she could. Why was he throwing a wrench into her well-executed excuse? Wasn’t it apparent to him that she was trying to avoid Russell? Weren’t firefighters supposed to save people? Didn’t he see that she needed saving?
For some crazy reason, Tyler seemed determined to beat her at her own game.
He winked at her. Then he looked at Russell. “We’d love to come.”
Resignation swirling in Nya’s gut like black tar, she faced Russell. “All right, then. Since the dinner is canceled, we’ll be there.”
Russell clapped his hands together. “Excellent.” Then he reached into his jacket pocket and produced two tickets. “Here you go. These will get you into the premiere.”
Tyler took them. “Thank you.”
“I’m the lead actress,” Topaz said to Tyler. “It’s my first big role.”
“Great,” Tyler said. “I look forward to it.”
With a nod, Russell said, “We’d better continue making the rounds. More people to see.”
“Don’t let us stop you,” Nya said, her fake smile still plastered on her face.
“Good to see you again, Nya.” Then, finally, Russell turned and walked away. Topaz turned, casting a lingering glance at Tyler as she started walking off with Russell.
The nerve!
The moment they were out of earshot, Nya turned to Tyler. “What did you think you were doing?”
“Tyler McKenzie,” Tyler said, offering her his hand. “Pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
Nya glared at him. “I know who you are. I work at the photography studio with Sabrina.”
“Ahhh, that’s right.” He snapped a finger. “That’s why you looked familiar.”
“Nya,” she told him, a little hurt that he didn’t remember her. “Nya Lowe.”
“Now that we’ve been properly re-introduced, are you going to kiss me again?” Tyler asked.
Her face flaming, Nya forced in an even breath. Then she felt a measure of disgust. “You men. You’re all the same.”
Tyler chuckled. “Excuse me? You kiss me, then you look at me like I’m some sort of creep?”
“Don’t you have a fiancée?” Nya asked. She remembered that he had mentioned his fiancée during the photo shoot and had dashed her hopes of dating him in the process.
“I did,” Tyler said. “It ended about four months ago.”
“Oh,” Nya said, feeling stupid. “I see. I—I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be sorry.”
“That was my ex-boyfriend, and I needed someone,” Nya explained.
“Happy to help.”
Tyler grinned at her, a smile that was both charming and disarming. But still Nya wasn’t impressed with his antics. “Obviously, you had to have realized that I was trying to escape Russell. Yet you accepted an invitation to a film I clearly don’t want to go to. You’re a firefighter. Don’t firefighters rescue people?”
Tyler chuckled. “I’ve never quite had to rescue anyone in exactly that manner before...”
“You know what I mean,” Nya said.
“You laid one on me without any explanation. If you wanted help, shouldn’t you have just asked instead of kissing me?”
“You’re right,” Nya conceded. “Obviously, you had no clue what I was doing, and I’m sorry for the way I handled things. It’s just, suddenly he was there, and I panicked.” Nya paused, realizing that she was doing too much talking. “The problem is, you created a bigger mess for me by telling Russell that we’ll go to the screening of his film.”
“Or, what I’ve actually done is give you another opportunity to drive your point home.”
“How so?”
“You clearly want to prove to this guy that you’re over him. So why don’t we get dressed up on Friday night and go to the movie premiere? After that, there’ll be no doubt in his mind that you’ve moved on.”
Nya’s stomach fluttered. Just what was Tyler proposing to leave no doubt in Russell’s mind? A night of hot kisses and close embraces?
“As much as I appreciate your willingness to help out,” Nya said, “I’m going to refuse.”
“Oh.” Tyler’s eyebrows rose, and a confused expression passed over his face.
“What?” Nya asked. “What’s with that look?”
“It’s just...I thought you kissed me because of your ex, but maybe that’s not why at all.”
“Excuse me?”
“I thought you used me to get to your ex, but maybe you were actually using your ex to get to me.”
Tyler didn’t know why he was toying with Nya. But then, no strange woman had ever just kissed him out of the blue. Tyler was a hot-blooded male. When a woman as sexy as this one kissed you, you wanted more.
But given the look on her face right now, it was clear that the last thing on her mind was kissing him again. Those beautiful lips had parted, and indignation was flashing on her face.
“Excuse me?”
Tyler knew he should retract his statement, but even her anger was incredibly sexy.
“Maybe kissing me had nothing to do with your ex.”
“You must be out of your mind.” Nya’s eyes blazed. “Of course I wasn’t coming up with an excuse to kiss you. I was desperate, and you were there.”
“Ouch,” Tyler said. Her words stung more than he expected.
“Sorry,” Nya said immediately. Closing her eyes, she exhaled sharply. “I didn’t mean to sound so callous.”
“I’m not sure I’ve ever been kissed—then insulted,” Tyler said, still trying to keep the mood light. He wanted her at ease, because he still wanted her around.
“I didn’t mean that.” Nya groaned. “I’m sure women enjoy kissing you. Just not me.”
“Double ouch.”
“Can we please stop talking about this? I keep saying the wrong thing.” Her chest rose and fell with another sigh, something that made Tyler’s groin tighten. Nya was wearing
