Page 26 of Tempting the Heart

He pulled me into him, and I felt the heat rolling off his chest as my cheek pressed against his firm pecs and held in a chuckle. The guy obviously worked out.

“Maybe we shouldn’t mention this to Brad,” I said softly.

A minute of silence hung in the air, and I felt his lips press gently onto the top of my head.

“I don’t know, Mae. I kept it quiet the last time I had feelings for you, and I’m tired of hiding it.”

I pushed myself away only a fraction to tilt my head to look at him. “But we don’t know if this is going to go anywhere. You’re only here for a few days. I don’t know anything about you, like the grown-man version.” I chuckled. “I mean, what if you’re a weirdo?”

He laughed and pulled me in closer, and I wondered if I’d wake up from this dream any minute.

Chapter Eight

Tyler

I wiped the sweat from my brow as I hauled a box of old magazines and mail from twenty years ago to the large recycling bin sitting in my parents’ driveway. The box wasn’t particularly heavy, but it was the tenth one I’d hauled outside on this warm afternoon.

But all I could think about was the look in Mae’s eyes when I told her I’d had a crush on her so many years ago.

In hindsight, it was a dumb move. She obviously didn’t have a clue that I'd followed her around like a lost puppy dog all those years ago.

Other than a few flippant comments she made today about my looks, I couldn’t tell what she thought of the idea.

Sure, I held her in my arms for a few minutes before we walked up the trail, and she went her way, and I went mine—to here.

Where I’d been beating myself up since.

Mae was right, though. She didn’t know me. I’d kept in touch with Brad and still considered him one of my closest friends, but I never contacted her.

I also knew how Brad felt about me dating his sister. He’d made that clear years ago, and I always kept the thought close, so I respected his boundaries.

Heaving the box into the bin, I grunted my frustration, only to hear my mother call my name from the porch.

I spun around as she glared at me. “I told you not to toss that box away.”

“No. This was the box you said was fine to toss.”

Her frown deepened. “You’re such a liar, Tyler. No wonder no woman wants you. It’s why you’ve never amounted to anything. I want that box, and I want what’s inside.”

Anger flashed deep inside me. I’d done so well letting the under-the-breath comments slide right off me, but this was different. I didn’t know why, but I wanted to fight back.

“Tell me what I threw away, and you can have it.”

The truth of the matter was that this mess was a fire hazard. Boxes all the way up to my hips were stacked in my brother’s old room. Mildew had deteriorated most of the pages of the magazines and old papers. I didn’t need my parents’ home igniting in the summer.

She took a step off the porch. “Tyler, I will make your life so miserable…”

“You already have,” I shot back and instantly felt like the smaller person.

I’d spent years compartmentalizing all the nasty names I’d been called by my own flesh and blood over the years. The list was long—loser, good-for-nothing, ugly, terrible, cheap, nasty, a mistake…

And I’d spent many more years trying to overcome them all and grow from my past.

Yet, in less than forty-eight hours, I faced the greatest challenge of my adult life.

To be decent when my parents were less than decent to me.

It was why I never returned so many years ago.

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