Page 13 of Until You

Chapter Five

Tyler stood in line at the coffee shop on the first floor of his office building. He had several depositions this morning and early afternoon, and then a consultation, before he met some of the single associates for drinks. He was going to need caffeine to make it through this day.

His phone vibrated in his pocket, and he groaned when he took it out and saw his father’s name on the screen.

“Why are you talking to Eric’s principal?” his father demanded without preamble.

He’d been expecting this call. “Mr. Carter said he’d tried to get ahold of you for two weeks, and you never called him back.”

“I’ve been busy at the garage, but that doesn’t give you the right to interfere. Besides, since when do you care? Ever since you became that big fancy lawyer, you think you’re too good for us.”

“Dad, that’s not true.”

The man in front of Tyler finished his order and stepped to the side.

“Can I take your order?” the girl at the counter asked, looking annoyed at the phone pressed to his ear.

He lowered it and said, “Grande Americano.”

As she rang it up, he brought the phone back to his ear, not surprised that his father was still going through a litany of things Tyler had missed.

“…you can’t even come over to watch a damn football game.”

“Dad,” Tyler said with a sigh as he swiped his card in the machine, then stuffed it back in his wallet. “It’s common knowledge that I’m a bitter disappointment. No need to recite the list all over again. What do you want?”

The girl behind the counter handed him his coffee.

“Stay out of our business. We don’t need you.”

“I never asked to get involved in the first place,” he barked, ending the call before his father could respond. Turning around, he plowed into a woman standing directly behind him.

The lid to his coffee cup popped off, and the liquid spilled down the front of her blouse. She gasped in shock.

“Jesus!” He’d just dumped half a cup of burning hot coffee all over the woman’s chest.

He quickly set the cup and his phone on the counter, then grabbed a handful of napkins from a dispenser next to the register. When he pressed them against her chest, he realized the silky fabric had plastered itself to her breasts, increasing the probability of a damaging burn.

With that thought in mind, he grabbed the gap between buttons below her breasts and ripped the blouse open. The little pearl buttons flew everywhere, bouncing on the wood floor, and the woman’s eyes flew open in a panic as he pulled the shirt open, exposing her to the now lengthy line behind them.

He stared at her chest, trying to assess the damage. Why wasn’t her skin red?

“You’re the guy who stole one of Randy’s beers,” she said in shock as she took a step backward and pulled her shirt back into place. “Musty garage pickup-line guy.”

Several thoughts went through his head as his gaze lifted to her face. One, she wasn’t burned, thank God. Two, she was the woman he’d met in Randy’s garage. Three, while he’d had the best of intentions, he could very well be facing sexual assault charges. Four, he’d fantasized about her the last two days, about spreading her legs apart on the damn work table and taking her right there, but seeing the swell of her breasts in her lacy, pale blue bra proved she was even more gorgeous under her clothes than he’d imagined. And five, while he’d thought of her as the gorgeous woman he’d met in the garage, she remembered him as musty garage pickup-line guy.

Musty. Garage. Guy.

What the actual fuck?How the mighty had fallen.

He shook his head. “Uh…the name’s Tyler. And I didn’t really steal it.” Great, Norris. Way to sound lame.

A grin cracked her lips. “I’m used to guys wanting to get to second base, but they usually buy me the coffee first.”

“I…” Jesus. What was wrong with him? He was never tongue-tied with women, but with her…“I thought you were burned. How are you not burned?”

Gripping her shirt closed with one hand, she glanced at his open coffee cup and stuck her finger into the remaining liquid, then licked it. “It’s not hot. All you’re missing is the ice if you’re going for an iced coffee.”

“Uh…no.” He needed to get his shit together. And quick. He was acting like an inexperienced moron. But her scent filled his nose as she stood next to him, an exotic blend of citrus and floral, distracting him even more.

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