Page 24 of Tempting the Heart

And I realized that maybe I hadn’t imagined all the looks in my direction, the secret smiles we’d shared, or …

The fact that maybe we both had been interested, but timing wasn’t on our side.

We were teens. He was older.

We’d been too young to know what to do with those emotions.

I shut my eyes, trying to avoid the craziness of my thoughts. It was just my wishful thinking again.

He wasn’t confessing his love. He wasn’t professing to a fantasy of forever.

Tyler simply stated that he liked hanging out at the house because of me. Truthfully, there were many days when I was the more adventurous kid and hiked along the beaches with Tylerwhile my brother played video games at the house. I’d always chalked it up to Tyler wanting to be active instead of staying inside.

And I didn’t care what I volunteered to do as long as I could hang out with him.

I swallowed the uncertainty welling up and opened my eyes to see him studying me.

“Did I say too much?” he asked, cupping his hand along my cheek.

I shook my head as his eyes fell to my mouth.

My pulse pounded stronger than it ever had before.

Everything was happening so fast.

Yet, I wanted it to speed up even more.

But then he’d leave.

So I kept everything bottled up inside.

Tyler stepped closer, removing the gap between us as the breeze swirled around us. The waves lapped against the sea in the distance, and I looked into his eyes, hoping for a kiss. Maybe it would quiet the desire churning through me for a man I couldn’t have.

“Mayflower, I didn’t expect to see you again,” he said softly.

The blue in his eyes turned stormier as I took a slow breath and tilted my head slightly as his thumb brushed against my bottom lip.

He shook his head. “It complicates things.”

“It does?” I said breathlessly. My cheeks warmed from the revelation my tone gave away, and his smile widened.

“I think so.”

“I guess it could,” I confessed. “But I’m not sure why. I’m just Brad’s sister.”

If only he knew how many nights I spent dreaming about him and what our life could have looked like if only he’d stayed.

And it was all ridiculous, so I never told a soul.

“Tell me, Mayflower. Did you ever think of me?” He trailed his thumb slowly along my cheek and down to my neck as my heart hammered in my chest.

“Embarrassingly so. More than I should have.” I kept my gaze on his and felt my chest fill with air from a silent and large breath. Everything felt like I was in some sort of surreal time-warping universe.

It felt like the first time we were both alone in the treehouse and…

“I’m sorry I left without saying goodbye to you,” he said softly.

Tyler’s gaze stayed on mine, and I shrugged. “Why would you? You were my brother’s friend, not mine.”

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