Where We Left Off - Romeo Alexander Page 0,18

he really did want to see Tyler.

Sonia smiled knowingly. “Give me about an hour. And then we’ll get you out of here. You just text Tyler back and let him know. Let me handle the rest.”

Nathaniel smiled fondly at her as she slipped out of the room, dustpan in hand. He still wasn’t sure it was a good idea to risk more than he already had. But when he thought about Tyler, the urge to slip out and see him shouted over any wariness he might have felt.

He wasn’t sure that was a good thing or not.

By the time he arrived at the café Tyler had sent him the address to, the sun was making its way down toward the horizon. It wasn’t a very crowded place, despite being positioned right next to a busy intersection. A small seating area sat behind a wrought-iron fence, with scattered tables big enough for two people. The smell of coffee was rich every time the door opened, overpowering the smell of the traffic.

He had just reached into his pocket to check the time when a shout caught his attention. Looking up, Nathaniel’s fingers fumbled over his phone, nearly dropping it, as he caught sight of Tyler jogging toward him.

The man was dressed in a pair of loose shorts, and as Tyler jogged forward, Nathaniel could clearly see that he wasn’t wearing any underwear. A tight tank top hugged his chest as he hurried up to Nathaniel, the top showing off the expanse of muscle, both in his chest and arms, and Nathaniel found himself staring at the patch of dark blond hair spread over Tyler’s chest.

“Hey! Sorry if I’m late,” Tyler said as he got closer. “Got caught up at a couple of intersections on the way here.”

“Been running?” Nathaniel asked, feeling a little stupid.

Tyler grinned widely. “Yeah. I try to make sure to get in a run every day, sometimes two. When I do my late one, I’ll come here as a little treat. Dunno if that’s a good thing or not, though.”

And to his growing horror and arousal, that was the point where Tyler decided to use his shirt to wipe his face free of sweat. Nathaniel was helpless, unable not to stare as Tyler’s stomach came into view. The same dark blond hair from Tyler’s chest formed a straight line over the flat expanse of the man’s stomach, accentuated by the slightest dips where his muscles flexed. The shorts rode low enough to show off the definition of his hips and to display just the top of a dark blond patch of hair.

Well, that confirmed he wasn’t wearing underwear.

“How,” Nathaniel began, swallowing hard. “Productive of you.”

“Yeah, well, gotta keep myself active, you know? Clay and Elliot have been a really big help in getting me an exercise regimen figured out. Don’t know if I could have done it without them...including the parts where they dragged me out to do it.” Tyler dropped his shirt, eyeing Nathaniel carefully. “You okay?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” Nathaniel asked hastily.

“Because you’re a little red in the face. I’d have thought you were the one who ran here.”

“No, no, I’m fine. Uh, so, they’re still in your life, huh?”

Tyler laughed. “Are you still freaked out over Elliot?”

Nathaniel grimaced at the reminder. “He startled me was all.”

“You about shit yourself.”

“I did not.”

Admittedly, walking into the house only to find an absolutely huge man waiting in the living room was unnerving enough. The fact that the man had also been cleaning what had to be the largest shotgun Nathaniel had ever seen hadn’t helped either.

“It was like one of those jokes about the dad waiting for his daughter’s date,” Nathaniel huffed.

Tyler winked. “He didn’t even know you were coming over. So you don’t have to be worried about him, just like I told you back then.”

In truth, it hadn’t been Elliot who had bothered Nathaniel the most. He was the most obvious potential threat to someone, and his size alone could intimidate. Yet, he was a good-natured man, more found of smiling and laughing than scowling or threatening. As a matter of fact, he couldn’t recall seeing or hearing anything about Elliot that made him seem dangerous, even if he was a former Marine with plenty of combat training.

No, the award for the one who had unnerved Nathaniel the most went to Clay. By all accounts, he was a perfectly average looking man, save for the almost unnatural brightness of his eyes. Nathaniel had never quite