“Ty? You okay?”
Jerking his attention to the screen, Ty muttered, “Sorry. Go ahead.”
Parker clicked on an icon of the farmhouse, and Tyler straightened in his seat. It was a stunning picture, with the angle of the sun hitting the house just right. He sat in silence as she clicked through several more pictures, each more eye catching than the last. She even had one of him walking in from the fields.
She cleared her throat. “Well? You’re awfully quiet. It’s okay if you don’t like them, I can take others—.”
Ty hushed her. “Parker, these are amazing. They look like they were done by a professional photographer.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, a blush warming up the pale creaminess of her skin. “It’s been a hobby since I was a kid. I do it when I need to take a break or de-stress. Do you have any notes or anything you don’t want on the website?”
He shook his head. “They’re all great. I completely trust your judgement, Parker. Use whichever ones you’d like, now and later.”
Parker grinned and Ty’s chest tightened as his gaze dropped to her lips. Lush and full, they were an invitation that he was having a harder and harder time resisting. He felt himself leaning toward her, drawn like a magnet, before he caught himself. Pulling back, he tried to make it look like he was in the process of standing up. He knew he had confused her a few times, with his words and with his actions. He didn’t want to do that again, and he had to stand firm on not taking it to the next level again. Her safety, and the safety of the pup, always came first.
Even if resisting her was the hardest thing he’d ever done.
They spent a couple of hours working together, mostly in an easy silence, only speaking occasionally. Even though things were quiet, Ty enjoyed it. He spent a lot of his afternoons locked away in here by himself, and having someone in the room with him was actually nice. The fact that it was Parker made all the difference, though.
He was just finishing up payroll when Parker stood and stretched. He couldn’t help giving her a thorough once over, lingering on her generous curves. He’d never get enough of looking at her body.
“I think I’m going to go walk around for a bit and stretch my back out before dinner.”
“Do you need me to go with you? I can finish this later.”
Parker waved a hand. “No, you finish up your work for the day, and we can maybe hang out after dinner? I don’t want you to interrupt your normal routine for me while I’m here. I promise I can walk around the house without hurting myself.”
Ty smiled wryly at her. “I’m not sure of that, but we’ll see. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Parker gave him another breathtaking smile before heading out of the room. He was still sitting motionless, staring after her and lost in thought, when his brother walked into the room.
“Still mooning after Parker like a moon struck calf, I see,” Chase said as he pulled the chair Parker had been using back around the desk.
“Go fuck yourself,” Ty muttered as he turned back to his computer.
“That’s a physical impossibility, big brother,” Chase replied with a grin.
“Then I guess you’ll stay a virgin forever, pup. What do you want?”
“I just came in to tell you I won’t be at dinner tonight. You can make puppy eyes at Parker all night without worrying anyone will see you.”
Ty looked up from his computer, narrowing his eyes at Chase. “You’re going over to the Anderson’s place again, aren’t you?’
Chase rolled his eyes. “Don’t start wit
h me over this again, Ty. You know I go to support Ian.”
“At fights. Shifter fights.”
“What’s your point, Tyler?”
“Something is going to go bad at one of those, Chase. I don’t want you in the crossfire.”
“Nothing’s going to happen. They’re organized. I wish you would go with me to one, so you could see for yourself,” Chase replied, getting defensive.
“No thanks. I don’t want anything to do with that shit, and neither should you. It’s basically shifter exploitation.”
Chase tensed up. “Don’t be a dumbass, Ty. How can it be exploitation if no one but the fighters know they’re shifters? And you’ve always loved a good fight. At least you used to. When the hell did you turn into such a pussy?”