"Only as far as the temperature an

d humidity goes," she admitted. "It's brutal here. But the other amenities in Austin make up for it."

"Yeah?" he teased. "Like what?"

"Oh, you know. Great local bars. Cute guys on the jogging trails. Lots of places that serve breakfast tacos. General Austin stuff."

He tugged her to a stop, then kissed her, his mouth tasting like sausage. "That's all?"

"Oh, wait. There's this man I'm fond of..."

He laughed, and they continued along the walking path, chatting about the bar, the kids, the weather. Pretty much everything until she circled back to their original conversation. "I just want to be sure that I'm not a distraction. I know the idea is for you to up the revenue at the bar. I don't want to feel like I'm hindering that."

"You're not. And I like the distraction. It feels good, actually. Like I'm finding my center again."

She paused on the trail. "Do you mean that?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I do."

A smile tugged at her mouth. "In that case, good."

"Come on. Let's head back to my car."

They turned around, then headed back the way they came, foregoing the longer path that circled the downtown section of the river. "Can I ask you something else?" she asked after they'd walked about a quarter of a mile. "Why didn't you ever look for me? I mean, I know you sent letters, and since my father hid them, I never answered you. But why didn't you come looking for me to ask why?"

It wasn't until the words were out that she realized how much his answer mattered to her. And when he spoke, the words hit her with the force of a brick.

"I did," he said. "I saw you with David. And with Elena. I assumed she was his."

She stopped on the track, staring at him. "But that would mean I would have had to have hooked up with David about fifteen seconds after you shipped out."

"I know," he said, and she froze, stopped cold by the pain in his voice.

"Oh, Tiger," she said. "All these years, you'd thought--"

He shook his head, his finger on her lips gently silencing her. "You're here now. And none of that matters anymore."

Chapter Sixteen

It was, Tyree thought, an entirely different vibe to be in the back bar waiting for his cue to strut than it was to be standing near the stage waiting for the contestants to start strutting.

All things being equal, he'd rather be in the audience. And for a moment, he wondered what the hell he'd been thinking. After all, the owner of the bar holding the contest didn't actually need to be in the contest. Surely that was some sort of horrible conflict of interest. Clearly, he'd been suffering from a particularly virulent form of insanity when he'd agreed.

Which, he supposed, was somewhat true. Because Eva did make him crazy, in the best possible way. And she was the one who'd roped him into this.

He fully intended to make her pay. In, of course, the best possible way. And detailed, sensual visions of the actual payment he planned to demand flitted through his mind in such vivid detail that he actually missed his cue to go on stage.

"Go!" Mina gave him a shove, and he stumbled forward as the emcee, Beverly, called to the crowd for a shout-out.

"Yes, folks, we finally did it! We finally convinced our very own Tyree Johnson to enter the contest. As you probably know, Tyree is your gracious host here at The Fix, and from what I understand, it took more than a little cajoling to get him on stage. But now it's time for the real test," she said, as a classic stripper tune started coming out of the speakers. "Come on, my friend, let's see those pecs."

He wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh, run, or find Eva and drag her up on the stage beside him. But he did find her in the crowd with Elena at her side, both of them looking ridiculously amused. Oh, yeah. There would most definitely be payment tonight.

The crowd started to urge him on, and what the hell, right? He could hardly ask dozens of men--including some of his own employees--to do what he didn't have the balls to do. Besides, he worked out. He might be forty-six, but he wasn't shabby.

With one quick motion, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it over his head, then tossed the T-shirt into the crowd, to a chorus of whoops and claps.

He struck a Mr. Universe-style pose, did a turn to show off his back, and then slid out of the spotlight to stand among the other tributes to the fires of insanity. Finally, he caught Eva's eye in the crowd, then chuckled when she fanned her face, as if to suggest that he was just too hot. Beside her, Elena had her hand over her mouth, obviously holding in laughter.

Tags: J. Kenner Man of the Month Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net