shocked her, but she wasn't fighting it. It felt right to be lying in bed with Tyler practically on top of her. She wanted to see the taut planes of his muscles as the sun rose in the window behind them. She wanted to see his eyes dancing with laughter or darkening with desire. She wrapped one leg around his to keep him from moving.
"I thought I heard something last night. Ben and Daniel made that explosion?" She shouldn't encourage him, but she would.
"That's what it looked like to me, but I didn't stay around long enough to inquire." Tyler brushed a kiss along the side of her mouth when he felt her tense. "Don't worry, they're all in one piece. The town isn't, though. It's got a gully right down the middle."
"Tyler, what are we going to do?"
Reluctantly, Tyler shifted to a less-tempting position. He knew what he wanted to do, but he'd already created enough problems by doing that once already. He would have to proceed at a more logical pace.
He leaned back on his elbows and stared at the dying embers of the fire in the next room. "Why did you have those papers served on me?"
"What papers?" Sitting up, Evie shoved a handful of curls over her shoulder.
That gesture was almost Tyler's undoing. If Evie had eyes at all, she had to see what she was doing to him. There wasn't any way he could hide his body's reaction to her. But she was staring pensively at the fire in the other room and ignoring him. Gritting his teeth, Tyler swung his legs over the opposite side of the bed and searched for his pants.
"The papers ordering me to keep away from you. What did you think I was going to do? Rape you in front of the children?"
Evie smacked his back. "Of course not. I don't know what you're talking about."
Locating his trousers and resisting the relief of that love tap, Tyler got dressed. He hadn't really thought Evie would serve those papers on him. She might smile him into oblivion, but she would never use the courts to keep him away. It was ridiculously comforting to know that if Evie ever decided to tell him to get lost, it would be with lavish smiles and a flurry of lies.
"Hale gave me papers signed by a judge ordering me to keep away from you. I figured if you really wanted to see me, you knew where to find me, but you didn't come. Am I to take it that you don't need me around anymore?"
Evie continued to sit in the middle of the bed, naked, staring at him. "Tyler Monteigne, have you been drinking?"
Tyler ignored the insane surge of hope rushing through him. "Answer the question, Evie. You know who your parents are. I'll give you the rest of the information in Hale's possession. Do you want me to leave so you can be the town belle or whatever it is you want to be?"
Evie wanted to throw something at him. She wondered what Jane Eyre or Elizabeth Bennet might do in this situation, but those ladies would never find themselves in such a fix. She really would have to get her hands on a copy of Fanny Hill.
With a sigh of exasperation and as much dignity as she could muster while naked, Evie raised up on her knees and swung her right hand and struck Tyler as soundly as she could manage across his handsome jaw.
Chapter 39
Tyler staggered backward and held his hand to his cheek. "What in hell was that for?"
"For coming in here and taking me like this if you didn't mean to make me your wife." Growing more furious by the minute, Evie swung her legs over the opposite side of the bed and started for the parlor and the fireplace where her clothes were.
"You are my wife!" Wearing nothing but his trousers, Tyler stalked after her. "You're the one who claims we're not married. Our agreement was for me to get lost when you didn't want me around anymore. I thought from the sounds of it that you'd decided you've got what you want, and that I don't fit in those plans."
Evie spun around and swung for the other side of his face, but Tyler grabbed her hand before she could connect. She jerked her wrist free and picked up her gown, but discovering she had no chemise, she started back toward the bedroom.