Chapter Four

“Everything is beautiful.”

Tara spun around from her spot at the kitchen sink where she’d been staring out into the middle of the night blackness.

“Jeez. You scared the crap out of me. What are you still doing up? It’s…” What time was it? She looked at her watch.

“Twelve-thirty, I know.” Scott smiled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

She willed her heart to crawl back into her chest. How did one man have the right to look so good?

“Just out of curiosity, and excuse me if I sound stupid or am out of line, but how exactly do you know what I’ve done is beautiful?”

His smile widened, revealing perfect teeth. Teeth that had nibbled on her lip yesterday in his office. Teeth she wished would nibble on her— Stop. Stop right there. Don’t even go one inch further with that line of thinking. Bad.

“Because I’ve heard the girls and Brianna squealing every time they discovered something new. And my mom told me so.” He shrugged. “It must be true.”

She’d met his mom earlier today. Lydia Wyatt was wonderful despite the number of years she’d been out of Scott and Brianna’s life due to their father’s duplicity.

If it had been her, Tara wasn’t sure she would have coped as well meeting a mother she’d been told her whole life had run off and wouldn’t be back.

Of course they’d been reunited now for ten years and according to Brianna, Lydia had more than made up for the time she’d been forced out of her children’s lives.

“So how’d you do it?”

“Do what?” Tara tried to remember what they’d been talking about.

“Get all this together in one day.” He stalked across the obstacle-free kitchen toward her. No, prowled was a better word. She imagined beneath those sunglasses, his eyes would be glowing. Like a werewolf from one of her favorite paranormal books, staking his mate.

She shrugged and licked her lips as he came to a stop directly in front of her. “Whenever I take on a new project I like to dive right in. And in this case, that’s a good thing since Brianna didn’t give me much time. When I finally left your office yesterday, I got a lot of planning done. Today I shopped and put most of it together.”

Scott crossed his arms across his chest. The muscles in his forearms bulged, emphasizing what she already knew about her friend’s brother. He worked out. A lot. And man did she want to see what the rest of him looked like.

Lord she was turning into a nympho. Best friends were not supposed to lust after younger brothers. Thank God she wasn’t as old as Brianna because it would make the whole situation too weird to handle. As it stood, Tara was still three years older than him.

Did he care? Did he know?

“Do you know how old I am?” she blurted.

One of his eyebrows slowly rose.

Ground, just open up and swallow me whole, please. She covered her face with her hands. What did it matter? It’s not like he could see her.

“Twenty-nine.” His deep voice washed over her, making her entire body tingle in awareness. “Do you know how old I am?”

“I’m practically robbing the cradle,” she grumbled, then jumped when he barked out in laughter.

“There’s only three years separating us. I hardly think people will have you arrested for taking advantage.”

“Who says it’ll be me taking advantage?”

“Hmm. I don’t know.” He stepped cautiously forward.

Tara moved her foot at the last second when he would have stepped on her bare toes. He crowded her, forcing her back into the counter. She reached back and grasped the granite surface with both hands.

She should have kept her arms in front.

His rock hard abs brushed against her upper belly, his… She closed her eyes and sucked in a breath.

Oh, mama. She licked her suddenly dry lips.

“Maybe we could take advantage of each other,” he murmured, leaning in and laying his lips on hers.

Damn man didn’t even need to coax her. She melted into him, opening her mouth to his and sucking in his tongue. His hands cradled her face; she reached up and gripped his shoulders.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen,” he whispered, kissing around her face.

“Really?” Her breath came out in tiny pants. He moved down her neck and she tilted her head to give him better access.

“Hell no, I’m lying to you. I’ve wanted to do this since the first day I met you.” He nudged the collar of her flannel shirt aside.

His lips feathered along her collarbone. Her nipples hardened.

“Why didn’t you?”

“I’m blind.”

“I can see that. What does that have to do with kissing me?”

He shrugged. His hands came up to caress her throat and he rested his forehead on hers.

“Most of the women I know only want the novelty of being with a blind man.”

She pulled her head back and stared at him. He was serious. She swallowed and took a breath.

“Then you haven’t been with the right kind of woman.” How could any woman not see him for the smart, strong, absolutely gorgeous man he was? How had she not seen him for more than a friend?

“No? Maybe you know someone?”

She was crazy. Absolutely nuts.

And totally, one hundred percent sure of herself for the first time in her life.

“Maybe.” The word rasped from her lips.

“Hmm.” He nibbled the corner of her mouth again. It was the sweetest feeling in the world. A hundred times better than the rushed gropings in the dark with Eric. It felt…right. Perfect.

“Take off the sunglasses, Scott. Let me see you.”

This time he pulled back. He trailed his hands down her arms and clasped his fingers with hers.

“Promise not to laugh?”

She snorted. Shit.

“Too late.” He smiled, saving her from being totally embarrassed.

Scott sighed and whipped off the dark glasses she’d never seen him without.

His eyelids didn’t quite open all the way, and his pupils strayed, having never been trained to focus. Now she could see him as a blind person. Covered up, he was just like everyone else.

“So?” He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling the short strands to make them look like he’d just climbed out of bed.

Ugh. Do. Not. Think. About. Him. In. Bed.

“You’re very handsome.”

The corners of his mouth twitched. “You’re not just saying that, are you?”

Tara stretched up on her tiptoes to reach his mouth and kissed him. “No.”

“Then can I put these back on?” he asked, holding up the shades.

“Why?” She hoped he didn’t feel the need to hide behind them anymore.

He cocked his head. “I don’t know. They’re kind of a part of me after all these years. Kinda like wearing underwear.”

She couldn’t resist teasing him and gasped. “You wear underwear?”

His entire body froze. The fingers of the hand he still held her with tightened and he audibly gulped.

“You’re not wearing panties?”

Now why did he have to make that sound so damn erotic?

She slid out of the confined space he had her trapped in. If she didn’t get out of there now, she’d be jumping him in a minute. All this talk about her panties was making her wet.

“I’ll never tell.”

He followed her with his head, sliding the glasses back on his face. Scott turned and backed up to the counter she’d vacated to rest his hips against it. His arms went back across his chest. The pose was cocky, arrogant, full of himself.

She wanted every bit of it.

Instead she bid him goodnight and ran.