Taking Tyler’s smile as encouragement, Seth slapped his open palms on Tyler’s chest and squealed. Tyler looked down to find little greenish handprints on his favorite shirt.
“You probably don’t want to know what that is.” Kimber winced.
He silently agreed. The shirt would wash, and it was a small price to pay for having this precious time with the boy, given how many of Seth’s other days Tyler had missed out on—and how many more he might miss in the future if Del decided to sweep in and return to L.A.
Through his bittersweet sadness, Tyler grinned and shook his head at the toddler’s chubby impish little face, then scooped him up, heading for the kitchen. After a quick wash of the boy’s hands, Tyler headed back out to the patio.
“Avocado,” he drawled. “Seth climbed up to the counter and grabbed it. I’ll bet he had a ball squishing it between his fingers and painting my kitchen cabinets.”
Kimber tried not to laugh. “Caleb does stuff like that all the time. You really can’t turn your back for a minute.”
Tyler hadn’t had much experience with parenting or kids until now, but he was quickly figuring out how right Kimber was.
May had become June, and the weather bordered on sultry now. Dusk approached and the cicadas chimed in, vying with the sounds of the croaking frogs.
Alyssa set the paper down, then turned to Tara. “So Xander is in your guest room and driving you crazy because he’s trying to avoid the press in L.A.?”
She nodded emphatically. “Since the article spelled out how helpful he was in bringing Carlson down, he’s been bombarded. Apparently, he doesn’t like being called the James Bond of billionaires.” She giggled. “And because he’s Xander, he’s driving me crazy. I know when he pokes fun at me that he’s just teasing, and I can mostly take it. But the groupies . . . His phone never stops ringing. He disappeared four times yesterday, each time with a different girl. I didn’t know he even knew anyone in Lafayette, much less had met enough girls to get laid multiple times a day, every day.” She sighed. “Remind me to clobber Logan next time I see him. I’d beat Xander silly, but besides servicing his apparent harem, he’s clearly going through a tough spot with Javier.”
“Learning that your wife is dead at the hands of the lover you didn’t know she had can’t be easy on Xander’s brother,” Tyler pointed out.
Five days ago, the police had found Francesca’s strangled, bloated body. Xander wanted to be with his brother. He’d said as much. But the press was swarming around him now. No way would Javier get any time alone to grieve if Xander went back to L.A. So he waited here, chomping at the bit, taking out all his frustration with a constant barrage of mindless sex. Tyler understood. The situation would be kind of funny if it weren’t so sad.
“I can’t believe the prick who killed her just dumped her body in the ocean,” Morgan chimed in, stroking her growing belly. She and Jack were anticipating a September baby. “Have they found him yet?”
“No,” Tara answered quietly. “There’s a huge investigation going on, but until they learn the identity of the man she was with . . .”
Nothing so far. Tyler figured it was only a matter of time before the authorities learned the identity of Francesca’s murdering lover, but the fucker was clever and had a monthlong head start.
Kissing her daughter’s downy head, Alyssa looked Tyler’s way. “What about Eric?”
“He’s lucky. The bullet missed his lungs by a millimeter. He’s going to be fine physically. He’s trying to cut a deal with the DA now. I think they’re offering him immunity in exchange for the names of everyone else he knows that Carlson roped into his scam.”
Before leaving town, Tyler had visited Eric in the hospital. They were never going to be friends again, and Eric had a lot to work through. They’d talked. Eric had apologized. After seeing the damage he’d nearly wrought on Del by touching her against her will, he’d started taking a hard look at himself—and Carlson. It hadn’t taken long to figure out that the dirty ADA had been trying to kill her. He’d snatched the flash drive out of Del’s hiding place when he’d figured out that Carlson wanted it bad enough to trash the house, but instead of giving it over, he’d read it and realized that Del was living on borrowed time. So he’d set up the meeting between her and Carlson, then done everything possible to ensure that Del lived. The visit had been enlightening. Eric seemed to finally understand that he was truly responsible for his actions. That was a start. He’d also agreed to stay the hell away.
“So . . .” Alyssa slated him another stare, this one really direct. “Hear from Del again?”
Other than one text in which she’d told him that she’d come soon? “No.”
And he didn’t fucking want to talk about it. They’d only try to find some bullshit words to console him, some “if you love her, set her free” crap that made his teeth grind.
He loved her and he wasn’t ready to let her go, not unless she looked him in the eye and told him that she didn’t love him. He had feelers out to track her down now, and the second she slipped onto his radar, it was goddamn for sure that he was going to run her to ground. They would have a long talk about the future. He wouldn’t let her leave until he was absolutely convinced that she didn’t want to be with him.
Because he wanted to be with her for the rest of his life.
“Sorry,” Alyssa murmured. “Given any thought to coming back to work at Sexy Sirens? All the girls really miss Cockzilla.”
Tyler had to repress a grimace. He hadn’t gone more than a handful of days without sex in years. In the past, a seven-day drought would have had him climbing the walls. Today? Sure, he wanted sex, but only if the kisses were Del’s. Only if the body he pushed into was hers. Only if the nails in his back and the cries of passion in his ears belonged to her.
“No. I’ll hang with Jack. You can find a bouncer anywhere. My skill set is better suited to his line of work.”
Alyssa cocked her head, studying him. Tyler felt like a bug pinned to a board.
“What?” he demanded.
“You are head-over-heels, one-hundred-percent completely in love with this woman. I’ll have to tell Jessi and Skylar that you’re off the market. I think they might actually cry,” Alyssa drawled.
“Fuck off,” he groused, then remembered his son was still sitting in his lap and winced. Seth was young at fifteen months, but would probably start repeating everything he heard soon. Tyler knew he was going to have to watch his mouth.
Morgan looked at her watch, then across the table at him. “I think it’s great that you’re in love with her. You’re too good to be alone.”
“Tell that to Delaney.” Tyler sighed. The waiting was getting tougher every day.
Just then his back door opened, and Jack Cole appeared. “Tell her yourself.”
When the other man shifted out of his way to cross the room to his pregnant wife, Delaney came into view. She stood, staring, wearing a pair of rumpled capri pants and a brown T-shirt that made her eyes shine incredibly blue. She looked pale and tired. And above all, she looked uncertain.
“Hi.” She waved, biting her lip. She glanced at the others, then clenched her hands in front of her as she stepped onto the patio.
“Ma ma ma!” Seth darted off of his lap and toddled across the floor to Del.
She met him halfway, arms open, and engulfed him in a big hug. “My little man! Oh, Mommy has missed you. Sweet boy . . .”
As Del pressed kisses to his little face, she looked ready to cry with the joy of holding her son again. Tyler was conscious that she’d barely greeted him, had almost been unable to look at him. Even now, he could feel Alyssa, Kata, Kimber, and Tara’s gaze on him, assessing, probably pitying him. Fuck.
Jack approached him a second later, startling Tyler.
“I talked to Del yesterday. She only wanted to know two things: how you and Seth were, and if I’d pick her up from the airport today. She asked me to keep it a surprise.”
“Mission accomplished,” he muttered. He couldn’t be more stunned by Del’s presence here if he tried.
Seth placed a sloppy kiss on Del’s chin, and she laughed. Tyler scrubbed a hand down his face as he watched the love flow between them. Yeah, he knew he couldn’t force her to stay with him, make a family with him, if she didn’t love him anymore. But damn it, he’d thought she’d at least try.
He shut his eyes. They stung. No, they fucking hurt, like someone was taking tiny pickaxes to them. Damn it, he would not cry.
Forcing the tears back, he fixed his gaze on Del again, trying to decide what to do next.
“If you keep staring at her like that, you’re going to scare the hell out of her,” Jack pointed out.
“Like what?”
“Like you can’t decide if you want to tear into her for not contacting you again over the past few days, or just fuck her into next week.”
Tyler grunted. “Both.”
“Fair enough.” Jack shrugged. “Just . . . remember to listen before you pounce—either way.”
Probably good advice. Jack had been married for a few years now, so he probably knew something. For all of Morgan’s submissive tendencies, Tyler knew she’d beat the hell out of Jack if he behaved like an asshole.
“Let’s go, cher.” Jack helped Morgan from her chair, making sure she had her center of balance under her before wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her to the door.
At the threshold, Jack turned back to Tyler with a sly smile. “Oh, you can thank me later.”
With that, they were gone. Kata and Tara scrambled to their feet and departed, as well.
After greeting Del and a few quick hugs for Seth, Kimber looked between him and Del. “You two look like you could use some time to talk. Why don’t I take Seth with me so he can play with Caleb?”
Del didn’t object, and after Tyler and Del both placed a soft kiss on their boy’s cheeks, Kimber picked Seth up and left, too.
Alyssa lingered. She rose to her feet slowly, staring at Del like a protective parent might stare at her daughter’s slimy boyfriend. Del lifted her chin and stared back.
“I hope you’re not here to hurt him,” Alyssa said to Del. “He’s been through enough.”
Tyler cringed at her words. Yes, he’d been pining, but Alyssa had basically announced it. Shit.
She didn’t wait for Del’s answer, just walked out, leaving them alone. Tyler stared, his gaze fused on Del, petrified that if he blinked, she’d be gone again. But he had no clue what to say. If he opened his mouth, he had a bad feeling that he’d unload all his worry, frustration, and pain out on her. Jack had advised him to listen, so he figured he’d better at least try.
Del swallowed nervously and sat in Alyssa’s vacated chair. “You okay?”
No, I’m fucking terrified. But he simply nodded. “All right. I’ve been better.”
“Hard to deal with Seth all by yourself?”
“No. He’s been . . . the best part of this week. I’ve loved getting to know him, seeing him every day. I—” He choked. “I need that.”
Del bit her lip again and hesitated, as if trying to decide what to say. “So this week was hard because . . . ?”
Tyler shook his head. “What do you want from me? An admission that I’ve been miserable without you? Okay, you’ve got it. I missed you. I love you. I’m not letting you or Seth go without a fight. If you’re going back to L.A., I’ll go, too. I’m pretty sure the department would hire me again, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove that—”
She threw herself into his arms with such force, it almost knocked the wind out of him. Tyler wrapped her tightly in his embrace, burying his face in Del’s neck. God, she smelled good as she clung to him in return for a long, sweet moment. Then she backed away.
“I—I spent the last week dealing with the downfall of Carlson’s scheme and writing my story. Preston loved it and asked me to stay on as a featured reporter.”
“It’s what you’ve always wanted.” Tyler stiffened, fidgeted. He wanted to be happy for her, but inside he felt himself dying, becoming hollow and numb. She hadn’t mentioned him coming back to California with her.
“It is what I’ve always wanted.” She nodded. “Which made turning it down bittersweet, but still an easy decision. I know you love your family of friends, and clearly they care about Seth. I’m ready for a fresh start, so—”
“You turned it down?” Tyler snapped, his mind racing. She was ready for a fresh start. What did that mean? He winced. He hadn’t let her finish her sentence so he could really listen to her. Jack had given him good advice; he just hadn’t said how difficult it would be to follow.