Page 46 of Forbidden Love

“I think that’s it. We can reconvene when I have a better idea of the game schedule.”

He drank from his glass, and I was distracted by the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down with his swallows. When he’d drained the glass, he rinsed it in the sink and placed it in the dishwasher. When he turned to find me watching him, he asked, “Want to watch a movie?”

“I should probably get going. Maggie’s asleep—”

“This is the best part of the night. The little one’s asleep, and we have the whole night ahead of us.”

A movie sounded good. “At least until Alice and Sam come home.”

“They won’t be home for at least a couple of hours yet. They said they were headed to a movie after dinner.”

I stowed my laptop in my bag and watched as Tyler pulled out the popcorn maker and a bowl. The smell of popcorn quickly filled the kitchen, and I hoped the noise of the machine didn’t wake Maggie.

Tyler grabbed a beer from the fridge and the bowl of popcorn and led the way into the family room, setting everything on the coffee table.

Sam held up his hands before he sat. “I’m going to tell you right now, I can’t watch the new princess movie. I promised Maggie we’d watch it together.”

My heart stuttered to a stop and then galloped in my chest. “That’s okay. I don’t care what we watch.”

“You’ll need to move closer if you want some popcorn.”

I sighed, wondering if he’d purposely only made one large bowl so I couldn’t keep my distance, and then I wondered why. He’d made an impulsive move at the baseball field, but I thought he’d taken a few steps back since then. He hadn’t kissed or touched me since, despite the opportunity.

I scooted closer to him and reached a hand into the bowl. This popcorn was so much better than the microwavable kind.

When he found a new movie neither of us had seen, he threw the remote onto the coffee table and placed his arm on the back of the couch while he balanced the bowl on his thigh with his free hand. The effect was that I was leaning into his side.

The warmth of his body seared mine, and it was difficult to concentrate on the screen. Every few seconds, Tyler reached into the bowl to grab another handful and dropped it into his mouth. I caught myself watching him several times before I refocused on the movie.

It didn’t matter how sexy Tyler was, he was my partner in this fundraiser. I couldn’t afford to screw this up and have my family think I couldn’t be trusted or that I wasn’t able to focus on the job.

When the popcorn was gone, Tyler moved the bowl to the table in front of us, but I didn’t move. I was so tired. I’d been working nonstop on the fundraiser this week. Add in the stress of seeing Tyler today, and I couldn’t keep my eyes open.

Eventually, they slipped closed, and it felt too good to lean my head on his shoulder. I was startled awake a short time later by a key in the door. I came to slowly, unsure where I was. My head was curled into Tyler’s chest, his arm heavy on my back, and my hand rested on his taut stomach. When I looked up, Tyler was sleeping too.

Alice walked into the family room before I could move away from Tyler. She raised her brow as she looked at Tyler’s arm around me. “You fell asleep?”

I extracted myself from under Tyler’s arm and noticed the movie was long over. The screensaver had been playing. “We must have.”

Tyler came to then, rubbing the back of his neck. “Did we fall asleep?”

“Yep,” I said, moving as far away from the couch as I could get. “I’ll just get going.”

“I’ll walk you out,” Alice offered while Sam sat on the couch next to Tyler.

“I’ll let you know when the games are,” I said to Tyler as I grabbed the strap of my bag and followed Alice to the door. “Sorry about that.”

“What are you sorry for, exactly? Falling asleep on the couch or on Tyler?”

I blushed. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. I was just so tired, and I must have leaned into him when I fell asleep.”

“Uh-huh,” Alice said, as if she were unconvinced by my explanation. “I think we need a girls’ night soon.”

“I’d love that.” I hugged her.

“I’ll let you know when I can get away.”

I knew it wasn’t that Sam said she needed to stay in but that she wanted to spend every spare moment with Sam and Maggie, and I couldn’t blame her. If I were in a committed relationship with someone who treated me like Sam did her, I’d probably do the same.

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