“I’ll be careful.”
“Promise me.”
“I promise.”
She stood on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his cheek, then climbed into her SUV before he could react. Tyler watched as she started the engine, backed out of the alley, and drove away.
He stood there for a long moment after her taillights disappeared, his hand touching the spot where she’d kissed his cheek.
Something was building between them. Something real and powerful and terrifying in its intensity. He’d come to Basin County hoping to start over, to build a new life in the place that had always felt like home.
He hadn’t expected to find Brooke.
Hadn’t expected to feel this way about someone when his life was such a disaster.
But here he was, standing in an alley behind her coffee shop, still feeling the ghost of her kiss on his lips and knowing that everything had changed.
Tyler walked to his truck, scanning the street for any sign of Adam’s patrol vehicle or sports car. Nothing. Another small mercy.
As he drove home, Tyler thought about Brooke’s smile, her laugh, the way she’d looked at him in the dim kitchen light. He thought about the kiss that had lasted only seconds but felt like it had rewired something fundamental inside him.
He was in trouble. Deep, serious, wonderful trouble.
And for the first time in years, that didn’t feel like a curse.
It felt like hope.
Chapter 17
Brooke
Brooke wiped down the espresso machine, her mind anywhere but on the gleaming chrome surface in front of her.
She couldn’t stop thinking about last night—Tyler in the dim kitchen, the heat of his chest under her hand, the way he’d kissed her back.
That kiss had kept her awake for half the night. She replayed it over and over until she finally gave up on sleep around four in the morning.
What must he think of her? She’d basically thrown herself at him. Sure, he hadn’t pulled away, had even seemed to welcome it, but still. How embarrassing to be so forward when the man was dealing with so much.
“You okay?” Becky asked, appearing beside her with a tray of dirty mugs.
“Of course. Why?”
“You’ve been cleaning that same spot for like five minutes.”
Brooke stepped back from the machine, realizing she’d been staring at it without seeing it. “Guess I’m distracted.”
“Thinking about Tyler Gillis?”
“What? No. Why would you—”
Becky’s knowing smile stopped her. “Small town, remember? People saw his truck parked down the street last night around closing time. They’re talking.”
Of course they were. Brooke suppressed a groan. “We were just talking.”
“Uh-huh.” Becky didn’t sound convinced. “For what it’s worth, I think he’s innocent. Deputy Know-It-All’s got it wrong.”
“You think so?”
