CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Tyler loved his Thunder co-stars like brothers. They’d traveled together, partied together, stood up to one asshole director together. They’d even been injured doing stunts they had no business doing together. He’d take a bullet for these guys and he knew they’d do the same.
But he was going to kill them if they didn’t shut the fuck up.
“Billie isn’t my first girlfriend,” Tyler said through gritted teeth in response to yet another piece of advice from Nate, Max, and Mike. The married men in their little group. “I’m not going to do something stupid.”
Nate barked with laughter. “You are definitely going to do something stupid. All guys do. It’s how you handle that stupidity that’s important.”
Max nodded. “Just apologize and admit you’re wrong. Move on and get to the makeup sex.”
Tyler couldn’t believe his ears. Did they think their advice was helpful? He looked to Mike for support. “You don’t agree with this, do you? I mean, it’s crazy. I’m not admitting something is my fault when it isn’t.”
“Yes, you will,” Mike chuckled. “When your woman isn’t happy, trust me when I say the entire household will be fucking miserable. The sooner you man up and admit whatever you did was wrong, the sooner harmony can be restored.”
“What if I’m not at fault?” Tyler asked defensively. He could be clueless about a hell of a lot of things but he wasn’t a total asshole.
The three husbands just smiled in response.
“When was the last time you and Billie argued about something and it wasn’t your fault? At least a little?” Nate asked with a grin. “It takes two to tango. She can’t argue with herself. You have to participate, mate.”
Nate had a point, although Billie had a stubborn streak a mile wide and that didn’t make life any easier for the two of them.
“So that’s your big secret to a happy marriage?” Tyler jeered. “Just roll over and play dead? You’re a bunch of pussies. Do your wives keep your balls in a jar on the mantle too? Christ, this is pathetic. You’re big fucking movie stars. Action heroes. Women practically climbed up the sides of your hotel with their fingernails trying to get at you. Now look what you’ve become. Whipped. Totally whipped.”
“Don’t believe your own press, Tyler,” Max warned with a shake of his head. “We’re not really action heroes. We just play them in a movie.”
“I know that,” Tyler argued, already tired of the subject. He and Billie were fine. “But what you’re advocating is crazy.”
Mike scraped a hand through his hair. “You don’t get it. We’re not saying don’t stand up for yourself. Of course you should do that. But when all the arguing is over and you two are just hurt and angry, not talking to one another, be the bigger man and just say you’re sorry. I guarantee you she’ll apologize as well. We want to make our wives’ lives easier, especially with all the crap they go through because we’re actors. Why keep arguing about something stupid – and it’s always stupid – when you can just make up and go on with things? When you love a woman you want her to be as happy as possible, right? Right?”
Lifting a shoulder casually, Tyler nodded. “Well, yeah. Of course.”
Frowning, Nate’s gaze raked over Tyler. “You do love her?”
That question was easy.
“I love Billie,” Tyler replied firmly, because he did love her.
Was he in love with her? That was a whole different discussion. He wasn’t even sure he knew what that was.
Max clapped a hand on Tyler’s shoulder. “Then always put her first. I didn’t and it almost cost me Carrie.”
“I’m not as dumb as you are,” Tyler shot right back. “Anyone could see that you and Carrie were meant to be together. All you needed was a push.”
The three men didn’t say a word, simply letting Tyler’s own statements sink into his brain.
“This…is my push,” Tyler said slowly. “But I don’t need one. We’re getting married.”
“But are you truly committed?” Nate asked worriedly. “Because things are going to start changing here pretty rapidly.”
“You sound like Billie.”
“We’re just trying to help,” Max replied. “You don’t know a damn thing about love and marriage.”
“And you did?”
Max grinned. “We’re just trying to save you the lessons we had to learn the hard way.”
They were making this out to be a bigger deal than it needed to be. Marriage sure had changed his friends. Now they worried about every little thing.
“I appreciate the thought but Billie and I are just fine. In fact, we’re great. So you guys can just relax. I have this all under control.”
“Just don’t fuck this up,” Max warned. “You and Billie are perfect for each other. Hold on to her.”
“I intend to.”
It was all bravado. Tyler didn’t have a handle on this new type of relationship. Things were changing and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He wasn’t sure he even wanted to stop it.
But for sure, he intended to hold onto her. Tight.
* * *
Tyler had been acting strangely for the last hour or so, making Billie wonder what he’d been talking to Nate, Max, and Mike about. The four men had slunk into a quiet corner and huddled up, speaking low so no one else could hear them. From the expressions they had been wearing it had been a serious discussion and hadn’t necessarily ended well. Max and Nate looked miffed and Mike had walked away rolling his eyes.
And Tyler? He had excused himself and disappeared outside for about fifteen minutes before coming back to the party, a hell of a lot more subdued than he’d been before. This wasn’t the place to quiz him, however, so she let it go for now. If he wanted to talk about it, she’d be waiting.
As always when this group got together the music was turned on and the dancing started. That was the great thing about hanging around with actors. They were so comfortable with their bodies they didn’t have many – if any – inhibitions about letting go on the dance floor. Billie loved dancing and she enjoyed it even more with Tyler. His arm would link around her waist, holding her close without making a show about it. It was then that they could just have fun and not worry about all the crap they had to deal with on a daily basis. Movies, roles, the press, and the ever-present wedding plans.
But something different was happening tonight.
She and Tyler were still having fun, gyrating with all the other guests out on the dance floor. They had both worked up a sweat and his skin glistened under the lights, calling her attention to the cords of his neck and the muscles bunching in his arms. There wasn’t much space and she was pressed close Tyler, their bodies brushing every time they moved, sending tingles to her fingers and toes. A few months ago, Billie wouldn’t have thought she could be this affected by a mere touch from him, but since she’d agreed to marry him all the rules had been flung out the window. Then there was the whole naked in bed thing that she couldn’t get out of her head. Tonight wasn’t going to help with that.
Holy hades, it is hot in here.
Her dress clung to the damp skin of her back and at some point one of the spaghetti straps had slid off her shoulder slightly but not exposing anything risqué. Tyler’s fingers slid under the strap and she almost choked as arousal shot through her system like white lightning. Instead of slipping it back over her shoulder, he played with it while urging her closer to his large frame and insinuating his thigh between her legs as his other hand glided down her spine to land on the swell of her bottom.
The vibration of the music could be felt all the way from her feet to just where his legs met the juncture of her thighs. Her heart beat in time with every thump-thump of the music, both of them melding into a throbbing ache in her lower belly. Their gazes collided and held, neither one of them able to look away as the air crackled dangerously around them. Everyone around them disappeared and it was only the two of them moving in perfect synchronicity.
Billie didn’t know which one of them started it but his lips were now on hers, firm and demanding, every inch the conquering male. A tide of sensation ripped through her veins, leaving her panting with its intensity. It was like everything they’d done together had been leading up to this moment of pure awareness and pleasure.
She could feel every nerve under her skin as his rough fingertips brushed her bare flesh, sending a jolt up her spine. A whimper escaped her throat, but luckily he was too busy staking claim to her mouth to notice or hear. His tongue ran along her lower lip and she opened to him, her capitulation a foregone conclusion. He smelled so delicious and she couldn’t inhale without getting a lungful of his scent. A heady combination of citrus and musk.
This was far more than the crush she’d had all those years ago. She knew Tyler now, the good and the bad, but she still wanted him with a ferocity that shook her to the core. She hadn’t prepared herself for this, and frankly had thought she was above it. That somehow she was the one woman in the world that Tyler Gaylord didn’t affect.
She’d been dreaming. She’d always been attracted to him but she’d shut down those feelings, knowing she would only get hurt. Being his friend was far more important than being his lover, although at this moment they were running neck and neck.
Friendship. Home. Billie needed this man so much and for more than a furtive fuck in the limo on the way back to the hotel. He was more important than a few minutes of pleasure and a rush of endorphins. He was her lighthouse in the storm and she wasn’t stupid enough to throw it away because her panties were damp and her mouth dry.
Bitter tears stung the backs of her eyes and she placed her palms on his chest, pressing him away when every cell in her body was telling her to pull him closer. As close as two people could be. At first he resisted but then seemed to notice that she wasn’t moving to the beat any longer, her feet stationary and his hold on her loosened.
Tyler, don’t let me go. Hold me.
“I need to visit the ladies’ room.”
Billie didn’t wait for him to reply, turning on her heel and practically sprinting out of the room and away from temptation. Because that’s what Tyler was – pure sin and seduction.
And if she was brutally honest with herself, she didn’t have a prayer of resisting. She was only delaying the inevitable.