Amelia’s reaction was just as potent. Her lips parted softly and she sucked a soft gasp into her lungs. Her eyes fluttered closed for a moment as his lips pressed to her skin and she leaned in to him.
He was going to enjoy this challenge. Pulling her hand to his chest, he leaned close. The air was warm and charged between them, her eyes widening and her pupils enlarging as he neared her. Her breaths were short and rapid, and her tongue moistened her lips on reflex. She wanted him to kiss her. Winning her over might be easier than he thought if she reacted to him so easily.
He pressed his lips to the outer shell of her ear and whispered in a low, seductive tone, “What do you say we seal the deal with a real kiss?”
When he pulled back, he noticed that a smile had lit Amelia’s eyes and curled her lips. She moved ever so slightly closer to him, placing a hand on his cheek.
“Sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “I don’t kiss on the first date.”
Three
Amelia watched a flicker of emotion cross Tyler’s face before he leaned back and sighed. He seemed tired. The familiar blue eyes she’d looked into a million times were lined with fatigue, and the muscles in his neck and shoulders were tense. She didn’t know if it was the early flight, the stress of their marriage or the pressing worry of impending fatherhood that had him tied in knots.
She wanted to reach out and rub his shoulders to loosen him up, but she realized that probably wouldn’t help. She might be the reason he was exhausted, as she was refusing to play by his rules and making everything harder than he probably thought it needed to be.
“If you won’t let me kiss you,” he said at last, “will you at least let me buy you another cup of tea?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head. She didn’t want anything else in her stomach. Right now, she felt okay, but she didn’t know how quickly the balance could tip. “I could actually use some air. This coffee shop is a little stuffy.” The combination of the heater and the smell of roast coffee were verging on overwhelming. Amelia loved the scent of coffee, but her tolerance was limited today.
She could also use a little breathing room from Tyler. She should’ve known he would shoot out from the starting gate at the proverbial sound of the gun, but she hadn’t prepared herself for the sudden assault. Nor had she been prepared for her body’s response to him.
“How about a walk?” Tyler suggested. “I know it’s a little chilly today, but the sun is out.”
That worked for her. Amelia always thought better when she moved anyway. Of course, that meant she might take three steps and realize she was a fool. If she was honest with herself, she already knew that. As she watched Tyler devour the last of his cinnamon roll and toss their empty cups into the trash, she felt the worry pooling in her already tumultuous stomach.
She had very nearly kissed her best friend just a moment ago. She’d covered her weakness with a joke, but for a second, it had been a very real impulse. The skin of her knuckles burned where he’d seared her with his mouth. Her heart was still thumping at double the speed. The goose bumps continued to stand tall across her arms. Fortunately, she was able to hide all that beneath her blouse and the jacket he was currently helping her into.
Kissing Tyler shouldn’t be a big deal considering she’d let him do a hell of a lot more only a few short weeks ago. But this time she was stone-cold sober, and she still wanted him. She supposed she should be happy about that fact. That was the path they were on now. She’d agreed to date him. Move in with him. They were having a baby—the best thing she could do was fall in love with Tyler. That would make everything easier.
But if she knew anything about relationships, it was that none of it was easy. Amelia wasn’t the kind to slip and fall in love. She was too analytical, too driven to find just the right guy. With over seven billion people in the world, the odds of running across the one who was meant for her were astronomical. Yet every day, happy couples came into From This Moment, ready to get married. Were they settling, or had fate really brought them together?
Fate had certainly thrust her and Tyler together. Did that mean he was the one she was meant to be with? She didn’t know. But whether dating him was a good idea or a bad one, she’d given her word to try. And almost immediately, she’d found her body was on board with the plan, even if her mind was resistant.
It was official—her life had spun out of control. Could she blame her reaction to him on pregnancy hormones?
Tyler opened the door of the coffee shop and they stepped out onto the sidewalk. It was a beautiful day. The sky was a brilliant robin’s-egg blue with no clouds to be seen. There was a cool breeze, but the warmth of the sun on her face made it worth the chill. Winter had been rough this year, pounding them with uncharacteristic snow and ice storms. Her coworker Bree had even been trapped in a Gatlinburg mountain cabin by a wicked winter storm just a few weeks before Amelia went to Las Vegas.
The weather in Nashville was usually pretty mild, but she was certain today was the first time she’d seen the sun since November. Having a taste of it made her look forward to the summer. She couldn’t wait for flowers, ice cream trucks, sandals, cute pedicures and spending a little time cooling off in her bikini at the pool of her apartment complex.
Wait, she thought. Summer might be very different this year. For one thing, she’d be four or five months pregnant, so the bikini was probably out. And based on their discussions, she wouldn’t be living at her apartment much longer. She was moving into a place with Tyler. At least for thirty days. After that, who knew?
Tyler tugged his leather jacket over his navy blazer. They were barely half a block down the road when she felt his fingers reach for hers.
They held hands a lot—in a goofy, best friend sort of manner. She and Tyler had always been physically affectionate in a nonthreatening way. At least, nonthreatening to her. The guys she’d dated had never cared too much for the male best friend she talked about all the time. They’d never believed her when she insisted they were only friends. Perhaps they’d seen something in the two of them that even she couldn’t see.
Amelia laced her fingers though his until they were palm to palm. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, holding his hand felt different somehow. Maybe it was the soft shudder that ran through her when his warm skin pressed against hers. Perhaps it was the occasional whiffs of his cologne that drifted past her nose. Or her sudden awareness of his body so close to hers. It was most likely that all three were combining to remind her of that night together—the one when she’d realized what he was hiding under those expensive suits, and that she couldn’t wait to explore every hard, muscular angle of it.
“This area has bu
ilt up a lot since I was here last,” Tyler said, oblivious to where her thoughts had strayed.
“Yes. None of this was here when we first bought the land to start building From This Moment. Fortunately, it filled in with a nice residential area and some higher-end shopping centers. I wish I could afford to live closer to work, but we found a good spot between two really expensive residential areas, so it’s not happening. There’s not even an apartment complex anywhere around.”
“It’s nice. I like it. Close to the interstate, but not too close. Nearby shopping and restaurants. Not too congested. What do you think about looking for a place around here?”
Amelia turned to look up at him with a frown. “Did you miss the part where I said it’s really expensive?”
“Did you miss the part where I auctioned off a thirty-one-carat canary diamond at Christie’s auction house last month?”