Tyler (Blue Halo Book 6)

“Her bruises and scrapes healing up okay?”

At Blake’s question, Tyler’s gaze swept across The Grind and landed on Emerson. She sat at the other end of the bar with Grace, Willow, and Mila—Willow and Blake’s daughter—all of them chatting with Courtney on the other side of the counter. Emerson wore a long-sleeved shirt so her injuries couldn’t be seen, but he knew they were there…and every time he saw them, he felt that same black rage.

“They’re better, although it’s only been four days. They shouldn’t have happened at all. I hate that we couldn’t get to her in time.”

Logan pressed a hand to his shoulder. “We got there as fast as we could, and now she’s here, with us, safe.”

Didn’t make it easier.

“Steve hasn’t been in contact again?” He needed to change the subject, although his gaze kept returning to Emerson and the windows. Searching. Making sure Levi wasn’t around.

Logan blew out a breath. “He has. But only to vent about there being no more clues as to what’s going on.”

Tyler looked across the room to see Mila wriggle her hand out of Willow’s and run toward them. She jumped into Blake’s arms. He caught her, then dipped her back to tickle her neck with his mouth, causing her to giggle.

The kid was five and too damn cute.

“Daddy, stop, we’re in public!”

Tyler and Logan laughed at that.

Mila turned to look at Tyler then leaned toward him to whisper, “I met Emerson. I like her.”

His grin widened. It felt good. Smiles had been few and far between this week. “Does she have your stamp of approval?”

“She does. She likes painting, like me. She said we could paint together sometime. I could paint her, and she could paint me!”

The thought of Emerson spending time with Mila instantly put ideas in his head about her spending time with kids they could make together.

His chest tightened.

Logan said something to Mila, then kissed her cheek, but Tyler’s attention had moved to Emerson again. It was crazy that he hadn’t known the woman for long, yet the idea of creating a family with her didn’t scare him. The opposite.

“No, I am not fifty percent sugar. Daddy says I’m all love.”

Logan laughed at Mila’s words just as the door to the shop opened and Callum stepped inside. He stopped beside them and ruffled Mila’s hair. “Hey, kiddo.”

“Have you gotten taller?” She squinted her eyes like that would help her figure it out.

“Nope, I’ve always been a monster.”

Mila laughed. “You’re not a monster. Monsters are green.”

“Yeah, he’s a bit green,” Logan said, getting a shove in the shoulder from Callum.

“Did you come from Blue Halo?” Tyler asked.

“Actually, I just stopped at the library to return a book.”

Tyler’s brows shot up, and he saw similar expressions on his friends’ faces.

“The library?” Blake finally asked.

“Yep.”

“Daddy took me to the library last week,” Mila said excitedly. “We borrowed Ice Cream Soup. What did you borrow?”

“You wouldn’t like what I borrowed. It’s a thriller.”

She scrunched her little nose. “What’s a thriller?”

“Something you might read when you’re older,” Blake said before Callum could.

“Since when do you read?” Tyler asked.

“Since always. I’ve just recently gotten back into it. Got my butt chewed out today by my favorite librarian because I folded the book into my pocket and it was bent when I gave it back to her.”

Interesting. “Is this librarian good-looking?”

Callum grinned.

Yes, clearly she was.

“Wouldn’t say no to a date. Not that she’ll be asking. My very existence seems to annoy her. Unfortunately for her, I’m a fast reader.”

Tyler smiled. Callum hadn’t dated since they’d moved to Cradle Mountain. Could this be an end to that drought?

When he looked across the room yet again and saw the flicker of Emerson’s brows, he straightened. She was due to take her pain medication. Even though four days had passed since her concussion, she was still getting headaches.

“I’m going to take Emerson back to the office.”

He moved across the coffee shop and slipped an arm around her waist. Immediately, she leaned into him.

Courtney grinned. “Hey, Ty, guess what we’re planning?”

He almost groaned. “Do I want to know?”

“A girls’ night. It will involve drinks. Dancing. And letting all our worries slip away in an alcohol-induced fog.”

Nope. He didn’t want to know. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Grace lifted a shoulder. “If the whole team’s there, I would argue that nowhere would be safer.”

He wasn’t agreeing to anything right now. Not when Emerson was recently concussed. “Time to go.”

“I’ll see you ladies later,” Emerson said softly.

Then she let him lead her out, and he continually scanned the area as they walked.

Emerson tilted her head to the side. Her painting was missing something. She’d been working on it since they’d gotten back from The Grind, and it was almost finished.

She blocked out the sound of a ringing phone from somewhere in the office, the quiet voices and hard footsteps, and studied her work with a critical eye—

The eyes. They were open, but she wanted them closed. She wanted the body language to speak for them.

She touched her brush to her palette. She was redoing the canvas of her and Tyler. This time painting it the way she’d originally intended. With light and love and the promise of a future.

He had his arms around her middle now, holding her, while she held his forearms and leaned against him, her head back. Rays of light hit them both in just the right way. She’d drawn herself in a flowy dress and him in a white button-down, his jeans rolled at the ankles. And beneath their feet was water from the background ocean.

She spent endless minutes changing the eyes. Once she was finished, she sat back.

And there it was. Peace.

That’s what she felt when she looked at this. Peace and love and trust. The closing of the eyes had given them both trust. In each other. A trust that, a few days ago, hadn’t existed. It was all there in the way she held his arms and leaned into his embrace. In the way his lips pressed to the top of her head in a gentle kiss.

A smile was just tugging at her lips when thick arms wrapped around her waist, much like they did in the painting.

She sighed and leaned back into the familiar body. “Hey.”

“I missed you.”

She chuckled. “You came in an hour ago.”

“Too. Long,” Tyler growled. When he nibbled on her neck, she hummed. “Your painting’s beautiful,” he said softly against her ear.

She looked back at it, her heart thudding at the emotion that rose to the surface. She loved it. She loved all her paintings, but something told her this was going to be a favorite. “I painted it before, but I painted it wrong. This one’s better.”

A lot better.

She stood and turned in his arms. “Did you get some work done?”

“Yes. But I still hate that you’re here. You should be at home, resting.”

“I feel fine. And I don’t want your world to stop for me.”

“You’ve done more than stop my world, Em. You’ve set it on a completely new trajectory.”

Her lips tugged up. “A good trajectory?”

His head lowered and his breath brushed over her lips as he spoke. “The best.”

Then the man swooped, his mouth crashing onto hers. She groaned and leaned closer as their tongues melded.

God, a kiss from this man was like nothing else. Each and every time, she felt like she was floating. Like at the simple touch of his lips, she became weightless, completely at his mercy.

When his head finally lifted, she wanted to groan. Or maybe she did, because Tyler chuckled.

“I need to get you home.”

Hm. Didn’t sound like a good enough reason to halt the kiss. She grumbled out an “okay, fine” that made him laugh again.

She spent the next ten minutes cleaning her paintbrushes. She’d leave the painting there overnight to dry, then tomorrow, that was going up on a wall. Tyler didn’t get a choice. Not that she thought he’d object.

The other offices were dark. Everyone else had already left. He flipped the light switch off in the room she’d been using before slipping his hand into hers and leading her toward the front door. He’d just touched the handle when he stopped, his brows tugging together.

A sliver of unease trickled down her spine. “Everything okay?”

“Someone’s walking up the stairs.”

Her lips parted, but before she could say anything, Tyler ushered her around the reception desk and gently pushed her down. She lowered to her knees and hid. Tyler moved away, but not before she caught sight of him pulling his gun from its holster.

Her heart thudded against her ribs, her breaths moving quickly.

Who was it? Levi? No, it couldn’t be. She didn’t feel the familiar tingle she got on the back of her neck anytime he was close.

The door opened.

There was a man’s quick gasp—then she heard a voice she wasn’t expecting.

She stood up to see Rowan standing at the door, his mouth open as he stared down the barrel of Tyler’s pistol.