Somebody to Love (Tyler Jamison #1) - April Wilson Page 0,89

hurts, and I can already feel tears pricking the backs of my eyes. “I’m sorry I touched you. I won’t do it again.”

I glance over at the elderly couple, and it appears we now have their undivided attention. Wonderful! It’s our first meal out together, and people are staring at us.

Tyler sets his coffee down. “Ian.” His voice is low enough that only I can hear him. “I’m sorry. I—you took me by surprise. I didn’t mean to pull away. It was an automatic reflex.”

My chest tightens, and I feel a searing pain where my heart should be located. Right now, it’s up in my throat as I realize how much this—he—is affecting me. I’ve never had a relationship that lasted more than a night. It’s always been that way for me, and it was intentional. I never wanted to get close to anyone before. Looking down at the table, fidgeting with my spoon, I say, “This is new to me, too.”

He takes a sip of his coffee and eyes me over the rim of his cup. “What is?”

“No one’s ever spent the night before, and you’ve done it twice now.”

I glance over at our curious audience to find them still watching us. I stare right back at them, and the man has the decency to look away. But the woman elbows her husband and continues watching us.

Our server returns shortly with our food. She refills our coffee cups and asks if we need anything else.

“No, thank you,” Tyler says, looking to me for confirmation. “This looks good.”

I keep my eyes on my plate as I concentrate on eating. I can tell Tyler’s watching me, but I’m trying to ignore him. I don’t want to call any more attention to us. He’s uncomfortable enough as it is.

After we finish our meal, our server returns to our table. “Will this be one check or two?” she says.

My head snaps up. “Two.”

“One check, please,” Tyler says in a firm voice, as if I hadn’t even spoken.

The girl looks from me to Tyler, obviously needing clarification. Tyler gives her a charming smile and says, “Just one check.”

“Yes, sir.” She pulls a single check from her apron pocket and hands it to Tyler.

My heart does a somersault as I watch Tyler pull his wallet from his back pocket and hand her a credit card.

While she’s processing the payment, I look at him, trying to ignore the old lady who’s still openly staring. “You didn’t have to do that. I can pay for my own food.”

The corner of his mouth turns up. “I know you can.”

When the transaction is completed, we head out of the restaurant. As we pass by the table of the couple who’d been staring, I can’t resist leaning close to the woman and saying, “Next time, do everyone a favor and take a picture. It will last longer.”

Tyler stifles a laugh as he herds me out the door.

Once we’re safely outside, I growl out my frustration. “God, what a nosey old bitch!”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“What? The staring? Yes. Sometimes it’s a lot worse. Sometimes they’re openly hostile.”

We walk along the pier toward the dock that leads out to my boat. We have to pass by Eric’s boat first. The police tape is still in place. Next is my boat. The police tape has been removed, and there’s no obvious sign that my boat was the site of a shooting.

I step aboard and climb up to the main deck, Tyler right behind me. He joins me on the main deck, standing beside me as I study the new boards. The work is pristine. There’s no sign that a shooting ever happened.

Tyler lays a hand on my shoulder. “They did a great job.”

I nod. “Yeah. No more blood stains.”

He steps closer, his arm slipping down to wrap around my waist. “I’m sorry this happened. It shouldn’t have.”

“It’s nothing. I was lucky compared to those other guys. Compared to Eric.”

Tyler’s quiet for a moment, and then his hand tightens on my waist. “Ian, I’m sorry.”

My heart thumps in my chest at his words. I don’t think he’s talking about my boat, or even about Eric. He’s referring to what happened at breakfast. “Don’t worry about it, Tyler. It’s fine.” I pull away and head toward the galley steps. “I just want to check below real quick. I’ll just be a minute.” And then I head down the steps.

I do a quick visual sweep of the galley and the head, just to make sure