didn’t have a handy selection of lines to get women naked. Not that his primary objective was to get Indy’s clothing off. Eventually that would come, if things developed between them.

Tomorrow
, he and Indy would do some car shopping. Not that he really knew if anything would be open. Nor would he do his usual of calling ahead to find out. If they spent time driving around to closed dealerships that was still time alone with her, which was his primary objective. He needed to find out if the attraction was mutual.

There was a knock at the gate.

Shit. Maybe Mr. Kent needed something. Given he had nothing on, it wasn’t like he could rush to the gate.

“Yes?” Tim asked.

The gate door swung open and Indy bounced into his yard wearing a smile and a big beach towel. “I saw the lights and fire on back here and thought I’d join you.”

To say this was unexpected would be understating the situation. Not that he was complaining but at that moment, there was nothing but his hands and the bubbles from the jets covering his penis.

“I just got back from a bike ride. It helps clear my mind.” She closed the gate behind her and clutched her towel. Was she nervous?

The question was what had caused her mind to be unclear to begin with. Or maybe the
more pressing question was what she had on underneath that towel. What if she was naked? Fat chance of that, but a man had to have dreams.

When she
reached the hot tub, she slipped off her sandals and glanced up. “If that’s all right with you?”

How would she take his revelation? “This is going to be awkward,” he said and put his head down.

“Oh, did I interrupt?” She looked into the house through the patio. “Do you have someone over?” Concern, evident in her eyes, she stepped back.

He held in a grin.
Did that mean she didn’t want to find out he was with another woman? “No. I don’t have anyone else over it’s just that…I’m in the buff beneath the water.”

Her
gaze darted to his package and she burst out laughing. When a man brings up his genitals he doesn’t expect nor want a woman to have a good chuckle.

“And?” she asked, head tilted sideways.

What did she mean
and?
The situation was self-explanatory. Wasn't it?

“Are you embarrassed about your size?”

He smiled. “No.” Women had commented that they enjoyed his size.

“Liam and I shower together but if you’re uncomfortable with me seeing you naked, you can put your bottoms on. Unless this is a hint for me to go?”

“I don’t want you to go.” They showered together? That seemed like something only lovers would do. But when he’d spied on them through the crack of Liam’s door he hadn’t gotten the impression they were anything more than friends.

“Good
. Then, when you’ve decided about whether you need a bottom, adjust as needed.” She removed her towel. Flimsy white material covered her breasts and between her legs. Peaks showed through the thin fabric. She lowered herself into the water. He had a feeling the color of her swimsuit was meant to tease.

“So you and my brother mess around then?” Tim asked.
Better he get to the bottom of this sooner rather later.

“Hell, no. I think I’m one of
, like, a handful of female residents in Malibu that hasn’t sleep with one of the Boyds.”

He was open to remedy
ing that tragedy. “Let me get this straight, you and Liam sleep in the same bed and shower together but you’ve never had sex?” Maybe he’d lost his mind but that sounded like something in a work of fiction. He put his arms on the sides of hot tub. Could be some kind of strange younger generation thing? A decade didn't make him that much older than them. Did it? It sounded nothing like his brother though. The man screwed anything that
might
have a pulse. Though he was sure they were all having more sex than when he was younger.

“Correct.” She nodded. “I’m still a virgin.” Her cheeks turned pink and she covered her mouth.

He covered his stiffening privates. “What?”

“I shouldn’t have told you that. But the cat is out of bag now.” She flicked her hand while rolling her eyes. “It must be a Boyd thing to act as though that’s an affliction.”

He reached over, pulled his swimming trunks under the water and put them on. “I don’t mean it like that. It’s just not common for a woman your age.”

“I know. I just suck
—”

He groaned at that word coming out of her lips.

“I suck at opening up to people,” she continued. “Sure I can joke and be fun, but when it comes down to really connecting with people, I’m no good at it. It’s one of the reasons Liam’s such a close friend. He doesn’t push. At some point in high school it became a thing with the guys to see which one could pop my cherry. I don’t want sex or my first to be hollow.”

“I can appreciate that. I haven’t dated anyone since I finished school. I can get off on my own. I don’t need to bring someone else into the mix unless it’s meaningful.”

“She hurt you badly, didn’t she? I remember Liam saying something when you moved back.”

He nodded. “Only as much as I let her.” It
hurt to be nothing more than a pawn for Celia to move around in her sick game of emotional warfare. She had played him well.

So much of games
reminded him of his own father and Liam's behavior. It scared him for his brother future. However, he couldn’t blame his father or Liam for their true nature.—and didn’t—but nor did he want a life like that.

“We had very different views
on what a content life looked like. In many ways I’m lucky she set me free when she did. Others weren’t so lucky.” Eventually Celia had poisoned everything around her. “There are those that amuse themselves at the expense of the emotions of others.”

“I know someone like that.” The question she should
’ve asked herself was whether Liam did it knowingly or not. For Tim, the verdict wasn’t in on his brother yet. “But that was a while ago so why no one since?”

“Some
wounds are harder to heal than others.” He laid his head back on the ledge of the hot tub. “I’ve had women.” One or two he could hardly remember, though it had never been his thing to sleep around just to get off. “Now I’ll wait for the right one.”

“
Very unBoyd of you, boarding on noble.”

If only he was. “I’m selfish.”
Perhaps his view would appeal to a woman who didn’t sleep around. “I don’t like wasting time.” A lot had already slipped away on him. “Would you like a drink?”

“Whatcha got?” She peeked over the side then over his bare chest. Hunger glimmered
in her eyes.

If she was good he’d let her touch
, if she liked.

She gazed away into the house.

“Beer or coolers?” he asked.

“A cooler, please.”

Tim stretched out of the water to the fridge and pulled them out a drink each. They were the twist tops. “May I open it for you?”

She shook her head.

Reluctantly, he handed over the bottle.

She used her nearby towel
on hers.

“
I could have done it for you,” he said.

“I know. But it’s more fun to do them myself.” She drank back half. “I’m thirsty.”

Despite them having stopped to eat, he had a feeling the cooler would hit her hard. From what he could remember, she was a lightweight when it came to drinking.

He opened his beer and sipped.

“Do you think you’ll sell this place once Liam moves out?” she asked.

“No. It’s my home.” There was nowhere else he wanted to be. “I hope when I meet the right woman she’ll feel it’s her home too. The décor needs a fresh touch but since she’ll probably want to redo it anyhow I’ll wait for her.”

“There’s nothing wrong with the décor. It’s neutral.” She pointed her cooler toward the patio.

He nodded in agreement. The wind blew in her hair, tossing it around. Soft lighting from the fireplace shone on her rum
skin. She polished off her cooler and sank back against the edge.

“Another please?” She held out the empty bottle.

Tim leaned over and removed another.

Music would be g
ood right about now. He reached over and turned on the stereo. Modern jazz came pouring out of the speakers.

She downed three
-quarters of the second cooler. “Tim, do you like my swimsuit? It’s new.” With one hand on the side of the tub, she rose. The white material was wet and the outline of her areolas showed through the fabric, as did her nipples. Water glistened on her body in the moonlight. He grew hard at the sight of her toned curves.

At this height he could spread her legs and kiss his way in. He swallowed.

“Well, do you like it?” she asked.

He liked her being nearly nude with him but couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if she pranced around other men in that getup. How did he put this without coming off like a prude?

“It’s very Bond girl.”

She sat, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.
“Thank you, Tim.” A smile formed on her lips and she giggled.