behind the camera? Or had he and his wife not spent time here? She was still pondering the implications of that when she heard the purr of the car as it pulled into the driveway. Hastily she put the pictures back where she’d found them and walked outside just in time to see Tyler emerge from the car with an armload of groceries.
“Did you buy out the store?” she asked, chuckling at the amount of food he’d apparently bought for their supposedly simple meal.
“Once I got started, I couldn’t seem to stop.” His gaze settled on her face. “Maybe we’ll have to stick around a few days so it won’t go to waste.”
Maddie’s heart thumped unsteadily at the teasing suggestion. Staying here, alone with Tyler, was not an option. Alarm bells clanged from so many different directions, her head ached from the clamor.
“Let’s stick to our late lunch, shall we?”
He regarded her with disappointment. “What’s wrong, Maddie? No sense of adventure?”
“I’m as adventurous as the next person,” she assured him. “But I’m also out of work. I need to keep looking for a job. I can’t keep playing hooky.”
“It’s not hooky if you don’t have a job to begin with,” he reminded her as he carried the groceries inside and set them on the kitchen counter. “It’s seizing the moment.”
“Well, maybe you can afford to seize the moment, but I can’t.”
He paused while taking food from the bags to level a look at her. “If you’re in a bind—”
“I’m not,” she said hastily. “Not yet, anyway. I have some savings. I didn’t just impulsively take off with nothing to fall back on. But it won’t last forever.”
“Well, if your situation changes, you can come to me. I want you to remember that,” he said with apparent sincerity.
She stared at him in astonishment. “You hardly know me. Why would you be willing to loan me money?”
He shrugged. “Because I can.”
She suspected he meant exactly that. She also had the feeling that he would make the same impulsive offer to anyone he ran across who offered up a convincing sob story.
“Tyler, you can’t go around passing out money to everyone who seems down on his luck.”
“Why not? What good is having money if you can’t help other people?”
“It’s not that,” she said, frustrated by his inability to recognize the possibility that people might abuse his generosity.
“What then?”
“People will take advantage of you,” she said, ignoring the fact that in her own way she, too, was doing exactly that, though not financially.
“I suppose. But I’d rather risk that than ignore someone who might really need a helping hand.”
“Then give money to charities. Take a tax write-off.”
“I do, but this isn’t about getting a good deduction on my income taxes. It’s about stepping up to the plate, even when there’s nothing to be gained in return.”
“Are you for real?” she asked, unable to imagine him as the offspring of the hard-hearted Bryce Delacourt. Who had taught him such a standard? Surely not his father.
“You think there’s something wrong with doing a good deed every now and then?” he asked, studying her.
“Of course not, but people like you can get taken to the cleaners by con artists.”
He laughed. “I’d like to think I’m a better judge of character than that.”
Maddie wasn’t so sure. Take her, for example. She wasn’t at all what she appeared, but he didn’t seem to suspect it, not anymore, anyway. Whatever suspicions he’d held when they’d first met seemed to have vanished. He seemed to be accepting her at face value now. He’d invited her here, hadn’t he?
Was he truly beyond cynicism and suspicion where she was concerned? Or was she the one being deceived? Was this just his way of getting her to let down her guard so she’d slip up?
Maddie sighed. What a tangled web this was turning out to be.
“Why the sigh?”
“Just thinking about the fact that it must be nice not to be as
“Did you buy out the store?” she asked, chuckling at the amount of food he’d apparently bought for their supposedly simple meal.
“Once I got started, I couldn’t seem to stop.” His gaze settled on her face. “Maybe we’ll have to stick around a few days so it won’t go to waste.”
Maddie’s heart thumped unsteadily at the teasing suggestion. Staying here, alone with Tyler, was not an option. Alarm bells clanged from so many different directions, her head ached from the clamor.
“Let’s stick to our late lunch, shall we?”
He regarded her with disappointment. “What’s wrong, Maddie? No sense of adventure?”
“I’m as adventurous as the next person,” she assured him. “But I’m also out of work. I need to keep looking for a job. I can’t keep playing hooky.”
“It’s not hooky if you don’t have a job to begin with,” he reminded her as he carried the groceries inside and set them on the kitchen counter. “It’s seizing the moment.”
“Well, maybe you can afford to seize the moment, but I can’t.”
He paused while taking food from the bags to level a look at her. “If you’re in a bind—”
“I’m not,” she said hastily. “Not yet, anyway. I have some savings. I didn’t just impulsively take off with nothing to fall back on. But it won’t last forever.”
“Well, if your situation changes, you can come to me. I want you to remember that,” he said with apparent sincerity.
She stared at him in astonishment. “You hardly know me. Why would you be willing to loan me money?”
He shrugged. “Because I can.”
She suspected he meant exactly that. She also had the feeling that he would make the same impulsive offer to anyone he ran across who offered up a convincing sob story.
“Tyler, you can’t go around passing out money to everyone who seems down on his luck.”
“Why not? What good is having money if you can’t help other people?”
“It’s not that,” she said, frustrated by his inability to recognize the possibility that people might abuse his generosity.
“What then?”
“People will take advantage of you,” she said, ignoring the fact that in her own way she, too, was doing exactly that, though not financially.
“I suppose. But I’d rather risk that than ignore someone who might really need a helping hand.”
“Then give money to charities. Take a tax write-off.”
“I do, but this isn’t about getting a good deduction on my income taxes. It’s about stepping up to the plate, even when there’s nothing to be gained in return.”
“Are you for real?” she asked, unable to imagine him as the offspring of the hard-hearted Bryce Delacourt. Who had taught him such a standard? Surely not his father.
“You think there’s something wrong with doing a good deed every now and then?” he asked, studying her.
“Of course not, but people like you can get taken to the cleaners by con artists.”
He laughed. “I’d like to think I’m a better judge of character than that.”
Maddie wasn’t so sure. Take her, for example. She wasn’t at all what she appeared, but he didn’t seem to suspect it, not anymore, anyway. Whatever suspicions he’d held when they’d first met seemed to have vanished. He seemed to be accepting her at face value now. He’d invited her here, hadn’t he?
Was he truly beyond cynicism and suspicion where she was concerned? Or was she the one being deceived? Was this just his way of getting her to let down her guard so she’d slip up?
Maddie sighed. What a tangled web this was turning out to be.
“Why the sigh?”
“Just thinking about the fact that it must be nice not to be as
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