Page 4 of Wrong Number

His hand rubbed the back of my shoulder. “It’s okay if you’re not fine. You had a hell of a scare earlier. I know I probably didn’t help by rushing in and raising my voice.”

Smiling up at him, I noticed the few tiny sun lines around his eyes and one small freckle in the hairline closest to his right eye.

“You were amazing,” I said. “I still can’t believe that you rushed to save somebody you didn’t even know.”

Tyler took my hands in his very seriously, as we stood in front of my lobby doorway. “Tana, you know me now. At least a little. I already have your number. Is it okay if I call you?”

“Um, sure. Why?” I blurted.

His smile did strange things to the center of my stomach. “I’d like to take

you out to dinner tomorrow night,” he said softly. “Get to know you better. I have a really good feeling about you, and I think that we really click.”

“Oh. Wow.”

I probably sounded like an idiot, but Tyler didn’t seem to mind at all. “Yes,” he said, swinging our hands between us. “You’re absolutely beautiful, truly sweet, and I know I’m going to be thinking about you all night.” His little wink was corny and adorable at the same time.

My feet stepped closer, my body wanting to be in his space. Near his warmth.

“May I hug you?” he asked.

I’ve never had anyone ask permission to hug me before, but I could see how he would assume I would be jumpy after the way my evening started.

Nodding, I stepped into the circle of his arms. He smelled like the ocean, with a bit of smoke. Something sultry and deep, but still light.

As his thick arms tightened around me, I couldn’t stop my entire body from pressing against his. Without even thinking, my chin tipped up, as his lips met mine in the softest, gentlest kiss I could have ever imagined.

But it was over too fast, leaving me breathless and twitchy.

“I’ll be thinking about you, Tana,” he said softly. “Sleep well.”

Tyler stood back, watching as I dug out my keys and went into the building, noticing that he waited until I was all the way inside.

As soon as I got to my third-floor apartment, I locked the door behind me, turned the lights on, then ran to the front window to see him standing on the sidewalk, waving in my direction before walking off down the street.

I flopped on the couch with a sigh, grinning to myself.

In the space of one night, a terrible date had turned into my very first meaningful kiss, and the promise of a much better date tomorrow.

CHAPTER THREE

* Tyler *

I had been hoping to take the entire weekend off, but naturally, my Uncle John called at six am, begging me to work a few hours. I raced through the job, wondering how this particular crew always managed to get so far behind.

My father had run off before I was born, and my mother died when I was sixteen, so my uncle had always been like a father to me. Uncle John taught me all of the important things in life. Carpentry, how to dress for special occasions, and always to try new things.

He was a bit odd, but had a giant sense of adventure. From camping to axe throwing to learning how to brew beer, John was always puttering away at something new.

Now he was training me to take over his business someday. I really did love creating things, and working with fine woods, but sometimes wished that I could work alone.

Some of our projects were high-end design, and extremely innovative. But many of them were practically the exact same thing over and over. A beautiful arrangement of kitchen cabinets, a kitchen island, and a white cupboard under the bathroom sinks.

It wasn’t rocket science. As long as the measurements and the cutting were done carefully, there was nothing that should really go wrong.

Since Uncle John was so kind-hearted, maybe he didn’t have it in him to give the teams a bit of a kick when they got behind. I had to wonder whether that would fall to me.

I left the site as quickly as I could, rushing home to have a quick lunch at one, and forcing myself to wait until two in the afternoon to text Tana.

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