Wild Temptation (8 page)

“So, this is kind of random,” I start, “but how do you think Aaron would feel about getting a new best man?”

Dayton snorts into her coffee. “Oh god,” she replies, her eyes wide and her hand covering her mouth. “What did he do this time? What did you do? Fuck, I don’t even know who I’m supposed to blame. You’re both so bad.”

“Well, thanks.” Nothing like the support of your best friend. “Nothing. Well, I did nothing. He turned up at work last night.” I explain the evening and what he said to me.

She mulls it over for a moment, sipping her coffee. “Have you considered that maybe he really does want to talk? Mouth talk.”

“Have you ever known him to talk to a woman? Especially after he’s slept with her.”

“Well, no. Of course, his sister’s bridesmaid was an exception, but that’s because Tessa would have hung his balls out to dry if he was a dick to her.”

“Right. So why do you think he’d want to talk to me?”

“I’m thinking on that.” She sips her coffee again. “Maybe he wants to take you on a date.”

“Hell to the no.” Panic jolts through my body. “I’m not going on a date with him. Ever. Dates are stringy.”

Day rolls her eyes. “And so is some cheese, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Tyler is not string cheese.” And the oddest sentence award goes to that one.

“No, he’s just the cheese.”

“I’m not following.”

Where did the cheese come from again?

“Not all cheese is good cheese. String cheese is good cheese. Maybe Tyler is string cheese before it turns into string cheese.”

I blink at her. She’s lost me. Totally. “Um, sure. But he’s not my string cheese. I don’t even like string cheese.”

“Of course you don’t. You don’t appreciate good cheese.”

“Can we stop saying cheese now?” I raise my eyebrows, and we both laugh. “I don’t know why I called you. This conversation has gotten me nowhere,” I sigh.

Dayton chews on her bottom lip. “Well, our conversations rarely go anywhere that makes sense. But to answer your original question—I assume it wasn’t rhetorical—no, I don’t think Aaron would be happy to choose a new best man.” She smiles.

I sigh. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

“And no, I’m not getting a new maid of honor. You two will just have to find some way to work together fully clothed.” She stands and grabs her purse. “By the way, have you planned the bridal shower and bachelorette party yet?”

Fucking bridal shower and bachelorette party.

“Almost,” I fib. “But you know I’m not telling you anything about them.”

“That’s what you say when you don’t know yourself.” She shoots me a triumphant smirk. “And don’t forget. You promised me I could take some pictures of you for my school stuff this weekend.”

Fuck.

“I didn’t forget,” I lie again.

Day merely smiles before stepping onto the sidewalk.

Right. That shoot I promised her. Surely that’s not this weekend? I mean, I wouldn’t have organized it for a weekend. Weekend is work, drink, and sex time. Not necessarily in that order.

I grab my cell and, after flipping straight to the calendar, see that she’s right.
Saturday, two o’clock, Dayton’s photo thing
. Dayton’s photo thing? Get a load of my technical lingo. Sigh. I suppose there’s no backing out of this, despite the fact I’ll be working until three a.m. Saturday night.

Someone coughs in front of me and I look up. My mouth goes dry. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Tyler smirks, leaning back in his chair. “I’ve never left a beautiful woman sitting alone in a coffee shop.”

“Oh, I believe you.” I drop my phone into my purse. “Luckily for me, I was just leaving.”

“Sit down, Olivia.”

My eyes immediately narrow at the use of my full name. Only my mother uses my full name. “Call me by my proper name and I’ll consider it.”

He sighs like it’s a hardship to repeat himself. I’ll give him a fucking hardship. Being stalked by his ass is as hard as it gets.

“Sit down,
Liv.
”

“You never said please.”

His eyes meet mine, annoyance darkening them. “Are you this annoying normally or do you reserve it for me, babe?”

“Oh, I have a special brand of annoying I keep just for assholes who won’t leave me alone,
babe.
” I slam my purse onto the table and sit down. “You have”—I glance at the clock on the wall—“approximately two minutes to explain to me what the hell you’re doing here when not twelve hours ago I told you quite clearly that I have no desire to talk to you.”

Tyler leans forward and rests his forearms on the table. I try not to look at his biceps. But come on. A girl only has so much willpower, and boy. He has niiiiice biceps.

“No desire to talk. Plenty to look though.” The smirk on his face pisses me off.

“Are you this asshole-ish to every girl you meet or should I consider myself special?” I throw his words back at him.

His smirk slowly transforms into a full grin that shows his dimple. “Oh, you’re special. I fucked you twice.”

“Oh, yay. Do I get a gold star?”

“If you behave, I’ll give you another orgasm.”

“If you try it, I’ll take a butter knife to your balls.” I bend forward and smack my hand on the table. “Now talk.”

“I would if it wasn’t so fucking fun pissing you off.” He covers my hand with his.

“Why are you here?” I ask, secretly liking the warmth of his palm over my fingers. Okay, I’m a hypocrite. “I thought you had a shoot this afternoon.”

“Nothing Day can’t handle herself. It’s only for a pretty, little rich boy who thinks he can take over the world.” He lifts my hand and examines each of my fingers slowly.

“Then she must be missing her model.”

He meets my eyes, his dark ones glinting with amusement. “You have beautiful eyes.”

I also have great tits and a pert ass thanks to endless squats, so kudos to him for noticing my eyes. Even if we did have to fuck twice first.

“I’d thank you if I thought you meant it.” Not that he’s getting off easily. I take my hand from his and rest it on my lap. “You still haven’t told me while you’re here and you passed your two minutes some five minutes ago, so I’m going. I have to get to work.”

I get up and head for the door of the coffee shop, but he’s quicker, and he pulls open the door for me. Any guy who opens a door for me makes me melt a little, even if the guy is Tyler.

“Thank you,” I offer.

“You’re welcome. Although it should be noted the only reason I held the door open was so I could stare at your ass as you walked through it.”

And it’s gone. “Prick.”

He jogs to catch up with me as I angrily stalk down the sidewalk. Why didn’t I drive to the coffee shop? Oh, yeah. My clever ass decided that driving when the sun is out is a stupid idea and I should embrace the early spring sun.

Not only is it colder than it was when I got to the coffee shop, but it’s also starting to rain.

“Liv. Get in,” Tyler orders, opening his car door.

I stubbornly hold my purse over my head. “I’m fine.”

“It’s about to piss it down. Get in the fucking car before I shove you in it and smack your arse for good measure.”

I purse my lips. He just keeps on climbing the prick ladder, doesn’t he? Never mind how much the thought of him smacking my ass thrills me.

I climb into his Mercedes with a heavy sigh. A forced, heavy sigh. No one can sigh when they’re sitting in a car like this. Leather seats, different drive modes, built-in GPS, a high-end radio, a million and one buttons on the dashboard…

Holy shit. This car must cost more than I’ve ever earned in my life.

I’m not blind to the money the Stone family possesses. I know Tyler won’t be taking over his parents’ business, so I assumed he was no richer than the majority of Seattle. Apparently, I assumed wrong.

“You look exactly like Dayton did when she got in my old car for the first time,” Tyler laughs.

“And how is that?” I turn to him. Damn, he’s handsome when he laughs.

“Like you’re afraid to touch anything. You can sit back, you know. The chair won’t break, and neither will the seatbelt if you put it on.”

“Shut up,” I mutter, settling back. Just as I do, the sky opens, dropping big, fat raindrops onto the car. My mouth drops open, and I can feel Tyler staring at me.

“Now aren’t you glad I offered you a ride?”

“You didn’t offer as much as force.” I turn my face to him and give him a small smile.

“True.” His lips mirror the curve of mine. “Where are you going?” He turns the key and the engine roars to life.

“I already said. Work.” I click my seatbelt into place, my eyes fixed on the dash as the GPS flickers to life and all the buttons light up. “What do these all do?”

“Drive modes, the radio… I don’t have a bloody clue about the rest. I bought the car because it’s nice, not because it has more buttons than a female body.”

I roll my eyes. Of course a totally innocent question would end up with a mention of a female body or something sexual.

I don’t reply, and the car fills with silence as we head toward White Stag. I’m too exhausted to be at work today, but the afternoon and early evening shift is easy. Five hours, and no rush until eight p.m., when everyone’s done having dinner. Perfect.

My phone rings and I dig it out from my purse. My agent’s name is glaring at me. “Hey.”

“Liv! I’m so glad I caught you before your shift. I have news.”

I shift. “Good or bad?”

“Good! I’m happy with your edited photos from your last shoot, and I’ve picked out my favorites for you to look over. Are you free on Monday? At two?”

I run over my shifts in my head. “Sure. I’m working at six then.”

“Perfect. I’ll pencil you in. It won’t take long. I’d like to get them finalized and sent off.” The shuffling of papers comes down the line. “And—oh! I have another shoot for you. What are you working over the next two weeks?”

“Um, I’m not sure. I can get the schedule before my shift starts today and let you know.”

“That’d be great. It’s not a huge shoot, but it’ll be big enough that it could open a few doors. So I’ll let you get to work and I’ll see you on Monday. We’ll discuss the shoot then, too.”

A smile stretches across my face. “See you Monday. Thanks, Sheila!”

I hang up and drop the phone back into my purse. I love it when she calls with good news.

“Good news?” Tyler asks, pulling into the parking lot of the bar.

“Yes!” I unclip my belt and shift in my seat to face him. “I’m looking over my photos from, um, our shoot on Monday, and she has another lined up for me.”

His lips curve at both sides, and he rests his arm on the top of the steering wheel. “They were incredible photos. I’m glad she insisted on picking her favorites because I never would have been able to.”

I study his face for any sign of teasing, and finding none, I feel my cheeks flush. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He reaches out and pushes some hair from my face. I smile and bend to grab my purse. “Liv?”

“Hmm?” I sit up straight.

His face moves toward mine before I can stop him, and the tantalizing brush of his lips against mine makes me freeze. His fingers, curved under my jaw, hold my face steady as he tastes every inch of my lips in a slow kiss that curls my insides.

I wrap my fingers around his neck as my body instinctively moves toward him despite the voice in my head telling me to stop. This is too gentle, too soft, too warm. But I can’t stop. He has the control and he’s exploring the curve of my mouth with a thousand deep kisses and light nibbles.

I drop my hand as he pulls away, breaking the contact, and look at him, dazed. He brushes his thumb over my cheek.

“You’ll be late for work.”

Work. Right. Yep.

I turn away from him and open my door, pausing for a moment to say, “Thanks for the ride,” before I get out and slam it behind me.

But I still hear his, “You’re welcome,” reply as I run across the parking lot in the pouring rain.

I duck inside the back door and peer through to the bar. My lips feel swollen and achy from that kiss, and a hundred feelings are swirling throughout my body. Ones I don’t want to feel. Ones I have no place feeling.

Ones that are fucking dangerous for me to feel.

My gaze sweeps across the bar, and for the first time in my life, I’m glad to see Old Dill with an empty pint glass.