Butterflies danced in Alyssa’s stomach. Even in the chilly morning air, she was burning hot. Tyler’s touch melted her soul and brought back memories of how Michael had made her feel yesterday. Could this near-stranger elicit the same response from her body? If the wetness gathering between her legs was any indication, the answer was yes.
And the idea made her nervous. And something about the choice of words coming from Tyler’s mouth had her on edge. Something was not right.
“Do you?”
“Do I what?” Her mind was numb. Whatever he’d asked her hadn’t filtered in properly.
“Want me to go. Leave you alone with the man who already claimed you two years ago?”
“What?” Startled as the pieces fell together about this odd conversation, Alyssa straightened her spine and whipped her head around just in time to see Michael now walking briskly in their direction. The smirk on his mouth was incongruent with the furrow in his brow, concern and mirth at the same time.
Alyssa stepped a few feet away, breaking contact from Tyler. She glared at Michael as he approached. “What in the world did you tell him, Michael? You lied?” Anger boiled her blood. Her hands shook. She couldn’t remember ever being this mad before.
“Now hang on a second.” Michael reached for her, but she jerked to the left to avoid his touch. He exhaled on a sigh and let his hands fall to his sides. “I didn’t lie to anyone. I just didn’t exactly correct Tyler’s misconception.”
“So, you lied.” She put her hands on her hips and stared at Michael hard. “After all that ‘talking’ you attempted lamely yesterday, did you not hear a word I said?” Alyssa took a long inhale and tipped her head toward the blue sky before continuing. “Did you listen to me with your big head at all? Or just the little one?”
She was pleased to see her nearly six-foot mate, who outweighed her by more than double, cringe and step back a step. How dare he.
Oh, she was on a roll. “Let’s get one thing straight here.” She let her gaze fall on both men, back and forth, twice, so there’d be no doubt she was addressing them both. “This situation is peculiar at best and beyond my comprehension. I have no idea why fate has seen to it to put both of you in my path. I didn’t ask for this, and I don’t even want it. Hell, if you’d have asked me two weeks ago, I’d have told you I didn’t want even one man in my life, let alone two.
“So, before either of you gets all cocky and decides to play dirty to battle for my attention, you might want to keep in mind that I will make the decisions where this strange mating concerns me.” She stared at Michael pointedly. “Not you.” She flipped her gaze to Tyler. “And not you.
“If either of you expects to win my affection, it won’t be by cheating, I can tell you that for sure. Now, I’m going to go inside, take off my coat, and talk to Nancy and Richard about arranging a guest room for Tyler. Then I’m going to spend some time with Tyler—alone”—she glared at Michael—“and get to know him a little better. If I feel like it, I will take a few days to let the two of you woo me and plead your cases. I suggest in the meantime you find a way to make nice with each other, or somebody is going to be left out very cold and lonely.”
Alyssa stomped between the two men and left them standing in the driveway without looking back. Her hands shook. Her entire body was on fire, and not just from the proximately of two hot men. She was pissed and aroused at the same time. She was sure her expression was a mixture of pride and fear, with a smirk mixed in for good measure—just like the expression she’d seen on Michael’s face as he’d come down from the porch.
Chapter 8
Less than an hour after his arrival to the set of The Twilight Zone, Tyler Evans found himself safely ensconced, well relatively safe, in a nice guest room in the sprawling ranch home of Nancy and Richard Masters.
The parents of the unique band of adult children were gracious and kind and understanding, far more than he could say for their son. Not that he could blame the guy.
Tyler set his meager possessions on the bed and stared out the window for a moment. The quiet snick of the door closing to his back accompanied the scent of the gorgeous blonde woman with the eternal deep-blue eyes he was destined to spend his life with, if she’d have him.
He didn’t have to turn around to know she was there, leaning against the door, and he was finally alone with her.
Well, to be honest, “alone” was a relative term since Michael was lurking with distinct impatience in his head. Luckily, Tyler was catching up quick and learning to block his thoughts from the other man.