“You’re really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Tiffany asked.

“Nope. Because then you might chicken out.”

She glanced into the back seat of his Jeep. “What’s in the duffel?”

“Not telling.”

She leaned back in her seat and huffed. “Beware how far you push me. You can withhold information, but I can withhold sex.”

“A good point.” They were heading south on Lamar from his place, and as soon as he crossed the river he turned right into the Zachary Scott Theater parking lot. “You’ve convinced me.” He nodded at the duffel. “But if you peek, you’ll ruin the surprise.”

“I can live with that,” she said, then lunged for the duffel, only to freeze with her hand on the zipper. After a moment, she plunked herself back into the seat, crossed her arms, and pretended to sulk. “It just better be good.”

He laughed, something they’d been doing a lot of. They’d spent all day Monday in bed, with the exception of a quick jaunt outside when they sat outside by the pool reading and drinking cocktails. It seemed a good way to spend the first day of Spring Break, after all. Even if she was the only one still in school.

The only downside had been that the pool hadn’t been cleaned for the season, and so they didn’t actually swim. Which really was too bad, as the weather was unseasonably warm and the day had been as good as it gets. Or, it had seemed so until today, which started out fabulous and was fast approaching amazing.

They’d slept until nine, and then Tiffany had checked the weather. As soon as she’d seen the forecast, she’d made the calls—begging Lisa, a new server, to take her shift, and then calling Cam and telling him that she was in Eric’s bed, and since this was partly his doing, he owed her. Which meant that he needed to cover Eric’s shift that night.

She’d just ended the call when Eric opened his eyes and peered at her. “What did you do?”

“Wrangled us another day,” she’d said. “You’re welcome.”

And now here they were, tooling through Austin with the top off his Jeep, and she was feeling as free and happy as she could remember feeling in a long, long time.

“This is one of the areas where I thought I might want to have my own bar someday,” he said later as they were back on the road. They’d turned right onto Barton Springs Road and were passing the collection of restaurants, bars, and coffee shops that lined the road between Lamar Boulevard and Zilker Park.

“It’s a good area,” she said. “But a lot of competition. I don’t know exactly what you’re thinking of, but I see you as more of a neighborhood bar guy. A place where you know pretty much everyone who comes in.”

The smile he flashed her was brilliant. “You read my mind. Because that’s exactly why I talked myself out of this location. I’m thinking something in East Austin. A lot of revitalization going on over there.”

“I think that’s perfect.”

“Just a plan right now,” he said. “I need to make sure I have the chops first.” He glanced sideways at her before making a turn into the park and heading toward the pool and the hillside theater area. “Can you keep a secret?”

“I managed not to tell anyone except Cam that I had a crush on you for ages. So I guess so.”

“The Fix is doing so well after the contest and all the other promo that Tyree and the others are looking into opening a location off of South Congress. Kind of near where Derek and Amanda are renovating that old motel into a retro chic place to stay.”

“Really? I hadn’t heard.”

“They asked if I wanted to manage it.”

She leaped across the seat and hugged him. Fortunately, he’d already parked. “That’s amazing. Eric, you’ll do great! I’m so excited for you. And jealous. I still have years of school to go.”

“Well, you can spend them in my bar studying.”

She tilted her head, eyeing him. She knew he was just talking, but still…

“I’ll take that offer, you know,” she said softly, her chest tightening as she realized what she’d just said—not to mention how fast she’d said it compared to when they got together. But with Eric it felt right. Hell, it had felt right from the moment she’d first met him.

Whether or not it felt right to him, though…

He still hadn’t answered, but he was looking at her with such an expression of trust and wonder that she couldn’t help but hope that maybe, just maybe…

“Do you mean that?”

She nodded, her throat too thick to speak. “Good. Because it’s a standing offer.”

Her whole body relaxed. “We took way too long getting here, you know.”

“Zilker?” he joked, then immediately shook his head. “No, forget I said that. You’re right. Way too long.” He leaned over and kissed her, a sweet kiss, but with a promise of spice later. Even so, when they pulled apart, she thought she saw a shadow in his eyes. More, she thought she knew what it was about—they still hadn’t talked about Ben.

And she didn’t want to start now.

She cleared her throat. “So why are we here?”

“Get out, and I’ll show you.”

A few minutes later, they were standing at the gate to Barton Springs Pool. “You game?”

“Are you insane?” she countered. “I love this place but it’s fricking cold.”

“It’s pure Austin and it’s amazing. And if you stay close to me, I’ll warm you up. Besides, Robert Redford learned to swim here, according to Wikipedia, anyway. Doesn’t every woman want to be close to Redford?”

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t argue. Maybe there was some Redford magic in the water.

A huge dammed-off section of Barton Creek, the pool was fed by an underground spring, which kept it at more or less sixty-eight degrees except in the hottest part of summer. Now, this early in spring, it was going to be chilly.

Still, she loved the pool and had spent much of her childhood there. Some of her happiest memories were of hanging out with her friends on floats on the water or blankets on the grass. And she had to admit she was eager to gather more happy memories with Eric.

Twenty minutes later, when she’d changed into the bathing suit he’d brought for her and was standing in the water turning blue, she was starting to think differently.

“You’re going about it all wrong.”

“If you say jump in, I’ll splash you.”

“Jump in,” he said, and she splashed as promised. But all that did was have him stalk to her, and since she didn’t want to slip on the rocks that formed the base of the shallow end, she couldn’t scurry. Soon, he’d not only caught her in a kiss, he’d pulled her down onto the rocks, his body beneath hers, his mouth exploring hers.

She had no idea how he managed it, but during the length of that slow, heated kiss, he’d scooted them both further into the water. So that when they broke, she was halfway submerged, and still in his arms. “Another?” he asked, pulling her close. “They say body heat is the best way to stay warm.”

“In that case,” she said as she pressed hard against him, “you’re going to be warming me all day.”

 

* * * *

 

Since Tiffany had a major paper to write over the break, she’d reluctantly gone home after their date, which had ended at Matt’s El Rancho, where they’d devoured a dinner of cheese enchiladas and enough chips and hot sauce to fully warm them back up.

Now alone, she took a hot shower. Not because she was chilled, but because there was something sensual about the hot water sluicing over her as she thought of the way Eric touched her, and—

The ring of her phone cut off her thoughts, and she frowned, irritated at the aborted fantasy, but also grateful. Go down that road and she’d get no work done.

By the time she got out of the shower, the call had rolled to voicemail. Since she didn’t recognize the number, she didn’t bother listening straight away. Instead, she put on her most comfy sweats and T-shirt, then settled down at her kitchen table with her books and laptop spread around her.

She was just settling in to read an article from the British Journal of Clinical Psychology, when the phone rang again. Same number. She grabbed it up, expecting it was a robocall, but figuring she could block it if it was.

It wasn’t.

It was Ben.

“Tiffy,” he said, using the nickname she’d never liked. “How are you?”

“Ben. I didn’t recognize your number.”

“I decided to get a number that matched the area code I live in. And as for what’s up, I’m in town.”

“Oh. Wow.” How was she supposed to respond to that?

“I’d love to get together. Have a coffee and catch up. Any chance you’re free?”

“I’m working on a paper, but … just for coffee, right?”

“Yeah. You know, it’s been a long time, and, well, I’m trying to catch up with everyone while I’m in town.”

Was he catching up with Eric and his parents, too? Because surely Eric would have said something if he knew Ben was in town.

She considered saying no. After all, she really was too busy. But the truth was that she should see him. Maybe she and Eric hadn’t discussed it yet, but Ben was the elephant in the room. She needed to make sure Ben knew that she was dating his brother. Not that it was officially his business, but it seemed like the polite thing to do.

“All right. In an hour?”

“Sounds good. I’ll swing by and pick you up.”

“No, meet me at The Fix. I was about to head there to pick up some papers I left in my cubby.” A white lie. There were papers, but she didn’t need them. She wanted neutral territory, and her apartment definitely didn’t qualify. “We can walk over to Starbucks.”

“Perfect. I read about the Man of the Month calendar contest and everything that went on to save the bar. I was hoping to see Tyree and tell him congrats. And see my little brother, before Mom drags him home for a family dinner.”

“He’s off today,” she said. “Same as me.”

“No big. He’s family, so he’ll be around. I’ll see you soon.”

And that, she thought, was the problem. Ben was around in Eric and Tiffany’s relationship, whether they’d invited him there or not.