Tyler turned back to his eggs. “You want some eggs with your bacon?”
Julie blinked, startled by his abrupt change of subject. Okay, so maybe he didn’t want to deal with the sexual tension that suddenly vibrated between them. She could deal with that. “Okay, sure,” she answered with a shrug.
She tried to help but he wouldn’t let her, telling her he had it handled. So she went to the small dinette table with her coffee and waited, surprised when he served her. A plate of steaming hot scrambling eggs and crunchy bacon was set in front of her, and she dived right into it, surprisingly famished. She couldn’t remember the last time she was hungry at such an early hour.
Hey what happened to her sleeping away half the morning? It was barely eight o’clock.
“Good?” he asked as he watched her from across the table. He had an even fuller plate of eggs and bacon.
She nodded, her mouth full. “Delicious,” she murmured after she swallowed. “Hey, I’m going for a walk after breakfast around the lake. How about I clean up and you come with me?”
His dark brows rose. He appeared genuinely surprised at her invitation. “You want me to go with you?”
“Sure.” Julie shrugged. “We can catch up, check out the lake. It’s been years since I’ve been up here.”
“Really? Don’t you live in Sacramento?”
“How do you know that?” She set her fork onto the empty plate. She should be embarrassed at how quick she’d stuffed her face.
“Your mom. I talk to her, well we email, mostly about the schedule and stuff regarding the cabin. She’s mentioned before that you lived in Sacramento.”
“Well, the Sacramento area. I live in Folsom. How about you? Where are you at these days?” She stood and gathered the empty plates and silverware, taking everything to the sink.
“Reno. I went to college there and never left.”
“Oh, so you’re close too.” She opened the dishwasher and started to rinse the dishes in the sink before she set them in. “You like Reno?”
“I do.” He started putting away stuff in the fridge, tossing napkins and other trash into the stainless steel garbage can that rested against the wall.
“Do you, uh, have a girlfriend?” It was a completely innocent question. And she was dying of curiosity to know if he was attached or not. Some men found a sort of courage in laying on the compliments when involved with another.
She sincerely hoped Tyler wasn’t one of those types of guys.
“No, no girlfriend. Been single for about a year, “he answered, deceptively casual. There was a glint in his eye though. She caught sight of it even with the glasses on. “How about you?”
“No, no girlfriend.” She smiled innocently and batted her eyelashes.
He laughed. “How about a boyfriend?”
“No, I don’t have one of those either.” She slowly shook her head. “I work too much to consider taking the time for a steady relationship.”
“So I’ve heard,” he murmured. He took a rinsed dish from her and set it in the dishwasher.
Damn, she could appreciate a man who helped with boring kitchen chores without complaint. “Where did you hear about me? Oh, that’s right. My mom, I’m guessing.”
Hmm, should she find it creepy he’d discussed her life with her mom? No, more like it was her mother mentioning quick stuff via email to everyone and that was it. Why she focused so much energy on her love life, Julie would never know. It didn’t help that her younger brother and sister were already married.
He sure had a good memory though. Maybe because he’d always been curious and somehow wanted to keep tabs on her? Because he just might possibly be interested? In her?
The idea intrigued her. Excited her more than she cared to admit.
The walk ended up being almost two hours, with them stopping at a dock and sitting on the edge, watching the majestic sailboats as they glided across the crystal blue lake. The sun shone down on them, warmed their skin, the gentle breeze cooling when it almost got too hot, and Tyler realized he couldn’t remember a time when he’d felt so at ease. So comfortable, so happy to just…be in the moment.
He sounded like he was spouting some sort of spiritual mumbo jumbo but, damn it, it was a fine morning. Maybe he’d been hanging out too long with those live-
off-the-land types who claimed they communicated with the mountain. Plenty of them came into the sporting goods store he owned on a daily basis.
“I can’t believe we both own our own businesses,” Julie said with a slight shake of her head, as if she read his mind. “I never thought I would be so ambitious, I have to admit. I barely made it into college. But once I got there and decided to major in communications, everything just…clicked.”