The Beauty Within (22 page)

118

Savannah J. Frierson

“He married your mother,” Gunnar said.

“He loved her so much, and my mother loved him, too, but…it was too

much. When I left for college, she went back to Venezuela. She sends us

letters, but it takes forever because she’s from such a rural part of the country.

She tries to call when she can.”

“Did she come to your father’s funeral?”

“No,” Tyler said on a sigh. “And Wendy and I understood. She didn’t want

to deal with Grandma, because she would find
some
way to make Daddy’s

stroke her fault.”

As before, his hand enveloped hers, and she squeezed it. “Can you speak

Spanish?”

She laughed. “
No
! Mama refused to teach us, and I would get so frustrated!

I know why, because when she came it was hard for her to adjust. A black

woman who speaks Spanish and knows little English in the South? After she

learned, she rarely spoke Spanish. She tried so hard to assimilate, but when she

got mad as us or Daddy, she’d let the Spanish fly!”

“How did she end up in America?”

“A cousin came to America for school, and her mother, after receiving let-

ters about how great life in the States was, decided to send my mother up with

him. She never told us how she ended up in Durham, but the cousin came to

the barbershop and Mama was with him. My daddy saw my mama and that

was it.”

Gunnar smiled. “That’s pretty romantic too.”

“Yeah. I miss them.”

He understood, considering his parents were an ocean away. When his

mother had decided to take a professorship back home in Norway, his father

had closed down his psychiatry practice and moved with her. They were both

happy, and they planned to visit Inge and her family later in the year.

Would they like Tyler? He hadn’t brought home a girlfriend in years, not

since high school when it had been required that his parents meet every girl he

dated. Besides, there had been few women he’d ever wanted to introduce since

then, but Tyler…

The pair finished their meal, and when the server came and asked if they

wanted anything else, they both refused. Gunnar paid the bill, and soon they

were back on the road to Tyler’s house. Neither made an immediate move to

get out the Jeep after pulling into her driveway. It was late, they had work in

the morning, but Gunnar really didn’t want to leave. No matter how much

time he spent with her, it was never enough.

He stared at her, the streetlamp creating an ethereal glow around her. She

took his breath away, looking so soft and begging for his touch. He tightened

his hands on the steering wheel, knowing if he did touch her, he wouldn’t want

to stop.

She licked her lips. “I had fun tonight. Thank you.”

The Beauty Within

“I did too. You’re very passionate when it comes to sports.”

She ducked her head again. “So embarrassing…”

“Why? You should never be embarrassed about that. Passion is good.”

Tyler let out a nervous chuckle and unbuckled her seatbelt. He followed

suit and walked her to her door. He watched silently as she looked for her keys

“It’s only a matter of time, anyway,” he murmured softly.

“What is?”

He wanted to touch her so badly, but refrained for his own sanity. “Us.”

Gunnar stood close to her as she unlocked her door, and he could see and

feel her tremble. Too weak to stop himself, he wrapped an arm around her

waist and kissed the nape of her neck. Her body became very still and a long

sigh left her.

“Gunnar…”

He kissed her neck again, and she leaned into him briefly before pushing

open the door and all but running inside her house. She stood behind the door

and poked her head around the edge, using it as a buffer.

Not deterred, he stepped closer to her, but did not cross the threshold.

“Tyler.”

He wanted to kiss her, but he knew that would be a mistake. It would

start with kissing and end up as something neither was ready for that night,

despite the fact it had been simmering almost from the moment they had met.

Sighing, he shoved his hands into his jacket and stepped back.

Her hand gripped the door’s edge and she leaned her temple against it,

sighing. “Gunnar…”

The desire and uncertainty in her voice was evident, and he nodded in ac-

knowledgment of it. He stepped back further to remove himself from tempta-

tion. He had enough respect for her to wait; he would not ruin this night

because of his libido.

“I’ll see you Saturday,
elskling
. We both have double orders of waffles to

work off, after all.”

She sucked her teeth. “I’m not doing an extra mile!” Tyler called as he went

back to his Jeep.

He waved at her, hopped into his vehicle, and started for his own home.

Twelve

“How was the date?”

Gunnar’s smile at the question was instant, and so was the friendly, yet

forceful punch to his shoulder. “Ouch!”

“All that muscle you got in that arm?!” Damon asked incredulously. “Man…”

Gunnar chuckled and rotated his arm, internally conceding it was more

surprise at the punch than the actual force that had made him exclaim. “Tyler

loves her sports.”

“Does she?!” Damon asked as if he were shocked and underwhelmed at the

same time. “What ever made you think
that
?”

“Ha, ha,” Gunnar said, going into his file cabinet to put up the invoices he’d

just finished. She’d been on his mind nonstop since their date, and now, as they

were packing up the office to go home, there was less than twenty-four hours

before he would see her again for their training session.

He smiled in anticipation.

“Sprung!”

Gunnar shrugged, not bothering to deny it. “So are you.”

“Yeah, man!”

“You asked Wendy to marry you, yet?”

Damon’s face fell slightly. “No, man. She’s been working late all week. That

ring is burnin’ a hole through my pockets farreal. It’s gonna happen sooner

than later, though.”

“If she says no?”

Damon shrugged this time. “It’ll hurt like a bitch, but I’ll just ask her again.

I know she loves me. It’s not even about that. It’s about her career, but I’m not

trying to stop her or anything. If she wants to move to a bigger news market,

then we move. I love her. I can be a personal trainer anywhere…”

The Beauty Within

121

Gunnar nodded. “That’s noble of you.”

“You say noble, I say selfish! I don’t want Wendy with anyone other than

me!”

Gunnar smiled, but was quickly seized with the realization he felt the ex-

act same way about Tyler. Unwilling to think too hard about that, however, he

invited Damon to the pub, promising this time he wouldn’t get piss-ass drunk.

“Good…you’re a heavy man to drag!”

“You didn’t drag me the last time!” Gunnar corrected on a laugh.

They locked up the office, waving at Valerie as they left. She was about to

teach her own class—yoga. At first, Gunnar had been hesitant about letting a

woman stay for the late hours the gym was open, but after Valerie had chal-

lenged him to a one-on-one defense session, he realized any potential intruders

had much more to worry about than Valerie did! For a woman so deceptively

slight, she could definitely do some damage!

Gunnar and Damon had much fun at the pub this time, even after seeing

Kaci with her latest boy toy of the hour. She’d had the audacity to flirt with

both when her date wasn’t looking, but Gunnar ignored her and Damon had

fun making her look like an idiot without her knowledge.

When Kaci sauntered back to her date, Gunnar let out the guffaw that had

been struggling free since Damon had started.

“Awful!” he said, after he’d calmed down.

Damon scowled mildly. “You’re the one who’s hit it, before—multiple

times, I may add—so don’t be castin’ stones. Catch a boulder in the face!”

Gunnar sighed and shook his head. Damon was right, after all, but Gunnar

had vowed not to get involved with any more women like that. Then again,

he’d sworn off Kaci weeks ago, and yet…

“Weak,” he muttered.

“You need a strong woman to help build you up,” Damon said sagely, tak-

ing a sip of Dr. Pepper.

Gunnar smiled as he looked at his lemonade. “Working on it…”

The next morning, Gunnar went on his customary run throughout the

neighborhood, the cool morning perfect for his workout. He felt antsy and he

knew exactly why. Tyler would be coming for her session at noon, and he

would get uninterrupted time with her. The tone of their relationship had

changed after their date, their conversations on the phone longer and more

meaningful. In fact, the night before, after he’d left Damon and the pub, he’d

called Tyler just to hear her voice. It had been rough from sleep, though he

hadn’t called so late, and he’d teased her about going to bed so early.

“Can’t a sista take a nap?” she had muttered, but her breathless chuckle

had told him she’d taken his teasing in stride.

It was only supposed to be a quick call, but they didn’t hang up until well

after midnight. She’d told him about her day, her clients, the fact her mother

had been on her mind. Their dinner at Waffle House had been the first time in

Savannah J. Frierson

a long time she’d spoken of her mother to anyone, including Wendy, and Tyler

realized just how much she missed her. Tyler’s frankness had compelled

Gunnar to talk about the loneliness he’d felt being away from his sister and his

parents. It didn’t matter he was thirty-four years old; family was still impor-

tant, and to not to be able to see it as often as he would like did take a toll on

him.

“But if it wasn’t for you, Damon, and Wendy, I’d be even worse,” he’d con-

fessed on a whisper.

“Surrogate family,” Tyler had said. “An older brother and two baby sisters!”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that…I shouldn’t want to kiss my sister breath-

less every time I see her, should I?”

Her breath had caught and she didn’t answer immediately. “No…”

“Or want to touch her in places that cause her to tremble, or make those

sexy little sounds in her throat, or make her eyes go dark with need and

passion?”

She had sighed and whimpered. “Gunnar…”

He’d known he probably should have stopped, but he couldn’t, addicted to

the tone in her voice, full of desire. “And I definitely,
definitely
, shouldn’t get as

hard as a rock when she sighs my name like that, should I?”

“Please…”

Her breathing had been heavy on the phone, and it had been all he could do

not to reach into his pants and relieve the pressure inside of them. He’d been

playing a dangerous game, one that would have better results if she’d been

there with him. Nevertheless, he’d had to continue…

“Please what, Tyler?” Gunnar had asked, his voice low.

“You…”

“I what?”

“I gotta go,” she had whispered.

A full minute had passed until she had told him goodnight, and another

minute had passed before he told her the same. Neither had wanted to end the

call, but eventually she had, leaving Gunnar with the phone to his ear as he’d

thought of all manners of unpleasant things to will away his erection.

“Jesus,” he muttered, slowing to a stop in front of his house. His shorts

were too damn tight, again. How was he going to function with her in his

house, so close to him? Her scent would drive him crazy, and he didn’t know if

he would be able to behave. Thank goodness she wouldn’t need so much help

using his equipment, or else he would be giving her a completely new method

of “working out.”

“Not helping,” he murmured to his traitorous mind as he walked into his

home. He went upstairs and showered, unable to resist working out his

climax, the evidence of it spraying the tiles beside the soap dish. He pretended

he didn’t hear Tyler’s name echoing amid the shower’s spray, and ignored the

fact he hadn’t come so hard in years.

The Beauty Within

123

“Fuck,” he gasped, leaning on his arm that rested against the shower walls.

“Damn.”

He was in so much trouble.

To keep his mind distracted, he made a large breakfast of wheat pancakes

and bacon with orange juice, then thoroughly cleaned the exercise equipment.

By the time he was done, he was sweating almost as hard as he had while on

his run.

And then the doorbell rang.

His hand tightened around the rag he held in reaction, and his heartbeat

accelerated. He checked his watch. She was on time.

He went to his kitchen to put up his cleaning products and washed his

hands in the sink before opening the front door.

“Hi,” Tyler said softly, giving him a small smile and biting her lip.

Gunnar gripped the knob so he wouldn’t pull her to him and kiss her silly.

“Hi.”

Instead of sweats, she was wearing yoga pants and loose top that fell down

one shoulder to expose the wide black strap of her sports bra and a smooth

dark brown shoulder.

He wanted to press his lips against it.

Her smile widened. “Are you going to let me in, or did you cancel?”