Page 104 of Just One Fake Date

“No.” Shannyn sighed with mock regret. “I guess I’ll have to endure it.”

“It’ll make our fake date seem more credible if I can’t stop looking.”

Shannyn shifted her legs to get comfortable, sliding them against each other as she did so. Her stockings made a faint sound, one she wouldn’t have noticed, except that Tyler flicked a glance at her legs again.

As if he couldn’t stop himself.

Then he swallowed.

At least she wasn’t the only one feeling hot and bothered.

“Tell me about the show,” she invited, to return to a safer topic. Anything to distract herself from the prospect of provoking him and how much she’d enjoy that.

“I was wishing you were there,” he said easily, pulling out his phone when they stopped at a traffic light. “I took some pictures of Jared’s paintings.” He passed the phone to her and they talked about the paintings as she flicked through them. As before, their conversation flowed easily with a little simmer of awareness beneath the words. She was surprised by how soon he was driving down a residential street lined with old trees.

“I have to admit that I didn’t expect rule number three to give me so much trouble,” Tyler confessed unexpectedly.

Shannyn felt ridiculously pleased. “You wanted to call?”

“I like talking to you at night.” He flicked a glance her way. “Actually, I like talking to you anytime.” He pulled up to the curb in front of a large house which saved her from needing to reply.

The house was enormous, with a big well-tended garden out front. The driveway was full of cars and SUV’s, most of them new or almost so, and all of them expensive. The street was crowded with parked cars too. The only place Tyler was able to stop was at the end of the driveway.

“Big party,” Shannyn said, not having realized the bridal shower would be so well attended. The outward signs of affluence reminded her that she was an outsider and made her confidence falter a little.

Tyler touched her hand and she turned to find that he’d taken off his sunglasses. He looked concerned. “Will you be okay as I park the car?”

Shannyn made a joke. “Just how scary is your family?”

“I’m not going to answer that.” He shook his head. “I’ll be as quick as I can.” He got out and came around to get her door, then retrieved a gift from the trunk. It was exquisitely beautiful, wrapped in silver and blue with an elaborate bow.

“Either you have unexpected giftwrapping skills...”

“Or the store wrapped it. Option B.”

“What did we get them?”

“One of those fancy single serving coffee makers. A word to the wise: never get between Katelyn and her caffeine.” Tyler handed her the gift, then bent to look her in the eye, so earnest that Shannyn wanted to reassure him. “I’ll hurry.”

“I think I can fend for myself for a few minutes,” she said and he smiled.

“Got to love that confidence.” He touched her cheek. “Too bad about the lipstick,” he murmured, his caress and the glow in his eyes leaving her yearning for the kiss she hadn’t gotten.

Then he was back in the car and heading down the street to park. Shannyn made her way toward the front door, heart thumping. How bad could it be? Tyler was the adored older son and she was his date. She guessed that there wasn’t a woman alive that any of his relatives thought was good enough for him, but people with buckets of money were polite.

Mostly.

She raised a hand to ring the bell but the door was flung open before she made contact. “You must be Shannyn!” an older woman declared. She was tall, attractive and slim, and Shannyn thought she glimpsed a resemblance to Tyler in her features. “I’m Colleen McKay, Tyler’s mom. Come in, Shannyn. Everyone is dying to meet you!”

Shannyn stepped across the threshold, convinced that everything would be just fine.

But even she was impressed by how quickly everything went to hell.

Ty hadn’t thoughtthat anything could go wrong in the few moments that it took him to park the car, but once again, Shannyn proved him wrong. He walked into his aunt’s house, greeting relatives, seeking Shannyn. He didn’t care if they thought he was lovesick. He had a bad feeling and he’d learned long ago to trust his instincts.

The gift he’d bought was on the table in the living room along with all the others, so she’d made it that far. He looked into the dining room beyond, with the French doors open to the garden, and spotted Shannyn on the patio.

She was chatting with Lauren and his mom, laughing at something one of them had said. Her gaze flicked to him and she smiled, as if to reassure him, and Ty’s heart thumped with relief. He saw Paige and Derek approaching Shannyn and she turned to shake hands with Derek. Ty was almost there.

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