Nora Roberts Land(34)
What the fuck? She could say something that charged and then ask him for the cream?
When he handed it over, she gave a small smile. “Don’t beat yourself up. Her reaction’s a good sign, but you’re going to have to give her some space.”
“Are you usually this forward?”
She reached up for a tray and slid the coffee cups onto it. “Yes. Do you expect me to believe it would take someone that long to make coffee?”
Smart ass. “No.”
“I love my sister, Tanner, and want to see her happy. From what I can tell, you’re a good guy. But if you hurt her, I’ll blast your balls with the steamer on our espresso machine and give you third degree burns.”
He could appreciate vicious family loyalty. He’d had some pretty violent fantasies when his sister’s ex had cheated on her.
“How do you know I’m a good guy?”
“I did my homework. The Internet is an amazing thing, Tanner. Since you’re a published writer, you’re pretty accessible. You care about people. What you’ve seen makes you bleed.”
“I’m not a fucking girl.”
“I can see that.”
“Didn’t you research her ex?” he asked.
Her eyes gleamed with fury. “Yes, and I knew he was a self- absorbed, arrogant prick who’d break her heart. He even checked me out when they came home on a rare holiday.”
“Didn’t you tell her?”
She pulled a can of RediWhip out of the fridge. “No, I was too young. She wouldn’t have listened. Sometimes people have to learn the hard way. Meredith can be her own worst enemy.”
Tanner followed her out. Weren’t they all?
He’d eat fast and get the hell out of there. He needed to regroup. Suddenly the assignment had become too personal. Meredith Hale didn’t deserve what he was supposed to do to her.
It was too bad they hadn’t met under other circumstances.
He might have fallen for her.
***
Meredith was so still and quiet in the car Jill was afraid she’d turned to stone.
“It’s okay, Mere.” She took her hand.
“No, it’s not. I humiliated myself in front of him—and over a little attraction and flirting.”
Jill spotted a deer on the edge of the highway, its wild gaze shining in her headlights. She passed it with relief. “I wouldn’t call it a little attraction, Mere. Maybe you should give him a chance. Take it slow. Start out as friends.”
“Does Tanner strike you as someone who would be friends with a woman?”
“Okay, no, but he felt horrible about what happened. I think he’s a good guy, Mere. He knows you’ve been through a divorce.”
“I can’t see him at all, Jill. I don’t have control of myself when I’m around him. I had a panic attack for Christ’s sake.”
“Well, huffing and puffing like one of the dragons on my dress might be a bit awkward when you’re having sex, but the French do call orgasm ‘the little death.’”
Meredith’s head rolled toward her. Her mouth pinched like she was fighting a smile. “Well, he already got to second base, so to speak. He helped me take off my bustier so I could breathe.”
“Oh, wow. So did he feel you up while you were having a panic attack?”
“No.” She burrowed in the seat.
“That’s something, right? Rick-the-Dick wouldn’t have restrained himself.”
Meredith turned up the radio. “I don’t want to talk anymore.”
Jill stopped her hand. “Mere, I love you, but this is about you being afraid to lose control and get hurt again.”
“Are you getting in my head now?”
“Don’t be annoyed. I hate that. I’m only saying you should think about taking it slow with Tanner. There’s something special about him. I mean, he won Grandpa over right off the bat, and he handled your panic attack like a champ.”
“He ran out after dessert.”
“Can you blame him? You should have seen his ‘I kicked the dog’ face when he was putting the broken china in the trash.”
“I know, but I can’t go out with him. I promised myself I would never date another journalist.”
Oh brother, thought Jill. Sacred promises exacted a price. And the Hales could be a stubborn lot. Hadn’t she sworn she wouldn’t feel anything for Brian when he came home? That she wouldn’t even fight with him?
She was batting a zero there.
All she did was think about him and hope she’d run into him. She got a bigger thrill from fighting with him than she’d gotten from her interactions with any of the men she’d dated in his absence. God, she’d missed that son of a bitch.