Page 30 of Until You

And that scared the crap out of her.

Still, Tyler was no threat. She knew his type. She’d attracted them for years. There was nothing more appealing to a no-strings guy than a woman who came with no expectations of her own.

She watched him knot his tie, then turned away as her fingers itched to reach up and straighten it for him. He was a temptation, and that wasn’t such a bad thing. But she wasn’t sure how Brittany and Randy would feel about her having a casual fling with their friend. Still, they couldn’t be that close. He said he’d only known her cousin about a year.

“So what’s your connection to Britt and Randy?” she asked, trying not to think about what else he could do with his nimble fingers.

“Friend of the groom.” He finished the tie and glanced up at her. “How’s it look?”

Her mouth twisted into a grin. “It’s crooked.” She reached up to straighten it at his neck, spending more time than she’d intended, but his eyes had captured hers and she felt like she was going to combust. Maybe they could make it a secret fling. What Britt didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her, right?

She ran her fingers down the length of the tie, making sure it was straight, but she stopped where it tucked into his jacket, even though her imagination ran wild thinking about where it led.

“Penny for your thoughts,” he said in a husky tone, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes.

She couldn’t very well tell him the truth, so she said the first thing her mind latched onto. “I still have your jacket. From yesterday.” Then she glanced around to see to see if anyone had heard her.

Everyone was watching an animated Celesta try to convince Holly that she had a better idea for a pose.

But Tyler kept his amused gaze on Lanie. “You can bring it to me next time.”

A wave of lust washed through her. Would he be open to a secret fling?

For the next twenty minutes, Holly and the photographer positioned them in various traditional poses, and the entire time Tyler chatted with Lanie and the rest of the wedding party and remained on his best behavior. But several times she caught him staring at her, and the look in his eyes heated her blood.

The sun had set behind the trees, casting a soft glow over them. Lanie knew Britt had chosen this time of day specifically for the lighting, but she couldn’t help worrying about Stephanie tackling the financial reporting all on her own. She cast a nervous glance at Tyler’s jacket, where she knew he’d tucked her phone. Could she get away with checking it without hurting her cousin’s feelings?

Tyler moved to her side, blocking Britt’s view of her as he reached into his jacket, then handed her the phone. “Go ahead and check it while Celesta tries to pretend she’s in charge.”

“Am I that easy to read?”

“Like a book.”

She glanced up at him with a grin. “Do you even read?”

He laughed. “I’ve been known to read a book or two.”

She started to scroll through her texts from Stephanie, but her stomach twisted into knots at the last text Stephanie had sent.

CALL ME STAT!

Oh, shit.

She was about to send her a text when her phone vibrated with a call from Stephanie.

“Go ahead and answer it,” Tyler said, glancing over his shoulder. “Holly looks like she’s about to strangle Celesta, and you’ll lose all hope of a distraction if she takes her out.”

Lanie forced a smile, but she was trying not to panic when she answered, “I’m making this call in secret, so we have to do this quickly.”

“I lost it all.” Stephanie sounded like she was about to cry.

Lanie covered her other ear with her hand so she could hear better. “When you say you lost it all…”

“The file. The program crashed. And when I reopened it, half my work was gone.”

Her stomach dropped to her toes. “Okay, don’t panic.”

“How can I not panic? Hours of work are gone. I’ll never finish in time.”

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