I nodded. I understood exactly.
“But I’ve never seen him actually pursue a woman. And I sure as hell have never seen him look at a woman the way Evan looks at me.”
Oh. I felt my stomach do a little flip. “I—” I stopped. I didn’t know what to say. But in that moment I felt strangely, absurdly grateful to this woman who was practically a stranger to me.
“I’m not sure why I’m telling you this. I mean, I know you have a job to go back to, and not even in this state. But I guess I wanted to let you know that you’re different. If that matters to you.”
Tears pricked my eyes, and I looked down to stare into my wineglass. “Yeah,” I said. “It matters.”
After Angie left to find Evan, I moved to a corner and watched Tyler finish his conversation with Danvers. It looked easy, jovial, and I could see that Tyler had charmed the man.
When Danvers departed, Tyler turned, his gaze scouring the room and landing on me. Immediately, he smiled, and the heaviness that had settled on me lifted somewhat. Apparently not completely, though, because as soon as Tyler reached me, he pressed a kiss to my temple and asked me what was wrong.
“Nothing,” I said. “Tired.” I tilted my head and grinned at him. “I haven’t been getting much sleep.”
“Who needs sleep when there are better things to do?”
I rolled my eyes and fell in step beside him as he extended his arm.
I knew I should stay silent—that I was being a fool. Hadn’t Tyler himself said that we weren’t dating, we were fucking? And didn’t I know damn well that whatever this was would end the day I returned to Indiana?
Dammit.
How had this man gotten so entwined with my heart so quickly? How had he snuck in around all my defenses?
I knew how, of course—he’d seen a part of me no one else had. A part I hadn’t even seen. He’d peeled back the hard shell, exposing what was inside. And while it felt nice to be free, that also made me vulnerable.
Now, though I hated myself for wishing it, I was craving some sort of acknowledgment that what I was feeling for Tyler—what I thought he was feeling for me—was real. That it wasn’t one big elaborate con for some endgame I hadn’t yet seen.
Beside me, Tyler was chatting with passersby and nodding at friends. But his eyes kept returning to me, his expression inquisitive. Finally, he pulled me aside. “Did Angie say something to upset you?”
“What? No. She was great. I like her.”
“She is great,” he said vaguely. “But you—”
“I’m fine,” I said, then rose up on my toes to kiss him. “Really.” I cleared my throat. “So you’re trying to get a security contract with Danvers? That company you own? BAS Security?”
He nodded. “So far we’ve kept the client list small and local. But Covington’s international. It would be a big coup.”
“I’ll bet. And having a cop on your arm probably gives the right impression. Projects confidence. Not to mention legality. Almost like an endorsement.”
“I see.” He slid his hands in his pockets.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t meant to suggest—”
“Suggest? You flat-out said. And you know what, Detective, you’re right.” His voice had taken on a hard note and I cursed myself, wishing I hadn’t brought it up because I had a feeling it was about to all come crashing down.
“Were you not listening when I laid out the reasons for this arrangement?” he continued, still in that hard, businesslike voice. “Because I thought I was clear. There are events where it would be beneficial to have a cop on my arm. Well, Sloane, this is one of them.”
“Yes,” I said curtly. “I figured that out.”
“Dammit,” he said, loud enough to have people turning and looking at us. “Shit,” he muttered, then took my arm. “Come here.”
He led me out of the rotunda, around one of the rope barricades, and into one of the empty galleries.
“Do you really believe that?” I heard the rise of anger in his voice, but there was something else, too. Something that sounded like hurt. “Christ, Sloane, is that really what you think?”
“I—” I shook my head, not sure what to think.
“Yes, it’s good for business to have a cop on my arm. And yes, that’s part of how it started with you. But that’s not how it is now. It’s not why you’re here.” His voice went soft and he shook his head, as if to clear away his thoughts. “You’re here for only one reason, and that’s because I want you beside me.”
I swallowed, my breath hitching a bit.
“What’s between us may have started as an arrangement, a deal. But I think we both know that it’s becoming a hell of a lot more than that. As far as I’m concerned, that’s just an excuse to be with you. To have you close, when and how I want.”
He ran his palm over my shoulder, bare in the sky blue dress. “I don’t know where this is going, Sloane, or where it will end. All I know is that you’re in my head, you’re inside me, and that I will lose a piece of myself the day you go back to Indiana.”
“Tyler.” I knew I should say something. Tell him I was relieved. Tell him I felt the same way. Tell him that I’d never in my life felt around anyone the way I felt around him. But I couldn’t seem to find the words.
So I did the only thing I could do. I folded myself into his arms, and I kissed him.
His arms went around me, and he held me tight. Our bodies molded together, and his hands stroked my bare back. I felt warm and safe and complete, as if I’d been living my life with a piece missing, and now that I’d found Tyler, everything clicked into place.
I was falling in love with this man. Fast and hard, maybe, but I was certain. What was it he’d said? The speed of us? And he was so right. But love was only part of the equation, and right then, I had to hold tight to the faith that somehow we could make it work. If he really was clean—if everything he’d done was truly in the past—then maybe we could find a way to move forward.
“I’m sorry,” he said, when we broke apart. “I didn’t think. I should have told you before. I didn’t—”
“I know. It’s okay.” I kissed him again, this time soft and quick before pulling away with a suggestive smile. “Do you need to show me off to somebody else? Or do you think maybe you could take me home and take me out of this dress?”