When she’d first gotten the news of traveling to Mongolia, she’d been over the moon. But now, in the wake of her growing feelings for Brody, it scared her. She hadn’t been lying when she told Brody about being iffy on the project. One day she thought she wanted to go, and the next doubts clouded her euphoria. What if the job turned into a one-time thing? What if she sold her house, got all the way over to Mongolia, and had no other offers on the horizon? Where would she go from there? She’d have no house to come back to.
And now there was the question of Brody. She instinctively knew she was already on a direct path of falling in love with him. Would she be able to walk away from him when the time came for her to leave? Or was she willing to give up her dream for a chance at love? But what if Brody didn’t love her back? What if she gave up everything for him only to have him move on with someone else?
Samuel had told her he’d be faxing some paperwork for her to sign. Week after next, she’d have to make a final decision.
Elisa glanced at Tyler as she pulled her car in the parking lot of the Golden Glove. “Do you have a favorite dish here?” The boy had been quiet as usual.
“I usually get chicken fingers and fries. Mom and I used to come here when her and my dad were still married.”
“Your mom doesn’t come here anymore?”
Tyler shifted in his seat and placed a hand on the door handle as Elisa cut the car engine. “Sometimes she and Colin come.”
“Does your mom ever bring you to have a meal with your dad?” Maybe that’s what was missing between father and son, some quality time together.
“Not lately.”
The two of them got out of the car and Elisa let the subject drop. She made sure to grab the proof sheets to show Brody. The afternoon sun beat down on them mercilessly, and with each step she took her stomach dipped lower. When had she ever been so nervous to see a man? She thought of his smoky gray eyes and how they always seemed to touch every part of her. Knots formed in her already-quivering midsection.
They approached the double doors, and Tyler opened one for her.
“What a gentleman. Thank you.”
He graced her with a shy grin and walked in behind her.
Elisa glanced around her and thought for a moment she’d walked into the wrong restaurant. Almost every table was full with people enjoying meals and sharing conversations. Servers bounced from one table to the next, taking orders and refilling drinks.
“Wow, look at this place,” Tyler said next to her.
“I’ll say,” Elisa replied. She’d never seen the Golden Glove so busy. Had word of their new good food finally reached people?
“What’re you two doing here?”
Elisa just about jumped out of her sandals when Brody appeared next to them. His spicy scent surrounded her in a haze of masculinity. And did he always have to look so scrumptious?
“Tyler was hungry and I needed to get out of the house,” she said while trying not to let her eyes drop below his face. “Plus, I have these.” She held up the white envelope for him to see.
“I’ve been looking forward to seeing them,” Brody replied while rubbing his hands together, then accepted the envelope from her. “And I told Anthony he could see them. Then maybe he’d be convinced about how good he really is.”
“Is he still doubting himself?” How could someone with talent like Anthony’s ever doubt himself? Someone needed to smack some sense into that man.
“He’s getting better. Still a long way to go, though.” Brody reached his arm out and wrapped his son in a bear hug. He dug his knuckles into Tyler’s scalp, prompting a groan from the boy.
“Dad,” Tyler complained after freeing himself.
“So, the two of you are hungry?” he asked with a smile still lighting up his handsome face.
“I’m starving,” Tyler announced. “I want a hamburger.”
“I think I can get one of those for you.” Brody winked at Elisa, then placed his hand on her lower back and led them to an empty table. The spot where his hand lingered burned and set her whole body on alert. Zings of excitement shot through her.
Tyler scooted to the end of the booth and Brody settled next to him.
“Looks like things are taking off in here,” Elisa commented after picking up her menu.
“It’s certainly better numbers than we’ve had. But I’m not ready to count my chickens before they hatch.”
Elisa glanced at him over her menu. His midnight black hair was combed to perfection and a smile played at his delicious lips. She tried to focus on her selections while he and Tyler chatted about the boy’s day at school. This was the most she’d seen the two of them speak to each other. Almost from the moment of seeing the two of them together, Elisa sensed a broken connection between them, as though something had been lost. But beneath Tyler’s reserved demeanor was a hero worship for Brody. Elisa felt it whenever she was around them.
The server came by and she and Tyler ordered a meal.
“Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked Brody.
His mouth tilted in a devilish grin. “Anthony set me up with a good lunch.”
“Dad, Elisa’s taking me out to take more pictures,” Tyler said.
“I told him we could go out one day next week if he wanted,” she told Brody.
Brody turned his attention to Tyler. “You really like taking those pictures, huh?”
When Tyler smiled, he was the spitting image of his father. “I like the developing process the best. Watching the picture appear on the paper is really cool.” The kid gasped, as though he’d just been struck by a brilliant idea, and bounced in his seat. “Hey, you could teach my dad how to do it.” Tyler pinned eyes on his father. “Dad, it’s so awesome. You put the paper in this chemical stuff, then use this sponge thingy and your picture just, like, appears. It’s like magic.”
“Magic, huh?” Brody responded with a half smile.
Elisa’s heart flipped over in her chest. Stupid heart. “Tyler could teach you,” she said lamely. “He’d probably be a better teacher than me.”
Tyler shook his head and wiggled in the booth. “Nuh uh. You were a really good teacher to me. And you do it so much better.”
Brody’s clear gaze burned into hers like a couple of heat-seeking missiles. Unspoken but potent tension sizzled between the two of them. The kind of tension that could scorch the clothes right off her back. Not that she’d complain.
“I think I’d rather you teach me anyway,” he said in a husky voice. Then, as though to mask the undertones of his words, he nudged his son’s shoulder. “Besides, this one is a lousy teacher.”
Tyler’s eyes lifted to the ceiling like the preteen he was. “He’s talking about the time I taught him how to play spoons. He can never beat me because I have better reflexes. But he thinks it’s because I’m a bad teacher.”
“It is,” Brody insisted with a narrow-eyed look at the boy.
Elisa bit back a laugh. “Maybe you just can’t handle losing to a kid.”
Tyler nodded, but Brody turned his accusing stare toward her. Only the look he gave her wasn’t the same as the one he gave his son. No, the look he’d given Tyler hadn’t held all sorts of wicked promises and silent dares. But what exactly was he daring her to do? Keep pushing him? Would he push back?
“I think that’s it,” she said to Tyler while keeping her attention on the addictive man sitting across from her. Yeah, it was definitely fun to push him. With each push, his gaze grew darker and her breath came shorter in her lungs.
“I bet I could teach you a game or two,” he practically growled.
“Such as?” she wanted to know.
Tyler looked up at his dad with a furrowed brow. “Yeah, what games to do you know?”