Page 12 of The Stranger

Without warning, he sweeps me into his arms and deposits me on the passenger seat of the Bronco. I yelp and smack his arm. “Tyler!”

“We don’t want the birthday celebrant to be late.”

After he slides into the driver’s seat, I touch his arm. “Is this yours?”

“Yes. I’m not a fan of cars in general because they feel claustrophobic, but I take this out when the occasion calls for it.” Tyler turns serious as he runs a knuckle along my cheek. “Is this okay for you? It’s no limo.”

“You really should give me more credit. I love Broncos. You haven’t seen my car, but it’s actually a truck.”

“Really? I would have pegged you as a sports car kind of girl.”

“You don’t know me that well.”

“Not yet, no. But I intend to know everything about you, little fairy. Every little thing.”

Is it just me, or is there some kind of promise behind those words? Because honestly, there’s only one birthday gift I want, and he’s sitting right beside me.

If this night leads to where I hope it will, then it’s going to be the best birthday ever.

“What’sthe weirdest thing you’ve ever tattooed on someone?” I ask Tyler while we sway to the music.

I admit I was a bit nervous introducing him to my parents, but aside from Dad’s subtle eyebrow raise and Mom communicating to me with her eyes—she’s going to pepper me with questions once we’re alone, I’m sure—they’ve been doing their best to make Tyler comfortable.

I love them for that because while my parents have been grooming me to take over the real estate business since I was probably two, they understand that all the other aspects of mylife are off-limits. The one with Martin? That’s on me. Everyone fully expected us to get together, so I was like, “Why not?”

There was nothing really. No spark. No chemistry. Rarely any conversation between us, and if there was any, he was the one doing the talking.

Tyler is different. Things are happening too fast, but it feels right.

He thinks about my question. “A middle-aged woman came to the studio in the middle of the night, just as we were about to close shop. She wanted me to tattoo a gravestone of her ex-husband on her back. Like, her entire back.”

“What’s so weird about that? I mean, what if she still loved him?”

“He wasn’t dead yet, Maura.”

“Oh.”

Tyler clenches his jaw and says in a rush, “I told Erika about us, and she said the likelihood of your parents coming between us is about one hundred percent.”

I laugh and shake my head. “I don’t think so.”

“No? They’re not concerned that you’re with me?”

“What does that even mean, Tyler?”

“I mean, I’m a realist. I won’t hold it against your father if he objects to you going out with me.”

I toy with a loose thread on his shirt. “They never really try to control my love life, you know. That one with Martin. We’ve known each other since we were in diapers, and it was a given that we’d end up together. So that’s what happened. Not becauseI’m attracted to him or something, but only because everyone expected us to.”

“And now?”

“And now I’m living my life on my own terms.” I sigh and run a hand along his hard chest, stopping just above his heart, thelub-dubsound calming me, grounding me. “I’m a career woman. Martin knew that, but when he proposed, he already told me I could quit my job and stay at home. If we get married, I’ll resent him, get depressed, and drool over the gardener while I sip my fifth glass of wine for breakfast.”

“So much to unpack in that one statement.”

I laugh softly but immediately turn serious. “Are you worried about my family?”

“I do. I really, really like you, Maura. I can’t stop touching you when we’re together, and I can’t stop thinking about you when we’re not.” Tyler pauses and clenches his razor-sharp jaw. “I hope I don’t scare you, but I think I’m obsessed with you.”

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