He, on the other hand, allowed his attention to shift over his surroundings.

Brick townhouses and small wooden homes with picket fences. A beautiful church and a Victorian bed-and-breakfast. Several storefronts farther up the street.

All the properties appeared well-maintained. Quaint described it perfectly.

Considering that he and Jed had just bought a large property not too far from town that they planned to turn into an exclusive spa retreat in the next few months, he should be more interested.

Time enough for that later, he decided.

Right now, he focused all his energy on Kate. He wanted to enjoy these few stolen moments before he had to walk away from her. Again.

He gave her a full minute before he couldn’t keep quiet any longer. “Kate, is everything okay?”

With a sigh, she turned to face him, arms crossed over her chest as if she were cold. Slipping his leather jacket off his shoulders, he wrapped it around hers. She didn’t tell him not to, and he could’ve sworn he saw her shiver, even after she drew it together in front of her.

Her gaze lingered on his for a few seconds before she looked up into the sky.

Following her gaze, he realized he could see a hell of a lot more stars here than he could in center-city Philadelphia.

Nice.

But far less interesting than she was.

“I’ve spent all of my life here,” she finally said. “It’s so peaceful. Quiet.”

Since he had no idea where she was going with this, he nodded, though she couldn’t see because she was still staring up at the sky. “Seems like it would be.”

She looked over her shoulder at him, dark eyes huge. “Are you going to be spending a lot of time up here getting the spa going? Or will Jared handle that?”

Did she want him to be here often? “We have good people in place at Haven, so I’ll probably be able to spend some time here. Jed tends to go a little wild if I’m not around to rein him in occasionally.”

There was that half smile again. “You two work well together. You get along well, too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, we do. Better now that we’re older.”

He took a step closer, unable to stop, but clenched his hands into fists so he wouldn’t reach for her and pull her against him.

Her smile spread. “I bet Jared was a hell-raiser as a teenager.”

Tyler laughed and felt his lips curve in an answering smile. “You could say that.”

Her head tilted to the side. “And you were always the stable one, weren’t you?”

“Would you be surprised if I told you I wasn’t?”

She shook her head and a ribbon of straight silky black hair fell over her shoulder. He wanted to wind it around his hand and tug her closer. “No, because I don’t really know you, do I?”

“True.” He took a deep breath. “Would you like to know me better, Kate?”

She paused, and a deep-seated longing curled through him, tightening his stomach into a knot.

“I broke off my engagement.”

He blinked, momentarily stunned. Then the dark, fiery lust that’d been percolating deep in his gut began to rise. “I’m sorry.”

But he wasn’t. Hell, how could he be sorry when he wanted her so badly his teeth fucking ached with it?

She turned away and tilted her head back to look into the sky again. “I’m not. It was a long time coming and the right thing to do.”

He heard a “but” in there and wanted to prod her until she spilled. Instead, he remained silent, waiting for the rest of the story. He knew there had to be more.

“Arnie’s a nice guy. A real sweetheart.”

Tyler’s jaw clenched but he forced it to release before she turned and caught him looking like he wanted to hurt someone. Mia had literally flinched away from him in fear the few times he’d ever looked at her like this. He’d learned to submerge most of his darker emotions, knowing Mia had loved him enough to satisfy some of his cravings but had been unable to handle all of him. And he’d been okay with that because he’d loved her, and love meant compromise.

He didn’t think Kate was afraid of much of anything.

“He’ll be better off without me.”

His gaze narrowed. “Why do you say that?”

“Because I didn’t love him the way he deserves.”

The caveman part of his brain wanted to pump his fist in the air. Luckily, the more civilized part talked him out of it. “Then he wasn’t the right man for you, Kate.”

She paused. “Do you believe in soul mates?”

Dangerous territory.

He closed the few feet between them so he was standing by her side. The top of her head barely came up to his shoulder and he fought the urge to pull her into his arms and lift her until her eyes were on a level with his . . . and their mouths were aligned.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, touching the ring she’d given him earlier, he sighed. “I’m not sure anymore. I used to. I even thought I’d found mine. And then she died.”

Those dark eyes met his again, her expression genuinely sorrowful. “I’m so sorry, Tyler. I know how awful it is to lose someone you love. Do you still miss her?”

Did he? “It’s been almost two years. The pain’s more like a dull ache that I know is still there but . . . it doesn’t bother me all the time.”

“But it does still bother you?”

“When I think about her now . . .”

He got angry, more often than not. And that made him feel like shit. So he didn’t think about her.

“What?” she prompted.

He sighed. “I get mad. Which is stupid. Mia had a brain tumor that killed her a year after she was diagnosed. She couldn’t control it. She could do nothing to change it.”

And yet . . .

“So why do you get mad?”

Because if she’d gotten her symptoms checked earlier, she might’ve lived. If she’d fought harder—

“Because I couldn’t do anything for her.”

And it’d been his job to take care of her.

“So now you think you should be able to cure cancer?”

The dry sarcasm in her voice finally drew out his smile, even through thoughts of Mia.

“Maybe I should.”

She huffed. “Yeah, and maybe one day I’ll be able to weave wool into gold.”

Which was as good a segue as any. “Jed told me he talked to you about a lingerie boutique for the spa. He also said you haven’t given him an answer yet.”

She stiffened, and he could’ve kicked himself. He didn’t want to lose her. Didn’t want her to walk away and leave him. Not now.

“That’s because I’m not sure it’s such a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’m not sure I’m ready to put myself out there like that.”

It was a reasonable doubt, he supposed. Especially for someone who’d never tried it before. “Have you shown your designs to Jed? He has a great eye.”

It was something he and his brother shared, though Jared mainly dealt with art and Tyler with architecture. Lingerie wasn’t much different than art, he figured.

She nodded. “He’s seen some of my pieces.”

Tyler smiled. “Let me guess . . . on Annabelle.”

She arched perfect eyebrows at him. “Of course. No way was I modeling for him.”

Damn right she wasn’t. Tyler would’ve had to punch his brother.

“Then he’s seen that you have talent. Trust me. Jed’s as much a businessman as I am. He wouldn’t have offered if he didn’t think you could do it and make money. Not even to get in good with Annabelle.”

Her gaze shifted away for a split second. “Maybe you’d like to see some of my work? Judge for yourself?”

His throat went completely dry and his heart started to gallop.

Was she offering to model for him? Would he be able to keep his hands off her if she did?

Kate pointed over her shoulder. “My apartment’s just up the street. I could show you a few of my sketches and I have several samples.”

Okay, not offering to model for him. Damn.

He forced a smile. “If you’d like to show me, I’d love to see them.”

Her expression totally transformed. This was the smile he’d been waiting to see. No trace of sarcasm, just pure, sweet pleasure.

His pulse began to pound and his cock throbbed.

“Then follow me,” she said.

He fell into step beside her and silence settled between them, the only sound the click of Kate’s heels against the pavement and the almost inaudible hum of traffic on the highway to the east.

He could almost imagine they were the only two people awake at the moment. A few windows glowed from within but most were dark. Annabelle had probably invited the entire town to the gallery opening.

A few streetlights provided enough illumination for them to make their way along the sidewalk but didn’t glare down at them.

The air smelled fresher here, cleaner. Philadelphia air always had an underlying scent of decay and diesel fumes.

It took only a minute to reach their destination—a three-story, brick town house with a small porch.

“My apartment’s on the second floor,” she said as she pushed open the white picket gate between her townhouse and the identical one next to it. “The entrance is on the side.”

A security light flashed on and he released the breath he hadn’t been aware he’d been holding.

As a city dweller, you learned to be wary of shadows. It’d be so easy for someone to hide in the dark spots along the side of the house, waiting for her to return. She hadn’t even looked for danger before opening the gate.

As they walked up the wooden stairs along the side of the house, he allowed his gaze to drop again to the slight sway of her slim ass beneath the dress. His hands clenched, his fingers practically itching to touch her. He wanted to crowd up against her and bend her over right here. Ease up her dress, unzip his pants, and slide his cock between her thighs and inside.