by Brooke Page
I reached for my phone and dialed Tyler’s number. It had been nearly two hours. I ground my teeth, worried he might be hurt or didn’t make it home okay. If he were still in the car, I wouldn’t want to distract him.
I bit my lip when it started to ring. He answered on the second tone.
“Hey,” his raspy voice said quickly.
I didn’t respond right away.
“Becca?” he asked questioningly. “Are you there?”
“Yeah,” I replied quietly. “I just um… I wanted to make sure you got home okay.”
He sighed over the phone. “It took me over an hour, but I’m home in my bed. I wish you were here.”
My lip quivered. Why the hell did I miss him so much?
“I do too,” I croaked.
“Becs, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to talk to you like that. I’m just tired, and I was really looking forward to seeing you this weekend. This snow sucks,” he apologized.
“I know, and I was short with you too. I’m sorry,” my voice cracked again.
“Don’t cry baby,” he said softly. “I hate when I make you cry.”
“Promise me I will see you this coming weekend, whether I drive to you or you come here,” I begged.
“I promise.”
Chapter 24
Corey and I had busted our butts the past two-and-a-half weeks on the prints for Edna Enterprise. Thank God she was a nice lady and not demanding and crazy. She was very helpful and answered every question we had and was understanding that Conklin blueprints took time which is why they were high quality and official.
“RJ is in town. He wants to meet with us this afternoon and go over what we have been working on,” Corey said, moving from his chair to the copy machine in the makeshift office the Conklins’ rented for us to work in. It was small, but we had enough space for the two of us, and as soon as other aspects of the building would need work, more employees would fit and shuffle in and out. I was more than happy to be half way done.
“I hope he is happy with what we have come up with,” I said, working on the CAD versions of our prints.
“As long as Edna is happy, his picky ass should be fine,” Corey said. “But we should prep a bit on what we are going to tell him.”
“I’m on it,” I said, swiveling over to the prints on the drafting table.
~
RJ walked into the office, his famous Conklin grin spread across his face. For once he didn’t have any assistants with him. I was surprised; he always had his blond arm candies with him.
“Becca, nice to see you. Are you enjoying Miami?” he asked.
I nodded my head yes, even though I hated being away from Tyler for so long.
“I know Tyler was upset about flights going to and from Chicago being cancelled this weekend. I was surprised when I asked him to come for me today that he turned it down,” RJ said nonchalantly, standing over the prints.
“He what?” I stuttered, trying to sound casual.
“He said he had something important he had to take care of today, and he would wait until Friday,” RJ said while studying the prints.
I gulped. What was important that Tyler had to do? “Did he have a meeting with a client?”
RJ shook his head no, making an expression as though he had no idea what Tyler’s excuse was. “I’m not sure. He didn’t really say. What is this, Corey?” RJ said sternly, pointing to something on the print.
I swallowed hard, trying to rid the lump in my throat. RJ didn’t say anything else about Tyler and surprisingly he kept his hands to himself and didn’t flirt. He was all business. I didn’t notice much of anything though because I was too curious what was keeping Tyler from coming and seeing me earlier.
~
It was close to 10:00pm which meant it was time for Tyler’s and my usual Face Time. I was more anxious than excited. I didn’t know how to ask him about what RJ had told me, or maybe he would tell me on his own? I bet he would. He wasn’t one to keep information from me, at least not anymore.
I had just gotten out of the shower and threw on a tank top and panties. It was so damn hot here. The temperature reached well into the 80’s, and I still wasn’t used to the heat. I was thankful for the air conditioning, but Jamie still liked it a little too warm for my taste.
The anticipated ding of the Face Time call was agonizing as I looked at my reflection in the phone. Finally the dinging stopped and the phone started to connect, and then I saw Tyler’s lovely face in my phone. His eyes were tired, and he was still in his work clothes, a loosened tie and messy hair. He was in a hotel room tonight. He must have been in Cleveland. I lost track of where he was every night lately.
“Hi,” I said as normal as possible, fixing my dampened hair as I looked at it in the smaller portion of the screen.
“Hi,” he sighed back, putting his head in his hand. “So how was your day?”
“Typical. I saw RJ. I think he flew back to Chicago today instead of staying. He didn’t even have his assistants with him.”
Tyler scrunched his eyebrows in. “That’s odd. He always has them by his side, or at least he always has Molly, you know the tall blonde, with him.”
“They are all tall and blonde,” I said mockingly.
Tyler’s tired expression turned playfully for a moment. “He does prefer blondes. Maybe that’s why he has backed off of you some,” he said a bit harshly. “Makes me love you as a brunette even more.”
I rolled my eyes. “Tyler, he only flirts with me to mess with you. He knows how easy you are to rile.”
Tyler scowled into the phone, running his thumb along his chin. “I’m not easy to rile. Although he did come and brag about how he was going to see you today.”
Okay, he gave the opening. Now to straight up ask him or skirt around why RJ came to see me and Tyler didn’t.
“I was surprised to see RJ. I thought maybe you would surprise me,” I said innocently.
Tyler gave a soft smile. “I wish I could have baby. But you know how RJ is.”
I waited a moment, hoping he would say more, give me more to go on than the small comment from RJ about why Tyler didn’t choose to come and check on the Enterprise Yachts account. When he still didn’t continue, I frowned.
“Did you have a meeting,” I asked, my calmness bordering irritation.
“I had a lot of work I needed to get done around here,” he said.
“Like what?” I asked, staring into the phone, trying to read his expression.
“Just, things. What I always do. I’m going to see you Friday, Becs,” he said quickly. He was dodging my question purposely, not giving me a straight answer. His demeanor changed into a slight panic. His normal confident disposition was breaking.
I pursed my lips and tapped my finger on the bedspread. I hated fighting with him, but damn it if he would just tell me the truth he would make my tolerance for us being apart a lot easier to handle.
“Becca, I’m tired, and I’m not in the mood to fight tonight,” he said while closing his eyes. His jaw ticked as he reopened them, a frown set firm on his face.
“All right. I will let you sleep. You look like you haven’t gotten much lately,” I said flatly.
He cocked his head at me, a frown still formed on his lips.
“Whatever it is that’s got you so pissed off, we can talk about on Friday. I love you and goodnight, Becca.”
I mumbled I love you back and hung up the video chat.
What the hell was he hiding? Was it something with Chino? His phone call with Nathan that I overheard Christmas weekend was pretty heated. I hoped to God it wasn’t anything involving Margo, but we buried that on New Year’s. Angry and frustrated, I plugged in my phone and attempted to force myself to sleep.
~
“Want to grab something to eat, Becca? The locals have been telling me Melino New York is great,” Corey asked. We were in our makeshift office, and it was almost 7:00pm. I was cranky all day and shocked Corey wanted to spend more time with me, espec
ially since we hadn’t done more than lunch together the past two-and-half weeks.
“Yeah, why not,” I said, faking a smile as I shut down my computer. I hadn’t talked to Tyler at all, not even a text message. I was fine with that because I was madder than I had been with him in a while.
We walked to the restaurant that was located in the hotel. It was very much fine dining and fancy with a pricey menu. Normally I shied away from expensive restaurants, but the fact that the obnoxiously secretive Conklin men would be picking up the tab made it easier tonight. I might even order an expensive bottle of wine.
Corey and I didn’t really say much at dinner. We were used to each other’s silence by now, and it was welcoming to eat dinner together. I loved Jamie, but she had met some Latin hottie the other day and hadn’t stopped talking about how she wanted to have her way with him. Maybe I was jealous, but I didn’t really feel like hearing her plot to seduce him this weekend when Tyler would probably come up with some excuse to ditch me again.
“I’m surprised Tyler hasn’t made an appearance these past few weeks,” Corey mentioned as he studied the dessert menu.
“Why would you say that?” I asked nonchalantly, pretending to look at the menu in front of me as though I were going to actually order dessert.
“Because I thought you two were together?” he said in a duh tone.
I looked up at him, a little surprised to hear him out right say it.
“He’s been busy,” I murmured, taking a sip of my wine.
I saw a grin escape out of Corey’s mouth. “You know, I thought Cooper had a crush on you for a while because he was always putting flowers in your cubicle before Christmas. But then one morning really early I saw Tyler doing the same thing. I don’t think he knew anyone was in the office. I didn’t put two and two together until I saw him look at you during the meeting announcing the Enterprise project.”
I just looked at him. Of course Tyler would be too ashamed to bring flowers down for others to see, the coward that he was.
Stop it Becca that was in the past. Give the guy a break.
Fuck me and my conscious.
“Not that it’s any of my business,” he said quickly, staring back down at his menu.
I shook my head. “It’s fine. We are just careful about our relationship with work. I’m sure you understand.”
“Of course. He seemed pretty possessive at the meeting though. Not very inconspicuous,” he teased.
I gave him a shy smile. My Ty had his possessive moments, but I think he was getting better.
“He felt bad about his display of affection. I doubt you will see him act like that again at a meeting.”
Corey just smiled. “Well he wasn’t as scary as usual. Sometimes he intimidates me as much as RJ with his silent presence and bleak attitude. He actually seemed not so wound up and pissed off,” he chuckled.
I couldn’t help but return his laugh, knowing exactly what he meant. I felt bad for all the coworkers that had been around him the past few weeks. If he were short and testy with me, I could only imagine what he was acting like around everyone else. Poor Cooper, he was probably getting the worst of it.
“He’s not so bad,” I said softly, wishing more than anything I could hold him, even though I was pretty damn sure he was keeping something hidden.
“Did you want dessert?” Corey asked, changing the subject.
I shook my head no, my mood temporarily lifted.
~
Corey walked me back to my room, mainly because it was on the way to his. We were laughing and smiling as we walked. I was in a better mood now, remembering the good things about Tyler. Even though I had been frustrated with Tyler, Corey helped to bring out the reasons why I loved him.
“Dinner was fun. We should have it more often,” Corey said as we were almost at my room.
“Yeah! It’s nice to sit and not be discussing plans,” I sighed, trying to block out the tons of prints that were scattered throughout my mind.
Corey laughed and agreed then his eyes went wide as they looked over my shoulder.
“Hey, Tyler. Nice to see you,” he said nervously.
My heart stopped as I rapidly turned. Was it really my Ty?
There he was, dressed in gray slacks and a light blue button up shirt, the collar undone, holding a single rose with a ribbon. His eyes were dark and his scowl was in full form, his mouth in a thin line as he looked past me to Corey.
More than ecstatic to see him, I rushed to him, throwing my arms around him as I jumped up to hug his neck, nuzzling my face in his broad chest.
He stumbled backward a bit, startled by my assault.
“I will, uh… see you two later,” Corey mumbled as he briskly walked by.
I looked up to see Tyler’s face, wanting to plant a big kiss on his lips, but he was scowling down at me, his bluer-than-green eyes hard. My excitement vanished. What was he so upset about?
Keeping my arms firmly around his neck, I asked, “What are you doing here?”
He swallowed hard, turning his head back to watch Corey walk to his room.
“I was going to surprise you. Do you always hang out with him after work?” he asked sternly, bringing his eyes back to mine.
I dropped my shoulders and glared at him. “We grabbed dinner as coworkers. Why don’t you look as happy to see me as I am to see you?”
Tyler furrowed his brows and leaned his head down so it was closer to mine as he put his hands on my waist. “I wasn’t expecting to see you walking to your room with Corey with that flirty little smile plastered to your face.”
I rolled my eyes and dropped my arms from his neck, turning out of his grasp to open the suite door.
“I wasn’t flirting with him,” I said through gritted teeth. “It’s called being friendly, and I consider him one of the few friends I have here. Stop acting like a jealous boyfriend.”
Tyler followed me into the suite, setting the rose down on the table. He crossed his arms and stared my way, biting the inside of his cheek so his glorious cheek bones were defined.
“How often do you have dinner? And why haven’t you told me about it?” he said, his tone strict and authoritative.
I walked up to him, putting my hands on my hips. “Tonight was the first time actually. See, I have been moping around because I’ve been in a shitty mood, and Corey asked if I wanted to grab some dinner, and I thought why not. Don’t worry, he didn’t pay for me, you did,” I grumbled.
He took his eyes from mine and burned a hole into the ground then closed them for a long period of time and reopened them. Now his eyes were tired and raw.
I cocked my head at him, the same exhausted feeling passing through my body. We were finally together and still let our frustration of not being able to see each other get the best of us.
“You’re ruining my surprise,” I said quietly, dropping my hands from my hips and stepping closer, filling the space in between us.
He let out a long breath, his eyebrows unfurrowing. “I know,” he said in barely a whisper. He took his hands and held my face, bringing my mouth to his. “Forgive me?”
I nodded my head and finally let our lips meet.
It was a sweet, sweet reunion, and I found my arms wrapping around his waist, keeping our mouths moving at a slow and steady pace.
“I hate that I didn’t come out sooner,” he said against my lips.
My mouth froze on his, my eyelids slowly lifting, memories of RJ’s words creeping back into my mind.
“Why didn’t you really come see me instead of RJ? RJ said he asked you to come, but you declined. Why?” I asked more forcefully, looking up into his eyes.
He swallowed hard, rubbing my cheekbones with his thumbs.
“I need to tell you something,” he whispered.
Chapter 25
Every bone in my body went stiff. For the first time, I had a real fear for what might come out of his mouth. His body wasn’t relaxed and was radiating all kinds of tension.
I to
ok a step back as he dropped his hands from my face.
“Hear me out, okay?” he said cautiously. I crossed my arms and walked over to the couch, taking a seat while watching him start to pace the room.
“It has been so hard for me to keep this from you, but I wanted to say it in person,” he said, his eyes on the ground and on his shiny black Oxford shoes. He ran a hand through his unruly hair that was longer than usual and needed to be cut. I bet his chest hairs were starting to show again.
Thoughts of him with his shirt off started to pop up in my brain, but I quickly pushed them back, needing to hear Tyler’s reason for staying in Grand Rapids for so long.
He finally stopped in his tracks, staring at me with apprehension.
“Margo came by my office,” he said quietly.
I stopped breathing. I thought she was long gone. I sat patiently, attempting to remain calm and not get up and flip out on him.
“She needed help. I guess her dad is sick, and she was desperate to find a way for him to come here from London and be treated.”
I stared at him blankly. “What does that have to do with you?” I asked insensitively.
He frowned. “Moving someone with cancer from a different country can be expensive Becs.”
It was my turn to scowl at him.
He began to pace again once he started talking. “I was really irritated with her when she walked through my door at first. Bitched at her to get out of my office, but then she started sobbing and everything spilled out in a rush.”
“When did this happen?” I asked, my words hard and to the point.
He stopped pacing again, his eyes nervously finding mine. “Two Thursdays ago.”
I stood up, my hands balled into fists. “You cancelled your flight to come see me because of her? You told me you had really important business you had to get done, and it was to be with her?” I accused through gritted teeth.
Tyler looked at me with confusion. Was he not expecting this reaction? Was he insane? How could he not think I would be mad as hell at him for picking his ex, the bat-shit-crazy nanny, over me?