Even though his voice is gentle, I feel stung by his words.

He wants me to leave.

“Trust me,” he adds.

I step out of his hold.

“Sure,” I say, as if everything is fine.

Chapter 19

I’m at home, making myself some lunch, when my cell rings. I don’t recognize the number but decide to answer it. Maybe I’m hoping it’ll be Grayson, calling me from a different line. I haven’t heard anything from him since he asked me to leave his house last night.

“Hello?”

“Is this Melissa?”

“Depends who’s asking.”

“Tyler—Tyler Knight.”

“Oh,” I say, surprised.

He pauses for a moment before he speaks. “I was just calling because…I wanted to say thank you for bailing me out last night.”

“It’s fine.”

“Not many people would do that. You must care about my brother a lot.”

“I…” I only get one word out because I don’t really know how to answer that.

“I’m sorry about last night, with Grayson asking you to leave. He does appreciate everything you’ve done.”

“Okay.”

“He just…he thinks he’s protecting me.”

That gets my attention. “Protecting you from what?”

There’s a pause on the line. “Can we meet? I don’t want to talk over the phone.”

“Does Grayson know you’re calling me?” I ask. I don’t want to go behind his back on this…whatever it is that Tyler wants to talk about. But then, if it helps Grayson, maybe he should be left in the dark.

“No, he doesn’t know I’m calling. But I need help and there’s no one else I can ask.”

“You can ask Grayson, too. Talk to both him and me. Don’t you think that the three of us should approach this together?”

“No. I…look, I’m just gonna come out and say it. I’m in trouble and Grayson…well, he’s in trouble, too. But the thing is, he doesn’t know it. I really need your help, Melissa.”

“Okay,” I say.

“You’ll meet me?”

“There’s a coffee shop on Ninth. I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”

“Thank you, Melissa.”

I grab my purse and head for the door, my stomach twisting in knots. It’s not that I don’t trust Tyler or think he’s out to hurt me. But he’s definitely involved in something with some dangerous people.

I make a ten-minute trek to the coffee shop. I’ve been to this place a few times before with Tori. They do the most amazing carrot cake. And I could really do with some cake right now.

When I get there, Tyler hasn’t arrived, so I take a seat near the window and order a coffee and a slice of my favorite dessert. The waitress brings over my order as Tyler pushes open the door. He looks harried and a little nervous. His eyes are darting everywhere. I lift a hand to get his attention. He spots me and comes over.

“Something to eat or drink?” the waitress asks Tyler.

“Just a black coffee,” he says.

“Is coffee a good idea?” I joke.