Page 11 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

‘Did I?’ He twiddled his hair between two fingers.

‘Yep. You remember? A minute ago, when you thought I was looking for sex tips on the net? You said I didn’t need to watch that stuff.’

‘Er… well…’ He looked away. ‘I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘But you’ve thought about it.’ She was enjoying this, teasing him back. It soothed the barb she’d felt in her chest when she’d thought he was talking about her being a mother. Pushed them back into their usual teasing banter. ‘My amazingness.’

‘I didn’t… er… I haven’t… not thought about it.’ His blush was practically crimson now. Brown eyes flashed to hers. ‘Haven’t you…?’Shit.She was teasing, but now they were in new territory.What could she say? He was her friend, her best male friend, but he was also sculpted by the gods. The gods that made Vikings, lumberjacks, Norse Gods. The man was fit with a capital F. Add to that his surly, burly ways, the little things he did for her, and… well, a woman would have to be made of stone not to let her mind wander once in a while. She’d have to be dead not to notice him. He was always just there, it seemed. When she was struggling with a barrel, or hangry behind the bar. He’d just materialise from nowhere, fix the problem. Shove food in front of her when everyone else recoiled from her snarling form. If a customer gave her trouble, he was the one who just seemed to appear at her shoulder. One look from him and the problem just… went away. Sharon used to joke he was her bodyguard, until Bradley came into her life. He’d retreated then, but she knew he was always there. Ever watchful, as if he was waiting for her to need him for something. And she kind of did, even though it was in this moment that she was acknowledging that. They’d known each other longer than her relationship had lasted, and having a male best friend was a little weird to some people. Brad had even asked her a couple of times early in their relationship whether they’d ever dated. She’d been mindful of that ever since, and she figured that’s why Tyler had stepped back a little. It was nice to have him close again. Tyler Williams had this way of making her feel calm when her head was spinning.

She’d felt it the first time they’d met, when his deep-set, brown eyes had assessed her with that scowl he often sported on his face. She saw it, even now when he looked at her. His eyes were boring into her as if he wanted to stare the answer right out of her. She willed her face not to flush, remembering all the times she’d glanced more than once at his corded forearms, or at how the flannel shirts he always seemed to wear screamed with tension over his thick biceps. Oh yeah, she’d thought about it, but they were colleagues. If she ever crossed that line, the little things he didmight get lost. The pastries full of cherries she loved, the way he always tried to push her to pull the trigger on her life. Before she’d met Brad, she’d thought about asking him to come with her to the Arms. To stay, workwithher. But something had always stopped her from getting too close, like that. He was important to her, but she couldn’t say the thoughts she’d had about him were always on a friendship level. He didn’t even do relationships. The last one he’d had in London had wrecked him, from what little she could tell. So he’d become a friend, and one of her favourite people on the planet. Even if she had sometimes wondered what he would do if she ever tried to venture her fingers under that flannel…

Oh God, stop thinking about it now! Answer him! It’s Tyler, Amber. Tyler.

‘Answer the question, Amber.’ His commanding tone skittered her thoughts apart, and she didn’t give herself time to form a sensible answer before she was pushing words out on a slightly shaky breath.

‘I… a couple of times, sure.’ She felt her face redden, her mouth running out ahead of her. ‘Before Brad, I…’You what, Amber? Wanted to climb him like a wildcat up a tree? Stop talking!

‘You have?’ His brows shot up to his hairline, his lips pressing together as his fists clenched at his sides. ‘In what way, exactly, and when did you?—’

Ben appeared in the doorway behind him. ‘Morning, boss!’ He saw Amber sitting at the desk, slack jawed and mind whirling. ‘Morning, big boss.’ Looking between the two of them with curiosity as they looked at each other as if he wasn’t there. ‘What’s up with you two?’

‘Nothing!’ Amber trilled in a tone far too high pitched, in the same second Tyler growled out a, ‘Leave’ without looking away. Ben’s brows rose and fell comically, his jaw bobbing as he looked from Tyler’s rigid back to Amber’s face. When she dropped her eyesback to Tyler, the look on his face made her stomach flip. The tension was radiating off him, and she knew Ben could sense it too.

‘I’ll er… just… yeah.’ He turned on his heel and headed to the kitchen, and Amber turned back to her desk with a spin that almost sent her careening to the wall behind.

‘I’d better get on?—’

‘Amber.’ His voice was deep, sultry, but she was already out of the moment. Whatever that moment was in the first place. Her palms were sweating, leaving little marks on the leather desk protector in front of her. ‘When?—’

‘Thanks for the pastry, mate. I’ll let you get on.’ She picked up some invoices for something to do with her hands and heard his irritated huff. When she finally looked up, he was still standing there. Watching her. She searched for something to say, but her words were stuck in her throat. She shouldn’t have said anything. Her relationship was barely cold. She didn’t want to lose any people. Not again. Tyler’s eyes roamed her face, and she felt bare before him. Whatever he saw looking back at him made his lips roll together.

He pointed at the screen before her. ‘It’s quiet out front. Use the time to get your stuff done. Worst thing in the world is waiting too long for something. Trust me. I’ll bring you some lunch later.’

She watched him leave, his whole body tensed up like he’d been stung.

‘Thanks,’ she called after him, but all she heard in response was the door to the kitchen slamming shut. ‘Shit,’ she sighed. She’d gone and done it now. Dropping the invoices back onto the pile, she brought the computer screen back to life.Why did I say that?She’d never meant to say anything to Tyler, but his reaction had stunned her. Did she imagine it? Had he been thinking about her that way?No. No way.It was Tyler; he didn’t date. He didn’t bother with women full stop. Sharon and her had teased him about it, tried toset him up. The guy wasn’t bothered. He was making a joke, and she’d blurted out that she’d thought about him.That way.The poor guy was shell shocked. That was all. The moment they’d imagined was in her head. The way he’d growled at Ben to leave, though. It didn’t make sense… unless. He was embarrassed.Oh Christ, I’ve embarrassed him.She’d been dumped less than twelve hours ago, and now he thought she was some desperate, porn-watching, horny singleton. He was covering for her because he’d thought Ben had heard their conversation. Her cheeks heated as she replayed it in her head.

‘Oh God,’ she groaned, leaning her head on the desk. ‘I’m such an idiot.’

4

‘Strike!’

Ben punched the air in triumph, turning from the fallen pins and flexing his biceps in a muscleman pose. Amber’s giggle barely suffocated the collective groans of Tyler and Sharon.

His score came up on the screen above them, knocking Tyler and Sharon’s team back into second place. ‘Suck it, Ty-Ty.’ Ben came back to sit next to Amber, laughing as he reached for his pint. Tyler’s eyes narrowed to slits from the opposite bench.

‘Don’t call me that,’ he grumbled, turning to Sharon at his side. ‘Take him down, Shazza, or he’ll be insufferable.’

The bowling alley was quite full for a Sunday evening. The families had drifted off, leaving more couples and adults on the other bowling lanes. When it hit seven o’clock, the lights had lowered, and the music decibels had risen. It gave the place a party feel, and also hid Amber’s discomfort. Sharon had come with her in the taxi there, Ben and Tyler making their own way, and when they’d first met up, it had been beyond awkward. Sundays were the one night they all got off. The kitchen closed, Mary and Mick from the village ran the quiz night, leaving them free to do their ownthing. Which was why they were all here bowling: Sharon’s way of cheering her up since the break-up. It was either agree to this or, as Sharon had put it, Bradley was to get a friendly nut punching. So Amber had chosen to bowl, and endure a slightly awkward night out with her friends and colleagues.

Since the moment in her office the other day, Tyler had been distant. Not weird, or nasty, but he wasn’t himself. He’d brought her lunch later as promised, leaving it on her desk with a gruff, ‘Make sure you eat it all’ thrown before he’d bolted again. Since then, he’d only spoken to her about work, and there had been no memes that he found funny sent her way. Even Sharon had asked her on the way over if they’d fallen out. Amber had brushed her off, and she seemed to buy it, but the energy was definitely off tonight.

Sharon left two pins standing on her next shot and, when she turned back to Tyler, he high-fived her. ‘Nice one, Shazza.’

She eye-rolled him. ‘We needed a strike. We lost!’

‘Damn right you did,’ Ben chipped in. ‘Good thing you have another game to redeem yourselves, losers.’

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