Sheltering His Desire (8 page)

The application was fairly easy to navigate.
With only a little prompting from Tate, she finished setting
everything up.

“That’s it.” Tate rested a hand on her
shoulder, but pulled away too quickly for her liking.

Nervous energy hummed through her. Everything
else aside, this project was going to take her shelter to new
places. Owning the land they were on would give them new options
for expansion, the opportunity to implement new projects for the
animals. Her fingers twitched in anticipation. She inhaled deeply,
then pressed the ‘Go Live’ button.

All the air escaped her lungs and she sank
back in her chair, as the world continued on around them. “That was
anti-climactic.” She laughed at her own anxiousness. It wasn’t like
the world should have turned upside down just because she clicked
Go.

Tate draped his arms over her shoulders and
squeezed. “Congratulations.” His breath caressed her cheek.

She wanted to sink into the hug, but forced
herself to draw back. She navigated to her dashboard. “Do I take
the system down if I refresh obsessively?” She forced her tone to
stay light.

“No.” A hint of strain lined Tate’s response.
“It’s built for that. Refresh away.”

She clicked the refresh button several times
in rapid succession, just for fun, impressed when the system
responded instantly each time. And then the system hung. It sat for
several seconds before rendering in a jumble. “I think I broke it.”
She joked.

“It’s a hiccup. Try again.”

She did. Each time, the response took longer,
until nothing was returned at all. “Nope, definitely broke it.” Her
teasing came out more forced than she intended.

“Can you get to other sites?”

She navigated to a couple without any issues,
but still couldn’t get back into her admin panel.

“Shit.” Tate’s curse was so soft she barely
heard it. “May I?”

She stood and let him have her seat,
furrowing her brow. What was going on? This shouldn’t be a big
deal, right? She’d been watching Tate and Jared work long enough,
though, she knew something was wrong. “Do you want me to call
Jared?”

Tate’s fingers flew over the keyboard, new
windows opening, including one with a black background and white
text, and another that looked like a different computer desktop.
“He and Mikki have plans.” His voice was tight.

“You know he’ll cancel. Is it bad?” She
crossed her arms, and tapped her toes. What was going on? It was
just a little glitch, right? So why did she feel like everything
was about to go sideways? Her gaze drifted toward her phone, at the
edge of her desk. Maybe she should call Jared anyway. Tate wouldn’t
let his ego get in the way of doing this right.

The high-speed clack of keys drew her
attention back to what Tate was doing. Her limited understanding of
what they did at Skriddie told her he was dialed into a remote
computer, switching between a performance monitor and a window with
text in different colors. “Fucking load balancing issue.” Tate
muttered a string of curses, and continued working.

Guilt joined the swirl of emotions in her
head. She should have remembered, Tate had the same background as
her brother, he just used it differently.

Watching Tate now, he really did shine when
it came down to it. At least, she assumed he was. He never paused
for more than few seconds, and as the minutes ticked away, he
clicked through more things she only vaguely recognized.

The light faded outside, until the primary
source of light in the room was her laptop screen. A nudge at the
back of her mind told her she should turn on the light, but she was
too engrossed in watching Tate work.

It seemed like eons later, but according to
her clock it was less than two hours, when he leaned back in her
chair with a loud exhale. “So weird.” Despite his quiet tone, the
sudden statement was loud in the room.

She chewed on her bottom lip, not sure what
to say. “So… It’s fixed?”

He stood and gestured for her to take the
chair again. “Yes. You’re back online.”

“What happened?”

“Do you want the technical details?”

She might feel smarter if she heard them and
understood them. Then again, if she described the details of
neutering a dog, he wouldn’t be able to keep up either. “Not
really.”

He gave a light laugh. “Something was wrong
with the server configuration. It wasn’t set up to handle as much
internet traffic as it should have been.”

As in, none? She had to have been the only
person on the site. The clench of his jaw and way he kept glancing
back at the machine made her wonder what he’d found that bothered
him so much.

“It’s back online now. You’re good to go,” he
said after a final glance at the laptop.

She reached for the mouse, then paused. He’d
said it was fixed, she was being silly. Still, as she clicked into
her admin dashboard again, her earlier enthusiasm was missing. A
whisper of disappointment mingled with the rest of her thoughts. Of
course there wouldn’t be any donations. The site had technically
only been online for a few minutes. Still, she clicked refresh
again, bracing herself for anther slowdown.

Her heart leaped, and a smile broke her face.
Was that a donation? She hit refresh again. Yup, it was. It was
several hundred dollars, from an anonymous source. She had no idea
how it had gotten there. A voice in the back of her mind asked how
that had come in so quickly. Technically they wouldn’t be live
until tomorrow. Advertising would go out then. The social media
campaign would start up.

But it was a donation. How was that bad?
“Yay.” She hopped to her feet, giddiness flooding her, and spun to
Tate. She tossed her arms around his neck. “It worked.”

His hands rested on her back, and he
squeezed. “Congratulations.” He didn’t let go.

Heat flooded her as the seconds ticked away.
His pulse hammered a beat against her cheek, and she extracted
herself from his embrace, not able to meet his gaze. She really
needed to get over this.

“Hey.” He placed a finger under her chin and
raised her head until she was looking him in the eye. “Enough. We
both had fun last night, right? I know I did.”

It was okay to admit to that. Fun had been
part of the point. “I did too.” Alyssia felt a touch of relief
being able to say it aloud.

“I don’t regret it. Not in any way.” His
expression was soft, attention focused completely on her.

She didn’t either. She just had to say so,
and things would go back to the way they were. So why couldn’t she
say the words?

Tate’s heart froze for the briefest moment
when Lys didn’t reply.

“No regrets.” Her words were a reassurance he
didn't know he needed.

“Good.” He intertwined his fingers with hers,
and tugged her out of the room. He knew what his problem was. He’d
been over-thinking everything since last night. He needed to step
back, get an objective perspective, and just let instinct drive.
“Let’s go celebrate.”

“What did you have in mind?” Lys paused by
the front door long enough to slip on a pair of sandals, and grab
her purse.

The one thing they always did. Something
nagged at the back of his mind, asking how they had an ‘always’
anything. He shoved it aside. It’s just the way things were between
them. It didn’t mean anything. “We grab a pizza and head up to the
lake.”

“Sounds perfect.” Her grin latched onto
something inside him, and send a wash of need over his skin.

Apparently he hadn’t reached that objective
point yet. He’d get there, though.

“You drive.” She tossed him her keys.

He snagged them without missing a beat. The
Bentley was nice for freeway and city driving, but Lys’s ancient
Suburban would handle the off-road lake paths a lot better, and he
was more familiar with the route than she was.

An hour later, they’d found a quiet spot of
trees, and a clearing with no one else around, and backed the SUV
up several feet back from the lake. They finished the pizza and
discarded the box half an hour after that, and then sat next to
each other on the tailgate. Lys swung her legs in a lazy arc, and
Tate leaned back, palms resting on the upholstery behind him. Once
upon a time, Lake Lanier had been one of his least favorite places.
His parents had a summer home that was really more of an excuse to
show off than a reason to vacation. They’d sold it when the area
got too crowded.

Spending time with Lys up there, though,
helped him discover an appreciation for the beauty again.
Especially when they could find an isolated spot of land and just
unwind.

“Remember that night we came up here to study
for my finals?” Her question blended into the calm of the
night.

“Which time?”

She leaned into him. “Every time. I doubt I
would have made it through undergrad without your help.”

“I was zero help for vet school, so I guess
that evens everything out. What about the time you ran away?”

“Oh, God.” She scrubbed her face, laughter
spilling through her fingers. “I don’t even remember why I did
that, but I know it was childish. I’m still grateful you never told
them you found me up here.”

“Right. Because I was going to tell J—anyone
you hitchhiked to the lake.” Tate wasn’t sure why he stalled on
Jared’s name. Something told him he didn’t want to ruin the mood
that way.

She tucked one leg under the other knee, and
turned to face him. “Or three years ago when I closed on the loan
for the shelter.”

Her eyes sparkled with amusement, holding his
gaze captive. If he leaned in a few inches, he could lose himself
in the soft perfume of her shampoo. His senses prickled at the
idea, and he shelved the desire. “You mean the night you drank way
too much champagne and almost puked in my car?”

“I don’t remember it that way.” She tucked a
strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers itched with the desire
to cover her hand. What was wrong with him tonight?

“You were wasted.” He struggled to keep the
conversation light, friendly, and as completely unsexy as possible.
“I’m surprised you remember anything.”

“I remember enough.” She twisted her mouth in
mock-irritation. “Was that really the last time we were up
here?”

He had a feeling she knew the answer as
distinctly as he did. “It was.”

“Why did we stop?”

“Coming to the lake?” He was stalling. He
knew exactly what she meant. “Our schedules got busy. Life got in
the way.” The excuse slid out without thought. It was the same one
he fed himself every time he wondered why they didn’t hang out
more. With the question between them now, it bounced in his
head.

He studied her closer. The flush of laughter
on her cheeks. The smile tugged forward by the memories. Had they
really spent so much time together? Up here. At home. He sifted
through stacks of memories, and she was a part of so many of
them.

She poked him in the arm. “What are you
staring at?”

He shook away his rambling thoughts. “Just
you.”

Fuck it all. He was lingering too much on
this one thing. Putting too much thought into a simple, physical
response. She’d been open to no strings last night, would she go
for it again? Once the physical wasn’t taboo anymore, the tension
between them would vanish, and they could go back to being casual
and friendly, without the awkwardness.

****

Alyssia tried not to notice the sudden
silence. Maybe she shouldn’t have brought up the celebration night.
She remembered it far more vividly than she’d ever let on. She’d
actually only had a couple of glasses of champagne, but had
definitely enjoyed the excuse to fall asleep on Tate.

“But you know.” His voice was suddenly too
loud in the still. It sounded too cheerful, but strained at the
same time. “That’s life, right? We’ll drift our separate ways,
you’ll meet a great guy to bring up here, and he’ll be one hell of
a lucky dude if you give him a chance.”

But she’d already met a great guy. She bit
the inside of her cheek to keep the comment from escaping. “I
guess.”

He hopped to the ground, and disappointment
spread through her at the sudden distance between them, even though
he’d only stepped a few feet away. Was the moment ruined? Was he
waiting for her to say something?

“However.” The strain vanished from his
voice. He stepped closer, and tugged her foot so both of her legs
hung over the tailgate again. “If you want a distraction until
then…”

Anticipation seared her veins and her pulse
kicked into overdrive. She tried to keep the teasing in her reply.
“I’m not sure I know what you’re suggesting.”

“I’m just thinking, waiting for Mr. Right has
got to get lonely sometimes.” He nudged her legs apart with his
knee, and pushed between her thighs. Friction built, teasing her
thoughts. “And I’m guessing a battery operated boyfriend doesn’t
always do the trick.”

Her face warmed. “I don’t—” His raised brows
made her pause, mid-protest. “No, it doesn’t.”

He glided his fingers over the backs of her
hands, up her arms, and along her jaw. “I’m offering something a
little more… organic, from someone you already like and trust.”

Like.
Such a tame word. Desire glided
under her skin, focusing in her belly, then spread outward again.
Could she really have casual sex? Tate didn’t do long term, but he
was being up front about it. She could fool around, indulge her
fantasies, and then they could both step back once their needs had
been met. “It sounds like a perfect arrangement.” She almost
stammered on the words. Where had that come from?

He cradled her face in his hands, searching
her eyes. “Couldn’t agree more.” When he kissed her, mouth pressed
to hers, palms holding her head in place, excitement squeezed her
chest. She could keep things casual if it meant more of this. More
of this kind of attention from Tate. Definitely.