Wisconsin Wedding (Welcome To Tyler, No. 3) by Carla Neggers

it.”
    “Then it was the one thing you said that you did mean.”
    “Oh, I said a lot of things I meant. But I don’t blame you for being skeptical. Nora, the past is past. Let it go. I don’t want my presence in Tyler to be a thorn in your side. You don’t need to avoid me. I won’t—” He broke off, his dark, dark eyes resting on her. “I won’t let what happened three years ago happen again.”
    She didn’t say a word. Could she believe him? Was that what she wanted to hear from him? “What happened and didn’t happen wasn’t just up to you, you know.”
    “Oh, really?”
    “Byron…”
    “No one needs to know that we were lovers three years ago. I just mean that I owe Cliff the truth about why I was in Tyler, what I did, why I left. He doesn’t need to know the sordid details about us.”
    He’d said it so easily. As if being lovers with someone was no big deal. Probably the country was dotted with his ex-lovers. Nora raised her chin. “You’re Cliff Forrester’s brother. Everyone in Tyler’s madly curious about him and his relationship with Liza—she’s from one of the town’s more prominent families. He’s been a recluse out here for years and years. You’re going to be well scrutinized.”
    “I expect so.”
    “Has it occurred to you that someone might recognize you as the photographer who did the series on Aunt Ellie?”
    “It’s possible, but—”
    “Then not only will people be asking you questions, but they’ll be asking me questions as well. Did I recognize you? Have I talked to you? Did I know you were really Cliff’s brother?” She gulped for air, tense and irritated, just imagining what could be in store for her. “You’ve put me in one hell of a position.”
    “I’m sorry,” he said.
    His apology seemed genuine. What did she want from the man? Any other woman discovering an ex-lover back in town wouldn’t go nuts at the prospect of people finding out about their long-dead relationship. It wasn’t as if she’d been married to another man when Byron had burst into her life.
    “I weighed all the pros and cons when I decided to come to Tyler,” Byron said.
    “And you came anyway.”
    “He’s my brother, Nora. I had to come.”
    “Just keep your distance,” she told him.
    “Okay.”
    “And don’t tell anyone anything. I value my reputation in this town.”
    “Your secret’s safe with me.”
    “Scout’s honor?”
    He winced at the acid in her tone. “I’m not making fun of you.”
    “Yes, you are.”
    “Nora…”
    “What you are doing, Byron, is belittling me. And I object. Vociferously. You don’t have to understand me, but do not belittle me.”
    He sighed. “Nora, for the love of God, if I took out a billboard and announced that Nora Gates and I fell in love three years ago and it didn’t work out, do you honestly think anyone in Tyler would give a damn?”
    She squared her shoulders. “I swear, if there was a rock handy the coroner would be examining two bodies found at Timberlake Lodge! We did not fall in love. We—”
    “Okay. I’ll put on the billboard that Nora Gates isn’t a virgin and I know it because I slept with her. Or should I be more explicit?”
    “I’m just saying—” her whole body was on fire! “—that whatever it was we had together, it had precious little to do with love.”
    “Then it had to do with sex. I’ll put that on my billboard.”
    “Dammit, Byron!”
    “Don’t ‘dammit’ me, Nora. Just tell me what you really do want.”
    “I want you not to exist!”
    “No can do.”
    “Then at least…” She groaned, wondering what she did want. “At least respect me. I don’t want my friends andcustomers—my community, Byron—to know that I…that you…”
    “You did. I did. We did. Nora, nobody but you will care.”
    “That shows how little you know about Tyler.”
    Byron didn’t relent. “Maybe it shows how little you know.”
    His tone was soft and seductive, so serious she would have thought he