Page 3 of Spark
“Right,” Chloe said, her tone cordial but nothing more.“I guess that means we’re partners, then.”
Tyler scraped in a deep breath.He was not his father.He was a decent guy.A dependable guy.A guy whose best friend was relying on him to partner up with his little sister to help plan a few tiny details of his wedding.Tyler could do that.No matter how much self-control it took, hewoulddo that.
Even if it fucking killed him to be this close to Chloe for the next four weeks.
“Yep,” he said, sealing his fate.“Partners.”
“That sounds great.”
“Mmm-hmm.Great.”
The silence that followed was so heavy, Tyler could’ve dragged it to the curb—a fact that, unfortunately, didn’t go unnoticed.“Don’t both of you do backflips at once,” Ryan said, his gaze jumping from Tyler to Chloe, then back again, before narrowing slightly.“Seriously, you guys.You look like you’re about to get a two-for-one deal on root canals.Is something wrong?”
“Not at all,” Tyler said, because going with, “Sorry, but your little sister and I have been avoiding each other ever since we became tipsy tongue buddies a couple months ago” was a straight path to being murdered.“Guess I’m just still getting my head around the new timeline, that’s all.No big deal.”
Chloe must have wanted to sell it, too, because she amped up her smile.“God, Ry.You worry too much.We’ve got this.Everything is totally fine.”
“Excellent.I knew you’d make a kickass team.”Ryan grinned, and at least he’d been easily convinced.“Annnnd now that you’re both on board with the wedding, you two can go to breakfast and figure out the details.”
Chloe’s eyes widened in surprise that matched Tyler’s.“Wait, what?I thought you and I were going to breakfast.”
“We were, but the tailor had an opening for my suit fitting this morning, so I’ve got to raincheck you.But Addison sent you all the stuff for the party last night, right?”At Chloe’s nod, Ryan continued, “So, you can fill Tyler in over breakfast, and I’ll catch up with you on Sunday at Mom and Dad’s.Sound good?”
Guilt picked a fight with the unease in Tyler’s belly.Yeah, he needed to keep Chloe at arm’s length, but Ryan had already picked up on the awkward undercurrent running between them.Plus, this wasno big deal.For Chrissake, he had breakfast every day, and with any luck, they’d only need one in-person planning session to figure out these party details.
Strong-arming his expression into its most neutral setting, Tyler said, “Sure.How does the Fork in the Road sound, Chloe?”
For a split second, he thought she’d balk, even though the Fork was the best diner in Remington.But then, she plastered on a prim smile.“It sounds just fine.I’ll wait for you out front?”
“Sure.”
Tyler took only the time he needed to sign off on his shift change and swap his uniform for a pair of jeans and a light blue T-shirt before shouldering his duffel bag and heading back to the engine bay.Chloe was sitting on the bench in front of the fire house with her back to the bricks.Most people, Tyler included, would probably kill the time by checking email or casually scrolling through the news or social media.Instead, Chloe’s phone was nowhere in sight as she sat, relaxed but alert, and watched traffic start to thin out on Washington Boulevard.The sunglasses she’d pulled from the bag on her shoulder made her eyes unreadable, but that was fine, because A) Tyler was so hyper-aware of her, he’d learned to read her ages ago, and B) she wore her emotions like a party banner, anyway.He could see the second she became aware of him in her peripheral vision—impressive, since he was a solid two dozen paces away from her still—his stomach tightening with some unnamed feeling as her shoulders stiffened and her lips pressed together just a little more tightly.
“I talked a lot of the party plans out with Addison at dinner last night, so we should be able to get this over with pretty fast,” she said, and before he could guard against it, the words slipped under his skin and stung.In the pre-kiss times, Chloe probably would have been bubbling over with excitement at the prospect of teaming up to plan this party.They’d have spent hours at the Fork, laughing and working together and betting each other who could eat more home fries.But this was their new normal, which served him fucking right for thinking he could have her, even for just one kiss.
“Okay.Right.Sure.”Tyler took a slow, deep breath.Keep.Your.Cool.Jackass.“I can drive, if you want.”
“That would be fine.Thank you.”
Thankfully, his Mustang was parked nearby, and they got in and got moving without the silence getting too weird.Two minutes later, though, and that was no longer the case, and Tyler took a grab at the only safe topic he could think of.
“How’s work?”
A tiny flicker that Tyler would bet was involuntary moved over Chloe’s face, the excitement there, then gone.“Work is good.”Long pause.Then, finally, “How’s your mom?”
At least this smile, he didn’t have to work for.“Great.”
Silence stretched out between them again.Might as well rip the Band-Aid off, he guessed.“So, um, you said you already talked to Addison about this party?”
Chloe nodded, another strand of coppery hair unloosening from the knot on her head and falling to frame her face.“Yes.The venue is set—thank God—and she and Ryan confirmed the new date for two weeks from tonight.Almost everything else has been handled.Honestly, I can probably just do the rest of the party stuff on my own and let you off the hook until the wedding.”
“No.”The word dumped past Tyler’s lips, but he didn’t wish for it back.He might want Chloe at arm’s length, but not at the expense of being a dick.“I promised I’d help.I’m good for it.”
“I don’t mind.It’s really no big deal,” she pressed, but oh, look.Hestillwasn’t a dick.
“Great.Then, we should be able to divide up the work easily.”
She opened her mouth—to protest, if he was going to guess—but she was cut off by the chime of her cell phone.
