Sweet Surrender (Sugar Rush #3) Page 7

  Gavin didn’t look up from his computer screen. Mia slanted Polly an exasperated frown.

  Tyler suppressed a smile. Despite Mia’s lack of success with Gavin, the girl knew how to flirt. Any other guy would have been panting at her feet. Kate could take lessons from Mia on how to land Miles Norwood, though for some reason Tyler didn’t like the idea of Kate thrusting out her cleavage and batting her eyelashes.

  Plus she’d probably do it so badly that Norwood would ask her if she had a backache or something in her eye.

  “Polly, you know Luke’s assistant?” he asked. “Does she come around here a lot?”

  “About once a week,” Polly replied. “I adore Kate. She’s so efficient. She’s helping us keep track of the vendors and permits, and even offered to help with the upgrading of our point of sales system.” A frown creased her forehead. “Luke keeps trying to get her to take a vacation, though. He said it’s been way too long since she’s taken time off.”

  Evan chuckled. “Coming from Luke, that’s saying something.”

  “It’s the truth,” Hannah said. “I asked her if she wanted to come to Codswallop with us this weekend, but she said she’s working.”

  All weekend? Tyler had issues with not working, but it sounded like Kate took things too far in the other direction.

  “What’s Codswallop?” he asked.

  “A hippie music festival about an hour south,” Polly explained. “I took Luke when we were first dating, and tomorrow we’re going with Hannah and Evan.”

  Tyler couldn’t imagine either one of his brothers, especially starched-shirt Luke, getting down at a hippie music festival.

  Then again, Polly had had an effect on the CEO that no one could have predicted. Tyler had never thought his eldest brother capable of change, but now Luke was doing things like taking off work early and maybe even playing bongo drums and wearing tie-dye T-shirts. He seemed happier, too—not happier about Tyler’s behavior, but in general.

  Tyler set his brush down. After telling the others he had plans that night, he headed back outside. Restlessness still simmered through him.

  He walked along the side-streets of Ocean Avenue toward the beach. He passed a little brick restaurant with a tiny, gated terrace on the side, the heat lamps and strings of colorful lanterns providing a nice glow. He glanced absently at the patrons sitting down for dinner.

  He stopped. Kate Darling sat at a table near the fence, studying the paper menu spread out on the table that was set for two.

  Tyler’s gut tightened. Had she already asked Norwood out? Was this about to be their first date? Was she waiting for him? If she was, then why did the thought stick in Tyler like a thorn?

  He shook his head. He was being stupid. So she’d asked Norwood out again. Good for mousy little Kate. A data analyst was the guy for her.

  Tyler should just walk away and leave them to their little candlelit dinner. Instead he walked right toward her.

  Chapter

  EIGHT

  Finding a perverse satisfaction in getting to Kate’s table before Norwood was anywhere in sight, Tyler stopped just outside the terrace fence. “Hey, Darling.”

  She looked up, her eyebrows lifting. “Tyler. What are you doing here?”

  “Just heading down to the beach and saw you.” He tilted his head to the empty seat across from her. “Waiting for your dream man?”

  “What…oh, you mean Miles?” She shook her head. “No. I’m here alone.”

  He frowned. “You’re eating dinner alone?”

  “Yes. This is one of my favorite restaurants.” She gestured to a laptop bag near her feet. “I often come here to work and have dinner.”

  He disliked the idea of her eating dinner alone, but at least she wasn’t already having dinner with Norwood.

  “Can I join you?” he asked.

  She blinked. “You want to join me for dinner?”

  “Sure. Unless you want to back out of our agreement.”

  “I never back out of a decision once it’s been made.” She indicated the empty chair across from her. “Have a seat.”

  Tyler entered the restaurant through the front door and told the hostess he was joining a friend on the terrace. “The girl sitting by herself,” he added.

  “Oh, of course!” The hostess’s eyes slid over him as she picked up another menu. “How nice for Kate to have a companion.”

  Jeez. How often did she eat here alone?

  After he was seated across from her, he ordered a beer and opened the menu.

  “So what do you recommend?” he asked.

  “Either the sand dabs or the baba ganoush. Both excellent.”

  Tyler ordered baba ganoush along with stuffed peppers and falafel. Kate ordered the sand dabs and a side of dolmas for them to share.

  “Also one of my favorites,” she explained. “The owner of this place is from Lebanon, and everything is so authentic.”

  “Sounds like it beats pizza, which is what I was about to have for dinner.”

  She tilted her head and studied him. “Don’t you have big Friday night plans? From what I hear, you’re quite the party boy.”

  Discomfort rustled in his chest. He didn’t love the idea that she knew about his bad reputation.

  “No, I was just hanging out at home.” It was more or less the truth. “What about you? No late-night plans?”

  She shook her head. He realized for the first time that she looked different than she had at work—her hair was loose, pulled back with a headband, and she wore a blue T-shirt. Even though the baggy material didn’t reveal much, the full curves of her breasts were evident, and God knew Tyler remembered with crystal-clear precision how they’d felt in his hands.

  Heat pooled in his groin. He forced himself to focus on the image on her shirt, which was of a cartoon bird lying on its back beneath the words THIS PARROT HAS CEASED TO BE.

  His mouth twitched. “You a Monty Python fan?”

  “A…” She followed his gaze down. “Oh, sure. I’ve seen all the episodes, but the dead parrot skit never gets old.” She looked up at him. “I’m surprised you got the reference.”

  “I work with a guy who’s an expert on British comedies. He got me hooked on Benny Hill, though given the number of bikini-clad girls on that show, it wasn’t a hard sell.”

  Kate’s smile brightened her face and made her even prettier. He wanted to see her smile more often. Except he also liked her serious, schoolmarm look, and the way she pulled her eyebrows together when she was thinking hard about something. Not to mention the cute blush that colored her cheeks when she was embarrassed.

  “You said you work with a guy,” she remarked. “I was under the impression you didn’t have a job.”

  “It’s not a job, just tinkering with old cars at a garage. Charlie has a TV in the office, and he plays old British comedies nonstop.”

  “So do you have a favorite Python sketch?”

  As they launched into a discussion of classic sketches, from “Hell’s Grannies” to “Nudge,” Tyler’s guilt and restlessness eased. Unlike some women, Kate didn’t hold a grudge. And even though she’d turned the tables on him in the library, he’d sure as hell known what he’d felt.

  She’d been hot. And wet. And she could easily have stopped the encounter long before she’d straddled his thigh and pressed her pussy against him. He’d have backed off the second she’d pushed him away. But she’d let him tug her skirt up. She’d slid her hands under his T-shirt and traced his abs with a light, fluttering touch that had ignited a fire in his veins.

  Christ. He was starting to get hard from the memory alone. He reached for his beer, grateful for the distraction of the food arriving. He took a bite of baba ganoush and almost groaned as the flavors of smoky eggplant and cumin filled his mouth.

  “Right?” Kate smiled at his reaction and plucked a dolma from the plate. “Try this.”

  He ate the dolma out of her fingers, agreed that it was perfection stuffed in a grape leaf, and dug into the rest
of his food.

  “I talked to Luke about ordering a new computer and database for the library,” Kate said. “He green-lighted everything, so it’ll be delivered on Monday morning.”

  “Thanks.” Not that he had any idea what he’d do with new equipment. “I really am sorry for what I did. I’m not usually such a dickhead.”

  “You mean you’re just sometimes a dickhead?”

  He acknowledged that remark with a wry grin. “I have a redeeming quality or two. And I know I ragged on you about your clothes, but really…if a guy can’t see past that, then maybe he’s not worth your time.”

  Kate sighed. “No, you were right. A woman should always put her best foot forward. But it’s not just my clothes. Relationships aren’t my thing.”

  “You’ve never been in relationship?”

  “Of course I’ve been in a relationship.” She gave a little sniff of disgust. “I’ve been in several. Three, to be exact. But they all failed, and I’m still not sure what happened. So clearly I’ve been getting it wrong. I just need to figure out why.”

  Tyler leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “What if the men were the ones getting it wrong?”

  “Then I missed the memo.” She finished off the last dolma. “What about you? Growing up with five brothers, you must have some interesting stories.”

  “Yeah.” He shrugged. “I was lucky. Good family. Had everything I wanted. Never did right by my family, though.”

  She eyed him perceptively. “I heard you were the rebellious one.”

  “I was a troublemaker, if that’s what you mean. My brothers were all decent, and Hailey’s always been a good girl. She got a lot of attention, being the only daughter.”

  “Evan too, I imagine, with his heart condition.” Kate nodded, as if that made perfect sense. “And your brothers are all so successful.”

  The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his successful brothers.

  “So what do you do outside of the office?” he asked.

  “Not much. I work a lot.”

  “What do you do with your friends?”

  Kate bit her lip. “I don’t have many friends in Indigo Bay.”

  Well, shit. That shouldn’t surprise him, given what he knew about her 24/7 loyalty to Luke and Sugar Rush. Still, it pissed him off that a young woman like her didn’t seem to have much of a life outside of work. She should be out having fun, not stuck behind a desk all the time.

  “What about Polly and Hannah?” he asked. “They said you turned down an offer to go to a music festival with them.”

  “I didn’t want to intrude.”

  “When you’re invited somewhere, it’s not intruding.”

  “I know, but they’re still making up for all the years they were apart,” Kate explained. “So I feel like they should just have the time together as sisters.”

  Tyler shook his head. “Well, they both like you. You should hang out with them sometime.”

  “Maybe I will.” She picked up the bill the waitress had left on the table, holding up a hand when he started to protest. “I’ll take care of this. We wouldn’t want to mess up your track record of getting one-upped by Kate Darling.”

  She winked at him and reached for her bag. A grin tugged at his mouth. He was starting to like getting one-upped by Kate Darling. But still he took a couple of twenties out of his wallet and put them on the bill tray.

  “Hey, man.” The familiar voice boomed through the air. He turned to see Ben and John ambling toward him.

  “Why’d you take off?” Ben asked as they came to a stop beside the fence. “We’re going over to that new bar on Green Street. Come on.”

  “No, thanks.” Tyler gestured to Kate, who was still standing beside the table. “This is Kate, Luke’s secre…er, executive assistant.”

  “Oh.” Ben blinked. “Sorry, thought you were the waitress.”

  “Kate, this is Ben and John.”

  “Hi.” She gave them a little wave. “Nice meeting you.”

  “You too,” John said.

  Kate indicated to Tyler that she was going inside. After she’d left, Ben punched him on the shoulder.

  “Come on, man. The Tipsy Angel is supposed to be a great new place.”

  Tyler shook his head. “No, I’m done for the night.”

  “You going out with her?” Ben nodded in the direction Kate had gone. “Interesting choice, especially after Savannah. Looks like you’ve lowered your fuck buddy standards.”

  A red mist of anger descended over Tyler’s eyes. He got to his feet so fast his chair almost tipped over. He grabbed the front of Ben’s shirt and yanked other guy closer. Silence fell over the terrace, the other patrons glancing their way.

  “You don’t fucking talk about Kate or any other woman like that,” Tyler snapped. “Do that again, and I’ll kick your ass. Got it?”

  “Chill out, man.” Ben held up his hands. “Just saying she’s not exactly like your other bombshells, right? Fuck buddy or not.”

  “Shut up.” John knocked Ben hard on the back of the head.

  “Is there a problem, gentlemen?” The hostess rushed toward them, her expression worried.

  “No problem.” Tyler released Ben with a shove. “Sorry for the trouble.”

  John grabbed Ben’s arm, dragging him away. Tyler smothered his anger and stalked into the restaurant. He stopped.

  Kate stood by the door leading to the terrace. One look at her expression told Tyler she’d overheard what his dickwad friend had just said.

  Chapter

  NINE

  Really?

  Kate shook her head in disbelief. Did she have some sort of “Kick Me” sign on her back tonight?

  “Shit.” Tyler groaned and dragged his hands over his face. “I’m sorry. He’s an asshole. Guess it takes one to know one, huh?”

  Kate smiled faintly at his attempt at humor. “You’re not an asshole, Tyler. You’re a little…misguided, and you need to get your shit together, but I know your family. Your parents didn’t raise you or any of your brothers to be bad people.”

  He blinked, as if that thought had never occurred to him. “Still. I’m sorry he insulted you.”

  Kate slipped her wallet back into her bag and started for the door. It was a good thing she had high self-esteem because taking two hits in one night was a little much, even for a woman who had reasonably strong armor.

  But at least this time she’d had someone on her side. Though she really couldn’t have cared less what a jerk like Ben thought of her, it was nice to have Tyler leap to her defense and take some of the sting out of the insult. Aside from her father and the quarry guys—and they didn’t really count—a man had never defended her.

  “You do have interesting friends.” She pushed open the front door. “Interesting choice of women too, by the sound of it.”

  “What does that mean?” He caught up with her on the sidewalk.

  “Fuck buddies?” The phrase had an odd effect on her, like it was sparking and popping in her brain. “You don’t have the decency to call them girlfriends?”

  “I have girlfriends,” Tyler replied defensively. “But sometimes a girl and I have an understanding that we’re not together, just having fun. Friends with benefits. I don’t call them that, though. Not fuck buddies either. I just refer to them as friends. No one else’s business if we’re sleeping together.”

  She threw him a derisive frown. “Seems like your bros figured it out, though. The girls don’t get the idea that you’re romancing them?”

  “No, because I’m not. I treat them right and all, but there’s no long-term promise. It’s just sex.”

  “What about the friends part?”

  “We’re friends, too.” He shoved his hands into his pockets as they started toward Ocean Avenue. Discomfort flashed across his face. “It’s not a bad thing. The girl and I are both looking for a good time, no matter what we call each other.”

  “Well, it’s the same thing, isn’t it?” Kate asked. “
Friends with benefits, fuck buddies, sex buddies. Is that what Savannah was? Wasn’t she also the speedboat girl?”

  “Yeah.” He grimaced. “There was an out-of-control party on a yacht anchored in the bay. Savannah Corrigan took the keys to her father’s boat and asked me to get her stuff because she wasn’t supposed to be at the party in the first place. And, like an idiot, I did.”

  “How did you crash?”

  “I was going too fast because I wanted to get back before we were found out.” His mouth twisted. “Didn’t exactly go as planned.”

  “And I’m guessing Savannah didn’t tell her father the truth.”

  Tyler shrugged. “Doesn’t matter.”

  “How can it not matter?” Kate experienced a twinge of indignation on his behalf. “She lied.”

  “I didn’t have to take the boat out. But I can never say no to a pretty girl.”

  “Sounds like it’s the same in the bedroom,” she remarked. “How long were you with her?”

  “Couple of months,” Tyler said. “Can we stop talking about her? The memory of Savannah is like a lingering fart smell in my brain.”

  Kate laughed. He shot her a grin, and some of the tension seemed to ease from his shoulders.

  “Hey, look.” She stopped, nodding toward a row of buildings on the other side of the street. A brightly lit window sat between a pizza joint and a board game store. The sign above it read Get Your Geek On Arcade. “I haven’t been to an arcade in years.”

  He cocked his head. “You like arcades?”

  “Not only do I like arcades, I hold the all-time Space Invaders record at the Pizza Pit on Fourth Street in Wabash, North Carolina.”

  He grinned. “Well, you’re in trouble now because you’re on a date with a guy who had dreams of becoming a professional gamer when he was a kid.”

  A date. Had this really turned into an unexpected date?

  She arched an eyebrow. “Challenge?”

  He strode to the door and pulled it open for her. “Challenge.”

  The interior was dim and loud, the noise of battles and racecars pinging from the video-game machines set up on the other side of a snack bar. The proprietor told them all the games were set to free play, so they paid the cover fee and headed into the crowd.