Unbreakable Hearts (13 page)

“You.
God, you’re cute.” He shook his head as he gave her a crooked grin.

And that was all the explanation he offered.

She stood there waiting for him to give her more details about the semi non sequitur she’d just used, but when he didn’t, she snapped, “Care to elaborate?” putting her hands on her hips, getting a little pissed at thinking he didn’t believe she was capable of operating a studio out of her house.

“You go from
being upset, telling me about some asshole breaking into your house to being suddenly happy as hell, telling me about your studio.”

He
was still grinning at her and she couldn’t help but think again how sexy that grin was, but not knowing how to respond to what he’d said, she kept quiet, nervously adjusting the glasses on top of her head.

“See?
Cute.”

She drew in a breath at the way he was looking at her. Wow. John Osby was freaking sex on a freaking stick!
God help her. Annnd she needed to get out of there. Now.

“I, uh, need to, uh, go back to my studio if we’re going out tonight. I mean, not on a date or anything, just dinner. I’ll be back there if you need anything.” She
pointed over her shoulder and seeing that damned sexy half smirk of his appear again, backed away needing to get the heck out of there. Turning to go to her studio, she bumped into something then rolled her eyes at how nervous he’d made her. Once inside her atelier, she closed the door leaning against it and allowed herself to breathe again. “My lord.”

Well, this was going to be tricky. How was she supposed to protect her heart when it was about to jump out of her chest and telling her that she needed to make that
man hers.

W
ow. John Osby was in her living room. How crazy was that?

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Quinn. When she answered, Tilly whisper
-hissed, “You will
not
believe who’s in my living room!”

“
Scott Pilgrim?”

“No! John Osby!” When Quinn stayed silent for several seconds, Tilly explained, “My high school crush!”

“Bad boy who delivered
The Kiss
?” Quinn yelled.

Tilly jerked her phone away from her ear quickly before Quinn’s screaming broke her eardrum. Bringing it back to her ear, she confirmed, “Yes,
him!
Oh, my God, Quinn! And he asked me to dinner!”

“This is it,
Till! Remember what I said at dinner the other night? This is our year to find a man! See? It’s the luck o’ the Irish, I tell ye,” Quinn stated using a horrible Irish brogue.

“Uh, yeah.
Well, this isn’t a date. It’s just a catching up kinda thing.”

“Well, you
can
catch up with his dick inside you, you know,” Quinn said, blunt as ever.

“Quinn!”
she scolded. God, her friend had no filter whatsoever. “We’re not going there. We haven’t even seen each other in ten years.” She stopped for a second then it was her turn to yell. “Oh, God! I didn’t even think to ask if he had a girlfriend or if he’s married.” She put her palm to her forehead as she let out a groan. Of course, that was it. That’s why he’d explained that their dinner wasn’t a date. He had to be in a relationship. How could someone who looked that good not be?

“If that’s the case, so be it. At least you’ll have some good company over a good meal, right?”

“Yeah. Not like I’m looking for anything with him anyway,” Tilly answered. She heard Quinn sigh and knew what was coming. She could almost mouth the words with her best friend as she spoke them.

“Why won’t you let
yourself be happy? You stayed with that stupid prick of a bastard for two years.
Two years
. Finally got smart and got rid of his dumb ass, and now a gorgeous guy wants to take you to dinner, which could lead to his dick inside you, and you’re not gonna let that happen. Wait. He is gorgeous, isn’t he?”

It was Tilly’s turn to sigh. “Yes, most definitely gorgeous. He’s as tall as he was in high school, but he’s filled out a lot.
He’s got muscles everywhere. Like muscles on top of muscles. He stayed here until Jeff could come by before he left to get some more parts or something, not wanting to leave me alone. And, Quinn? He’s got a goatee.”

Tilly had to pull the phone away from her ear again when Quinn screamed. She knew her best friend had some kind of facial hair fetish
, which she’d always thought was strange, but whatever. And even though Tilly didn’t prefer facial hair, she kinda loved John’s goatee on him.

“Total package,
Till.
And
he protected you. Nice. What company did you say he’s out of?”

“Citadel something or other.”

“Oh, my gosh! Jodi used that place one time when she was in town on a modeling gig. Said the guys there were hot! I’ve been thinking of a reason I’d need a bodyguard so I could hire one.” Quinn cackled at herself.

Tilly snorted. Her best friend was crazy.

“So here’s my advice, my dear, lovely friend. Please, please, open yourself up to the idea of a relationship,” Quinn said. “I know you’re rolling your eyes right now, so stop.”

Tilly laughed.
Busted.

Quinn continued. “I’m not saying you have to have anything serious with the guy… right away. Stop rolling your eyes!”

How Quinn knew she’d done it again was beyond her, but she guessed that they’d been friends for so long and knew each other so well, it was bound to happen that they’d know these kinds of things. “It’s official. We’ve become an old married couple, Quinn.”

Quinn laughed. “If I swung that way, I’d totally choose you, you know that, right?”

Tilly giggled. “Of course. And ditto.”

“I’m coming over
tonight to help you get ready. Wish I could stay, but I have a business date,” Quinn informed her.

“Rod again?”
Tilly asked, not able to keep the edge out of her voice. Rod was a fellow psychologist Quinn had hooked up with at some seminar she’d attended back in the spring. Tilly had met him a couple times and she couldn’t say she really liked him. What she could say was that she thought he was an arrogant prick, but Quinn had just laughed that off, insisting he was just a booty call. But Tilly noticed that every time she got with him, Quinn would be depressed for days after, as if he really messed with her head or something. Quinn never went into detail about why she kept seeing him except that the sex was good, which always made Tilly clench her teeth.

“Yes Rod.
Till, I know what I’m doing. It’s just sex,” Quinn added as Tilly sighed. “Look, this isn’t about me. It’s about you,” Quinn stated firmly. “So back to my diagnosis. At least have a friendship with the guy. You already established one in high school. It shouldn’t be hard since you have a foundation on which to build. And then open yourself up to see where that goes. Swear to God, if you don’t let this happen, I’m gonna file a 302 and have your ass committed. And don’t think I won’t do it!”

Tilly appreciated that her best friend wanted this for her, a relationship with a good guy. She just
didn’t know if she had it in her to ever allow it to happen. The lock on her heart was pretty solid after so many years, and she didn’t know if anyone could ever break it loose.

Chapter 13

Oz chuckled as Tilly turned
away from him, accidentally ran into an end table, uttered an “Oops!” then turned back to him, red-faced, giving him a flustered look and hurried off. She was just as awkward as ever and just as adorable.

He got back to work, and twenty minutes before he thought he’d finish, he called Jeff to let him know he was almost done.
When Jeff showed up, he went to get Tilly to join them in the living room so Oz could show them how everything worked.

“Oh, Till, this is John Osby, or Oz. Oz, this is my sister, Tilly,” Jeff said, making introductions.

“We’ve already met,” Oz said with a wink at Tilly, and he had to chuckle again as she blushed.

“Oh, yeah?”
Jeff looked between the two of them.

Tilly cleared her throat.
“Yeah. We went to high school together. Well, until Dad…”

“But I never forgot her. Thought about her a lot over the years,” Oz said, looking at her
with a smile. She looked back at him as if she were shocked at what he’d just said.

“Oh, well, that’s cool,”
Jeff said, not paying any attention to the looks that were being exchanged. “Now, how ‘bout showing us how to get this thing activated. Gotta get back to the precinct soon.”

Oz
explained how to use the system, showing them how they could use their cell phones to perform different actions.

“So this is pretty much foolproof then, right?” Tilly asked.

Jeff and Oz exchanged a look and Jeff nodded for him to go ahead.

“It’s pretty damned good, I’ll say that. But nothing’s foolproof,” Oz explained.

“Oh,” Tilly said on a whisper, her brow creasing with worry.

“Hey, it’ll be okay,” Jeff assured her. “
We’ll have it alert me through my phone, okay? I can be here pretty damned fast.”

Tilly still looked uneasy. “But you live thirty minutes away.”

“If it’ll make you feel better, I can do the same thing. I’m only about ten minutes from here,” Oz offered.

She looked at him and bit her bottom lip before nodding. “That’d make me feel a lot better.”

While Jeff showed Tilly something on the alarm, Oz called the central monitoring system to finish the installation, reading the tech their phone numbers off his invoice and giving his own to be connected to the system. “Well, that’s all,” he said when he’d hung up. “Each of our phones is now connected. It’s all good to go.”

“Thanks, man,” Jeff said, shaking Oz’s hand. “I appreciate everything.”

“No problem. Well, I’d better pack up.” Oz looked at Tilly. He grabbed all of his equipment then asked, “Any preference on dinner?”

Tilly’s felt her face get hot when her brother looked at her with raised eyebrows.

“Dinner, huh?” Jeff asked with a grin.

“Yes,” she squeaked out
then cleared her throat again. “Yes. We decided to catch up on what we’ve been doing since we last saw each other.” She looked at Oz. “I like everything,” she said then he saw her wince, which he assumed was because there was all kinds of innuendo that could be attached to that little statement and his grin just got bigger. Damn. Definitely too fucking cute. Face flushed she asked, “Uh, do you need my number?”

He quirked an eyebrow.
“I work for a security company. I’ve got all kinds of ways of getting information, Tilly. I’m kind of insulted that you’d even ask. Guess you don’t think I know how to do my job.”

A look of contrition crossed her face.
“Oh, God! I’m sorry! I wasn’t even thinking. No, I’m not questioning how you do your job at all!”

He chuckled then said, “I’m just teasing. I got your number just now from
the paperwork when I gave it to the security tech.”

The look on her face was priceless as she sputtered out, “What?
Wow. I totally missed that.” She put her hand to her forehead, shaking her head as she laughed at herself.

Yep, t
oo damned cute.

“I’ll call you in a couple hours to see where you want to go, o
kay? Jeff, nice meeting you.” Oz gave a nod to him then looked back at Tilly with a smile. “Talk to you in a little bit,” he told her with a wink then headed out the door.

As he walked to his truck, h
e wanted to pound his chest like a damned caveman. Hell yeah. Tilly Maxwell had come back into his life and if he had any say in it, he intended on keeping her there.

***

“I like the blue,” Quinn said, sitting on Tilly’s bed. She’d brought a few things over for Tilly to wear on her non-date.

“I don’t know. Are you sure? The red looks good too,” Tilly said, holding the
royal blue sweater in front of her then switching it to the red as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had on a black pencil skirt and just a bra.

“I personally think if you went like that, he’d have no complaints.” Quinn chuckled when Tilly shot her a
dirty look.

Oz had called an hour after he’d left her house, telling her he’d bring a cab to pick her up.
They’d decided on a steakhouse that was, of course, known for its steaks, but also for its extensive wine list, which she could so handle. God knew she’d need something to help her relax.

“I just wanna look nice, you kn
ow? I had on jeans and a sweater today, going for the grunge look, which I think I accomplished.” She shook her head. “And I’m sure he still thinks of me as the socially awkward, nerdy girl with a camera always stuck to her face.” She threw the red sweater on the bed and held the blue one in front of herself in the mirror again.

“From what you’ve told me, I don’t think he ever thought of you like that,
Till.”

Tilly sighed and twisted her face up
with a frown as she looked at Quinn. “But I
was
that girl. I feel like I’m gonna have to work extra hard to show him that I’m not her anymore.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Tilly asked after she’d pulled the blue sweater on, adjusting the cowl neck that dipped low in front.

“You seem pretty worried about what this guy thinks for someone who swears she doesn’t want to have any kind of relationship with a man.”

Tilly stopped fussing with the sweater and turned to look at Quinn with a gasp. “You’re right.” She dropped her head to her hands.

“Don’t do that! You’ll mess
up your makeup!” Quinn scolded.

Tilly
flopped down dejectedly to sit on the bed next to her. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

Quinn chuckled at her
. She knew Tilly didn’t realize it, but over the years, she’d talked about this John Osby guy as if he was the perfect guy. Her eyes had actually gotten dreamy when she’d told Quinn about
The Kiss
back when they were in college.

“Honey.
You’re gonna be fine. Just remember, friends first. Then we can talk about getting horiz—”

“Stop!
” Tilly said with a laugh. She looked at Quinn. “I’m just really scared.”

“I know you are. But that’s what makes this so much
fun.” Quinn chuckled.

“For you, maybe.”
Tilly took a deep breath and stood up looking at herself in the mirror. “If I change my rules now, he could end up hurting me. Bad.” She smoothed her skirt as she thought for a few seconds then made up her mind. “All right. I’m just gonna take this one step at a time. I’ll try to stay open-minded, just for you.” She smiled at her best friend’s reflection.

“For
you
,” Quinn replied, smiling right back at her.

“For me.”
She nodded.

She could do this. Take this first step
toward opening up her heart. If she didn’t freak out before the evening began.

***

Oz stepped out of the cab and walked up the steps to Tilly’s house. He had to admit he was a bit nervous.

“Hi,” he
said when a pretty, petite redhead answered the door. He leaned back and looked at the address to make sure he had the right house, which made the redhead snort.

“You’ve got the right address
. If you’re John Osby, that is,” the redhead said. “But I do need to see your ID,” she added rather cheekily.

Oz waited to see if she was serious, and when she didn’t budge, he reached inside his jacket, pulled out his wallet and handed her his driver’s license.

“Oooohhh, six four, huh?” She glanced from his license to look him up and down in approval. “Two hundred thirty pounds. All muscle too, from what I can see. Nice.” She smiled wickedly at him.

He felt like he was
on display in a beauty contest or something as she looked him over, waiting for her to tell him to spin around so she could check out his ass. Jesus. Well, at least she approved.

“Tilly wasn’
t lying. You
are
hot.”

Oz chok
ed out a surprised laugh. Who in the world was this woman?

Laughing
with him, the woman stated, “I’m Quinn McDonnell, Tilly’s best friend.” She held out her hand and he shook it. “Won’t you come in?” she offered, stepping back from the door and sweeping out an arm like a game show model. When they got inside she said, “Have a seat, John. Can I get you something to drink?” Oz declined before sitting down, so she added, “I’ll just go check on Tilly.” She grinned at him then went upstairs.

Oz sat on the edge of the sofa and could clearly hear Tilly’s friend gushing over him
from what he assumed was Tilly’s bedroom upstairs. He smiled as she told Tilly that he was very tall, very hot and very handsome. She went on, saying that he had on dark blue jeans, a dark blue button-down shirt under a black blazer with black boots. Damn. She’d checked him out pretty thoroughly. But thank God for the best friend. He liked her. And he figured she may very well be the best thing to help his cause.

As he sat there, he
took a look around at Tilly’s things. He hadn’t done much looking when he was working earlier. Now he saw that her furniture was very contemporary and very comfortable. The couch he sat on had thick cushions and soft pillows; the matching loveseat, the same. The coolest thing about them was they were both a deep, rich red. On the hardwood floor was a plush rug of warm browns and the walls were a soothing tan, making the whole room extremely inviting. He could see Tilly spending a lot of time in here relaxing.

Of course, she
had tons of photos on the walls and he got up to inspect them. They were mostly grouped in collages, and he assumed she’d taken them. When he saw several of her brother with whom he assumed were her parents, he was sure she had. He walked around the room gazing at all of them, but when he got to one particular grouping, he stopped and leaned in to get a better look. He pulled back in surprise then looked closely again to make sure he’d seen what he thought he’d seen.

             
He heard heels clicking on the floor, which came to an abrupt stop, and next he heard a soft gasp. He turned to see Tilly looking at him eyes big, mouth open in surprise.

“I, uh,
I kept those…” she explained.

He gave her his crooked grin
then looked back at the pictures that were of him from high school in full football gear, action shots that featured him passing, running or just standing on the sidelines. There was even one of him with his head down from when they’d lost the State Championship their sophomore year.

“I can’t believe you’ve kept these after all these years,” he said
turning to her, not being able to help the heated look he gave her. This was a very good thing that she’d not only kept the pictures but displayed them on her wall. A very good thing.

She
began sputtering again, which made him grin even bigger now. “Well, I, um… You know, they’re, uh, well…” He saw her chin jut forward as she said matter-of-factly, “They’re very good pictures. I was proud of how they came out, so of course I’m going to keep and display them.”

He turned to look a
t the collage again then back to her. “Fifteen of them?”

She frowned and explained
, “They’re very good photos! I was only sixteen, and I think I did an excellent job with them!” She turned to Quinn for help.

It was then he noticed what she was wearing. Jesus. Tight, black skirt that stopped just above her knees that made her ass look spectacular, a royal blue sweater that
showed some major cleavage and went well with her blond hair and also brought out the blue in her eyes, and lastly black stiletto heels with a strap that went around her ankles accentuating how delicate they were. What a fucking knockout she was.

“You look beautiful,” he said.

She turned as if to argue some more but his saying that threw her off balance. “Oh. Well, thank you,” she replied, brushing a piece of hair behind her ear. He noticed her face was flushed a little. So goddamned cute.

“Holy shit!
You two make a gorgeous couple!” Quinn said looking back and forth between them. “So, John, you married? Got a girlfriend?”