“Sometimes you kill a man. These things happen to us women. No need to go to jail over it.” She winks at me. I only laugh harder. The bell on the front door chimes, and we both turn to see who is coming in.
“Love that sound,” Tyson says as he enters the diner. Butterflies fill my stomach at the sight of him. He looks so damn handsome, and he’s all mine.
“You look good for a dead man. Not shocking.” Tammy winks at him before heading into the back.
“You come for lunch?” Tyson clears the space between us, pulling me into his arms. His mouth comes down onto mine in a deep kiss. I melt into him. There is no fight left inside me when it comes to this man. He can do whatever he wants to my body at this point. I’ll let him.
“I came for you, and you know it,” he says against my mouth, causing me to smile.
“Pretty sure I was the only one that came.”
“You’re killing me.” He gives my ass a squeeze.
His cock hard cock presses into my stomach, making heat settle between my thighs. Last night he made it more than clear this isn’t about him getting his rocks off. He could have done it all right there in his truck. I mean, I’d offered, but the Tyson Carter I’ve really come to know is always giving when it comes to me. I find myself wanting to give to him, too.
“I’ve missed you,” I tell him. He gives me a smile that lights up his eyes.
“I got something for you.”
“I can feel that.” I wiggle my brows at him. He’s opened up these desires I didn’t know I had, and they are spilling out now whenever he’s around.
“Rory.” A deep rumble comes from inside him, making me laugh. I can’t remember the last time I’ve laughed this much. Or even been this happy. He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an envelope and hands it over. “It’s your share.”
I peek inside. “Seriously? Did you add to this or something?” This is double what I make on my own in a night doing deliveries. I thumb through the cash and see I’m wrong. It’s triple the amount. Holy crap.
“Nope. If you can take more deliveries, you get more money. I was actually working on this app for you this morning. I have an online tech friend helping me. Think it’s going to help a ton. You could really have something big with delivery to folks outside of city limits. The normal apps won’t let them order. You’ll get to scoop them all up and grab locals too.”
I’ve been picking up a lot of orders, but all by word of mouth from people who live a bit outside of town. I was able to charge a higher delivery fee, so it paid well.
“You’re really something, Tyson Carter. You know that?” I run my hands up his chest.
“Been trying to tell you that for years.”
“You know your followers think you’re dead, right?”
“I’ll get to that later. Told the boys I’d do some videos with them tonight so they’ll see then that I’m still kicking.”
“Sheila might be around,” I remind him. He stiffens for a moment but quickly hides it. I know he doesn’t care for my mom at all, but he plays nice. Same as I do.
“Why don’t you kids get out of here? We're slow. No use on both of us sticking around,” Tammy says, coming in from the back.
“We could go Christmas shopping for the boys. Get some gifts to put under the tree,” Tyson suggests. “Got your orders covered for tonight too,” he adds.
I do have some extra money. “Okay,” I agree. A few stolen hours with Tyson for the afternoon is a Christmas gift to myself. Maybe I can give him a little gift of my own if he’ll let me.
CHAPTER 15
TYSON
Walking around town holding Rory’s hand feels good. Snow’s not falling, but it’s Texas, and that’s probably a good thing. The hint of a flake and the entire state shuts down. A year ago, we didn’t have heat. That was bad. We make do without the fluffy white stuff the Northerners get. There are wreaths on the telephone poles and light-up candy canes hanging off the streetlamps. My uncle even bought a giant blow-up Santa that sits on the front lawn of City Hall. When you kick or punch the stomach, Santa laughs.
Rory’s cheeks are rosy with happiness. She’s bought all kinds of stuff for the boys. Dean is getting new sneakers and a Switch. Logan’s getting sneakers, too, along with a powered train set and Pokémon cards. I convinced Rory to let me gift a new TV for the entire family. It’ll be delivered by Santa—aka me—on Christmas Eve.
“Home?” I suggest as we load the presents into the back of the truck. I’m not thrilled about seeing Sheila, but I’d endure the devil if it meant spending time with Rory.