Page 20 of Tempting the Heart

“Hey, you want to hang out at the beach?” I asked, sensing he had a lot more on his mind than he even touched on yesterday, which made my chest tighten.

Tyler grinned and nodded.

“Awesome. You actually don’t have to drive anywhere. It’s why I bought the place.”

Chapter Six

Tyler

“This place is amazing, Mayflower.” I stepped inside the tiny cottage, and Mae spun around with a mischievous look.

“It’s Mae.” She pretended to swat my chest, and what I really wanted to do was catch her hands in mine and pull her into me for a kiss.

It had been something I’d wanted to do since I was a teenage guy, crushing on his best friend’s sister.

She looked up at me as her gaze connected to mine, and she smiled. “Let me rinse off really quick, and we’ll head down to the beach.”

Mae wove her fingers through mine and tugged me toward a small sitting room, where she stopped in front of a couch.

“Sit.” She handed me a remote as she unlinked her hand from mine.

It felt like old times. She’d always kind of bossed me around growing up, and it was one of the things I’d always loved. It was cute then, and it’s sexy as hell now.

“What am I? A dog?”

She chuckled and started toward a short hallway. “Beats me. You haven’t been around these parts for decades, Tyler.”

I couldn’t help but take in the back of her as her legs moved, her hips swayed, and her shorts left little to the imagination.

It was hard to reconcile the Mae I left and the one walking before me.

She quickly spun around, and her eyes narrowed on mine. “The television is that way.” She thumbed the flatscreen anchored to the wall.

“I know. I know. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t need any help.”

Mae laughed and shook her head. “Ah, the infamous flirt I remember.”

“Not a flirt. Just an optimist.”

She smiled and turned around before heading down the hall.

I kicked out my legs and stretched as I turned on the television. With the small space, I could hear the shower competing with the television and smiled.

I could imagine Mae coming back home after an early day at her coffee shop, puttering around her house, making dinner, reading…

The thought brought a smile to my face.

It had been so long since I’d let myself really think about Mae that it kind of felt wrong. Like I shouldn’t think of her as anything but what I knew of her back then.

But the problem was that now, she was even more gorgeous. Her curves nearly left me panting at the table last night, and her mind blew me away. The way she thoughtabout world events or made snappy comments about things I’d revealed…

I let out a low groan and ran my palms over my face as the news came over the television speakers.

Outside, when I snuck up on her, I swore I saw a glint of fascination, hope, or curiosity. It was the same look I’d seen when we were kids, and I never knew what it meant.

I straightened up on the couch and looked around the cozy sitting area. It definitely screamed single. Someone else would be lucky to keep an extra pair of shoes here, let alone live.

The thought made me happy.

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