He asked about her, and she told him she was working as a barista to pay for college and how she still wasn’t sure what she wanted to do for a career. She was right about him being a graduate student. He was working on a master’s in art therapy, and he told her he loved her freckles.

  He gave her his phone number and asked her to give him a call if she wanted to get together sometime.

  Then he went back to his friend.

  She turned toward Tyler, who was grinning. He gave her a goofy thumbs-up that made her giggle.

  She’d finished her wine as she talked to the guy, but she wanted to celebrate her victory, so she ordered another and took it over to Tyler’s table.

  “See?” he said. “Told you that you could do it.”

  “I can’t believe it worked.”

  “You were making it way too complicated. Most guys aren’t that hard.”

  She snickered.

  Then he seemed to realize what he’d said and said, “Sorry. You know what I mean.”

  “Yes, I do.”

  He gave her a quick look. “So did you like that guy?” he asked, almost diffidently.

  “I was mostly practicing.”

  “Sure, but did you like him?”

  She wasn’t quite sure why he was asking, but she answered him honestly. “I guess so. I honestly wasn’t really paying attention. He gave me his number.”

  “I saw that. Are you going to give him a call?”

  “Maybe. I still need a lot of practice.”

  “Don’t go out with him if you don’t like him, even for practice.”

  “I’m not going to go out with someone I don’t like. I barely go out with guys I do like.”

  He laughed at that and seemed to relax again. They chatted for a while as she finished her wine. Then Tyler said he’d walk her back to her place.

  She was feeling strangely giddy on the way home, and she wasn’t sure if it was from her success in the bar or from the three drinks she’d had. Maybe both—with an extra boost from how soft and sexy Tyler looked as he smiled down on her.

  He’d complained about helping her out with this, but he didn’t appear to be having a bad time.

  They didn’t talk a lot as they walked, but Megan felt a bit disoriented, like she might wander into the street accidentally, so she clung to Tyler’s arm to make sure she stayed on track. He occasionally made a random comment, and she kept giggling at everything he said, whether it was funny or not.

  They were getting near her apartment when it suddenly occurred to her why she was acting so silly. “I didn’t drink that much,” she announced, as if she could argue with her own recognition.

  Tyler laughed—low and fond. “It was evidently enough. I’ve never seen you like this before.”

  She sniffed, wondering if he was casting aspersion on her tolerance. “I haven’t eaten yet, so maybe I was particularly susceptible.” She was pleased with her ability to summon such vocabulary in her current condition.

  “Probably so.” He’d stopped walking, so she did too. He gently brushed away a strand of hair that had somehow ended up stuck to her lips. “You’ll be fine. Just drink a lot of water when you get home.”

  “I know to drink water. You don’t have to boss me around.” That didn’t come out quite as mature and eloquent as her earlier retort, so she added for good measure, “Bossy.”

  His mouth was quivering, and his eyes were warmer than ever. “I thought you wanted my advice.”

  “Only about men. Not about drinking.”

  “I see. Got it.”

  His face was still soft but almost sober now. She had no idea why he wouldn’t stop looking at her that way. It made her heart race and her breathing pick up and her pulse throb at her wrists and throat.

  The response and her blurriness scared her so much she scowled at him. “We’re not at my place yet.”

  “True.” His face changed. He put his hand on her back and nudged her forward. “You should get something to eat, drink a lot of water, and go to bed.”

  “It’s too early for bed. I’ve got a paper to write.”

  “I wouldn’t put much faith in anything you come up with this evening. Maybe get up early tomorrow and write it.”

  She huffed and wanted to argue but didn’t because she suspected he was right. She did better about walking the rest of the way without clinging to him.

  Megan lived in a small studio in an inexpensive building several blocks from Coble Coffee. It wasn’t the nicest place around, but because it was entirely made up of studio apartments, there weren’t dozens of undergrads piled into one unit. Her neighbors were mostly graduate students in their twenties who cared more about studying than partying, so she didn’t mind the low-end fixtures and finishes. Plus it was cheap enough to allow her to live without roommates while she finished her degree.

  She wondered vaguely if Tyler thought it wasn’t nice as they walked through the front door and up the stairs to her unit. His and Vivian’s family wasn’t particularly rich, but they’d had a nice house and plenty of spending money, unlike Megan’s parents, who were always having to save every penny.

  Tyler’s family had been able to pay for his and Vivian’s education, both undergrad and grad. Megan was working her way through school on her own, trying desperately not to take on any debt.

  The reflections made her feel blah. Not because she was at all ashamed of her family or her economic condition. But because it felt like Tyler was slipping away when she’d felt so close to him a few minutes ago.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked as they reached her door.

  “Nothing.”

  “Something’s wrong. You got all droopy for no reason.”

  “I’m not droopy. And it’s none of your business why I’m droopy anyway.”

  That made perfect sense to her as she said it, but when she saw Tyler’s mouth start to twitch again, she thought over what she’d just said. “Oh, shut up,” she told him.

  “I didn’t say a word.”

  “Your expression was talking very loudly.”

  “Oh yeah?” He took a step closer to her. Closer than he usually stood. His eyes took on that softness she really liked again. “And what is my expression saying?”

  “Well, it was laughing at me before,” she said with a little sniff. “And now it’s gotten all...” She trailed off, suddenly embarrassed by what she’d thought she’d seen in his eyes.

  He cocked his head, studying her face like he really didn’t know how she was going to finish the sentence. “All what?”

  “I don’t know. Like you’re still kind of laughing at me but not as meanly.”

  “I never laugh at you meanly.”

  “No,” she admitted. “You don’t. You’re always nice. You’re the nicest guy I’ve ever met.”

  “Yeah?” His eyes got all soft again.

  “Yeah.”

  For a moment, she thought—she was absolutely convinced—that he was going to kiss her. But his head gave a weird little jerk. Then he cleared his throat and stepped back. “You’ll be okay in there?”

  “In there?”

  “In your apartment. You’re not going to fall asleep in your clothes or throw up or anything, are you?”

  His shift in tone and expression was like a blow to the gut, but she wasn’t even sure if something had been about to happen. She wasn’t thinking at her clearest right now, so maybe she’d made the whole thing up. “No, I’m not. I’m not that drunk. I’ll be fine. So you can go home.”

  “All right. I will. Get some rest. And don’t try to work on your paper right now. You won’t like the results.”

  “Shut up,” she grumbled as she unlocked her door. Then she remembered how he’d helped her today. “Thanks for...” She waved in the direction of downtown. “...all that.”

  He smiled slowly. “You’re welcome. Anytime.”

  “I’m glad you said that,” Megan said as she stepped across the threshold. “Because I’ll probably need some more practice.”

  TYLER HAD NO IDEA HOW he’d gotten tangled up in this mess with Megan. It certainly wasn’t intentional.

  Last week, his life had been fine. He’d liked his job and had a lot of friends and been close to his family, and the only things that had troubled him were the occasional woman who wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  But now he was always thinking about Megan, wondering what she was doing and who she was with and whether she was out trying to attract other men.

  At the moment, he was hanging out at Coble Coffee on a Sunday afternoon, and it should have been a relaxing couple of hours. But instead of people-watching and chatting with friends and acquaintances who stopped by, he was stewing and trying not to stare too much.

  Megan had called that annoying guy she’d met at the bar, and now they were hanging out. And evidently having a very good time.

  This wasn’t how he wanted to be spending his Sunday.

  Megan appeared to be enjoying the guy’s company. At least, she was laughing a lot and giving him way too many flirtatious looks. At this rate, they could be dating seriously in no time, and just the thought of it made Tyler feel vaguely sick.

  No reason for that. She obviously wanted more of a social life, and she’d probably be very happy to find a boyfriend.

  He wasn’t sure why it was starting to bother him so much.

  He wasn’t sure why this guy was bothering him so much. After all, Tyler was the one who’d spotted him at the bar and pointed him out to Megan.

  What the hell had he been thinking?

  His life had been much better when Megan hadn’t been trying to date.

  “It’s your fault,” a voice came from behind him.

  Tyler jerked in surprise and looked over his shoulder to see Nash Coble scowling at him. “What?”

  “It’s your fault.” Nash nodded grumpily toward Megan as he dropped into the chair beside Tyler without invitation. “You did that.”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Tyler said, feeling rather bad-tempered himself. He wasn’t normally like that, but Nash often got on his nerves. For a while, he’d been sure the man was interested in Megan, which wouldn’t be at all appropriate since he was her boss, but eventually Tyler realized he’d been wrong about Nash’s interests. But still, the guy was always so grumpy all the time. It made Tyler feel grumpy too.

  “If you say so.” Nash frowned toward Megan. “She’s a sensible, no-nonsense person who doesn’t normally act like this.”

  “She’s still all that. She’s just having fun.” Tyler sighed, trying to be fair and generous even though he felt anything but. “She deserves it.”

  “Doesn’t look like fun to me.” Nash had a thick beard and a gruff, intimidating appearance. Like he wanted to scare people away from him.

  Tyler actually wasn’t sure why the other man was talking to him right now. He usually avoided conversations. “Well, since you’re not involved in the situation in any way, it doesn’t have anything to do with you, does it?”

  Nash gave a soft huff that Tyler eventually realized was his version of a laugh. “Clearly you’re even less happy about all that than I am.”

  “What?”

  Nash shook his head and got up. “It’s your own fault. You could do something about it if you’d ever make a fucking move.”

  Tyler stared at his back as he walked away, genuinely baffled by what he was implying. The best he could piece together was that Nash thought he had a thing for Megan, but that wasn’t true at all.

  He looked back toward Megan. Now the guy was really close to her. It looked like he was about to kiss her.

  Shit.

  Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit.

  That was it for Tyler. He stood up, bused his mug, and left the coffee shop. He didn’t need to see what happened next.

  He would go home, change clothes, and go out for a run. Use up some of this restless energy and clear his mind. Stop worrying about what Megan was doing and who she was doing it with.

  After all, it shouldn’t matter to him. She’d never been anything to him except his sister’s best friend.

  He didn’t think about Megan that way.

  Three

  MEGAN LEFT COBLE COFFEE, feeling flustered and upset, and she headed for Tyler’s place without even thinking through the instinct.

  He didn’t live far away. Just a few blocks. He had a really nice renovated loft above a used bookstore. The exterior door was locked, so she had to buzz for him to let her in. His voice was surprised when she announced who she was, but he hit the button to unlock the door without hesitation.

  She walked up the stairs and knocked on his apartment door, suddenly feeling stupid.

  What the hell was she doing here anyway?

  She was debating turning around and walking away when the door swung open. Tyler had been wearing jeans and an old golf shirt when he’d been hanging out at the coffee shop earlier, but he’d changed into gym shorts and a T-shirt. His feet were bare, and his dark eyebrows were pulled together. “What’s wrong?”

  “N-nothing.” Her cheeks flushed even though she’d never considered herself much of a blusher. How embarrassing could she get—showing up here with no explanation?

  He stepped out of the doorway to let her in. “Something’s wrong. What’s going on? Did that guy do something to you?” His expression was suddenly fierce.

  Her breath hitched with a weird kind of excitement. “No. Of course he didn’t.”

  “Are you sure? You look upset. Tell me what the fuck is going on!”

  Tyler wasn’t any sort of prude, but he also wasn’t the kind of person who peppered his casual conversation with gritty language. His choice of words sent another tug of excitement shooting down her spine. “It’s just... it’s just...”

  Now that she was standing in front of him, she wasn’t sure how to put into words the feelings of frustration and helplessness that had driven her here.

  The fierceness in Tyler’s expression softened. He stepped closer. Reached out. Cupped one of her cheeks in his big hand. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

  “I still can’t do this!” she burst out.

  His frown deepened. His palm was still on her face, but he appeared suddenly aware of it and dropped his hand quickly. “What can’t you do?”

  “I can’t date! I don’t know how to do it. I thought maybe I’d get better after you helped me the other night, but I’m still stuck and clueless.”

  “Why do you say that? I saw you with that guy earlier. Things seemed to be going well.”

  Part of her thought they’d been going well too, but something deep underlying it had recognized she’d just been faking. It hadn’t really been her, giggling and smiling and flirting. It had been a person she thought she needed to be on a date. Maybe that was why she’d bombed out at the end the way she had.

  “It was going fine for most of it, but then, at the end, I froze.”

  “Why did you freeze?” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and idly rubbed one of his forearms.

  “I don’t know! I just can’t do it. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”

  “Nothing’s wrong with you. Stop talking like that. Tell me exactly what was happening when you froze.”

  She licked her lips and dropped her eyes. “We were saying goodbye. And... and...”

  “Oh.” His tone was different now as recognition dawned. “Did he kiss you?”

  “Yes.” She sucked in a breath and let it out in choppy shudders. “That’s when I froze. It was... it wasn’t good.”

  Tyler was clearly taking her seriously. His eyes had been on her face, but now they moved to a spot in the air, like he was processing what she said and what it meant.

  It was strangely gratifying. To have her deepest insecurities taken seriously when it was hard for her to even express them.

  “What wasn’t good about it?” he asked. “It might be that he just wasn’t a good kisser or you didn’t like him enough to be kissing him. Either one of those things is more about him than about you.”

  “I don’t think that was it. I mean, I probably didn’t like him enough to kiss him so soon, but even so, I wanted to. I mean, I want to get some practice.”

  “Kissing isn’t really about skill. It’s about wanting to do it.”

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I can’t even respond when I want to. I wasn’t expecting it. We were just talking out on the sidewalk. And then he leaned in and kissed me and I just... I just...”

  “You just what?” He looked faintly annoyed, but she didn’t think it was aimed toward her. It was almost like he was annoyed with the guy.

  “I just stood there. I couldn’t move. I couldn’t kiss him back. I couldn’t do anything but... but... stand there like a statue.” She rubbed her face and groaned. “He pulled back and clearly wasn’t happy about my response. So he’ll probably never call me again, and I’ll never know if I might actually like him. What the hell is wrong with me? What kind of person doesn’t even know how to kiss?”

  “For fuck’s sake, Megan, stop beating yourself up. You were taken by surprise and didn’t react immediately. He should have given you more time. Or at least some sort of warning. Why are you blaming yourself for this?”

  She blinked a few times. Her cheeks were hotter than ever, and her heart was hammering in her chest. Tyler had that look again. Almost fierce. It made her breath hitch. “I’m blaming myself because I’m the one who doesn’t know how to do it.”

  “It’s not really something you learn. It’s just something you do.”

  “That can’t be true. It can’t! Because if it is, then I’m missing whatever part of human nature is designed to do it.”

  “You are not missing it,” he gritted out. He’d taken a couple of steps closer to her. So close she could reach out and touch him. “Stop talking that way about yourself.”

  “I’ll talk about myself any way I want. That’s the way I feel!” She wasn’t sure why she was arguing. Mostly because it was better than her stronger instinct, which was to drag him even closer to her.

  “Well, stop feeling that way.” His voice was almost a growl now, and it was doing crazy things to her insides.

 

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