Slow Burn (The Blake Boys Book 7) (9 page)

“Good morning. Cappuccino for the lady.”

“Thank you. Wanted an early start?”

“Sorry, I get that way when I’m working on a project. I called the guys and they were kind enough to come in early so we could get on with the day.” He sipped his coffee.

“Morgan told me you do contracting work sometimes. You built Jake’s tree house, right?”

“Sure did. Jared is a hell of an architect. I wouldn’t mind working on another project with him.”

“So where did you learn about building?”

“Worked at Blake Construction every summer.”

“That explains the physique.”

He laughed. “Nah, Channing and I keep in shape because we will not be upstaged by Seth.”

“He’s a professional football player. It’s kind of part of the job requirement to keep in shape.”

“He’s in good shape, for an old guy,” Tyler huffed.

“My gosh, he can’t be more than five years older than you. So…Seth, Tate and J.J. are ready for a retirement home?”

“Might as well. We almost had to call an ambulance the last time we played touch football.”

Michelle smiled. Morgan’s recap of the game was that it had been almost as competitive as a professional game, and it had ended because J.J. was showing off mercilessly for Sam until Bo sacked him and Tate proposed to Isabelle.

“If you say so.”

“So we’re going to give the kitchen a small face lift. I was thinking a fresh coat of paint and replace the pots that were burned.” Tyler handed her a list.

Michelle cringed.

“Listen.” Tyler lifted her chin with a finger. “It happened. There’s nothing you can do about it now, but we can fix it.”

“OK.” She smiled. “I can’t believe Morgan and Seth trust us to fix things.”

“Seth knows I’m good with my hands.” He waggled his eyebrows.

Michelle hit him on the shoulder.

“I’m good at
building
things with my hands. Now let’s go shopping for supplies.”

* * *

“Maybe we could spruce up the place a bit as a nice surprise when they come for a visit,” Michelle said as they perused the home improvement store.

“That’s a great idea.”

“What do you think about these curtains?”

“I like the material. Does it come in a softer blue?” Tyler rubbed the material between his fingers.

“Yes it does.”

“Good. Morgan likes that color.”

“What?” She looked up from digging for the number of panels they needed.

“She has a lot of blue in her wardrobe. She dresses the boys in that color a lot.”

“Huh.” What an interesting observation to make.

“I was thinking we’d replace their toaster and get one of those big ones that can toast six slices at a time. Can you imagine how long it would take them to make toast for a family of five? Momma gave up and toasted our bread on the griddle.”

“That’s a good idea. So, you haven’t had any calls from the tartlets in your in contacts since you arrived.” Michelle picked up a box of decorative tree lights off a shelf.

“Should I be expecting a particular call?” He scratched at his beard.

She shrugged. “I thought maybe your new girlfriend would at least want to know your whereabouts.”

“I told you before, I don’t have a thing going with that woman. I haven’t been with anyone since we were together at the ranch.”

She turned the box and pretended to read the directions. He’d said that right before the fire.

Tyler took the box out of her hands. “You’re really into these Christmas lights.”

“While I was planning your…vacation, I didn’t have time to decorate my tree.”

“Ah.” Tyler began pulling lights, decorations and wreaths from the shelves. “You want a tree, we’ll get a tree. Have a color scheme in mind? My momma gets really meticulous about her holiday color schemes.”

She put her hand on his. “That’s a nice thought, but do we have the time?”

He winked at her. “There’s always time to celebrate the holidays.”

* * *

Michelle convinced him to stop at the mall for a painting outfit, since she refused to get paint on anything she’d brought with her. While she was off in her own world, he decided to browse the sports shop. The stylish yet poorly insulated coat she wore was not suitable for Colorado weather. She’d sneezed three times in a row in the car. He found a nice winter-white, goose-down ski jacket with a gray faux fur collar, and a pink scarf with a matching hat and mittens that was guaranteed to keep her warm.

Tyler returned to their meeting place with a half hour to spare. He took a seat on the bench and grinned when he’d found he’d parked himself in front of a lingerie store, thinking the plum colored satin negligee in the window would look nice on her too.

As soon as he entered the store two of the sales women rushed to assist him and ushered him to the back of the store after he pointed to the panties on the mannequin. Twenty minutes later he came out of the store with a huge shopping bag, grinning, and waved good-bye to the sales women.

Michelle was waiting for him.

“Bye, Tyler. We’ll be watching your next race.” The sales ladies waved from the door.

“Bye, ladies.” Tyler winked and went over to Michelle. “They were some fun girls.”

“I bet they were. Get a little something for yourself?” She tried to look in the bag.

“In a manner of speaking. I got something for you. I thought you could use something better insulated for this weather so you won’t catch cold.” He put the lingerie bag to the side and pulled the coat out of the sports shop bag.

“That’s not the bag I was referring to. And what makes you think I’m cold?” She folded her hands over her chest.

“You sneezed three times.”

“And?”

“That usually means you’re fending off a cold.”

Michelle mumbled the whole time she took off her chic plaid pea coat and put on her new jacket.

“I know you don’t like messing up your hairdo, but the hat will keep an ear infection at bay.” He carefully placed the hat on her head and pulled out her curls so they billowed over the collar of the jacket.

“Thanks.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“There. These will keep you nice and warm. And the things in the other bag will keep
me
nice and warm later on.”

* * *

The holidays always seemed to creep up on him and this year was no exception. Aside from searching for something special for Michelle, he hadn’t done much shopping. His brothers were easy—a good bottle of booze or taking on their ranch duties would do the trick with them. But now the ranch was flooded with women and toddlers. For weeks he’d been looking over toy catalogs and searching online for the perfect gifts for the boys. It was becoming a contest to see who could get the best gifts for them, but it was their father, John Jacob, who always won.

After they picked up something to eat from a restaurant at the mall, Tyler and Michelle stopped and bought a Christmas tree, then returned to the house. They hung stockings on the fireplace and decorated the tree with the lights and ornaments they’d bought at the home improvement store. Michelle stepped back and smiled at the result. It almost looked like home.

“OK, Ms. Claus. Time to get back to the kitchen,” Tyler said.

He started with a lengthy safety talk. Michelle rolled her eyes.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me, lady,” he teased. “You of all people should appreciate the dangers inherent in the kitchen.”

His cell phone rang. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the display. It was a call from Sports Dynamic Consultants.

“Tyler! How’s my favorite new client?” Luke bellowed into the phone.

“I’m good. How have you been, Luke?”

“I’ve been great. I have some big things in the works for you. The designer Maximo Kellan wants you to do a series of print ads for their new line of athletic clothes. If you’re interested, I’ll start negotiations.”

“I like the idea, but I don’t want anything similar to the stuff Seth endorses.”

As he strove to make a name for himself in the racing world, the last thing he wanted to do was to be perceived as a poor man’s Seth Blake. It was obvious that some of the companies that expressed interest wanted him to channel his famous football playing brother in their ads. A few advertisers boldly said they would give him a lengthy contract if he could persuade his brothers to do a commercial with him. Luke was doing a good job of vetting the offers and he appreciated the time he took with him.

“I made it perfectly clear you had your own style and that we’re looking to work with a company who can showcase that.”

“Good to hear. Seth likes wearing fancy suits and prancing around in his underwear. I’m a little more camera shy.” Tyler laughed.

“He used to like it. Since he got married, he likes to keep his clothes on, much to the disappoint of a lot interested companies.”

“Having an image his kids can be proud of is important to him. My dad says when you give up the single life, family comes first.”

Luke chuckled. “I love you guys. When you get down to it, you’re just wholesome country boys. That’s part of the appeal. There was another offer for a series of cell phone commercials but there’s a hitch. It has a couple’s angle. They want to pair you with that actress Miranda Altman.”

Miranda Altman was an actress who’d just gotten her big break in a summer blockbuster movie. Tyler laughed to himself. He didn’t do well with relationships in real life, now someone wanted to pay him to be a couple for a commercial?

“I hope you said no.”

“I did, but I thought I’d tell you Miranda’s people have been calling here for a week wondering if you were still available.”

“For what? You said no.”

“Apparently she has a crush on you and wants to hook up. But her people would like for you two to meet somewhere like a club or a work event so they can spin it into some whole kismet crap.”

What happened to meeting the old fashioned way? Sure he’d gotten together with women in bizarre ways before, but it was never that well-orchestrated. Besides, the last thing he needed was to be seen on TV with yet another woman. At least until he figured out what he was doing with Michelle.

“Tell them no thanks.”

“Really? Is it the hot number who kiss—”

Tyler put the top on the primer he’d been stirring. He couldn’t get away from that damn kiss. “I’m trying to turn over a new leaf these days.”

“Good for you. I’ll get back to Miranda’s people and tell her she won’t be getting her fairytale romance. Well, I’m off to Tahoe for two weeks. You have a great holiday and I want to get together with you next month.”

“You have a great holiday too, Luke. I look forward to it.” Tyler disconnected the call. When Michelle didn’t come back in, he yelled out. “You can come back now.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Sure you weren’t. That was Luke. I got an endorsement offer.”

“Nice. It would be good for the public to see you in something other than a jumpsuit.” Michelle leaned against the ladder.

“You don’t think all this…modeling would take away from what I am trying to achieve as a race car driver?”

Michelle took a seat on a stool. “It depends. You do want to be a famous underwear model or do you want to be a famous race car driver?”

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I want either kind of fame. Racing became an enterprise with my name attached to it. More importantly, the Blake name. There’s not a lot of room for error with brothers like mine.”

“I hope you’re not comparing yourself to them. You’re your own person. Tyler Blake has something that Seth, Tate, J.J. and Channing don’t have, and it’s high time you start thinking that way.”

“Yeah, your right.” He scratched at his beard. “Um… and what do I have, again?”

“Me,” she said. “I might be a famous cooking show host some day. So there.”

“And a famous food blogger. The Novel Foodie. I like it.” He smiled.

“You know about my cooking blog? Don’t tell me. Morgan told you.”

“She said something about it so I checked it out. I follow your blog.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

“Yeah, right.”

“I’m SexyRacer69. I felt honored when you dedicated your Love ’Em and Leave ’Em Peach Cobbler to a certain bull headed race car driver.” He raised any eyebrow.

Michelle’s eyes widened and she knocked into the ladder so hard, she almost spilled the primer on the floor. “Of course you’re SexyRacer69. Can’t believe I didn’t catch that! And it would account for the lewd suggestion you made about the whipped cream.”

* * *

Tyler thought mentioning her food blog would get her talking, but instead she retreated into her shell. They painted for the rest of the day. Tyler could see her energy waning by the evening, so he decided to wrap things up. Repairing Seth’s kitchen brought back memories of his summers working at Blake Construction. There was something about building and painting and fixing that gave him a sense of satisfaction, much like racing. Working on Jake’s tree house had given him that feeling. The look on his nephew’s face when he saw his new club house was gratifying in ways he couldn’t explain.

Tyler stretched to get rid of the knot that was forming at the base of his back. All that was left to do was to clean up the paint; the store was delivering the new stove in the morning. He removed the drop cloths and supplies with lightning speed— he really needed some sleep. By one in the morning he went into the living room to find Michelle cuddled on the couch in her pajamas.

She didn’t budge when he scooped her up into his arms and headed towards the bedroom.

He laughed to himself. He wasn’t going to tell Michelle, but this was the most fun he’d ever had with a woman. Who else could say they’d been kidnapped and handcuffed, had rescued a damsel in distress, and had got to work on a kitchen renovation all in the same week? He didn’t know what her intentions were when this started—at least not exactly. He knew she was mad about the kiss after the race, and about him telling off that pompous yoga instructor. And in general because he wasn’t ready for the kind of relationship Morgan and his brother had. But she’d succeeded in showing him why it was important to spend time together. He stopped in the hallway. Except for the calls to his brothers for help, he hadn’t tried to get away.