“I just…this isn’t going to work, Tyler. Besides, you have a girlfriend.” This all came out in a hasty rush. I held my breath, waiting for his response. It was stupid of me, really, to hope he would tell me I was wrong. Whatever he said, whatever excuses he came up with, it wouldn’t make a difference either way. It was just…his having a girlfriend would make all of this easier. I’m not that woman. As a rule, I don’t date men who aren’t available. Ever.
“I don’t have a girlfriend, Ailee.” His response was firm, but he didn’t sound surprised that I’d said it. “Willow is my sister. We hang out. A lot. And people assume she’s my girlfriend.” He laughed. “Trust me, she’s the farthest thing from it, but it comes in handy sometimes for people to think that.”
My mouth dropped open. Her name was actually Willow? Wait until I tell Stef! But first, back to the current conversation. “It doesn’t matter, really. That’s not the reason I’m calling this off. Whatever this is.”
“Ailee, I just want to see you. Tonight.” He sounded frustrated. “Please. We can just get a beer.” He paused. “Or maybe some coffee would be better.”
I frowned at my empty wineglass. Why did I feel like I was missing something?
“Please, Ailee.” He cleared his throat, and when he spoke again, his tone was assuredly lighter. “It’s Friday night. Come hang out with me. Just for a while. And after the night is through and we’ve had a chance to talk, if you still don’t want to see me again, I’ll respect your decision. I swear.”
Stay firm, girl. Stay firm.“I really can’t. I have an early shoot tomorrow.” Rolling my eyes at myself before I even uttered the words, I said, “How about tomorrow night?”
“Um, tomorrow might not work for me. I have a thing I’m supposed to do. Just…meet me at the coffee shop by your studio. I promise I’ll have you home at a decent hour.”
I was a masochist. That was the only explanation for the words about to come out of my mouth. “Fine. Okay. Give me thirty minutes.”
“Great.” I could hear the relief in his voice. “Thank you. I’ll see you there.”
After he hung up, I stood there staring at my phone. What the hell had I just agreed to? And what happened to all of the decisiveness I’d felt while talking to Stef? I groaned, then went to the bathroom to check my appearance. Coffee. That’s all. Just coffee and conversation. He couldn’t talk me out of my clothes in the middle of Maggie’s Espresso.
Besides, he’d probably disappear again before anything could happen.
Tyler was waitingfor me when I arrived thirty-five minutes later. He was staring at the empty chair on the other side of the table, one leg bouncing up and down as his fingers tapped a rapid staccato on the wooden top. He looked as nervous as I felt, but he stood and smiled when I walked up to the table, all of the tension leaving his body in a long exhale. And he was once again the cool, calm, and collected guy I was used to. “You’re here.”
“Hey, Tyler.”
“Hey,” he said softly. “What would you like to drink?”
“I can get it.” I started to turn away, to walk to the counter. Or, perhaps, back out the door.
“No, please. Let me. I dragged you out of your house at this ungodly hour to come meet up with me. The least I can do is buy your coffee.” His eyes twinkled with humor.
I caved. “A caramel latte with soymilk. Decaf, please.”
“You got it.”
I watched him swagger over to the counter. He was wearing jeans again, a little darker than the ones he’d had on last night, and a long-sleeved, dark red button-down shirt made of some kind of soft-looking material with a collar. Black sneakers were on his feet. With his dark hair and olive-toned skin, he looked like he’d walked straight off a fashion runway. The girl taking his order was young. Probably right out of high school. She laughed at something he’d said, her cheeks turning a bright pink as she peeked at him from under her lashes.
What am I doing?
I asked myself this for the hundredth time in the last half hour. Was it true Willow was his sister? What if she wasn’t, and he was just playing me? Taking advantage of a lonely, older woman. I chewed on my thumbnail as I watched him chatting up the barista while he waited for my drink. Maybe this was all a big prank.
Or, maybe I just needed to chill out and enjoy the sex for however long it lasted.
Problem was, I knew me. And I didn’t do casual sex. I’d tried once or twice in my life, and inevitably, I developedfeelings. That was just the kind of person I was. I soaked in the energy around me and reacted accordingly. And I felt things pretty hard. This was why I’d veered far, far away from the dating scene ever since my divorce.
And there was no way in hell I wouldn’t do the same thing with Tyler. Just from the few conversations we’d had over the last year since I met him, my instincts told me he was a genuinely nice guy. But nice or not, he was definitely the bad boy type. Intense. A little dark. The kind of guy I’d always found completely irresistible when I was young, and the kind of guy I normally stayed far, far away from now that I was older and had a little bit of sense in my head.
Last night was just…well, I didn’t know what the hell had happened last night.
I scoffed at myself. His bad boy persona wasn’t the real issue here. The real issue was that I was afraid. Say he really was available, and he really was that into me. My kids would laugh at me if I introduced them to this guy as their new…what? Mom’s boyfriend? Stepdad?
My heart thumped as a sudden vision of Tyler, dark eyes intense with emotion, swearing himself to me and only me, flashed through my mind.
Blinking hard to break offthatinsane train of thought, I tore my gaze from his strong thighs—outlined so well in those jeans—and looked down at the table.
And then what? I grow older and fatter and more wrinkled while he remains frozen in time? Or practically. All of these curves he claimed to so love were hanging on to their youth by a thread. A very thin thread. One that was quickly unraveling.
