Carter smirks and my gaze goes back and forth between the two men. Am I missing some secret joke here? Does Carter know something I don’t?
“Sure thing, cuz.”
Gram fills a kettle. “Don’t mind them. Too much testosterone in the room. Tyler, why don’t you get Haven settled in your room? You can bunk with Carter tonight.”
“Have you heard him snore?” Tyler blurts out. He rakes his hand through his hair, mussing it up and damned if that doesn’t just make him look sexier. “Jesus, I need to get my own place.”
“Language,” Gram says, and I can’t help but laugh.
“You’re one to talk,” Carter says. “You snore loud enough to wake the dead over in Hope Falls.”
“You want to take this outside?” Tyler asks.
“You don’t want me to embarrass you in front of Haven, now do you?” he asks, and places both hands on the table. That’s when I notice the tattoos on his forearms. I resist the urge to scan Tyler’s body for ink.
Tyler cracks his knuckles. “You could try.”
Unable to help myself, I laugh. “You’re right, Gram. Too much testosterone.” I glance at Tyler. “Do you think you could show me to your room before you two take this outside?”
“You don’t want to see the show, watch me knock your boyfriend down a peg or two?” Carter asks with a smirk.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I say quickly. “I just met him at Winchester’s tonight.”
Grinning like he really does know something I don’t, Carter opens his mouth to say something, and Tyler points to him. Through clenched teeth he says, “Leave it, Carter.” Tyler turns to me, and his voice is softer when he says, “Come on, I’ll take you to your room.” He searches the floor. “Where are your bags?”
“Jonah dropped them off earlier,” Gram says.
Tyler glances at me. “Jonah?” he asks.
“He’s the male lead in our movie.” Tyler’s eyes narrow, then he nods, like he just put two and two together. What, does he think I have a thing for Jonah? I have no idea how that rumor ever started, but for some reason, everyone thinks I fall for the leading man. I only did it once and that was the worst mistake of my life. “He’s staying here too, but not in my room,” I add quickly. What the hell am I doing? Tyler doesn’t care if I’m with Jonah or not. Why I’m trying to clarify it is beyond me. “We’ll only be here until our trailers arrive. I don’t want to put you out any longer than I have to.”
The guys at the table chuckle, and one whispers, “No worries, Ty likes to put out.”
Gram glares at them, and runs her fingers over her knuckles. “Do I need to gristle you?”
All the guys stiffen and sit up a little straighter, and a series of ‘hell no’ goes around the table.
“What’s a gristle?” I ask, amused at the way Gram handles all her grandsons.
“You don’t want to know,” Tyler says, his body bumping mine as we continue to linger in the doorway, the warm night air breezing through the place, carrying the scent of jasmine and fresh cut grass.
“I put Jonah in Sean’s old room, and Mason is in Jamie’s,” Gram supplies. “Your bags are already in Tyler’s room, Haven.”
Tyler gives me a little nudge, and the warmth of his flesh races through me. I bite down on my tongue to stifle a moan, or some other telltale sign that his touch, innocent or not, is messing with my traitorous body. “Come on, I’ll show you to my room,” he says.
We head up the long staircase. “Who’s Mason?” he asks.
“He’s the director,” I supply as I run my hand along the wooden rail. “So, Carter is your cousin?”
“Yes.”
“You guys all work construction?”
“Do now.”
I nod, understanding that Tyler was a fighter before coming home. “What did Carter do before?”
“Firefighter.”
“Oh, yeah, here in Blue Bay?”
“Jacksonville.”
“Oh, wow, nice. Did you all grow up in this place?”
“Yes,” he says again, his feet stomping on the steps behind me.
“It’s gorgeous.” I take in the gorgeous curve of the rail. “How long has it been in the family?”
“Forever.”
“Did a family member build it?”
“Grandfather.”
“Is he still alive?”
“No.”
“What about your parents? Do they live—”
“Gone.”
I glance over my shoulder and take in the tightness in his jaw, the way his muscles ripple as he clenches down.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Thanks.”
His green eyes lift, and I bite back a gasp as he zeroes in on me. Holy hell, being the sole focus of this man’s attention is…a bit intimidating, and a whole lot stimulating.
“What?” he asks.
“Do you always give one-word answers?”
“No.”
I laugh at that. “You’re the strong silent type, huh?” I say, hoping he can’t hear the arousal in my voice. Then again, a guy like him is probably used to it. Coming from the MMA circuit, he’s used to women throwing their panties at him. I am not going to be one of those women. Ever.
His hardened demeanor changes, and he offers me a grin that is so playful, so downright sexy and mesmerizing, it’s all I can do to stop myself from ripping my panties clear from my hips and tossing them at him.
No, no, no, Haven.
I am here to work, not to get involved with a local, no matter how good looking, and…sweet, he is. Really, beneath that rough and tough surface, I think maybe Gram was right, and he is a softie.
“You think I’m strong?” he teases.
All the tension from the day spills out of me and I laugh. “I think you’re something,” I say.
“You’re something too,” he responds when we reach the top step.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing.” He scrubs his face. “I’m just tired. I don’t know what I’m saying.”
I stretch out my arms and stifle a yawn, and his glance drops to take in my chest as I expand it. Holy shit, I’m not sure any man has ever looked at me with such desire in his eyes. Truthfully, most men don’t look at me—Haven. They see the movie star actress, the character I played. Then again, am I ever really myself anymore? Do I even know who Haven is, or what she wants, after all these years of pretending to be someone else?
I follow him to a room, and he stands back, gesturing for me to enter. I walk past him, my body brushing his, and I’m certain he just cursed under his breath. Is he feeling this ‘thing’ between us too? Could that be what Carter was picking up on?
He looks like he’s about to leave, and even though I should let him, I find myself saying, “Gram said there were eight of you. Cousins and brothers?”
“Carter, Ryan and Jace are cousins. They grew up with us after their parents died.”
I touch his arm. “I’m sorry, Tyler.” His gaze drops to my hand and I pull it back.
“Sean, Jamie, and the twins, Jared and Jacob are my brothers. I’m the middle child.”