"I've got to go or I'll be late picking up Heather. Lu, nice to meet you." Hawk left to gather up his son.

Shaking her head, Renee sighed. "Stubborn man. A wife really would make his life easier."

Lu's gaze tracked Hawk and HL on their way out of the diner. It looked like they had more than bird names in common; they'd both lost someone they loved. Only Hawk had kids to worry about too. And what a bittersweet thought that was.

She'd had plans. Big, long-ago plans. But she was putting together a different life now.

"It's hard to lose someone. Has his wife been gone long?"

"Pretty much HL's whole life, so almost six years now." She lifted a tray of silverware onto the counter next to a stack of paper napkins and began making roll-ups. "Poor guy fell hard and fast for HL's mama. It was fun to watch."

"That's very sad." Losing someone you thought you'd have forever. She knew his pain. And, lately, the pain that sliced as people began those subtle suggestions to start looking again. To find another human to love as if it were as simple as deciding to go shopping and picking them out off a shelf.

"It is, but it's been over five years and the stubborn man isn't even willing to look again."

"Maybe he's not ready." Her gaze fell down to the napkin she was ripping to shreds in her shaking hands. "Besides, what are the odds someone will find true love twice in a lifetime?"

"There are over seven billion people on this planet." Renee waved one of the roll-ups in the air as she made her point. "Now, I'm no mathematician, but that sounds like a lot of chances to find love again."

"I guess I never thought about it like that." A chance to find love again? It felt like Renee had opened a window and a gale-force wind had blown in and knocked her over.

"Hawk deserves to find love again." Renee looked up from her task into Lu's eyes. "Heck, we all do, don't you think?"

Lu blinked at the question. She had no idea. She'd been so broken up over losing her soul mate that the absolute last thing she'd contemplated was finding love again. Did she deserve it? Or was it greedy to think she could find love a second time?

It seemed like once she'd decided to work on getting unstuck, the universe was cooperating by putting all these possibilities in her path. And now she was more confused than ever.

Chapter Six.

"Oh my. Look at this turnout." Beatrice Simon glanced around her crowded living room with wide, blinking eyes. "Tynan, did you tell anyone you were attending our book club?"

"Nope. Not a soul." Why in the h.e.l.l would I have done that? It was one thing to be blackmailed. Totally different for everyone-aka his brothers-to know he was being blackmailed. He looked around the room, surprised at the number of younger women in Agatha and Beatrice's reading group. He'd expected more of the blue-haired set. "So, you're saying this isn't your usual crowd?"

"We've had a rather lackl.u.s.ter turnout with the last few book selections. It looks like our erotic romance was a good choice. Plus, I might have mentioned Tynan's attendance to a few young ladies here and there." Agatha's gaze moved up to his, her smile on the sly side. "This is going to blow Maisey Applethorn's book choice out of the water."

"It's not a compet.i.tion, Sister."

The gleam in Agatha's eyes seemed to disagree. Tynan tried not to smile, because the last thing Agatha Simon needed was more encouragement. She might be in her eighties, but whether instigating something or just jumping into the fray, Agatha was often in the middle of things.

"The History of b.u.t.tons? Please." Agatha snorted. "Tynan, would you be a dear and bring in some of the chairs from the dining room?"

"On it." While he moved in dining room chairs two at a time, more women piled into the Simon sisters' living room. He was on his third trip when Barbara Jewel accosted him.

"Tynan Cates, you naughty man." She latched her hands around his biceps once he'd set the chairs on the wool carpet. "Where are you sitting? I totally need to sit next to you so you can explain a few of the chapters to me. You know, maybe even some private tutoring . . . chapter three especially."

Oh, holy h.e.l.l, chapter three had raised even his eyebrows, and he'd had his share of smoking-hot s.e.x over the years. Discuss it with Barbara? Oh h.e.l.l no. She was a man-eater of the worst kind. She liked to marry her victims before she spit them out. By Tynan's count she was looking for number four now. Men didn't call her Barbara the Barracuda for nothing.

"Barbara, we could use your help serving the drinks in the dining room." Agatha sent Barbara off with a firm hand before turning to Tynan. "You can thank me later. There's Lulubelle."

Tynan did a double take toward the front door. Yep, there was the pixie, looking cute and all kinds of hot. In place of her normal work overalls, she was wearing tight jeans and a pink sweater. d.a.m.n, she might be pint-sized, but she still had some sweet curves. Curves he had definitely tried not to think about while he was reading some of the love scenes in the book.

"Welcome, Lu! Come in, come in, dear." She waved across the crowded room. "Tynan, go grab the cake box from Lu and take it to the dining room, please."

Lu looked a bit wide-eyed at the gathering. Tynan joined her near the front door, taking the cake box out of her hands.

"Well, h.e.l.lo. So . . . romance books and a book club?" Her gaze raked him up and down. "Something tells me there's a story here, or you're more metros.e.xual than I had pegged you for."

"How did you end up here? I didn't even know you'd met Agatha and Beatrice."

"I met them at the diner over the weekend. They said I'd be doing them a favor since they'd had trouble getting women to attend their book club meetings, but this sure looks like standing room only."

Tynan took her elbow, leading her into the room. He introduced her to women as they pa.s.sed. Mrs. Frock from the grocery store. Candy Nguyen, the police dispatcher. Yvette Smith from the VFW. He leaned toward Lu and sniffed her hair. "Is it just me or are you wearing chocolate perfume?"

"Dave let me use the diner's kitchen to bake an Oh, Baby cake for tonight."

"What's an Oh, Baby cake?" And good G.o.d, that eau de chocolate was making his mouth water. Not good.

"Well, it has cho-"

"Lu! Come on into the dining room and let me introduce you." Agatha waved her hand in the air, beckoning her over. "Ladies, this is Lu. She's new in town, so make sure you make her feel welcome."

"If everyone would go ahead and select some refreshments, we can move into the living room and get started." Beatrice gently guided the ladies toward the table. "Lu was sweet enough to make the cake, so enjoy."

Tynan was a.s.signed to pouring the wine and lemonade while Lu cut and plated slices of cake. Just looking at the soft, spongy chocolate cake had him pouring faster so he could get his hands on the big slice most of the ladies were eyeing with envy but were too polite to take.

Once everyone had a drink, he grabbed his plate of cake and moved into the living room. Drawing on his special ops days, he planned to stand against the wall quietly, blending into the woodwork until the women forgot he was there. Hiding in plain sight while he absorbed his special view into the secret lives of a women's book club. Did guys do book club? Somewhere in the world they probably did, right?

His first bite of cake ruined his plans. The first luscious bite of the best chocolate cake he had ever tasted made love to his taste buds like a dirty, dirty hooker. "Oh, baby."

He moaned and all eyes turned his way. Just when he thought he had himself under control, the creamy sweet caramel with the lightest dash of salt hit him where it counted and he moaned again. "Oh, baby, is this ever good."

Openmouthed faces blinked up at him and then, as if on cue, everyone dove into their own cake slices. There were sighs of "Oh my gawd." Moans of "Oh, baby, baby, baby." One woman even begged, "Lu, for the love of G.o.d, please take the job at Dave's."

"If you don't plan on staying in town long, I really must insist on this recipe." Agatha's voice rose over the chatter.

Lu's cheeks flushed a soft pink. "I'm very sorry, Agatha, but it's a secret. I can't reveal it to anyone."

Agatha's gaze narrowed on Lu and then she nodded her head once, twice, and once more for good measure. Uh-oh. That never boded well. Tynan had known Agatha Simon his whole life and the woman was not afraid to go after what she wanted.

"You just sealed your fate, young lady."

Lu's eyes went big and she froze in her seat. "I'm sorry-"

"It's fine, Lu." Agatha tapped her crystal winegla.s.s with the side of her dessert fork. "Let's go ahead and get started. Tynan, come take a seat. We're so excited to get a man's perspective."

Fighting Agatha was like trying to wrap your arms around a tornado: futile. Tynan pushed away from the wall and took a seat in the armchair next to her.

Lu wasn't sure what Agatha meant by "you just sealed your fate," but considering she was planning to be gone from Climax in about a week, it wasn't something she had to worry about. Her gaze traveled around the room, taking in the group. Lu had read romances for years, but she'd never been in a book club. She'd read them voraciously after sneaking her first one off her mama's nightstand back in middle school. Joe used to tease her about them; it was the only thing out of place in her tomboy life. She didn't care. She'd loved the happy endings until she'd realized happy endings were a fantasy. At least for her.

So when she'd met Agatha and Beatrice in the diner, she'd accepted their invitation to come to their meeting. She hadn't planned to actually read the book they'd handed her but figured she might be able to glean a bit more information about Tynan there. If she'd known he was going to be there, she could have saved herself the trouble of coming. She almost wanted to shove him out the door because that wouldn't happen with him sitting basking in all the drooling attention.

"Agatha, I just had an idea. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we started with a reading from the book?" The woman who had introduced herself as Barbara Jewel managed to devour Tynan with her hazel gaze while speaking. "Say Tynan, for instance."

Lu looked across at Tynan, wondering how he'd ended up here. Agatha raised her eyebrows at him and he hesitated before shrugging his wide shoulders. Maybe she needed to have a talk with Agatha. One arch of an eyebrow and Agatha got what she wanted from the man.

"Sure." Tynan sat up and reached his hand out to Agatha for her copy of the book. "I'll read."

Barbara's lips curved into a calculated smile. "Chapter three."

There was a round of sighs, coughs, t.i.tters, and even an "Oh lord yes!" from around the room. Lu hadn't read the book, so she wasn't sure what was going on, but she could guess.

Tynan leafed through the book, glancing over a page or two. When he looked back up at the room full of eager women, he grinned a bad-boy grin and waggled a finger. "Oh, you naughty ladies, you. I remember that chapter now, but I believe I'll start at the beginning."

Listening to Tynan's deep voice was a decadent pleasure. His voice washed over her as she listened and had her feeling a tad overheated. When he came to the end of the first chapter, there was an outcry for him to go on to chapter two. Lu was totally hooked on the story . . . and Tynan's voice.

One elderly woman in the corner, her face squished up like she'd taken a big bite out of a dill pickle with too much vinegar in the pickling brine, snorted.

"What's that, Maisey?" Agatha leaned forward in her seat. "Speak up, dear. I can't hear you over this crowd."

"Nothing. I was just remembering my wildly successful meeting last month. Between the cake and Tynan reading, you've almost managed to match it." The woman, Maisey, looked over her bifocals at Agatha. "Almost."

This time it was Agatha who snorted. Beatrice reached over and patted Agatha's hand and whispered, "Sister, compet.i.tion is a vice, but the love of good books a virtue."

"Almost? Well, that won't do." Agatha stood up, waving her gla.s.s of cabernet around as she extrapolated on the first chapter and took a vote on who wanted Tynan to continue on reading aloud with chapter two.

Lu looked around at all the raised hands and excited faces. Every woman from the young twentysomethings up to the octogenarians appeared very eager. All except Maisey, whose frown deepened the more Agatha talked and waved her hands around.

"Looks like it's settled. Here's to Tynan reading another chapter." Agatha raised her gla.s.s higher in the air, stepped forward, and tripped over something, spilling her entire gla.s.s of red wine down the front of Tynan's oatmeal-colored flannel shirt. It looked like he'd been shot in the chest.

Tynan looked down at his shirt, then back up at Agatha with narrowed eyes. "Agatha, if I didn't know what was about to happen, I'd almost be d.a.m.n impressed with that move."

From across the circle, Lu watched Agatha grin. Tynan shook his head and held up one hand, trying to stave something off. Lu had no idea what, until Beatrice shot up out of her seat, grabbed up the nearest gla.s.s of water, and tossed it at Tynan's chest.

Whoa! Lu had not seen that coming.

All eyes watched as the gunshot-looking stain over Tynan's heart blossomed into an Andy Warhol painting. Well, holy cow. Who knew book club could be this much fun?

"Oh, goodness! I'm sorry, Tynan. I just reacted without thinking." Beatrice grabbed up the nearest napkin and dabbed at his shirt. "Take it off. Take it off right now and I'll run it under cold water, otherwise it's sure to stain."

"Look, it's fine. It's an old shirt anyw-"

Agatha cleared her throat and raised an eyebrow at him. There was some unspoken exchange between them, and then Tynan sighed and unb.u.t.toned his shirt, accompanied by the bated breath of every single woman in the room. Yes, even the pickle-faced Maisey leaned forward over in the corner.

Beatrice took the shirt and hustled off, murmuring her plan of attack: Soak in cold water, a brisk scrub with some Epsom salts, possibly a dash of club soda.

Lu watched Beatrice leave the room, then turned to see why it had gotten so quiet. Unnaturally quiet, considering the number of women- Oh wow.

Lu's gaze slammed into Tynan's body like it had hit the back of a two-ton truck. A complete stop.

The man was a work of art. He looked hot and even more dangerous without his shirt on. He still wore a white tank undershirt, but that only highlighted his wide-as-a-linebacker shoulders, his roped and intertwined muscles, and the smooth, golden, sun-kissed skin. A few visible scars and tattoos only added to his rough edginess. His gaze landed on hers and the air in her lungs buzzed in her chest like ionized air in a lightning storm.

And then he proceeded to make it the most talked-about book club meeting in the history of Climax by reading chapter two of Love's Savage Secret. Chapter two opened with the first confrontation between the hero and heroine. Just words on a page . . . except it was from the hero's point of view, and when Tynan read, "The d.a.m.n woman made me so mad I didn't know if I wanted to spank her or kiss her," every woman in the room squirmed in her chair. Soft gasps, muted whines, and even a stifled moan or two escaped around the room. Lu pressed her lips firmly together and ignored the heat flushing from her cheeks down to her toes. She might have wiggled in her seat, but it was just a matter of finding a comfortable spot on the overstuffed chair.

Tynan got to the end of the chapter and looked up at the chaos he'd wrought. He actually had the nerve to grin. "Well now. Who knew reading could be so . . . stimulating? Ladies, it's been fun. Thank you for the enlightening evening."

Watching his s.e.xy lips slide into a grin snapped Lu back to her senses and a sudden feeling of disquiet descended over her faster than a falling souffle. The mixture of l.u.s.t, confusion, and guilt was hard to digest. What the heck had just happened? She'd been working shoulder to shoulder with him for eight hours a day without a single spike in her heart rate. Yet just now his voice had stroked her in the most private places. She couldn't peel her gaze from his golden skin or muscled arms. Good lord, she'd wanted to lick the jagged scar on his shoulder.

He turned and speared Agatha with his gaze. "Debt paid. This one is done. Agreed?"

"Quite agreed. Well done, Tynan." She smiled a megawatt smile at him. "This one is now buried. You'll want to wait for your shirt, won't you?"

"Not on your life. I'll grab it later. Thank Beatrice for me."

"And for me too," Barbara called from her seat, where she sat still fanning her face. "I never appreciated that woman's dedication to stain fighting until tonight."

Agatha walked Tynan to the door. There was a short discussion between them. Agatha shrugged, then reached up and pinched Tynan's cheek like he was five years old. He rolled his eyes and left.

Lu glanced around dazed, unsurprised to see so many flushed faces and giggling women. She didn't feel like giggling at all. There was an emptiness in her chest that she wanted to implode down in to. To burrow back into the coc.o.o.n of sadness she'd been living in. Because she knew she could live in that deep hole. It was the tight grip of guilt fisted around her heart at her body's reaction to Tynan's smooth-as-bourbon-whiskey voice that shook her to the core.

Chapter Seven.

By the next afternoon Lu wished there were more walls to destroy in the library. She had a burning need to hit something with a hammer. What else was she supposed to do with the feelings that suddenly bubbled up when Tynan was near?

She hadn't had feelings for a man other than Joe. Ever. She and Joe had been each other's first loves and she'd only had eyes for him. From the age of sixteen, it had been the 24/7, nonstop Joe channel for her. Sure she had noticed good-looking men, but noticing was worlds away from the racing pulse and swirling heat that were throwing her world off-kilter. Solar systems away.

How had this happened? She'd worked with Tynan for over a week just fine. But throw wine on him, strip him half-naked, and listen to his deep, s.e.xy voice read a hot, kinky scene from an erotic romance book and-h.e.l.lo-all her body parts had perked up.

Last night he'd reached through the buffer she'd wrapped herself in ever since Joe had died. He'd taken her out of her safe, isolated world. Today she couldn't ignore Tynan no matter how hard she tried. Well, not him, but her reaction to him. Impossible. She felt like she was seeing Tynan Cates for the first time. Really seeing him. And the first thing that shocked her was his gaze.

That eerie, odd, wicked gaze of his. His eyes left her feeling exposed, as if he could see her innermost thoughts. Thoughts she'd been hiding from everyone for three years. Common sense told her he couldn't do that, yet that didn't stop her breath from hitching and her pulse from kicking up from a slow, wandering brook to a wild, rushing stream. One glance and her heart fluttered in her chest and warmth swirled low in her stomach.

His size was intimidating. Joe had been five-ten with a slim yet solid build, and Tynan was like a mountain compared to Joe. Roped muscles upon muscles that rippled and contracted under his tight T-shirts as he easily threw around large pieces of equipment or wood like they were light as pillows.

Joe had always smelled like the outdoors, where he spent much of his free time hiking or fishing. His mom had said from the time Joe could walk he'd wanted to be outdoors. She swore it was his Native American heritage, and maybe she was right. He was happiest in nature. He'd taught her to camp and what to look for out in the forest. Animal tracks for safety or food. Every summer they'd run off to fish or make out in the woods as soon as they both got off work. Even today, the smell of fresh-cut gra.s.s or the light pine scent of rosemary reminded her of Joe.