And then it was gone again, replaced with the realization that Tyson was first and foremost an officer of the law. Once he heard her story…
“Nothing important,” she finally answered and pulled her hand away. Giving herself a bit of emotional, as well as physical distance to try to give herself a better perspective of the situation.
Tyson bit back a curse as he watched her do it again. Watched Ellie bring down the shutters on whatever she was hiding. But she couldn’t quite mask the unease in her eyes.
His gut twisted and he bit back a sigh. Dammit, for a while there he’d forgotten he didn’t completely trust her. She’d just been an intriguing woman with whom he could be himself and have fun. And who he just happened to want to fuck until her eyes crossed.
He didn’t want it to be more complex than that. Why the hell did it have to be? But his cop instinct told him it was, and that whatever she was hiding made
her
not trust
him
much either.
They stepped onto the trail that curved around a small inlet that would ultimately drop them on the beach.
“You know,” she said suddenly. “I’ve never actually seen the ocean before.”
Tyson’s gaze jerked to her, his brows shooting up. “Never? You serious?”
“Yeah, kind of crazy. But…until Wyattville, I never really traveled anywhere that was close to the ocean.”
“How far is it from Brooklyn to the Atlantic? Surely not that long of a drive.”
Her lips parted and something that looked an awful lot like disbelief flashed in her eyes, before her lips flattened into a tight smile.
“Well…no, it’s not too long of a drive.” She hesitated and then seemed to relax a bit. “There was this one time, when my cousin and I had just turned twenty-one, we got in her Mustang to head to Atlantic City. Her back tire blew out not even a quarter of the way there. It was late at night anyway, so we took it as a sign that it just wasn’t meant to be and headed back to Brooklyn.”
“And you never tried again?”
“I…my cousin, moved around a lot. I didn’t see her all that often and she was always the adventurous one.” She offered a stiff shrug.
Again Tyson had to wonder how many half-truths were in the story she’d just told. Her body language clearly indicated she was lying about something. But it was a conversation about the
ocean
, why the hell would she have to lie about that?
“It’s so pretty here.” Ellie gestured to the pool of water that flowed in from the Pacific to form the small inlet. “Do people swim in it?”
“Yeah. It’s real popular this time of year. The inlet is a little calmer than the ocean, with all the waves, so lots of parents bring the little kids,” he replied. “In fact, the place will probably be packed by noon.”
“I’ll bet. Well, we got here just in time then.”
A few minutes later, the trail emptied onto the soft sand of the beach, and beyond that lay the blue sprawl of the ocean. He tossed their empty bakery bag into a garbage can and slowed down as Ellie paused.
He heard her catch her breath and then let it out a moment later on a soft sigh.
“Oh my God. It’s more amazing than anything you see on television.” Her voice trembled a bit. “Sorry, but I have to.”
Tyson was still trying to figure out what she was apologizing for, when she grabbed the bottom of her dress and took off running down the beach. Straight toward the ocean.
Chapter Eight
His mouth curved into a wide smile and his chest bounced with laughter as he watched her. She squealed and then laughed, as she waded out into the water.
“It’s cold!” she yelled, turning to look at him. “And it feels amazing.”
Tyson didn’t reply, just started after her again, making his way down the slippery slopes of sand to the ocean’s edge.
“Come in!” she cried, playfully kicking a spray of water toward him. “Take off your shoes and come in.”
For the moment, he was content to just watch her. Watch Ellie tilt her head back and suck in a breath of sea air as she stumbled through the shallow waves.
She was beautiful. He traced her body with his gaze. Starting with her pale shapely calves sparkling with water, to the thrust of her breasts against her dress, and the huge smile of delight on her face.
He wanted her at this moment more than he had since they’d met. Because this was the real Ellie. No pretenses. Real. Honest. Uninhibited.
It didn’t matter that he had on his leather sandals or was wearing jeans, he wanted to share the moment with her. Her never having seen the ocean was obviously one thing she hadn’t lied about.
A moment later, with his sandals off and his jeans rolled up, he took his first steps into the water. He let the coolness swirl around his feet as he breathed in the salty ocean air. He felt what she felt. Smelled what she smelled.
Ellie’s eyes opened again and her hazel gaze, alight with wonder and happiness, fell on him.
“I love it,” she said softly. “Can you feel the power of the ocean? The energy and life? The way it sucks the sand between your toes as it pulls back out.”
Hearing her words and watching the joy in Ellie’s face, it was as if he were experiencing the ocean for the first time too.
“I feel it,” he murmured, wading closer to her.
Her smile faded a bit and awareness flickered in her eyes. She’d figured out he wasn’t referring to the water anymore.
He cupped her cheek and gave her a gentle smile. “You’re incredibly beautiful. Do you realize that, Ellie?”
She ran her tongue over her lips, while she shook her head in a tiny gesture of denial. Of his words, or of this moment, who knew.
“I can’t stop touching you. Watching you,” he confessed. “You’ve captivated me, Ellie. Whoever the hell you are.”
Guilt slid over her expression. “Tyson…”
“Tell me.”
“I can’t.”
The two words were barely audible, but they were the admission he’d been waiting to hear.
She might not have been able to say more than that right now, but it was a start.
“You will,” he said quietly, but firmly. “When you’re ready. You can trust me, Ellie. You know you can.”
Her lashes fluttered down, hiding the trace of fear that had flickered in her gaze.
He cupped her other cheek, so that he was cradling her face and they stood just inches a part. “But for now…”
Lowering his head, he allowed his lips to catch whatever response she’d been about to make. Her mouth opened on a breathy sigh as she leaned into him.
Hunger built inside him, burning his gut and racing through his blood. It took all his restraint to keep the kiss light, and not let the intensity of the moment rip away his control.
The beach was already scattered with a handful of town folk and there were some kids wading not too far away. The last thing he wanted to do was give the people even more to talk about. As it was, taking Ellie around today would already make them a juicy topic.
With a sigh of regret, he lifted his lips and pressed his forehead against hers. “I probably shouldn’t have done that.”
“I don’t know, felt pretty nice to me.”
“Me too. A little too nice.” He glanced over her shoulder, wincing as his hypersensitive cock pressed against her hip. “I’m tempted to take a few steps farther out and dive under the water…cool myself off a bit.”
She laughed softly. “It might be a bit cumbersome swimming in jeans though, don’t you think?”
“You’re probably right.” He lifted his head again. “Why don’t we walk a bit on the beach before we head out to my parents’.”
“That sounds great.”
He took her hand again, threading his fingers through hers in a gesture that he hoped implied he had no intention of letting her back away emotionally again.
But Ellie made no effort to free herself, instead her smaller fingers tightened around his and she gave a soft sigh as they headed out of the shallow waves and back to the beach.
He’d gain her trust. No matter what it took.
He needed to convince Ellie that he wasn’t the bad guy. Whoever that might be in her life…
Each minute they spent driving to Tyson’s parents’ house, Ellie got a little more nervous. She sat staring out the window at the cute houses they passed. Some literally had white-picket fences, flower gardens, kids and dogs running free.
This town was surreal. The
people
were surreal. But in a good way that she hadn’t known existed outside of the sitcoms.
And now she was going to meet the rest of Tyson’s family. It seemed so overwhelming and, well, soon. They weren’t even dating—though pretty soon they’d most likely be sleeping together.
“You have nothing to worry about,” Tyson said softly, glancing her way with a reassuring smile. “It’s just a barbeque, Ellie. Seriously.”
“Oh, I’m fine,” she said a little too quickly. “Was just thinking maybe we should’ve brought a potato salad or something.”
Damn. Now that she’d mentioned it, she realized they probably should have.
“Nah, mom makes enough food to feed an army.”
“Do a lot of people come?”
He hesitated. “Not too many. Depends if the cousins, aunts and uncles show up.”
Cousins. She bit her lip and wondered if these cousins were as much trouble as Tyson and his brothers seemed to be.
Her gut clenched. When was the last time she’d met a guy’s family? Probably a few years ago, when she’d been in college, and that had been after almost seven months of dating.
What would Tyson’s family think of her? What would his parents be like? Or the now infamous brothers she’d heard so much about. And apparently cousins to top it off.
“Here we are.”
She blinked as Tyson turned the vehicle onto a dirt road. The property was massive, with an old wooden fence running along the open land.
“Wow, that’s a lot of green. Do your parents have horses or something?” she asked.
“A few, actually. We all grew up riding.”
“Do you still ride?”
His expression turned reflective. “Not as much as I’d like. Trevor’s the big rider in the family. But I do hop on Jimmy every now and then. Riding’s a great way to de-stress.”
Ellie’s lips twitched. “Jimmy?”
“Mom named the horse after Jimmy Buffett. She loves the guy.”
Her smile widened. Something told her she was going to like Tyson’s mom quite a bit.
A few minutes later, they parked in front of the large, sprawling ranch house. It was painted white with a green trim, and of course had pretty flowers aligning both sides of the front door. It was almost too lovely.
“You grew up here?” she asked softly.
“Sure did.” He turned off the engine and opened his door. “My parents have been married for almost forty years.”
Wow, that many years was pretty amazing nowadays. Her parents had just hit twenty-seven and she’d always been impressed by how long they’d made it.
Though she sometimes wondered how much her parents really loved each other. They bickered constantly and slept in separate rooms. It had crossed her mind more than once that they both just didn’t want to deal with the hassle of a divorce.
“Ready for this?” Tyson asked when he opened her door a moment later.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She gave him what she hoped was a confident smile. “I mean, it’s just a barbeque, right?”
“Tyson Gerald Wyatt!” Sharon’s voice called out. “Will you stop your stalling and bring your girl in so everyone can meet her already?”
Ellie’s brows shot up and a barely audible whimper slipped past her lips.
“Sorry about that,” Tyson muttered under his breath as he shook his head. “She gets excited if we bring a girl over.”
“Totally a mom thing. I get it.” And she did. But still, it didn’t make it any easier as they walked up the pathway to where his mother stood in the doorway.
“Nice to see you again, Ellie.” Sharon took a step back and waved them inside. “Go on in, everyone’s out back.”
Ellie stepped over the threshold of the doorway and into the house, one ear still open to hear the greeting between mother and son behind her as they continued to stand outside.
But their friendly exchange faded from her mind as she gave a wistful sigh. What a great house—a comfy layout, with plush furniture and cream-painted walls.
Pictures covered most of those walls. Pictures from twenty years ago, when the brothers were obviously kids, wedding pictures from Tyson’s parents, and current photos.
Ellie picked up a framed picture of Sharon and a man she assumed to be Tyson’s dad. They were in a fishing boat, arms around each other, smiling, and holding up a salmon they’d caught.
So sweet. Something she’d never had…but, God, wouldn’t it be nice to find some day?
For a moment, the image of her and Tyson flickered through her mind, but she snuffed it out, her stomach clenching.
“Damn. I can see why Ty staked his claim on you.”
She dropped the picture with a startled gasp, then fumbled to pick it up again as she cast a glance over her shoulder.
Another ridiculously hot male stood behind her, arms folded across his wide chest as he glanced her over with an appreciative smile.
One of Tyson’s brothers, without a doubt. His T-shirt with the firefighter logo gave that away. Not to mention he had the same hard, chiseled face and body as Tyson’s, but darker coloring. His hair was brown, almost black, and his eyes a rich chocolate.
Oh, yeah. She knew without a doubt by his words and his appearance alone that this guy must have a trail of broken hearts a mile long.
“Have I been claimed?” she asked lightly, turning fully to face him with a smile. “Because that would be news to me. I’m Ellie.”
“I’ve heard. Todd Wyatt.”
“Nice to meet you.” She held out her hand for him to shake, and then immediately wondered if he would try to hug her like his mom had.
Instead, Todd caught her hand between his two, and lifted it to his lips to brush a kiss across her knuckles.
“I see you’ve managed to corner the one single woman in the vicinity,” Tyson’s amused voice drawled from behind her, but there was the faintest hint of warning in his tone.
She felt the heat of Tyson’s body just behind her, before his hand settled possessively on her lower back.
Todd’s grin widened. “Are you surprised?”
“Not at all.” Tyson stepped forward again to hug his brother, pounding him on the back with a closed fist. “I think I’ve got you pretty much figured out by now.”
“Jeez, you boys are going to scare her off.” Sharon swept through with an exasperated sigh and caught her arm, pulling her away from the two. “Come on, honey, you’ve still got two more to meet.”
Two more. Well, at least that meant the extended family hadn’t shown up today. Ellie gave a small laugh of relief and let Sharon lead her out of the house into the backyard.