Follow Your Heart (Catalina Cove #4) - Brenda Jackson Page 0,60
to a stop in front of him. Not only did she look good, but she also smelled good. And he wasn’t imagining things. She was smiling, so did that mean she was in a good mood? If so, that would be the first time around him.
“Good morning, Lyric. Happy Labor Day. And you look beautiful.” That was no lie.
“Happy Labor Day to you, too. And thanks.” She removed her sunglasses, gave him a once-over and said, “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
He chuckled and glanced down at his jeans and shirt before gazing back into her eyes. He had needed to break the eye contact with her. For a minute it seemed as if he’d been drowning in the depths of her dark eyes. “Glad you think so. Ready?”
“Not quite,” she said, sliding the sunglasses back on her eyes. “There are a couple of things I need to know before I go anywhere with you.”
“And what are those things?”
“First off, I need to make sure you aren’t seriously involved with someone else. I have a problem with two-timing men. A woman deserves better.”
He wondered, had some man two-timed her? “I date women, not commit to them, Lyric.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “You have a problem with commitment?”
“No, I don’t have a problem with it, commitment just isn’t me.” Deciding to be totally up-front with her so there wouldn’t be any room for misunderstanding later, he said, “I’m a man who enjoys women. Practically live for casual hookups. Totally into pleasure sex. Now what is your next question?”
He was keeping things honest. If she was looking for more today than pleasure sex and wanted to be more than a casual hookup, then she could just get back in her car and drive off because that’s all he was offering. No need to dwell on how many women had tried changing his way of thinking and failed.
“My next question is where are you taking me? I won’t leave here without knowing my destination.”
“You won’t let me surprise you?”
“No. I don’t know you that well.”
He nodded, seeing her point. “I’m taking you on a picnic to my place on the Bolivar Peninsula, near Galveston. Crystal Beach. Ever been there?”
“No, but I heard it’s a beautiful place.”
“It is.”
“You’re talking about Texas. And just how are we supposed to get there?”
He smiled again. “In my plane. I’m also a pilot. And I promise to have you safely back home before midnight.”
She didn’t say anything. Instead she stared at him and for a moment he wondered if she could read his mind and suspected the list of activities he had planned for them today. “So, Lyric Evans, are you going to spend your day with me?”
Lyric didn’t say anything for a minute, then looked up at him and said, “I know the only thing you want from me, Tanner. Just so you know that’s the only thing I want from you, as well.”
She removed her sunglasses, as if she wanted him to see her eyes to know just how serious she was when she said her next words. “Today for us will be one and done. No repeats. Understood?”
He nodded and grudgingly pushed back the thought that those were the words he would normally say. This was the first time any woman had ever said them to him. “Yes, understood.”
* * *
“NICE PLANE, TANNER,” Lyric said, snapping on her seat belt. She glanced around the cockpit. This was her first time in one.
“Thanks.”
“How long have you had your pilot’s license?”
“I got it six years ago. This Cessna is jointly owned by me and my business partners, Blade Madaris and Wyatt Bannister,” he said, looking at the controls.
Lyric glanced over at him and thought he looked good in his jeans and shirt, and the aviator glasses he was wearing made him look rather sexy, not that he hadn’t before. She saw him studying the controls and, in a way, was glad that gave her time to study him. He definitely smelled good.
He looked at her. “You ever flown in a small plane before?”
“No. This is my first time. For me the bigger the plane, the better. But I have ridden in a helicopter before. Does that count?”
“It will be a totally different experience. I think you’ll like it.”
She hoped so. Flying never bothered her, but like she’d told him, she’d never ridden in a plane this size before. “At least the weather is nice.”
“Yes, it’s a nice day for flying,” he said, glancing over at her before turning