Page 22 of Forbidden Love

I was a little surprised he’d asked, but I was curious to see him in action. “I’d love to.”

He arched a brow at me. “You don’t have anything better to do on a Saturday night?”

“As you can see, most of my friends are paired up.” My best friends now were Natalie and Alice.

“It kind of happened overnight. For a long time, it was just Maggie who was the center of everyone’s attention.”

“Do you miss those days?” I asked him, genuinely curious.

“I love that Mac finally found the right woman. He’s always wanted to be a family man. And not just with our extended family. He wanted it for himself.”

I never thought of myself as someone who’d want to settle down any time soon, but seeing this family interact, I could see the appeal. “Are you next?”

Tyler chuckled and shook his head. “This isn’t for me. I can enjoy this while I’m here and then go back to my bachelor pad.”

“I thought you were tired of the bachelor pad?” At some point, we’d moved closer together.

“I am. I want the house, the space, and the view. Then I can have the family over for dinner too.”

“That does sound nice.” I was renting a cabin from the resort. I hadn’t wanted the scrutiny of my family, but I wasn’t ready to buy a place of my own.

“You going to rent the cabin forever?” Sam asked, considering me.

“I need to figure out if I’m staying or going.” I set the plate aside and leaned back in the chair. The stars were visible tonight.

“You have time?”

I knew what he was asking. Did I need to find another job, or could I afford to take my time? “I’m okay for now.”

Tyler nodded. “I’m lucky because I worked alongside my dad and knew early on that I wanted to work with him. I never thought about doing anything else, even when he said we could.”

“I thought I’d work at the resort. I loved helping my mom check people in and direct them to their rooms when I was a kid. But as I got older, my brothers filled those roles, and it didn’t feel like there was space for me.”

“Make your space. Figure out what you can offer them that’s new and different and pitch it to them.”

My shoulders dropped. “I’m tired of trying to prove myself to my brothers. That I’m big enough to keep up or smart enough to run the business. They’ll never see me that way.”

Tyler’s jaw tightened. “I don’t know about that.”

“I forget that you’re friends with them. You probably hear the other side.” I looked at the fire. “Sometimes I don’t think my brothers think much of me at all.”

“It doesn’t matter what they think, and you shouldn’t have to prove anything.”

“But?” I slapped his leg. “I know there’s a but coming.”

Tyler took a deep breath. “I think they love you, and they’d be willing to listen to what you want. If you’d give them a chance.”

My nose wrinkled. “I don’t even know what I want.”

“You’ll figure it out. Give yourself the space right now to explore your options. If you have the time and money, why not?”

“I have a little time, and I’m saving money by living on the mountain.”

“I will say that I love running a business. The best part is that we share it as a family. We each have things we’re good at, and we handle those aspects of the business. I’m better with people, so I tend to handle any customer service or schedule issues.”

“What am I good at, Tyler?”

“I remember you being particularly good with your tongue, or maybe it was my teenage excitement that my childhood crush was giving me a blow job.” His eyes darkened, and I could imagine how he saw me—on my knees, my hair covering my face until he’d held it so he could see my face.

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