Page 14 of For Always
Tyler waited a beat and then shrugged. “Yeah, I guess that’s the word for it.”
“No need to apologize. My brother Alex is like that sometimes. Mostly he’s bossy and overprotective, but when something really bothers him, he can be pretty moody about it,” she said.
So she was comparing him to her brother. Tyler didn’t know if that was good or bad. What he knew for certain was that he was glad he’d asked her to join him tonight.
“I really appreciate you joining me and my family for dinner. I know it’s not part of your job description.”
“Well, if I end up redesigning and decorating I’ll need to spend some time talking to each of you to hear about your ideas for the new style. But I understand what you’re trying to say, so I’ll just say, apology accepted.”
Looking forward as they grew closer to the corral, he wondered if he should say something about his parents, or their murders, or that someone had come onto his private property and vandalized the premises. None of which was good date conversation. But this wasn’t a date. If it was, he would have been more on his game. Because he did date periodically, and when he did, it turned out well and he wasn’t ashamed to admit that. He could adequately romance a woman. He could also maintain a relationship—for as much as a person in his position could have a relationship—for a relatively good amount of time. About two months. After that it was on the road to serious and Tyler had done that before and never wanted to try it again.
“So tomorrow I’d like to give you a complete tour of the house and the employee living quarters,” he said. “Then I promise not to rope you into anymore dinner meetings. I’ll let you settle in and work on the proposals.”
“It was no problem, really. I come from a big family and they married into bigger families, so I’m used to differences of opinion.”
“Are you used to murder investigations too?”
He had no idea why he’d asked that question. Well, yes, he did. There was no one else for him to talk to about this. Jagger didn’t seem as interested in what had really happened to their parents as Tyler was and Brooke, well, Tyler didn’t give a damn what she was interested in. Dessie and Clyde had been his parents’ friends so they were far too emotional to look at things objectively. Tyler, on the other hand…where did he fit in all of this? The son who still carried around a ton of guilt because he was never good enough for his father, and the brother who, in Jagger’s eyes, was always too good.
“Actually, yes,” she replied to his surprise.
“What? Are you serious?”
Gabriella nodded.
“Years ago my family was targeted by a jealous man and his daughter. That ended in a shoot-out which involved my sister-in-law and her brother. My other sister-in-law’s brother was shot and killed by a police officer. And my brother-in-law’s family had a stalking, murdering woman terrorizing their family for the last two years.”
Tyler stopped and turned to stare at her. “Okay, well in that case, I guess you can relate.”
She nodded. “You want answers. You want to know who killed your parents. I’m assuming it’s the murder investigation that the sheriff was talking about earlier.”
“It was,” he said and continued to stare at her.
He should say something, but words weren’t coming. He found himself simply wanting to look at her. This woman that walked into his life yesterday afternoon wearing perhaps the sexiest pair of shoes he’d ever seen. Or maybe it was the white polish on her petite toes. He wasn’t sure. All Tyler knew was that he had been intrigued by Gabriella Bennett from that moment on. And now he was standing here, beneath a starless night sky, wanting to…what?
“It makes sense,” she continued. “And I hope you find the answers you’re searching for. I hope—”
Her words were cut short as Tyler had already closed the space between them. With one hand clasping the back of her neck, he leaned in and took her mouth in one quick motion.
His tongue moved over hers in a warm duel that immediately sent heat spiraling throughout his body. She hurriedly clasped his arms before tilting her head and joining in the kiss. There were no sounds, not the crickets or any other animal in the vicinity. There was no breeze. No movement, except the dance of tongues. He couldn’t think of anything else, didn’t want to actually. He thought he needed to get closer, to touch more, and to taste more. Tyler just wanted more.
And then she pulled away.
“Sorry,” he said the moment he looked at her face.
Her fingers were shaking as she lifted her hand and touched her now swollen lips. She backed away and Tyler felt like a complete jerk.
“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” he said and took a step toward her.
But she moved back another step, and then another.
“I should go,” she said, her voice low and shaky.
“Gabriella. I apologize. It won’t happen again. I won’t overstep. I—”
She held up a hand and shook her head. “I’m going to go back to my room. I’ll see you tomorrow, Tyler.”
He wanted to say something else. He wanted to go to her and walk her to her room. Assure her that he wasn’t a jackass. Not normally. Something. Instead, he did nothing.
