Tangling With Ty by Jill Shalvis

he lifted the sleeve on his own shirt, revealing the tattoo she’d seen before. It was a narrow band around his tanned, sinewy bicep in a design that was incredibly sexy. Just like the rest of him.
    â€œI got a part of it for every year I made it through college,” he said. “Finished it when I graduated and started my internship in Sydney.”
    â€œBadge of honor,” she whispered, and at this unexpected common ground of a deep, soul-felt connection, she felt herself warm to him in a new, different way.
    The waitress came, and when Nicole tried to order just coffee, Ty took over and ordered enough food for an entire third-world country.
    â€œI’m a growing boy,” he said with a shrug and a big, unrepentant grin. “And besides, I promised Taylor I’d feed you.”
    â€œIs that why we’re here? Because you promised Taylor?”
    His smiled faded, but before he could speak, the waitress came back with bread and butter. When she was gone, he grabbed a piece of bread and said, “We’re here because I wanted to spend time with you.” He slathered butter on the hot bread. “And I think, behind all that cool-as-ice stubborn orneriness, you want to spend time with me as well.” He handed her the bread.
    â€œThis is not headed to the bedroom.” She took his offering because the butter was melting all over, making her stomach growl. “Not yours or mine.”
    â€œOf course not.” He sank his teeth into his own piece of bread. “You have to go to work.”
    She took in his innocent gaze. “I mean ever. This isn’t going to the bedroom, yours or mine, ever. ”
    â€œWell, now, that’s just a crying shame, given how combustive we are just sitting here, much less kissing.”
    Hearing him say it, in the Irish accent he didn’t acknowledge, made her pulse quicken. “We need to forget that kiss.”
    Now he laughed, the sound rich and easy.
    â€œWe do,” she protested.
    â€œMuch as I’d like to oblige you, darlin’, I’m going to be around. A lot. We’re going to run into each other. Nobody’s going to be forgetting anything.”
    â€œYou’ve thought about this.”
    â€œHell yeah, I’ve thought about this.” His eyes were crystal-clear, and very intent on hers. “Last night I decided never to so much as look at you again.”
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œWhat happened?” He shook his head, and as the waitress come back with their order he dug in with a gusto that forced her to do the same. “ You happened.”
    Since she didn’t intend to touch that statement witha ten-foot pole, they ate in silence. Nicole had to admit, it felt good to fill her belly. How she managed to forget to eat so often was beyond her, but she liked this feeling of…satisfaction. Since she intended to deny herself any other kind of satisfaction—say sex with Ty, with which she was quite certain he would have no trouble satisfying her—food would have to do.
    â€œSo.” After inhaling enough food for an army—where did he put it all in that long, hard body?—he leaned back in his chair. “What’s up for today, doc?”
    â€œSurgeries. Meetings. More surgeries.”
    â€œAre you good?”
    â€œThe best.”
    He smiled. “I bet you are. Did you always know this is what you wanted?”
    â€œFrom day one.” She wondered the same about him. “Were you always going to be an architect?”
    Some of his good humor faded, just a little. So little, in fact, she thought maybe she’d imagined it. “Not always,” he said lightly.
    When she just looked at him, he sighed. “Let’s just say I didn’t have the most auspicious of beginnings.”
    She felt a smile tugging at her lips. “A troublemaker, were you?”
    â€œOf the highest ranking.”
    â€œI’m shocked. Were