Page 36 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

She picked the chilli, spooning in a mouthful. The second it hit her lips, she moaned. Tyler, who had been watching her, turned away.

‘Good?’ he asked. His voice was thicker than usual.

‘Amazing,’ she said on a groan. ‘I can’t believe you did all this.You really think the Arms could pull this off? To be honest, I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of just doing pie and chips and the like.’

‘Well, now you don’t have to.’ He reached for the business plan he’d left on the side. ‘You know, this plan is pretty amazing. You should be really proud of yourself.’

‘Yeah, turns out my drunk drafting is pretty solid. Although I think it’s a good thing I only had to tweak a few bits. Thanks for this, really. It’s great. More than great, but what are you going to do with it all?’

He shrugged. ‘I have the dog shelter coming to get it before we open. I figured those guys could make use of it. I send them leftovers from here from time to time.’ When he caught her surprised look, his shoulders lifted. ‘What? You feed the dogs; the humans need a treat now and then too.’

His eyes locked with hers, and time shuddered to a stop.

‘You should let more people see this side of you.’

‘What side?’ he asked softly.

‘This side,’ her fingers reached up to touch his chest, but she stilled them before making contact. ‘Everyone thinks you’re this grumpy, scowling, quiet lumberjack, but you’re an absolute softie underneath it all. You care, Tyler Williams. More than you let people see.’

He covered the back of her hand, placing it on his chest for a moment before letting it go.

‘If you tell anyone,’ he whispered theatrically, ‘I might have to put you in a pie.’

She laughed, using the hand that still tingled from his touch to tap him on the chest. ‘Well, thanks. I’d better start opening up.’

She got to the door of the kitchen before he called her name.

‘Yeah?’ she asked.

‘You’re off tonight, right? Any plans?’

‘Nope. Well, I was going to look at some baby stuff on the ’net.’

He nodded, his eyes narrowing before his face dropped into an easy smile.

‘Why?’

‘I’m off too. Leaving Ben to run things solo for once, and I’ve had another idea, if you fancy it?’

‘Oh yeah?’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘It’s not a fish market, is it?’

His laugh filled the kitchen. ‘No, definitely not.’

‘Then I’m in. It’s nice this: us talking again. I like it.’

He grinned, and it was positively infectious, seeing him like that before her. Maybe if she still got little pieces of him, like this – she could cope without the rest. No-one ever got everything they wanted in life, right? Two out of three was still pretty good.

‘Good, me too. It’s a date then.’

When she got to the bar, she played the words over in her head.It’s a date.She’d never corrected him. She could have, but something in her didn’t want to.Stop it,she told herself.You have sperm ordered. Actual baby-making schedules to start.The thing was, the only thing that wasn’t ruddy frozen was her heart.

14

‘Any good?’ Tyler gave her the thumbs up, but his puckered-up face told a different story.

‘Really?’ She raised a sceptical brow. ‘Because you look like you’re about to throw up.’

Tyler shook his head, but the motion turned his complexion green. Holding up a finger, he tapped at his chest and swallowed audibly.

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