Page 65 of Just One Fake Date

“Lifetime of experience. Even though this one isn’t fixed yet.”

“But I owe you.” She eyed him, those eyes sparkling as her voice dropped to a wicked whisper. “Maybe you just want a blow job,” she teased.

Ty was not going there, although....

He put her down quickly and stepped back.

She smiled up at him, her gaze roving over his features as if he’d surprised her for a change. “Busted, Tyler McKay,” she said, tapping his chest. “You did another nice thing. Your reputation is going to be shot to shit.”

“I can live with that.” Their gazes held for one of those hot moments, then she reached up to slide a fingertip across his mouth. “Why do you do that?”

“Because you look so hard-ass, but it doesn’t last. I know you’re going to smile, really slowly, and it’ll be like watching the sun rise. I don’t want to miss a bit of it.” She blushed then. “You probably think that sounds silly...”

“I met you in a poetry class,” he murmured. When her gaze flicked to his, Ty smiled, just as she’d forecast, and watched her eyes darken as she stared at her fingertip. His chest was tight and his heart was pounding. He wanted to sweep her off her feet and kiss her senseless, but she had to make the first move.

She swallowed visibly, then raised her gaze to his. “Thank you for fixing this, Tyler,” she whispered, her voice husky.

Everything tightened with him and time seemed to stop. There was only Shannyn and the stars in her eyes, the soft curve of her mouth, the scent of her skin. There was only Shannyn and her challenges.

Ty didn’t have to hope for long, because she stretched to her toes and replaced her fingertip with her mouth.

Ty wasn’t going to give her a chance to back away. He locked his hands around her waist and lifted her against him, deepening that kiss into one to remember.

Nine

Tyler could have just driven awayand left Shannyn there—and if he’d been the asshole she’d once accused him of being, he would have. Instead, he’d arranged for the transportation of her find without demanding anything in return.

He’d just solved the problem.

It was one thing to use his connections to offer an alternative solution for her roof. It was quite another to discard his own rules to make her happy.

As choices went, this one was seductive as hell.

It was entirely possible that he was expecting her to be in his debt, but the fact that he hadn’t insisted on working out the details first was a pleasant surprise. Shannyn wasn’t used to anyone fixing anything for her, and the fact that Tyler had done as much—when her find threw his proposal for a second deal into doubt—changed everything.

That he’d loaded the chair onto the roof of his car meant she had to rethink all of her assumptions about his character.

Maybe she even had to rethink her strategy.

That kiss was impulsive but not a choice she could regret. It certainly didn’t help her clarify her thinking. It made her want to get naked immediately, and wish that she didn’t even have an appointment with Derek. She could have hauled Tyler into her house right away, instead of waiting for later, which didn’t seem like a bad thing.

They parted finally and Shannyn couldn’t think of anything to say. Tyler seemed to be similarly shaken. He cleared his throat and asked her about cleaning the furniture up. She’d given him an explanation about lemon oil and fine sandpaper that she hoped was coherent.

Finally, Shannyn heard an approaching vehicle and looked down the street to see a full size black pick-up truck closing fast. It had a company logo on the side, and the driver parked right behind Tyler’s car.

This would be Derek.

He was about Aidan’s age, his hair cut short, clean-shaven and lean. He wore work boots and jeans, and a hoodie with a Roots logo across the front. He was the kind of guy whose thoughts were absolutely clear, an open book, which made Shannyn aware of the contrast with Tyler, who had become inscrutable since that kiss.

Derek’s eyes widened as he got out of the truck and eyed the chair perched upside down on the roof of Tyler’s car. Then he grinned. “Must be love,” he teased, then took a picture with his phone.

“Shut up,” Tyler said with a smile and they shook hands warmly. “You don’t need to document it.”

“Oh, but I do. Hey, you must be Shannyn.”

Tyler did a quick introduction. “Shannyn, Derek. Derek, Shannyn.”

Derek shook Shannyn’s hand. His was large and a bit rough, his grip firm, and his smile was quick.

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