Be With Me (10 page)

“Yeah I guess so. She’s
great though, and I see the way she handles my brother, they are
good together.”

I could see the look of
yearning on Tyler’s face, I knew he had a fucked up time when it
came to his marriage, but someday he would find the right person to
be with.

“Have you heard from your
fiancée?” Tyler asked.

“Uh yeah, long story, but
the short version is, he fucked his secretary, got her pregnant a
while back and we broke off the engagement.” I laughed.

“That’s rough, how are you
handling it?”

“Me? I’m fine really. It
was for the best. He was a good guy…I thought, but I just didn’t
feel that crazy spark you know?”

“Yes I do.” He looked me
up and down.

Why did this man beside me
make me hot and bothered with just one look?
Damn
him and his sexual power over
me
!

“Well here we are casa de
Jake and Emily.”

When I climbed down from
the truck I saw the beautiful blonde come from the house. She was
holding Tyler’s niece in her arms and had a bright smile on her
face. She looked so happy, and I found myself becoming envious of
what she had.

“Hey Ty, glad you guys
came early, I have so much to do before Gabe, Eliza and Trent come,
do you think you can babysit while I catch up?”

Tyler turned to me with a
questioning look. What was I going to say? “It’s not a problem, it
will be fun.” I gave a lop sided grin.

Tyler reached out and
pulled the child from Emily’s arms. She looked so small up against
his rugged frame that I let out a chuckle.

“What’s so
funny?”

“Nothing, it just looks
like you are a giant holding her.”

He gave me a drop dead
sexy smile and then motioned me over. “So…know much about kids?” He
asked.

“Uh not
really…”

“Today you shall learn
young grasshopper.”

“Why can’t I be Miagi and
you the grasshopper?”

“Because you are the
student and I am the teacher.” He smiled again.

“Okay fine, what do you
want me to do first?”

He lifted up Maisy and
sniffed of the back of her pants. “First things first, you get to
learn to change a diaper. Everything is in the living room so hop
to it.”

“Seriously?”

“Totally, here you go.” He
plopped the baby in my arms and walked away.

“Tyler! I’ve never done
this before!”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it
out, good luck!” He shouted while walking away.

I held the little girl out
from me, and looked at her sweet face. “How bad can it
be?”

“Oh. My. God!” I yelled.
“What did you eat?”

Maisy just looked up at me
and grinned. How the hell did I get myself into this situation? I’d
never changed a damn diaper, and I sure had never seen something
like this mess.

“I’m sure he did this on
purpose. Your uncle Tyler is rotten to the core, and it’s best you
remember that.”

Maisy giggled and squirmed
as I tried to finish cleaning her up with baby wipes.

“There, all done…I
think.”

“How’s it going in here?”
Tyler called from the doorway.

“Well I think okay all
things considering.” I smiled because I was proud of
myself.

“Holy shit, how many baby
wipes did you use?”

“Uh…the whole box…” I
turned beet red.

Tyler did nothing but
stand there and laugh his head off. I thought I’d done a great job,
the kid was clean, and had her butt covered with a diaper, what was
the big deal?

“Hey, you might want to
put the diaper on right too.” He pointed out.

“Am I being punked? This
is ridiculous!”

“Okay fine, I will help
you.” He offered.

I watched as he crouched
in the floor and righted the baby’s diaper. The entire time I could
see the affection he felt for his niece written all over his
face.

“That’s better.” He picked
her up and cradled her in his arms. “Emily says its nap time, I’m
going to take her upstairs and rock her for a bit. Go see if Emily
needs help in the kitchen, Jake should be back soon.”

I suppose I’d never seen
such a rough and tough rugged man, take the time with a child and
be so damn sensitive. He made my heart melt with everything he
did.

I had to remind myself
that I would be returning to Chicago soon, and none of this would
matter anymore. So what, I was falling for Tyler, it didn’t matter;
his life was here among his family. He didn’t have any room for me,
and truthfully, I had no room for him either in my life.

Nineteen

When Tyler left the room,
I went into the kitchen like he said to see if his sister in law
needed any help.

“Hey, Tyler sent me in
here, is there anything I can do?”

Emily turned from the
stove and smiled. “I pretty much have it all caught up, but sit,
let’s have a girl chat.”

I apprehensively pulled
out a chair from the table and took a seat. Emily took the one
across from me and I felt her curious stare penetrating me like a
laser death ray.

“So…things heating up with
Tyler?” She raised her perfectly arched brows.

I felt like someone threw
me in the hot seat without a glass of water. Damn.

“Yeah kind of I guess…” I
answered.

“No need to be ashamed
Maggie, Tyler’s a great man, but word of the wise…do not hurt
him.”

“Look, I didn’t come here
to intentionally hurt anyone, this was all just an out of the blue
situation I had no control over.”

“That’s understandable,
but answer me one simple question Maggie?”

I could only imagine the
questions she had brewing around in that head of hers. She was a
truly nice person, but my defenses were on high alert and I felt
like I should switch to defcon five.

“Okay.”

“Are you in love with
Tyler?” She smiled.

“Uh…I’m not sure how to
answer that.”

“Simple yes or no…” She
prodded.

I looked over my shoulder
to make sure we were still alone because in my past experience I
knew Tyler had a freaky stealth mode. I sure didn’t want him
hearing the response I was getting ready to divulge.

“Yes.” I
breathed.

“I could tell. The way you
look at him says a lot. But like I said, please don’t hurt him,
Tyler’s been through the ringer and he doesn’t need any more drama.
If you can’t be with him fully, then you need to walk away.” Emily
advised.

“I understand.” I
sighed.

The truth was I couldn’t
be with him. We were there together but still worlds apart. I knew
that it would only spell disaster in the end and I wanted to let
him know soon that I was going back to Chicago.

“Maisy is down for the
count, I’m gonna go start the grill. Mom just text me and they are
on their way over.” Tyler interrupted.

“Okay, I talked to Jake
twenty minutes ago and they should be here any time.” Emily
answered back.

“I think I’ll go help
Tyler, maybe I can learn to barbecue…or burn my eyebrows off.” I
laughed.

We both went out to the
back patio and I watched Tyler fill the grill with charcoal. He lit
the coals and shut the lid, then looked at me. “Looks like you have
something serious on that mind of yours.”

“Yes I do. Look I just
want to let you know I leave for Chicago the day after tomorrow. I
just figured I should tell you.”

“Okay.” Was all he
said.

Why did his response make
me feel about two inches tall? He knew I wasn’t going to become a
permanent fixture in this dusty state. And besides, if my father
was still alive by some odd chance, I wanted to get the hell out
before I ran into him, and something horrific happened.

Twenty

Tyler knew that Maggie
wasn’t planning on staying in Texas, she had a life in Chicago, a
career, and friends, but that didn’t make the fact that she would
be leaving soon any easier. He’d grown rather attached to her in
the short amount of time she’d been around. Sure she was a sassy
city girl, but damn she turned his world upside down in more ways
than one.

He couldn’t help but think
about when she laid the facts about her past at his feet. She
obviously buried the information, and even those close to her
didn’t know of it all. What made him so damn special? The poor
woman was scarred for life from something a protector did to her,
and would never be the same. Even with the scenes on the battle
field overseas, Tyler still came out mostly mentally unscathed. Yes
there were nights that he woke up in a cold sweat, and there were
those times when a loud noise would spook him, but he had control
over it all. Maggie didn’t, and until she could make peace with her
past, she would always carry that emotional baggage on her
shoulders.

“Hey bro, you almost done
getting the grill fired up?” Jake yelled from the back
door.

“Yeah, it’s ready, bring
out the steaks and I’ll throw them on.”

Jake went back inside the
house and returned with a plate of steaks and his best friend
Gabe.

“Tyler this is Gabe, Gabe
this is my brother Tyler.” Jake made the introductions.

Tyler shook Gabe’s hand.
“Nice to meet you man.”

Gabe seemed nice enough,
and Tyler was thankful that his brother had a friend to keep him
company while he was overseas.

“So you were in the
military?” Gabe asked.

“Yeah, Marines. They sent
me home when some insurgents decided to shoot up our
convoy.”

“Damn. Is everything okay
now? All healed up?”

“Almost good as new,
except for a few scars, but hey I was no beauty queen before.”
Tyler laughed.

Just then Tyler watched an
auburn haired beauty exit the back door and walk toward Gabe.
“Tyler, this is my wife Eliza.” She kissed Gabe on the cheek and
pressed her body close to his.

“It’s nice to meet you
Eliza, say aren’t you two the ones who got married in
Vegas?”

“Please do not get me
started on that crazy shit.” Gabe chuckled.

Tyler watched as Gabe
gazed at his wife with the most loving of expressions. It almost
made him want to vomit to be around couples that were all goo goo
over each other like they were.

“So Tyler, is that your
girlfriend in there?” Eliza prodded.

“Oh Maggie? No, she’s just
passing through, her flight leaves the day after tomorrow.” He
sighed.

“Huh, well she’s super
nice, and she’s great with Trent, he seems to love the hell out of
her.”

“She’s in there playing
with your son?” Tyler asked confused.

“Sure, she’s a
natural.”

“This I have to see.” Jake
and Tyler said in unison.

They hurried to the back
door and snuck inside the house, when they reached the living room,
sure enough Maggie was sitting in the floor playing with both
Trenton, and Maisy. The sight pulled at Tyler’s heartstrings and
made him smile brighter than the Texas sun. She had apparently
caught on quickly as to taking care of kids, and that gave Tyler
hope that maybe she wasn’t made of stone like he had originally
pegged her to be.

Twenty-One

As I sat in the floor
playing with those small humans, I wondered how my life came to
this point. I’d had a damn plan for everything, but it was falling
apart at the seams. A ruined engagement, a father that probably
wasn’t dead after all, and oh yeah, falling in love with Tyler. I
could finally admit to myself that I was head over heels in love
with this man. He was in no way perfect for me, and so off base of
what I pictured my dream guy to be, but dammit if I couldn’t tell
my heart that.

All things considering, I
had to eventually let go of him though. He was too wonderful to
pull through my emotional mud puddle. Yes I wanted him, but almost
too much for my own good. If my heart had to break in the process
then so be it, at least I would spare him the disaster that was my
fucked up life.

I heard a noise behind me
as I played with the kids, and when I turned around, there were all
the adults looking at me like I’d been shooting fire from my
ass.

“I see I’m being spied
on.” I smirked.

“Damn straight, we might
even take a video to document this occasion.” Tyler
chuckled.

“Please don’t, I wouldn’t
want to ruin my street credit. Everyone thinks I’m a heartless
bitch and I’d like to keep it that way.” I smiled.

“Bitch!” Maisy
yelled.

“Oh my god! I’m so
sorry…don’t say that honey.” I patted the little girl on the
head.

Jake rushed over and
picked her up. “Well that’s interesting…my child’s first word is
bitch.” He gave me a dirty look.