Page 41 of Living Hell

THIRTEEN

Tyler

“HOW MUCH LONGER DOI have to keep my eyes closed?” I asked for fear she was leading me to my death.

“Not much farther.”

“You said that a mile ago.”

We were still walking. Before we left the office, I told Olivia to lock up. She was now awake and having a make-out session with Carter in my office. I really hope they left before it went beyond kissing.

Once we were on the sidewalk, Iona made me keep my eyes closed—which I did for about a minute. When I heard a horn blare, I opened my eyes to discover she was leading me directly into traffic.

“I hadn’t factored in all the turns. It’s taking longer than I thought.”

Once we safely crossed the street, she swore she would let me look at the ground when crossing the street as if that made it any safer.

“At least I don’t hear cars. You aren’t leading me to Old Legend Cliff, are you? You’re going to kill me, aren’t you? Make it look like I accidentally fell off a cliff. That’s why there’s no blindfold. Leaving no evidence behind, that’s smart . . .”

My heart pounded in my chest. At one time in my life, I knew Iona. She was my best friend, but I hadn’t seen her in over a decade. People changed. She could have turned into a murderous she-devil.

“You guessed it! How did you know I planned to parade you all through town so there were dozens of eyewitnesses before I shoved you off a cliff?”

“Your sarcasm isn’t appreciated at the moment.”

“No need to worry now, we’re here.”

Iona finally dropped her hand from covering my eyes and I blinked. I was temporarily blinded by the late afternoon sun, but it felt nice not having her sweaty hand over my eyes. At first, I thought, kinky, but the longer we walked, the more it went from sexy to irritating torture.

Once I could see, I noticed the picnic table with a white tablecloth, dishes, silverware, and a large covered dish in the center, and I realized what this was.

She went to the table and waved her arm. “Dinner is served.”

I was in shock. This place held so many memories of her that I haven’t been here since she left. The old shed was still standing off in the distance near the woods. “This is our old spot.”

It hurt too much to be here for the first few years after Iona moved. After that, I put the place out of my mind. Why visit a location that reminded me of the girl who captured my heart only to discard it without a thought?

“The paps don’t know about it, so we won’t be interrupted like we would if we went to a restaurant. Besides, I always loved this spot.”

Her fingers brushed along the edge of the table and the hazy gaze made me wonder if she was reliving the old times, too.

I had been struck silent by the most beautiful and thoughtful woman I was lucky enough to know. She was the opposite of a she-devil, and I was ashamed that thought ever entered my mind. I wanted to tangle my fingers in hers and pull her toward the stream. Make love to her like I did eleven years ago. Only I would know what I was doing this time.

“Why are you staring at me like that? I hope you don’t think it was stupid. We can eat at a restaurant if you want.”

I strode toward Iona and slipped my fingers into her silky black hair. Without any hesitation, my lips descended on hers. She tasted of lemons and sugar and I couldn’t get enough.

“Is this what you want?” I said against her cheek before I kissed my way down her neck.

“Yes. God, yes, Tyler.”

I didn’t need to hear her words because her hands told me everything. Iona’s arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me close. I shuddered when her fingernails scraped through my scalp. Every hair on my body went on end and my cock soon followed.

Despite this location being a little secluded, anyone could walk back and see us, but I didn’t care. Knowing that she never wanted to end our relationship in the past and what she went through without me caused my heart to reverse everything.

I pushed her back against the table and got down on my knees. Lifting her yellow T-shirt to expose the tender caramel skin of her stomach, I dotted kisses from her belly button to just under her breasts.

Every ounce of anger that rose to the surface in the past whenever I saw her picture flash on a screen for a movie or the mention of her name was disintegrating. In its ashes, a fiery heat rose that was about to engulf me.

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