But his sisters-in-law would never cheat. How did he know that? Just by looking at them. It didn’t matter what had come in their lives before they met his brothers. They were in love, happy, and devoted.
Wasn’t that what Tyler had always wanted? He didn’t even know anymore. Before he had a clue what he was doing, he was in his car and heading down the road. As he flew across the city, he watched the sun set. Of course it was beautiful, lighting the sky with purples and oranges. The very beauty of nature was even mocking his misery.
After pulling up to Elena’s apartment building, he sat in the car and looked up at her door. What was he doing there? What did he plan to say to her?
She certainly wouldn’t welcome him inside. Not after the last words they’d exchanged, the mistrust between them. He should call off this mission and drive away. It’s what was best for both of them.
Instead, he found himself opening his car door and then he was walking, moving toward her stairs, and then he was standing in front of her door. Whether he was ready for this or not, it was coming, because his fist lifted almost of its own accord, and he knocked loudly.
The door opened and he saw the surprise on Elena’s face. He could see she was trying to decide whether or not to slam the door shut. A myriad of emotions fluttered across her face, and he watched her mask it into polite boredom. It was the worst expression she could give him.
As if he meant nothing at all.
His eyes drifted from her face to her stomach. It was still flat, but inside it grew a child. Was it his? Again, did he care?
“Hello, Tyler. What are you doing here?” Her voice held no emotion; it was level and lawyerly.
“Invite me in, Elena.” Did he look almost maniacal? Probably, and he was definitely acting that way. He was holding his hand against the door in a gesture that assured her he wasn’t going in any direction but forward, like a door-to-door salesman of old.
“Now isn’t a good time. I’m working on a case file and …” She didn’t bother saying more. They both knew she was simply making an excuse. Why expand on it?
He moved forward and she took a step backward. If it were fear on her face, he would have been horrified. But it wasn’t fear, not of him anyway. He had no doubt of that. She couldn’t ultimately hide her reaction to him.
She was afraid of his touch, afraid of what that would do to her. Well, he was afraid too. Because he couldn’t seem to live without this woman.
“Tsk, tsk, Elena. It’s incredibly rude to leave someone standing in your doorway.” And with that he brushed past her, walking inside her place. “Where’s Piper?” He didn’t stop until he made it to her living room.
He heard the front door shut and then her footsteps as she practically stomped after him.
Damn, he’d missed her. He’d missed her laughter, her fight and her drive, her smell, the way she tasted. He’d missed each moment of each day he’d spent with her. Tyler didn’t care what had happened between them, didn’t care that each of them had hurt the other. All he cared about was that he wanted her in his arms — and he didn’t want to let her go ever again.
“It’s also incredibly rude to barge into someone’s house, Tyler. You weren’t invited, and I have a lot of work to get done,” she told him, her cheeks flushed in her anger.
“Yes, I was brought up badly, Elena — you know my history. So it goes. What have you been doing this past month?”
She looked at him as if he had two heads. Maybe he did. He’d certainly made enough wrong choices in life to blame a split personality on, at the very least. Multiple personalities.
“What are you doing, Tyler? Why are you here?”
“I’ve missed you. I want to know what you’ve been up to. Isn’t that what people ask when they haven’t seen each other for a while?”
Her mouth gaped open. “You need to leave, Tyler. I can’t … can’t do this,” she said, and much to his horror he saw tears appear in her eyes.
Just as quickly as they’d appeared, though, she blinked and then she was shooting fire at him. The tears gave him hope. The fire made him glad. She wasn’t a weak woman. She couldn’t be broken. And damned if he hadn’t tried.
What a fool he’d been.
“Are you expecting someone else to stop by?” he asked, trying to sound casual.
“What in the world are you talking about?” she replied.
“Are you with anyone, Elena?”
“With someone? How?”
“Do you have a man in your life?” It almost choked him to even say the words.
Her mouth dropped open again, and then her eyes blazed with far more heat and outrage than he’d ever seen before. She was the personification of the phrase “seeing red.”
“Yes, Tyler. Of course I’m expecting a guy to drop by. Any minute now, too. So I would really like you to leave. I have to rush off to the kitchen, shed all my clothes, and drape my body in nothing but Saran Wrap, and open the door to my lover. He’ll peel the plastic off. Slowly? Quickly? Who knows? Who cares? We’ll get it on right against the freaking door.”
That image filled Tyler with rage. It made him shake, and he had to calm himself before speaking again.
“I don’t like the thought of you with anyone else, Elena.” Sheesh. How could he admit such a thing? Was he another weak man, just like his feckless father, who’d been duped so disastrously by his mother?
She looked at him, confusion dominating her face.
“Are you … jealous?” she sputtered.