Hero of Mine (9 page)

D
ANI HAD
G
OOGLED
geocaching that morning and couldn't believe that this was what Tyler and his friends liked to do in their spare time. Treasure hunting? Seriously? It was so childish and nerdy.

Her doorbell rang just after eight in the morning, and blearily, she answered it. Tyler stood on the front porch, grinning like an idiot with a Starbucks cup in his hands.

“If that's for me, I take back all the mean things I've been thinking about you this morning.”

“About me?” He handed off her coffee and bestowed a long, lingering kiss on her mouth that left her swaying. “Don't hate. You're going to have fun.”

“So you say, but I haven't been hiking since I was nine.”

“It's like riding a bike. Do you want to bring the dogs?” he asked.

After a moment of consideration, she shook her head. “They have a doggie door to go out back, and besides, Bella gets tired after a while, and I don't feel up to carrying around a thirty-pound pug.”

“Well, I brought Duke. He gets around pretty well with the cast. We're going back to the vet next week, and once the cast is removed, he'll start his specialty training.” Holding his hand out, he added, “Shall we go?”

Dani stepped out, locking her front door with the key. “What is his specialty going to be?”

“I think he'll be excellent in search and rescue. It's not my department at Alpha Dog, but I'm going to train him myself.”

When he took her hand and led her down the steps after him, her whole body warmed from the inside out.

“You look very pretty, by the way. Did you go shopping for this last night, too?”

Dani squeezed his hand and shot him a glare. “No, and I did not go out and buy that dress special either. It had just been sitting in my closet, and I'd never worn it.”

“Sure. You know, it's okay to admit that you went shopping for our date.”

“Please, you already have women falling all over themselves to get to you. The last thing you need is an ego boost.”

He spun her around until her back was against his car, and the hand not holding hers rested next to her ear. He leaned over her, his face a serious mask save for the unholy twinkle in his eyes.

“You know, you're one tough customer. Why do you think my ego doesn't need stroking?”

“Because men who look like you always know they're hot.”

“Aha, so you admit it. I'm hot.”

Pulling him closer, she leaned up toward his mouth. “Pretty is as pretty does.”

“Ye havna care fer me tender feelins, lass.”

This time his fake Irish accent earned him a smile. “If you're done with your stroking expedition, can we go?”

“One kiss first.”

She was happy to oblige, keeping her coffee out of the way. Both of his hands ended up cupping her face as he kissed her so well her toes actually tried curling in her boots. Her nipples hardened against the cups of her bra, and she nearly dropped the cup in her hand, the urge to wrap her arms around him was so strong.

Again, he was the one to pull away, but she took it as a good sign that his dark blue eyes were nearly black with desire.

“We better go. We're meeting everyone at eight thirty.” He released her and took a step back.

“Who is everyone?”

“Hop in, and I'll tell you.”

“What, you aren't going to get my door this time?” she asked.

“I would, but you're kind of in my way.”

Realizing she was still leaning against it, she stood up. “Sorry.”

“Don't be. I like that I'm distracting you.”

“There you go again.”

Once she was in, she was greeted by Duke's wet nose in her ear from the backseat. Laughing as she dodged his tongue, she murmured, “Nice to see you, too.”

Tyler glanced her way as he climbed in. “You ready?”

“For fun? Sure, bring on the fun.”

“That's the spirit.”

T
YLER PULLED INTO
the Raley's parking lot alongside Sparks's truck. If Dani was nervous about meeting his friends, she didn't show it.

Him? Well, he was wondering what the hell had possessed him to bring her around the bunch of idiots when this was so new. When he wasn't sure what this was besides . . .

Happiness. Yeah, he could admit that when he was around Dani, it was like he was enjoying a good buzz without the hangover.

He hadn't told anyone he was bringing Dani, and he couldn't imagine what they were going to think. He just hoped they'd keep their mouths shut. The last thing he wanted was anyone to screw with him in front of Dani.

“Okay, full disclosure, my friends don't know you're coming.”

“Are they going to be mad?” she asked.

“No, but they've also never had me bring a woman around them, so they might act a little . . . peculiar. Just ignore them.”

Dani laughed. “Whatever you say.”

Tyler took a deep, nervous breath and climbed out of the car just as Sparks and his girlfriend, Violet, rounded the back of his truck with donuts in hand.

“Hey, you're here. We're just waiting on Kline, Bryce, Vincent, Martinez, and Eve to get here, and we can get going.”

“Whoa, Martinez got Eve to come?” Frankly, Tyler couldn't imagine Eve Reynolds geocaching; she might break a nail or something.

“Yeah, apparently, he made some kind of deal with her . . . ”

Sparks's voice trailed off as Tyler opened Dani's door and she stepped out.

In fact, his friend's jaw seemed to be fixed to his chest, it had fallen so far.

“Sorry, we have a last-minute addition. Dean Sparks and Violet Douglas, meet Dani Hill.”

Violet seemed to recover first, wiping her hand on a napkin before stepping around and offering it to Dani.

“It's nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

Awkward silence followed the introduction, as Sparks still stood there looking dumbfounded. When Violet called his name loudly, Sparks finally shook himself out of it and greeted Dani warmly.

“Sorry, but you're the first woman Tyler's ever brought along to geocache with us.”

“So I've heard. I'm honored to be included, although I'll admit, I'm not much of a treasure hunter.”

“Neither am I, but this is only my second time out, so we can be newbies together,” Violet said.

When Kline and Martinez pulled up, Kline glanced toward Dani quizzically as he approached Sparks. Tyler watched with narrow eyes as Kline nodded toward Dani and Sparks replied quietly.

“Shut the fuck up!” Kline shouted in surprise.

Glancing down at Dani in exasperation, Tyler said, “That's Kline. He's a dumbass.”

O
NCE ALL OF
the introductions had been made, they headed up Highway 49 toward the hiking trail Tyler had been telling Dani about. Dani was still floored by his friends' reaction to her, as if she was some kind of alien life-form they'd never encountered before.

“So, when you said your friends might be surprised, you weren't joking.”

“Yeah, I'm sorry about that.”

“Actually, I'm going to take it as a compliment. Being the first woman you've introduced to your friends is kind of special.”

He didn't agree, and she worried she might have said the wrong thing. Especially considering how new this all was. If she really thought about it, this was only her sixth time meeting him, including that first time at the shelter. It wasn't as if they had been dating six months and decided to start introducing each other to the people in their lives. No, they'd had a hostile first run-in, three chance meetings, and two dates . . . Yet when she was with him, it felt longer.

Especially when he was kissing her.

But she had to remind herself that as good as it felt to be with him, he could bail at any time. She needed to guard her heart and especially guard Noah's. Which meant that whatever this was, she had to make sure it stayed between them until she knew it was something more than just a distraction, for both of them.

As Tyler pulled off into a gravel parking lot, he still hadn't responded to her slip.

“If this is uncomfortable or you want to back out, I completely understand,” she said.

“No, it's not that. I wanted to spend more time with you.” He reached into the middle console and pulled out two GPS devices. “Only now, I wish I'd just blown them off and taken you geocaching alone, just the two of us.”

“Well, as nice as that sounds, it's a little late for that, so show me how these work.”

Tyler turned her device on, and when it lit up, she saw a bunch of tiny dots on the mapped screen.

“Whoa, how long are we doing this for?”

“Don't worry; with Eve along, I doubt we'll make it three hours before she'll want to get back in the car.”

Dani grinned. His friend's beautiful girlfriend, with her dark hair, perfect red nails, and pinup body definitely didn't look like the outdoorsy type.

“What about Megan? Is she with Blake or Slater?” Dani asked.

“Bryce is not with either of them, as far as I know, and Kline is actually the guy who had me meet you in his place. He's not ready to date anyone, least of all a ballbuster like Bryce.”

“What makes her a ballbuster?”

Suddenly, Megan banged on the window behind Tyler. “Come on, Best, get the lead out! We got shit to find.”

Tyler held up his hand. “Need I say more?”

“No, you need not.” For the first time, Dani didn't wait for Tyler to come around and get her door.

The only person in the group who hadn't been weird around her was Slater Vincent, who, according to Violet, was a new trainer at Alpha Dog. The guy had greeted her warmly, and there had been no loud voice or wide eyes.

Tyler pulled Duke from the back and helped the dog down gently. Violet was holding onto the leash of a black and white stocky pit bull, and Martinez led a dog so big and ugly, Dani almost took a step back. However, when Eve, the girlfriend least likely to get her hands dirty, stepped out in faded jeans and a wool sweater and proceeded to kneel down and give the brute all kinds of hugs and affection, Dani had a feeling that Tyler had misjudged her.

“All right, the first cache we're looking for is the Gold Nugget. Does everyone have it on their GPS?” Sparks asked.

Tyler leaned over and showed her what to press to bring up the cache's details, his warm breath on her neck so tantalizing, she leaned back into him without thinking. When he brushed his lips against her cheek, she caught the wide, meaningful glances that Megan, Eve, and Violet shared.

“All right, troops, let's move out!”

As they headed up the narrow trail two at a time, Dani asked, “So, what exactly am I looking for?”

“This one says it's a tub. So, you're going to look under trees, maybe in a stump or in a cluster of rocks. When we get within thirty feet of it, we are usually just about on top of it.”

“What does the person who finds it get?”

“The admiration of the group?” Tyler wrapped his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder. “Do I detect a bit of competitiveness in you?”

“I'm afraid so. If I'm playing a game, I like to win.”

“So do I.”

The GPS started beeping, and the group began fanning out. Dani spotted a cluster of trees in the direction the arrow pointed and made a beeline for them, with Tyler hot on her heels.

“Hey, since this is my first time, shouldn't you go easy on me?” she asked.

“Now, would it be right of me to just let you win?”

“No, but it would be nice.”

“All's fair, baby.”

Blake Kline's head jerked their way, and Dani whispered, “Are they going to spend the whole day jumping every time we speak?”

“Hard to say.” Suddenly, Tyler let out a whoop and picked up a camouflage-painted tub.

“Hey, you said a tub! You didn't say it was green!”

“I didn't know, but even if I did, home-court advantage.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Dani threw down the gauntlet. “So that's how you want to play it, huh? All right, Tyler Best, get ready, because it is on like Donkey Kong.”

Tyler grinned at her as he unscrewed the lid. “Bring it on, newb.”

A
T AROUND TWO
in the afternoon, the group had settled into the outdoor tables at the local In-N-Out Burger. While the guys all went inside to grab food, Dani was left alone with Violet, Eve, Megan, and the dogs. The three women had been nothing but nice to her, but she was still a little nervous.

Especially when they started asking her questions.

“So, Dani, how did you and Tyler meet?” Eve asked.

“I was working at the shelter where he rescued Duke. I'm a vet tech.”

“You guys have been dating for over a month?” This was squeaked by Violet, whose brown eyes appeared to be bugging out of her head.

“No, no, we actually just had our first date last night. Well,
technically
our first date.”

“What do you mean, technically?” Megan asked.

“Well, I was supposed to have a date with someone else at Alpha Dog, but when he bailed at the last minute, Tyler took his place. Once we realized we already knew each other, he took me back to his house”—Megan flashed Eve a knowing look, and Dani frowned—“so I could check on Duke, but after that, we said good night. Nothing romantic about it.”

“So, what was the turning point?” Violet asked. “When things got romantic?”

“I don't know . . . I just started to think that maybe he wasn't the player I'd first thought.” All three women glanced at each other oddly, and Dani's cheeks burned. They probably all thought she should have gone with her instincts, that she was just being naïve, but they didn't see Tyler the way she did.

At least, that is what she told herself.

Thankfully, the guys chose that moment to return, and as Tyler sat down next to her, she couldn't help relaxing just having him there.

“Your cheeseburger, fries, and root beer,” he said.

“Thank you.” Dani took her food, and Tyler gave her a funny look. Had she sounded upset? She must have, because he was looking around at the other women, who were avoiding his gaze.

Her phone started vibrating in her pocket, and when she pulled it out, the picture of her mom holding Noah flashed across her screen.

“Sorry, I have to take this.” Climbing off the bench, she slid her finger over the answer button. “Hello.”

“Hey, honey, how is your weekend?”

Dani stepped away from the group, heading back toward the car. “Fine, how are you and Dad? Is Noah having fun?”

“Yes, but I noticed his ear seems to be bothering him. I was going to take him to the urgent care, but I wanted to let you know.”

God, that's all they needed, another ear infection. “Okay, which one are you taking him to? I'll just meet you there.”

“Really, sweetie, I can handle this. It's probably just an ear infection—”

“Yeah, but Noah will be scared after his stint in the hospital, so I'd rather just be there.”

“All right, well, I'll take him to the one just up the road,” her mom said.

“Fine, it will take me about forty-five minutes to get back into town.”

“Forty-five minutes? Where are you?”

Dani rolled her eyes. Of course her mom was going to start asking questions. She had probably just let her know about Noah as a ruse to find out if she was just sitting at home.

“I'm in Auburn, geocaching with some friends.”

“What the heck is gero crashing?”

“Geocaching, Mom. And it's like treasure hunting for adults.”

“Oh, well . . . Well, that's good. What friends?”

Oh, good Lord, it was like she was sixteen again.

“Just some friends. You don't know them.” Well, okay, they knew Blake Kline at least, but she didn't want to get into that with her mom.

“Well, if you're having fun—”

“I am, but I'd rather be there for Noah.” Clearing her throat, she added, “I'll see you in a bit.”

Dani hung up the call and walked back over to the table, where most of them were done eating. She put her hand on Tyler's shoulder, and he covered her hand comfortingly.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, but do you mind taking me home?”

“Of course.”

Bless Tyler. No questions asked, he just agreed.

“You're leaving? But you didn't finish eating,” Megan said.

“I'll just take it to go.”

“Is someone hurt or something?” Eve asked.

Dani saw Oliver elbow his fiancée, who then gave him a dirty look.

“My mom's just taking my son to the doctor, and I want to be there.”

The silence that settled over the group was like a dark cloud, especially when one by one, they each turned their attention toward Tyler. Their expressions ranged from anger to shock.

Finally, Violet said kindly, “I hope he feels better.”

“Thanks.”

As Tyler picked up her food and put it into the bag, he didn't look at any of his friends, and once they were safely inside the car, she asked, “Was it just me, or did they seem upset with you?”

“It wasn't just you.”

“But why would they be? Because you're dating a single mom?”

Tyler tossed her a forced smile as he backed up. “They probably think that I'm taking advantage of you.”

Dani laughed at the absurdity of it. “They don't know me very well, or they'd never think that. Or you, for that matter.”

Tyler didn't say anything else, just turned up the music, and all the joy and fun of the day seemed to wither as he sang along to a Daughtry song.

T
YLER DROPPED
D
ANI
off with a kiss on her cheek, leaving her in her doorway with a confused look on her face. What could he say to her? He was humiliated. It was one thing to have doubts about whether he could hack it with Dani, but for his friends to share those doubts?

His friends had thought the worst of him, without even asking him what was going on.

He'd at least expected Martinez, the mother hen of the group, to give him the benefit of the doubt, but even his mouth had been pinched with disapproval.

And that look had quickly popped his happy, delusional bubble.

An hour after he got home, he shouldn't have been surprised that his three best friends came into his place without knocking. Duke barked excitedly until he recognized them, but he didn't relax.

Maybe he sensed the crazy tension in the air.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sparks boomed.

“Having a beer and watching
The Negotiator
. Wanna join me?”

“Dude, be serious. What are you fucking doing?”

Tyler stood up, going toe to toe with his friend. “Like I said, chilling. You're the one who burst into my place with an attitude, so how about you explain to me what your problem is?”

“Okay, okay, put your dicks away, we're all friends here.” Kline stepped between them, pushing Sparks back.

“Best, what is the deal with Dani?” Martinez asked bluntly.

“I brought her geocaching. I'm dating her. What part of that is hard to grasp?”

“Except you don't date. You hook up and take off,” Sparks snapped.

Tyler glared at him. “Not this girl. Not this time.”

“Dude, you were just telling me a few weeks ago that you weren't interested in settling down, and now you're dating a woman with a kid? You should know better.”

Before he knew what he was doing, he was holding the front of Sparks's shirt, and their faces were inches apart. “Fuck you. Just because I don't share every thought going through my mind doesn't give you the right to come in here and preach at me.”

“It's not fair to lead that poor girl on, make her think you're serious, and then drop her like she ain't shit—”

Putting all his weight behind the blow, Tyler punched Sparks right in the face. He felt his friend's cheek crack against his knuckle painfully, as if it was all happening in slow motion, and still he kept moving, tackling him to the floor. The sound of Duke's barking and his own blood thrumming in his ears flooded his senses, drowning out the inner voice yelling at him that he was attacking his friend. He was too far gone to think straight, shaking with rage and uncertainty.

Martinez and Kline were grabbing at him, trying to pull him off Dean, and he shouted, “You don't call her shit; do you understand me?”

“I didn't, you crazy asshole! I was talking about the way you treat women like toilet paper!”

“Well, she's different!” At this point, Kline and Martinez were holding onto both his arms as Sparks climbed to his feet.

Sparks's hand cupped his cheek, and he wiggled his jaw before answering. “Yeah, I can see that.”

All the fight seemed to drain out of Best, and he sagged between Kline and Martinez.

“You good, bro?” Kline asked.

“Yeah, I'm good.”

They released him, and Martinez said, “I'll get us some beers.”

Sparks and Tyler stood several feet apart, breathing hard and watching each other warily, with Kline standing at the ready to jump in. Sparks was the first to sit down on of the recliners Tyler had brought in from Henry's place. Actually, most of the furniture he'd added had been Henry's, with a few of his own pieces thrown in. He had to admit, it felt more like home now that he'd nested, versus when it had been just a place to sleep.

Martinez came back in, passing around bottles of Bud before he sat down in the other recliner.

“Jesus, you almost busted my eye socket,” Sparks grumbled.

“You're lucky that's all I did.”

When Sparks tensed up, Martinez shouted, “Enough.” With a nod from Sparks, Martinez took a deep breath and added, “Look, Best, I know we came in here hard, but we were just concerned. We're your friends—”

Tyler released a bitter laugh. “Yeah, great friends. You think I'm an asshole who would take advantage of a single mother just to get a piece of ass.”

Martinez jumped in before Sparks could open his mouth. “You're right, we were dicks, and even if we did think that, it was none of our business.”

“But, since we're here and you're talking about it, are you serious about this girl? Or are you just searching for something, and she's the first woman to stumble into your path?” Kline asked.

Tyler took a long pull from his beer and sat back into the couch. “She didn't stumble into my path. Believe me, I tried to avoid her, but I kept running into her.” Looking right at Kline, he said, “That blind date you bailed on? That was her. When I took Apollo to the hospital to make his social rounds, she was there with her son. I decided to go to a different park one morning, just on a whim, and she was there. At that point, I decided God was either trying to tell me something, or I had the worst timing in the world.”

“But do you really like her? Or are you just trying to prove something to yourself?” Sparks asked.

Tyler bristled. “Exactly what would I be trying to prove?”

Sparks grinned then winced. “That you're not a total douche.”

The other guys seemed to be waiting on Tyler's reaction, and when he laughed softly, the atmosphere changed. All the anger and tension dissipated, and they were just a group of friends shooting the shit and connecting on common ground.

Just like they used to do in group counseling, where they'd first met.

“I know my track record with women hasn't been great, but I've never deceived anyone. I've never made them believe I was in it for anything more than fun, and they all knew what they were getting into. Dani didn't take my bullshit, not from the moment I met her, and I liked that about her. And yeah, briefly I looked at her as if she was just another notch on my bedpost, but that was before I found out about Noah.”

“And that's her kid, right? You've met him?” Martinez asked.

“Yeah, twice. He's cute.”

“But are you really ready to date her? Because when you date the mom, you're dating the kid, too, and for a guy who hasn't had a relationship last longer than forty-eight hours . . . ”

Kline trailed off, but they all got the message. Did he really think he was ready to be a dad?

“We're taking it slow. It's only our second date. If things don't work out, we're both adults.”

Sparks sat forward, his dark gaze clashing with Tyler's in warning. “You're right, and if that's the way the two of you are going to play it, fine. But you need to stay away from that little boy until you're sure, because you don't want to let him get attached and then have to walk away when things don't work out with his mom.”

Tyler knew Sparks was right, and that had been his plan, but that didn't mean he had to like being told what to do. Especially by Sparks, who hadn't followed his own advice with Violet.

Still, Tyler was tired of fighting, so he kept his opinions to himself. “Fine. Now shut the fuck up, or get the hell out so I can finish my movie.”