Chapter Nine
The smell of wood chips and barbeque hit her first and her stomach growled, even though they’d eaten the treats from Kate’s Cakes not too long ago.
With the glare of the sun, Ellie couldn’t see much as they stepped out onto the patio. But then a few more steps led them to a shady tree and, once again, the details of the backyard came into perspective—folding chairs, lots of green lawn.
“There they are,” Sharon murmured. “The other two men in my life.”
The two men in question were standing by the grill, deep in discussion. Everyone was tall, she realized, the entire family.
She approached as they finally glanced up and noticed her.
The older of the two was still quite handsome, with his full head of white hair, twinkling blue eyes, and big smile on his face. He was exactly what Tyson would look like in forty years, she thought.
“You must be Ellie!” he called, coming around the barbeque. “Glad to meet you. I’m Dan.”
“Nice to meet you, Dan.” And he
did
shake her hand. No hugs, no knuckle kissing.
Not sure what to expect from the last member of the Wyatt’s family, she turned her gaze to the man who could only be Tyson’s older brother.
He looked similar to Todd, with the dark hair and eyes. But, unlike the rest of the family, his expression wasn’t quite as animated. He wasn’t scowling, but there definitely wasn’t a big welcoming smile. Lifting his bottle of beer, he took a long, hard draw on it while keeping his gaze on her.
His lukewarm demeanor was a bit of a jolt and her smile faltered.
He made no move toward her, but gave a slight nod of his head. “I’m Trevor. It’s good to meet you, Ellie.”
Well, his words certainly sounded sincere, and some of the tension slipped away. Besides, hadn’t Tyson warned her about him?
“Likewise.” She brightened her smile again, then turned her attention away in search of her lifeline, the only person she knew here.
Tyson was just stepping out of the house into the yard. His gaze was on her, the knowing grin on his face a welcome relief.
He came to stand by her, holding a beer in his outstretched hand. “You meet everyone?”
“Thank you. I think so.” Ellie took the beer gratefully, even if she rarely drank the stuff. She went to twist the cap off and found he’d already done that for her. “Unless there’s more hiding that I haven’t seen?”
Tyson watched as she tilted the beer bottle back, wrapping her lips around the rim and taking a sip. Jesus, she looked sexy sucking on a Budweiser.
“No, unfortunately my nephews and nieces couldn’t be here today,” his mom said, moving next to her husband, who promptly draped an arm around her shoulder. “But they send their love to everyone.”
“Now that’s too bad. I have a serious hankering for some of Ryan’s jambalaya.” Tyson rubbed his belly and winked down at Ellie. “My cousin went to college down in Louisiana. He makes a mean jambalaya.”
Her eyes light up with amusement. “I swear, you have a hollow leg. You always seem to be thinking about food.”
His dad chuckled, brushing a kiss across his wife’s forehead. “All the boys are like that. You wouldn’t have believed the grocery bill when they were teens.”
“I can only imagine,” Ellie said. “You have my sympathy.”
“Speaking of food, how’s that salmon coming, Pops?” Todd asked, crossing the grass toward the barbeque. “I’m starving. Didn’t quite wake up in time for breakfast this morning.”
Trevor snorted and glanced at Ellie. “That’s code for he was sleeping off a wild night at some girl’s house.”
“Why you jealous bastard,” Todd yelled, taking a playful swing at the back of his brother’s head.
Trevor ducked and countered with a light jab to Todd’s shoulder.
“Are you guys always like this?” Ellie asked in an amused whisper, leaning into him.
“What do you mean?” Tyson caught her hand and stroked the inside of her palm, then couldn’t resist teasing, “We’re on our best behavior today.”
She laughed as her fingers curled around his. “I highly doubt you guys are
ever
on your best behavior.”
Tyson smiled at that. She was pretty much dead on.
When he glanced at his parents, he found his mom watching them with a considering expression, her mouth curved into a tiny smile.
Don’t get your hopes up, Mom, he warned silently. Ellie wasn’t in town for long, and he wasn’t thinking beyond a summer fling. Even as the thought flickered through his head, the denials came rushing up behind it.
Well, shit.
“So, Trevor, I hear Megan’s back in town,” their dad announced suddenly.
All talking and laughter ceased, leaving a silence that was only disturbed by the occasional cries of seagulls.
Tyson’s breath held as he took another sip of beer and tried to glance over at his brother inconspicuously.
Trevor’s expression was unreadable, his gaze shuttered. But Tyson didn’t miss the way his fingers tightened around the bottle in his hand.
“Is that so?” Trevor finally replied in a voice without inflection. “I hadn’t heard.”
Their mom cleared her throat. “Maybe you should invite her over to join us? She’s not far from here—”
“No.” The harsh word whipped through the group, snuffing out any hope his parents might have for further discussion.
Even Todd’s cheery mood diminished some and he turned to check on the salmon, his smile gone.
Ellie moved closer to Tyson’s side and tightened her grip on his hand, obviously sensing the tension.
But then she surprised him, clearing the air with a bright, “That salmon smells wonderful. Do you guys ever go out there and go fishing?” She gestured to the ocean that lay just beyond the fenced line of Wyatt property.
“Hell, yeah, we do,” Todd said, his grin returning. “I’m the one who caught the salmon we’re grilling right now.”
“Bah! I believe I caught this one,” their dad corrected. “Yours was barely six pounds.”
“Bullshit it was, Pops!”
Any remaining tension from the family dissipated as the two began arguing good-naturedly.
Trevor had turned away from the group, silently staring out at the water.
“Good save,” Tyson finally murmured against Ellie’s ear. “Thank you for that.”
She squeezed his hand and glanced up at him. “No problem. What was that all about anyway?”
He hesitated, but then decided Trevor was too far away to hear.
“Megan was Trevor’s fiancée until they broke up last year. He won’t admit it, but I think Trevor still has some pretty strong feelings for her.”
“Why did they break up then?”
Again, he hesitated. “Trevor’s unit in the Army deployed to Afghanistan for a year. When he came back…I don’t know. Something changed. Their engagement ended shortly after that.”
Sympathy flashed across her face, before Ellie turned to watch Trevor. “I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“I need to go throw together the fruit salad,” his mom said, passing them on the way to the house. “Ellie, why don’t you come help? You can tell me more about yourself.”
Ellie’s eyes widened and her fingers clenched around his, but she said a bright, “Sure.”
Tyson bit back a laugh as he watched her follow his mother inside. He should’ve seen that coming a mile away. It wasn’t every day he brought a girl to the Saturday barbeque…hell, it wasn’t ever.
Which made him wonder again how he was going to convince himself this was a summer fling.
With a sigh, Tyson took another swig of his beer and went to check out the salmon that he was pretty sure
he’d
caught.
A few hours later Ellie clutched a croquet mallet and glared down at the yellow ball.
“I’ve got this,” she muttered, which only garnered an amused laugh from Tyson who stood behind her.
“Come on, sweetheart. Take it home and win this one for us,” he encouraged.
She grinned, then bit her lip in concentration, trying to block out the sounds of Trevor and Todd, who immediately began yelling and making as much noise as possible.
The afternoon had been incredible. Amazing food, wonderful people, and she couldn’t remember the last time she’d laughed so much or had so much fun.
And now, she was going to kick some major Wyatt ass with the help of the middle child.
Raising her mallet, she swung it against the yellow ball and watched as it soared through the last two wickets to smash into the stake in the ground.
“You did it,” Tyson yelled, picking her up around the waist and swinging her around in a circle. He glanced at his brothers. “Take that, ya pansies!”
Ellie let out a giddy laugh, clutching his shoulders as she stared down into his smiling eyes. And then he lowered her slowly back to the ground, their bodies passing in a sensual glide that left her tingling and short of breath.
Tyson’s gaze locked on hers and she saw his pupils dilate and his nostrils flare.
Her heart tripped and she swallowed hard, knowing he must be able to see the same desire in her eyes.
“How about another beer, guys?” Todd called out. “I’m grabbing one for myself.”
“Think we’re going to pass,” Tyson replied back, not removing his gaze from her. “We’ve got to head out.”
Trevor gave a soft laugh. “Get out of here, already. I’m surprised you lasted this long.”
Ellie knew her cheeks were pink as they said their goodbyes to everyone, stopping inside the house to hug his parents farewell and thank them.
By the time they were inside Tyson’s truck and driving back to her place, her knees were shaking and her pulse pounding.
“They loved you,” Tyson said, breaking the silence.
She was almost glad he wasn’t bringing up the wild sex they both knew they were about to have. It was the distraction she needed.
“I had such a wonderful time. You have an amazing family. I wasn’t sure Trevor cared for me much at first, but he seemed to warm up.”
“He’s like that with everyone. Trev’s got some demons and doesn’t trust easily. But he liked you. I could tell he approved one-hundred-percent.”
“And that’s a good thing?” she murmured and glanced over at him as the truck bounced down the dirt road of her driveway.
He tore his attention from the drive, and looked at her. “That’s a very good thing.”
Heat slid through her body, gathering heavy between her thighs at his softly spoken words.
Want. I
want
this man
.
A moment later, Tyson slowed to a stop outside her house, putting on the parking brake.
Her hands shook as she reached for the door handle, tugging it open and climbing out of the truck before Tyson could open the door for her.
He was right behind her though, climbing the steps on her heels as she moved across the porch. But, before she could enter the house, he slid an arm around her ribcage, pulling her back against him so her ass brushed his hardened cock.
“We were almost inside,” she whispered, her voice cracking.
“I need to touch you. Now.” His lips found the nape of her neck, caressing the skin before he bit gently.
Her ass clenched and she gasped. “Tyson.”
“Jesus, Ellie, when you were leaning forward earlier, swinging that mallet…your little sundress rose high on your thighs and I got so damn hard just watching you.”
With his free hand, he lifted her dress, rubbing his palm over the backs of her thighs.
“I wanted to pull you off behind the trees, away from the family. Get you alone,” he muttered. “I wanted to lift your dress like this, and slip my hand between your legs. Feel how fucking wet you were.”
He kicked her legs apart and urged her to lean forward, as if he were about to frisk her. But then his hand went straight between her parted thighs to cup her sensitized pussy.
Ellie cried out, a shudder racking her body as her palms lay flattened against the door, holding her weight up.
“’Cause you were wet earlier,” he went on, his voice hoarse as he massaged her mound. “I know you were. Just about as wet as you are now. Weren’t you, sweetheart?”
“Yes.”
She didn’t bother to deny it. To deny that she’d been thinking about him all day and what was about to happen.
“Good girl. No lies between us, Ellie. No lies.”
Closing her eyes, she bit her lip, trying not to let the
no lies
comment drag her back to reality.
And then she didn’t have to think, because he slid the hand around her ribcage up to close over her breast through the dress.
“I want your tit in my mouth again, Ellie. And then I want my face between your legs.” He ground his pelvis against her, so she felt the press of his hard cock against her ass. “I want you to beg. To scream my name. I want
everything
.”
Her knees trembled, and she couldn’t do more than let out a gurgle of a moan.
Tyson maneuvered his hand beneath her thong, and stroked one finger into her soaked cleft.