But now, as Ty stared at me, I couldn’t get the words out.
“It’s okay.” He pulled back and adjusted his jeans. “I won’t come over to you”
I sagged with relief. I couldn’t have my two worlds collide. I needed my job, for my own sanity. If I had to choose, it would have to be Max.
“I’m gonna go.”
“You don’t have-”
“Sweetheart…” He cupped my face again. “There’s no way I can sit across the room and watch him touch you, not after…”
I nodded, solemnly. I didn’t understand completely but I was grateful.
“I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” I didn’t look back at him as I walked out. If I did, I wouldn’t have left that room.
I opened the door, looked both ways and went over to the ladies’ bathroom.
It wasn’t until I saw my swollen lips and hair that what was a mess that I realized what I’d done. How had I allowed myself to get caught up in Ty? With Max only in the next room?
Max was right. I was a bad person. This just confirmed it.
But if this was what it felt like to be bad, then I didn’t want to be good because right now, I felt more alive than I ever had.
I patted my hair into submission as best I could, but there was only so much I could do with the frizz ball. The cold water that I splashed on my face helped a little, but I still felt like it was all a dream.
My hand touched my swollen lips. They tingled, confirming that it hadn’t been a dream. Ty had kissed me. His soft, full, lips had caressed mine, I swear I could still feel his hand on my butt.
“Are you Kay?” I jumped at the voice. My hand dropped from my face as I stared at the woman in the mirror.
“Err.. Yes.”
“Your boyfriend is waiting outside.” She pointed back at the door then closed the stall door behind her.
I took a deep breath, checked my face for any obvious signs of what had just happened and opened the door.
Max stood there, his back against the closet door. His face was shadowed by the low lights, a muscle in his jaw ticking as he watched me.
“What the fuck took so long?” he gritted out. I swallowed, my mouth dry.
“Well?” He moved off the door.
I stepped back out of instinct. His eyes flashed, a smirk lifted the sides of his mouth.
He wouldn’t do anything here, not with all these people about.
“You think you can get away from me?”
“I…I’m sorry.” His hand came out lightning fast, gripped my arm and pushed me against the wall.
I couldn’t help but compare the way he touched me with the way Ty touched me. When Ty touched me, I felt alive, like I was living for the first time. When Max touched me, my stomach rolled.
“You think you can just walk away from me?”
“No-”
“Without asking first?”
“I-” His hand moved from my arm, I felt relief for a brief second. That disappeared as his hand wrapped round my throat.
“You need to be corrected.” He shook his head. “When will you learn?”
His eyes were almost black; I couldn’t see any of the green.
His hand tightened and I gripped his arm, willing him to let go. The edges of my vision turned black. If he didn’t let go soon I’d pass out.
“You need to be taught…” He grunted. “How to behave”
“Please-” I pleaded.
He let go when the sound of the door squeaked open, he didn’t move other than to let go of my throat. I coughed and sputtered, rubbing at my throat.
From this position, things could be seen in a different way. We looked like any other normal couple.
“Everything okay here?” I knew that voice, I held back my groan and met Ty’s eyes.
His fists were clenched and his eyes guarded. He looked Max up and down then moved those eyes to me. He saw something but what he saw I didn’t know.
“Mind your own business,” Max gritted out.
Ty stood there unmoving.
“Let’s go.” Max pulled me off the wall and threw his arm over me.
“Keep your mouth shut,” he warned, only low enough for me to hear.
I looked down to the floor as we walked past Ty.
“Good girl,” Max murmured.
I didn’t look back up until we were safely outside.
*~*~*
I pulled a scarf around my neck the next morning before I got out of my car. The bruises were faint but I didn’t want to risk any questions. I pulled the metal door open and came face to face with Luke.
“Morning.” I smiled.
“Yeah,” he grunted back and tried to move round me.
I blocked the way until he looked up with narrowed eyes.
“I need to get past.”
“Am I really that bad?” I asked.
I’d been working here for several weeks now and he hadn’t said more than one word to me and that was only when he handed me his files to type up. I get that he was the silent broody type but the fact that it was only me he ignored made me sure it was something to do with me and not him.
“What’s the hold up?” Kitty said from behind me.
“She won’t move.” Luke huffed.
“What? Why won’t you move?” She rested her chin on my shoulder and I turned to her our faces centimeters apart.
“He needs to say good morning first.” Kitty laughed, right down my ear.
“Oh god! You’re hilarious.” I squinted at her voice.
“What? It’s something that he should say. I can’t understand half of the grunts that he uses!” I flailed my hand about.
I saw him smile out of the corner of my eye, he couldn’t hide that smile. It lit up his whole face. I whipped my head round ready to catch him but he frowned as soon as I turned.
“Good morning,” he grunted. I moved to the side and waved my arm wide for him.
“That’s all I wanted!” I shouted after him.
“Crazy.”
“I heard that!”
“Good!” he shouted back.
I stepped into the warehouse with Kitty behind me and went straight to the kitchen, switched on the coffee machine and then pulled my coat off.
“You got time for a chat?”
“Yeah” I held up my coat and bag and gestured toward the door to let her know I was going to put my things in the office.
Ty sat at the desk when I walked into the office, his arms crossed as he watched the doorway.
My heart thumped in my chest, I wanted to walk back out again, but walk to him at the same time. I was torn. I didn’t know what I wanted.
“Kay-”
“Not now, Ty.” I hung my coat up and put my bag on the couch.
I wanted to avoid the conversation that we needed to have. I wanted to pretend that I didn’t see him last night, that I didn’t sleep at all last night because all I could imagine was the way he had held me. The way his lips felt against mine.
I should have been worried about the way Max had been, how pissed off he was. I should have been thinking of a way to apologize to him.
Instead I lay there most of the night with my hand pressed against my lips, a smile on my face and imagined it over and over again.
“We need-”
“I can’t.” I choked out and fled from the room.
I rushed out of the office and to the meeting table where Kitty was waiting with two cups of coffee. I sat next to her, my face flushed.
“So…”
“So…” I took a sip of my coffee and raised my eyebrows.
“How do you like working here?”
“I love it.” I sat up straighter. This was something that I had no doubt about. Whatever went on outside of the work didn’t matter when I was here. This place had become my sanctuary. The place where I didn’t have to watch my every step. Where I could be more than a mom.
I loved Eli to bits, but I was eighteen when I had him and I
hadn’t done much of anything apart from being his mom. I needed time to be me.
To figure out who I was.
“The best part is when I get to go out. I love to watch people; see how they are when they think no one is looking.”
She opened her mouth to say something but I beat her to it.
“Do you know how many men pick their nose? And eat it?” I laughed at the grimace on her face.
“That’s so gross.” She shook her head.
“I know, right?” I snorted.
“How’s it going with boss?” she asked.
“Good.” I nodded, trying to keep a straight face and willing my cheeks not to heat. I took a sip of my coffee. “I have a question though”
She raised her brows, tilting her head.
“How old is Ty?”
She frowned, leaning back in her chair “twenty-six…why?”
“Just wondered.” I shrugged. I was sure that he was older than that, he acted way older. Maybe it was the whole ‘boss’ thing.
We both sat silent for a couple of seconds.
“You ever done anything like this before?”
I sat back in my seat and held the coffee on my lap.
“No, I had a job in a hotel.” I shrugged. “But I had to give that up when I had Eli.”
“Eli?”
“Yes, my son.”
“Oh frack! You have a son?” Her eyes widened. “I never knew you had a son.”
I pulled my phone out and clicked onto the pictures. I’d seen so many moms do this in supermarkets or the park. I hadn’t ever been able to do it. It didn’t strike me until that moment what a normal thing it was to do; to simply show someone a picture of my son.
I found my favorite picture of Eli, spider-man t-shirt and a face covered in chocolate, and handed it over.
“Ahhhh, he’s adorable.” She swiped her finger on the screen, smiling or chuckling at each picture.
“Those eyes.” She looked at me with wide eyes and I nodded, knowingly.
I knew all about those eyes and the effect they could have on you.
“What we looking at?” I yelped at the voice near my ear. What was it with these men sneaking around?
“Jeez, Evan!”
“Sorry not sorry.” He shrugged and walked around to Kitty and he looked over her shoulder and then back to me.
“Who’s lil dude?”
“Her son, Eli,” Kitty said and handed the phone to Evan
“Wow, how old is he? Like, ten?”
“He’s four, Evan.” I rolled my eyes and looked away.
Ty was sat at the head of the table with Luke next to him. I hadn’t realized they had even sat down.
I swallowed at the look in his eyes, he watched me with an intensity that had me shifting in my seat.
“Didn’t know you had a son,” Luke said. I tore my eyes from Ty, which was a feat in itself and looked at Luke.
“Yeah.” I nodded.
He smiled. A real genuine smile and held his hand out for the phone.
I’d never have guessed that out of all the things that would make Luke smile it would have been to finding out I had a son. Evan passed him my phone and sat next to Luke.
“I put our numbers in,” Evan said and nodded at the phone.
“Oh, thanks” I never even thought about having their numbers. I only used the phone to take pictures and in case the preschool needed to get a hold of me.
“You should bring him over sometime,” Ty said.
I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. There was no way that I would bring him here, I wouldn’t make Eli lie about me to Max.
I’d told enough lies for several lifetimes and I wouldn’t subject Eli to that. I didn’t want him to become like me.
I looked away and pushed back on my chair.
“I need to-” My pad and pen slid down the table.
I looked to Ty, this time butterflies swarmed as I watched him smile. His eyes flicked down to my lips. He was thinking the same thing as me.
How my lips felt against his. How I didn’t know if I could forget the way they made me feel. How that one kiss could have possibly just turned my whole world upside down.
Chapter Eleven
I trained with Evan almost every day since that first time. It was always the same, me punching the pads but the only difference now was that I had gloves.
I was getting better. At least I thought I was.
As far as I was aware nobody knew what we did, and now that I was avoiding Ty I had an excuse to escape him and go and take my frustrations out on Evan.
It had been a week since the ‘bar incident’ and I’d successfully avoided him and all of his attempts to talk to me.
I didn’t want to face him, I didn’t want to listen to what he had to say or the rejection that he was going to give me. So I avoided him instead.
Evan had arranged for us to do some training before everyone else came into work. We normally did it during the day when everyone was out on jobs but he said that he wanted to start and do it before everyone came in, I’d asked him why but he fobbed me off.
I parked in my normal space and went into the warehouse. The lights were already on.
That should have been my first warning, I gasped when I lifted my head.
Ty stood in the middle of the training mats; feet apart, arms crossed and a fierce look on his face. I couldn’t stop my eyes flicking down to his arms and the tattoos that mesmerized me.
“Ty?” I croaked.
“Kay.” He nodded.
I moved closer, my brow furrowed.
“Ready for training?”
“What? I don’t-”
“You thought I didn’t know?” He chuckled. “Sweetheart, I know everything that goes on around here”
I stared at him in confusion, Evan had promised me that no one knew about our training.
“But-” I stumbled at the edge of the mat. How had he known? And more importantly, why was he here instead of Evan?
“Where’s Evan?”
“Out,” he grunted. I looked around, sure that Evan would come in any second now. I couldn’t trust myself around Ty. One touch and I’d melt into a puddle.
“I think I’ll…err…”
I felt him move closer and I lifted my head to meet his eyes.
“Ty-”
“Ready for training?” he said, softer this time.
I stared into his eyes, I could get lost in them for hours. He was always so open with me; I could read him like I’d never been able to read anyone else. I noticed how he would only drop his walls with me, whenever we were around the others I could see the difference in the way that he looked at them.
“Okay,” I whispered and opened my bag for my gloves.
“You won’t need those,” he said and moved back a couple of steps.
“I won’t?”
“No.” He shook his head. “Self-defense today.”
“But we always-”
“You need to know how to protect yourself.” His eyes flashed with a meaning behind them. Only this time, he threw his walls up and wouldn’t let me see past them. I hated that he had done that. I frowned down at my bag then looked back up at him.
“Right.” I cleared my throat. “Okay.”
“Come here.” He flicked his wrist.
Moving closer, I breathed him in and enjoyed that freshly showered smell wafting in the air around us.
Great. Now I was thinking about him showering. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the images and concentrated on Ty.
“Try and get out of my hold,” he said and wrapped his arms around me.
I struggled for several seconds, using all of my strength but I still wasn’t getting anywhere.
At least I thought I was using all of my strength.
He let go and huffed out, “You’re not trying.”
“Sorry, it’s a little hard when you’re squeezing so tight.” I blew a breath out the side of my mouth, frustrated.
“Ka
y?” He shook his head but I saw the grin that spread across his face. “Let’s try again.”
“Okay.” I straightened up and widened my stance.
“This time, I’m going to try and get you on the ground.”
His arms wrapped around me from the front this time. I squirmed in his hold, our bodies touching in ways that I’d only imagined.
He pulled me to the side and rocked back, both of us landing on the mat. Ty’s arm came out to cushion the blow.
We both grunted but neither of us moved.
My legs were open, Ty fit perfectly inside them. I sucked in a breath at the contact, my chest rising and falling rapidly.
My eyes closed as his breath flowed across my neck a shiver rolling through me.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered. “What are you doing to me?” I sucked in a breath as he moved closer. His hips sending sparks between my legs at the contact and moaning as he pressed his lips against my neck.
I lifted my hips up to his and moved my head to the side to give him better access. My hands wandered over his arms and up to his shoulders; feeling every dip of his muscles.
“Ty.” I groaned. “Don’t stop”
“I won’t,” he growled and grabbed my thigh bringing it up and over his hip.
I lost myself in his kisses and the rolls of his hips. My head thrown back. I didn’t have a care in the world.
All that mattered right now was the way he was making his way to my lips, and the touch of his hand as it slid further up my thigh.
When our lips finally met, I moaned even louder. He opened his mouth, swallowing the sound and answering me with one of his own as our tongues slid against each other.
I never knew I could feel this way, so out of control but so in control all at the same time.
I never wanted it to stop.
I followed him as he pulled back. “Sweetheart.”
“Hmmm.”
“Stop,” he groaned.
“Why?” I opened my eyes, studying his heaving chest.
“Because…” he whispered.
I frowned. Because? That was his answer?
He just told me that he wouldn’t stop and now he was stopping?
I moved my eyes to his, he told me so much with that one look.
“Fine,” I ground out and squirmed from underneath him.
My head spun as I stood too quickly.
“Kay-”
Fractured Lies: Book 1 MAC Security Series Page 9