Walker Bride by Bernadette Marie Page B

skimmed down her side and over her
hip. “Chinese symbols on your rib cage. Angel wings low on your
back. A rose on your ankle and an infinity symbol with a dangling
heart on your thigh. Have I seen them all?”
    Her stomach did a little flip thinking about
him seeing all her tattoos. He’d done much more than that
she thought, remembering the kisses he’d feathered over her skin,
lingering at each tattoo.
    “I think you’ve seen everything,” she said
rolling so that she could face him. “The scar down your back, the
one on your elbow, and another on your shoulder. No tattoos?”
    “More accident prone than anything.”
    She ran her finger down his chest. “I doubt
that.”
    “Lydia gave me the one on my shoulder. I was
pushing her on a tree swing and got in the way. It knocked me down
on a rock.”
    Pearl pressed her lips to the scar. “Your
elbow?”
    “Football.”
    “Your back?”
    His eyes narrowed, and the playfulness faded.
“Nothing awesome.”
    Pearl locked her gaze onto his. “I stumbled
on something.”
    She watched as he processed it and she
wondered if he’d trust her with the information.
    “Horsewhip.”
    She didn’t remark right away, but she
couldn’t keep quiet. “Not an accident?”
    Tyson’s lips tightened. “What does it
matter?”
    “It doesn’t,” she pressed a kiss to his lips.
“Where do we go from here? I mean, I let you see my tattoos.”
    A smile crept onto his lips. “Are you willing
to let me see them again?”
    “Tonight?”
    He shrugged. “And tomorrow. Maybe even the
next?”
    There was a new pattern to her heart beat. It
had ramped up to a remarkable pace, and that thrilled her as much
as his promise had.
    Lying there naked, her body wrapped around
his, and running through her head was only one question. “What
about Lydia?”
    He shook his head. “This isn’t the time I
want to talk about my sister.”
    “Kind of a turn off?”
    “Extremely.”
    “Do you have food in that kitchen?”
    Tyson’s face scrunched up. “Microwave
popcorn?”
    “That’s not good for you.”
    “Wasn’t thinking I was going to be
entertaining.”
    Pearl rolled him back so that he was flat on
the floor and poised her body atop of his. “I’ll tell you what. Why
don’t we try that shower and then I’ll make you dinner at my
place?”
    There were no more words or promises before
he maneuvered her up and carried her away toward the shower.

Chapter Fourteen
     
    It was nearing nine o’clock by the time Pearl
parked in her driveway. A few moments later, Tyson parked his
truck, the nice one, on the street in front of the house.
    Was it wrong to like the look of him parked
there?
    As she climbed from her car, she thought it
would be very obvious who was at her house if anyone she knew were
to drive by. They needed to decide how they were going to handle
this. Either they were going to have a secret relationship, which
had its enticements, or they were going to have to let Lydia know
that they’d deal with anything that came their way. They were grown
adults having sex and involved in a business. She didn’t want to
think they were involved more than the sex. That would be
presumptuous of her. And her father always said, “If you assume,
you make an ass of you and me.”
    She winced. She hated that saying.
    Tyson walked toward her as she gathered her
bag from the back seat. “Is my truck okay there?”
    Maybe they were in sync with their
thinking.
    “It’ll be fine. As long as you don’t mind
anyone seeing it.”
    He nodded slowly, his face highlighted by the
street light. “I’m going to risk that, tonight. I’m not quite done
being with you yet.”
    Her heart did that little trip again, and she
was finding she rather enjoyed it.
    “Thanks again for the flowers,” she said,
closing the car door and walking toward him. “I never would have
gone to see you otherwise.”
    “Thanks for measuring me for that tux,” he
joked. “I never would have stopped in otherwise.