The Beauty Within (20 page)

look.

“Don’t even try it!”

“I’m not. I’m watching
The
Incredibles
right now.”

Tyler continued to look at him skeptically for a few minutes, but when it

seemed he would behave, she allowed herself to relax and watch the movie.

At some point, his arm had come around her shoulders, and she’d ended up

reclining more against his chest than the back of the couch. Instead of feeling

awkward as she would’ve been had she been with someone else, their position

felt natural…right. Tyler was glad he’d chosen this lighter movie instead of a

drama or a romance; it helped her latch onto the label of friendship she’d given

them—even if her feelings were growing beyond friendly.

By the time the movie ended, Tyler was practically snuggled into him. It

was a little after nine at night, and Tyler was surprised Gunnar had spent most

of the day with her. She had very much enjoyed his company.

She sighed. “The last time I had watched a movie like this was seven years

ago.”

She felt the hand on her shoulder tense and he sighed as well. “Seems you

were long overdue then, huh?”

“Very much so.”

“Glad I could oblige.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

The Beauty Within

107

Silence reigned for a few minutes.

“I guess I should be going, huh?”

He really didn’t have to sound so dejected when he said it, but she nodded

again. “It’s late, and you’ve fulfilled your babysitting duties for the weekend,

Mr. Daniels.”

“You’re not a baby, Tyler,” Gunnar said, and she could feel his gaze roam

over her. “Definitely not.”

Uncomfortably thrilled, Tyler stood away from the couch. “Damn. I was

hoping to pass off all this extra weight as baby fat!”

His hands gripped her hips and turned her to face him. He scooted to the

edge of the couch, his eyes totally locked on hers. As if in slow motion, his lips

found her round belly and pressed a gentle kiss to it. Though she’d been

exercising for a little over a month, her body had only begun making slight

changes. The fact he was looking at her as if she were the most gorgeous thing

he’d ever seen made her breathless.

“This is a woman’s body, Tyler,” he murmured against her belly. “Never be

ashamed of it.”

It was certainly hard to be when he stared at her like that. Still looking at

her, still with his hands on her hips, he stood, his body so close to hers she

fancied she could feel his heart beating against her chest. His arms slid around

her waist and she wrapped hers around his neck.

“You’re brilliant for my ego,” she murmured into his shoulder.

“I call ’em like I see ’em,” he responded, pulling back to look at her. A cor-

ner of his mouth quirked and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “And I could

look at you for hours and be perfectly happy.”

Tyler pulled a face at that. “That sounds like something Damon would say!”

Gunnar laughed and nodded. “He did…guess it only works on one Carver

woman, huh?”

“You mean to tell me Wendy
fell
for that?!”

Gunnar shrugged and tightened his arms imperceptibly. “They’re in love

with each other. I guess you could fall for anything when you’re in love.”

Tyler’s cheerful mood dulled a little. “Yeah…”

“Hey,” Gunnar whispered, touching her chin softly. “He was an idiot.”

“And yet—”

“No, ‘and yet’,” Gunnar insisted. “Not all men are idiots, Tyler. And even if

they were, not all men stay that way. After all, I saw the error in my ways.”

Tyler pulled back and pressed her hands against his chest. He was so hard

and solid, and it intimidated her. Gunnar held her hands to his chest and

kissed her forehead.

“Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice…” she murmured.

“Exactly,” Gunnar said, giving her a small smile. “Shame on Quincy. All of it

belongs to him, anyway—”

“But I
loved
him, Gunnar…part of me always will…”

Savannah J. Frierson

“Fine then, some shame on you—ouch!”

Tyler had slapped his bicep.

“Seriously,” Gunnar said, chuckling a bit and shrugging. “He was the one

who lost out on a good thing, not you. If he couldn’t accept you and your love,

then he didn’t deserve either.”

“Yeah—”

“And don’t go thinking you’re damaged goods or the store brand or what-

ever. You’re not a poor man’s anything, Tyler Carver. And if you need me to

help prove that to you, I’ll be more than happy to do so.”

“Your community service for the year, huh?” Tyler said, trying to downplay

the significance of that statement for her sanity.

Gunnar grinned and kissed her quickly. “At the very least,
elskling
, the very

least.”

Eleven

Tyler hadn’t spoken to Quincy since their date, though on Monday he’d

left her an e-mail. She hadn’t responded to it, but she hadn’t deleted it, either.

He’d given her an update about his meeting with the partners and said he

should expect to hear from them by the end of the week. He had also insisted

what he’d told her wasn’t a lie, and that he could wait for her answer because

she was worth it, and he would be a fool to let a good thing pass him by again.

She genuinely wished him luck on his promotion, but that was about it.

Maybe she should delete the e-mail…

The first thing Gunnar did when he came into the shop for Wednesday’s

trim was kiss her. It was a quick peck, the type of kiss a man would give his

woman after being with her for years, and Tyler blushed as she helped him out

his jacket.

“I’ve missed you,” he murmured against her temple as he hugged her.

“As if we haven’t talked on the phone every night since Saturday!”

“Not the same,” he insisted, squeezing her briefly before sitting in the bar-

ber’s chair.

He was right about that, and Tyler was relieved she hadn’t been the only

one who had felt that way. His hair grew at an alarming rate, so since it had

been almost three weeks since his last cut, there was actually something for

her to do. She didn’t trim too much, liking him with hair after seeing him

without it, and he started talking about his day and what the gym had been

going through for the past few weeks.

He had bought new equipment and hired another personal trainer. He was

thinking about installing a sauna and spa, but he would have to buyout the

empty space next to his gym, and he needed to make sure he had enough

money to do it.

110

Savannah J. Frierson

“I don’t want to turn into those ritzy fitness centers,” he said, “and price

out the majority of my members, but I think it would be a good addition, no?”

“It could be. Maybe you should send out a questionnaire or something to

get a feel for it,” Tyler suggested.

“That’s a good idea.”

“And if you’re worried about business, you should talk to Wendy about

advertisement at the station. Your looks alone could bring the ladies flocking

to GD Gym and Fitness!”

Gunnar blushed a little and snorted. “Superficial much?”

She snorted as well. “So says the man who made his living by hawking

products solely based on his looks and little else!”

“That
was
good money…”

She chuckled as she finished trimming his hair. She began running her fin-

gers through the fresh trim, and he damn near purred. She grinned, increasing

the pressure. “You like that?”

“You’re getting me hot and bothered,
kjære
.”

Tyler giggled and kissed the top of his head. “I don’t mean to, honest, I

just…I love hair.”

He spun the chair around and she stepped back to give him room. Imme-

diately his arm came around her and he drew her to him, causing her to

straddle his waist. “I wasn’t complaining.”

She nodded shortly, biting her lip and sinking her fingers into his hair

again. Gunnar closed his eyes and enjoyed her massage, giving her the oppor-

tunity to watch him unguarded. Even though he was in his mid-thirties, Tyler

thought he could still give the young models a run for their money. In fact, she

bet if he wanted to go back to LA to model again he would have no problems

finding jobs. He was simply gorgeous to her, and she couldn’t believe he was

attracted to her.

“Why not?”

Tyler blinked and stilled her hands. “‘Why not’ what?”

“Why can’t you believe I find you attractive? I’ll bet you’re attractive to

plenty of men and don’t even know it.”

Though a bit taken aback she’d spoken aloud, she turned the questioning

back to him. “How many plus-size models did you know during your time out

in LA?”

He looked a little contrite. “Admittedly, not many, but that doesn’t mean

there weren’t any or that they weren’t beautiful. That doesn’t mean full women

aren’t
…that you aren’t.”

“I know,” Tyler said with a frown.

“You know, but you don’t believe,” Gunnar said.

“It pays to be slim,” Tyler mused.

“Yes, and not the slim women. There’s a whole industry out there to mani-

pulate and take advantage of insecurities. There’s no such thing as ‘too slim’,

The Beauty Within

111

and honestly, I think it does everyone a disservice. Men get it too. I’ve been told

I had to lose weight and I did, and I used many unhealthy methods too. I swear,

though, the more confident a woman is, regardless of size, the more attractive

she’ll always be.”

Tyler nodded. “I know.”

“I know you know,” Gunnar said, sliding his fingers up and down her back.

“It’s still hard to believe though, isn’t it?”

“At times.”

He kissed her gently. “But you believe I’m here with you because I want to

be, right?”

“I give you great haircuts,” Tyler joked.

“That too!”

Tyler left the seat because her knees were starting to burn and she was

beginning to get way too comfortable. Someone could walk in on them, and

she didn’t think she would be able to explain it away. He stared at her as she

began cleaning up the shop, his gray eyes piercing as always.

“Do you like basketball?”

Tyler shrugged. “Why?”

“If I told you I had tickets to the Duke/UNC game, would you want to go

with me?”

She was putting up the broom in the corner when the question came, and

her eyes widened. Tyler spun to him in shock. “
What
?”

Gunnar grinned and nodded. “My sister got me tickets to the final Duke

home game. Would you like to go?”

“How in the world did she get them?”

Gunnar shrugged. “I don’t know. She probably knows a guy who knows a

guy…early birthday present—”

“It’s your
birthday
?”

He chuckled. “Not yet.”

“When?”

“End of the month.”

“Thirty-five?”

Gunnar shuddered. “That just sounds gross.”

Tyler laughed. “You’re old, Mr. Daniels!”

“And you’re legal, so that’s all that matters,” Gunnar said with a wink.

“What does my legality have to do with anything?” Tyler asked with faux

primness.

He shook his head and stalked towards her, pulling her slowly into his

embrace once he got within arm’s reach. “You’re a smart woman, Ms. Carver.

You know exactly with what it has to do.”

Were they really having this discussion? Truly? Tyler shook her head in

disbelief. They were friends…a little bit more than that…but were they that

much more?

112

Savannah J. Frierson

He kissed the furrow between her brows. “My attraction to you isn’t pure-

ly aesthetic, Tyler.”

So they
were
…

“We haven’t even been on a date yet,” she said, more to herself than to him.

“Hence me asking you to the basketball game for next week.”

“So you can have sex with me?”

“I won’t even dignify that with a response.”

Sighing, Tyler backed away from him and crossed her arms at her chest.

His expression belied his irritation, and she thought he looked sexy when he

pouted. Of course, she would never tell him that.

“You want to date me?”

“In the beginning, yes.”

Tyler peered at him. “And then in the middle?”

“I can’t show my hand too early,
elskling
.”

She wanted so badly to ask him what he was calling her, but she wanted to

maintain the glorious mystery of it a little longer.

“I like you, Tyler. I think I’ve made that fact more than obvious on numer-

ous occasions.”

“I’m trying to figure out why.”

“Sometimes I do, too, but I generally like to go with a good thing.”

“I’m a good thing?”

“You’re an excellent thing.”

This was a decidedly ridiculous conversation, and given the way both had

burst into laughter at the same time, they had both come to that conclusion

simultaneously. Go with it. She should. She should stop hunting for the worst-

case scenarios and trust her instincts. Of course, they had led her to Quincy;

but as Gunnar had told her, that was his fault, not hers.

“What time is the game?”

“Does that mean you want to go?”

“No one in her right mind turns down Duke/UNC, no matter how she feels

about basketball.”

“I’ll give you more details on Saturday.”