Tyler didn’t even blink. He grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips, kissed her knuckles, and brushed his tongue across her palm in a slow caress.
“I know myself, Elena. I know what I want and I know when a woman wants me. And, darling, you want me as much as I want you. I’m willing to jump through some hoops to make it to your bed. I have faith that you will be worth the wait.”
Faith? That was an odd word to use at this juncture. But molten heat settled between her thighs as he continued kissing her hand and wrist. She tugged, but he wasn’t letting her go. If she fought him too hard, this was over. But if she continued letting him kiss her the way he was, she was going to melt into a puddle. She was more than wet as it was.
When the horn sounded, alerting them that they were pulling up to the port, she breathed a sigh of relief. If she’d had to deal with more of his tongue and lips on her skin, she’d have been begging him to climb into the backseat of his SUV.
Yes, a backseat. That brought back old memories of Tyler Knight. Though this backseat was smaller than the one she’d lost her virginity in.
“Saved by the bell,” he told her as the traffic began moving forward. “For now.”
“Are you going to tell me yet where we’re going?”
The island he had chosen was a favorite place of hers, small, quiet, intimate, though he didn’t know that. Now she would remember being there with him and her memories would be tainted.
“I have a cabin here. I thought we’d do a late lunch,” he said with a smile. “And if we choose, we can stay the night.”
“That won’t happen,” Elena told him, panic tightening her throat.
“We will just have to see how it goes. I’m optimistic, and I have good reason for that.”
The seductive smile he sent her had her body trembling. This date was a very, very bad idea.
Chapter Eight
Tyler felt as if he were walking in a field of land mines. But if he didn’t show his fear to Elena, he might be able to avoid an explosion. Never let them see you sweat, and pray for the best, and all those old, hackneyed lines. But the tactic had worked for him so far, and maybe it would again.
For a week he’d been playing phone tag with this woman. Under normal circumstances, he would have bailed out after the first day. He knew when someone wasn’t telling the whole truth, and it was more than obvious to him that Elena had her secrets.
What were they? He didn’t have a clue. She probably knew exactly who he was and she was hoping to entrap him. Broken condom? Faked pregnancy? Who knew? But he’d already had a couple of disastrous relationships and there was no chance of that happening.
Still, there was something about this woman — something so familiar. It was almost as if he knew her, but that wasn’t possible. Still, that was the reason he used to justify his pursuit. He had to have her, had to see this thing through to its inevitable conclusion.
He would have her in his bed. And then he’d be done with her. No problem. No pain. And who wanted any gain?
As he pulled up to his cabin, he wondered why he was bringing her to this place. It was his retreat, a place he and his brothers all came to when they wanted to get away from the city, away from the chaos of their lives. They didn’t bring women there.
“I wasn’t expecting this,” Elena said, breaking him from his reverie.
The water gently lapping at the shore and the birds singing in the trees were the only sounds that could be heard, and the nearest neighbor was a mile down the road. This was one of his favorite places in the whole wide world. Jeez. Why was he always reverting to clichés nowadays? Get a grip, man.
And he did. “I enjoy the quiet when I come up here. There aren’t a lot of people around, and we count everyone in the area as friends. We also respect one another’s privacy.”
He opened the car door on his side before she could respond, and he felt a smidgen of frustration when she didn’t wait for him to come around to assist her before she started to get out of her side. He still waited as she climbed out, and he made a point of shutting her door, though he hadn’t been able to do the chivalrous thing and open it.
This certainly wasn’t something his parents had taught him. No. It had been taught to him by Bill, the man who’d raised him, the man who had given him values. Tyler had turned his nose up at those values for a few selfish years, but he’d gotten past that, hadn’t he?
He wasn’t proud of that time in his life, that time when he’d been drinking too much, made no real friendships, and had turned his nose up at the people in his life who mattered most. Bill had been greatly relieved when Tyler had pulled his head out of his ass.
Tyler had served his time. He’d done penance, or so he hoped.
“I’ve always enjoyed these islands,” Elena said. “They’ve grown more crowded over the years, but you can still find quiet places. Thanks for bringing me here.”
Tyler was surprised by her genuine enthusiasm for a place he loved. He was so on guard with the woman that he could almost discern her game-playing versus her moments of genuineness.
Once they were inside the living room, he watched Elena as she looked at the pictures hung on the walls and the simple pieces of oak and leather furniture. The home was comfortable with a fireplace, nice stereo system and plush furnishings. It certainly wasn’t lavish.
“No TV?” she asked.
“Nope. All of us come here to get away from that sort of noise,” he told her. “We do, however, enjoy having music. We also have Internet. None of us can get away from that for even a single day.”