by Tara Sue Me
“You look as if you feel better,” he said, trying not to grit his teeth as he talked. A hard task, watching as she walked into the main part of the cabin. Her hair was still wet, dripping at the ends. His mind flashed back to an image, years prior, of her hair dripping on his chest as she rode him in bed after a shower. The feel of those cool droplets of water splashing on his hot skin…
Fuck.
“Ty?” She raised an eyebrow while towel drying her hair.
“Hmm?”
“Are you okay?” She asked. “You look like you’re in pain.”
He shifted in his seat at the small desk he where he sat. “It’s nothing.”
But they’d known each other far too long and far too well for her to believe him. She glanced down at his groin.
“Doesn’t look like nothing to me,” she said with an evil grin.
“Let me rephrase,” he said. “It’s nothing you need to concern yourself with.”
“Trust me,” she quipped. “Your dick doesn’t concern me in the least.”
“I didn’t expect it would. That’s why I didn’t say anything.”
She sighed and sat down on the side of the bed, close to the desk he was at. If he wanted, he could reach his hand out and touch her knee. But he knew she wouldn’t welcome his touch, and he vowed to himself not to touch her again until she begged.
He cleared his throat, wanting to get out the rest of what he had to tell her. “There’s another reason I’m here.”
“You mean other than to annoy the shit out of me?”
He gave her a small grin at the I’m completely serious joke, but he knew it didn’t reach his eyes, and that more than likely, she’d realize something else was going on.
“Is something wrong?” She stopped drying her hair and placed the towel in her lap. “Why the somber look all of a sudden?”
Of course something was wrong, they weren’t together. It was the biggest wrong there was. But that wasn’t what she meant. And it wasn’t what he wanted to talk about at the moment.
“I had an appointment this morning,” he said. “That’s why I came in yesterday, and why I’m not part of the volunteer group today.” She hadn’t asked about his presence here at the campground, while everyone else was working.
“What kind of appointment?”
He wasn’t sure how she’d respond to his answer. If she’d be glad or thought he was wasting his time. Either way, she should know his intentions. “I still have no memory of….that night. But there’s a specialist in Key West who was highly recommended. I had a consultation with her earlier today. She thinks she can help me get parts of it back.”
“Hypnosis?” Lillian asked.
“Something like that.”
“Why would you do that?”
Lilian had never been a believer in hypnosis, claiming it was nothing but smoke and mirrors.
“Because I need to know what happened,” he said.
“I’ve always thought what happened was obvious.”
“Yes, but — ”
“Ty, stop. We’ve been through this. There were no traces of drugs found anywhere. Not in any of the barware, the drinks, nothing. You were tested, too, and everything came back clean.”
He couldn’t argue with anything she said. Yes, they had tested everything, including him, and found nothing to explain his lapse in memory. But that didn’t change the fact he still had a hole in his head where the memory of that night should be.
“I can’t stop,” he told her. “I have to know what happened. Can’t you see? I lost everything over a night I can’t remember.”
She sucked in a breath at his words.
Why, he wondered? Because he only referred to himself and didn’t say they had lost everything? He’d thought about it, but didn’t want to assume she felt the same.
“I get it,” she said. “I do.”
“Do you?” He arched an eyebrow at her.
“I’ve decided not to rat you out to Tom,” she said. “Though I’ll have you know my plan was to have a torrid affair this week and having you here will put a damper on things.”
It took him a second or two to realize she was joking. “Yeah,” he said. “I can see how difficult it could be to bring a man into the cabin you’re sharing with your ex-husband.”
“You aren’t even going to be known as my ex-husband for the next two weeks. You told them we were married.”
He kept to himself that if he had it to do over, he’d do the same thing again. “Give me these two weeks, Lillian. Give us these two weeks. Not for me to win you over or to try to make you change your mind, but to be us. Let’s put the past aside and work together to help those in need.”
Chapter 7
Lillian
As Lillian walked with Ty to the main building for dinner a few hours later, she couldn’t stop thinking about him undergoing hypnosis in order to recall the events of that night. She had to admit, when he first told her he had no memories about anything that had happened, she didn’t believe him. Sure, he couldn’t remember. Right. She wasn’t born yesterday.
But he never waved, and when he called his doctor and ask for him to run a toxicity screen, she started thinking maybe someone had slipped a little something in his drink.
Then the results came back and showed nothing. They had found no trace of anything on the items submitted. Though Ty continued in his insistence something had to have been done, Lillian found it harder and harder to believe. She couldn’t understand how it was possible for both him and his assistant to get naked in front of each other, then do God knows what in her bed, and him not remember a bit.
Torn between whether or not to believe Ty, Lillian reached out to the other guests who had been at the party that night. Isaac had been out of town on business, but Lance had attended, and he brought with him the woman he’d been seeing at the time, Sabrina. Sabrina was also a senior at Juilliard, and the recipient of the annual scholarship given by Lance’s family.
Franky, Lillian had thought it a bit questionable for the two of them to be dating, but it wasn’t her place to judge. Besides, if Barbra Murphy, Lance’s grandmother, founder and head of the scholarship foundation, didn’t seem to have a problem with it, Lillian shouldn’t either. Not that it mattered to a hill of beans anymore, since Lance was now dating a woman who’d also won the scholarship. Although to be fair, she had declined it eventually.
Regardless, while at the party that fateful night, Lance received a call from his attorney about several copyright issues concerning a gala Barbara had in the works. He ended up leaving early, but Sabrina wasn’t ready to go when he was, so they agreed for her to stay. Ty ensured Lance that he’d see to it personally that Sabrina made it home safely.
No two partygoers had the same story about what happened next. A few weren’t observant enough to have noticed anything beyond themselves and their own little world. Among those who claimed to know what happened, relatively little was consistent between them.
* * *
Lillian heard the sound of voices as they approached the main building, pulling her back to the present. Her heart pounded. Could she pull off two weeks of pretending to be married to Ty? Forget pulling it off, more importantly, could she mentally handle two weeks of pretending to be married to him?
She suspected that in leaving New York and coming to Florida, she’d jumped from the frying pan headfirst into the fire. She’d left to get away from him and to do something atypical in order to keep her mind off of him, and now she faced two weeks of sharing the same room with him. The irony would have made her laugh if she wasn’t the one actually living it.
She couldn’t decide if the current situation made her stupid, naïve, or just sad.
“Why so serious?” Ty asked.
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
“Dinner?”
“No.” She punched his arm. “You and me and this whole two week thing.”
He nodded. “For now, let’s just do dinner.”
No doubt they’d have plenty of time to hash out anything they wanted to over the coming days.
She sighed. “Okay.”
Ty pushed open the door to the main building, and they stepped inside. Off to one side, a half wall separated the small dining area from the rest of the cabin. At the moment its tables and chairs were filled with diners, eleven she estimated. Though they all seemed to be talking and not eating.
“Are we late?” she asked out of the corner of her mouth.
“I don’t think so,” Ty replied. “By my watch we left our cabin early.”
That’s what she’d thought, too, but that didn’t explain all the people sitting at the tables.
“There you two are.”
Lillian and Ty both turned to find Tom standing off to the side.
“Are we late?” Lillian asked.
Tom shook his head. “No, I forgot to tell you two that everyone congregates in this building before dinner.”
That explained why no one was eating. There were noticeably more men than women, seven and three, but that made sense.
“Is this everyone?” she asked. She thought it probably was. According to the website, the total number of people working in any group would be limited. She preferred small groups. They were more personal, allowing you to get to know each other better. Or that had always been her thought, anyway.
Smaller groups were also more intimate, but that wasn’t a word she thought wise to use around Ty. Though she’d wished she’d thought about a brief fling before she allowed him to stay in her room. It would be nice to have sex again.
Another thing she would not be telling Ty. Besides, the one and done lifestyle had never been her thing. If other people wanted to sleep around, okay for them. Assuming, she felt the need to add, that no one was married to someone else.
“Almost, everyone,” Tom said in reply to her question. “I don’t see EJ yet. He’s the site manager. He should be here soon. We really lucked up. He’s only able to get away from his office and help in person once a year or so. Most of the time, he works with us remotely.”
“What does he do?” Ty asked.
“What doesn’t he do?” Tom replied and then chuckled. “He says he’s an architect, but I think he has as few other degrees he’s hiding.”
“Sounds like he’s a handy guy to have around,” Ty said.
“He is. I’ll introduce you later. “ Tom nodded toward the dining room. “Looks like it’s time to eat.”
They soon found themselves sitting and eating with the other volunteers. Everyone was warm and inviting. There was one other couple, a group of three recent college grads, and the remaining five were from the same small business.
“Team building on crack,” A woman with the business group, said with a snort. Lillian soon learned that she was the owner of the business.
The three college graduates reminded her so much of Lance, Isaac, and Ty at their age. She could imagine the three of them doing something similar if the opportunity would have provided itself.
The man and woman who made up the other couple were friendly, but didn’t join in the conversation much. All Lillian learned about them was that they had retired recently.
After dinner, they were all to meet in the main room to discuss the new project they were starting the next day. Lillian and Ty cleared their places and were getting ready to find a seat, when Tom called out to them.
“Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft,” the older man said. “Come over here. I want you to meet EJ.”
Lillian turned back around with a big smile, excited to meet the man who impressed Tom so much. Her face froze at the sight of him.
“Fucking hell,” Ty said.
EJ was Eric the Dom.
Chapter 8
Ty
If there had been any doubt in Ty’s mind that the universe hated him, seeing the Dom Lillian made a connection with days earlier, standing in front of him in Florida would have crushed it like a bug.
“Lillian,” Eric said, his mouth open in shock, but obviously thrilled to see her again. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Ditto,” Lillian replied in a stunned voice.
Eric looked at Ty and narrowed his eyes. “Mr. and Mrs. Bancroft?”
Ty shrugged. He wasn’t going to tell the man anything.
“Lillian?” Eric asked.
She waved her hand, dismissing the unasked I-thought-you-called-him-your ex-husband question. “It’s a long story.”
“That appears to be a recurring theme for you,” Eric replied with a half smile.
“It’s a gift,” Lillian replied.
Damn it all to hell and back. She was teasing him.
“I see you guys already know each other,” Tom said, thankfully interrupting the happy reunion scene.
“I think saying we know each other is a stretch,” Ty said. “It’s more along the lines of we know of each other.”
“Either way. I’m glad you’re here,” Eric said, but he only looked at Lillian when he spoke. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get everyone together and we’ll go over our project for the next few days.”
Lillian nodded, a serine smile on her face as Eric walked toward the front of the small gathering. Tom was at his side before Eric could address the small group, and they spoke in low voices no one could hear. Since everyone was still chatting, Ty leaned his head toward Lillian.
“Did you know he was going to be here?” he asked.
“Are you really asking me that question?” She didn’t turn her head to look at him.
“I think I just did. Don’t you think it’s questionable the two of you happened to meet in Manhattan days before you arrive in the Florida Keys for a project he’s the site manager on?” He spoke to the side of her head, because she still refused to look at him. “I think it sounds like stalking if you ask me.”
“Well, I didn’t ask you.” She said without moving her head. “And no, it doesn’t sound like stalking. It sounds like destiny.”
Destiny, his ass.
Eric asked for everyone’s attention, and as the group grew silent, Ty couldn’t help but look at and assess Eric.
This was the man Tom thought was so wonderful? Eric, the talented. Eric, the architect. Eric, the Dom. To Ty he looked like Eric, the ordinary. Ty didn’t think Eric was a stalker, but you could never know with any certainty what people might be capable of doing. Appearance could fool anyone. Maybe he’d give Eric’s name to Isaac and have his business partner look into him. If the architect Dom was going to be spending time with Lillian, someone had to ensure it was safe for her to be around him.
He needed Eric’s last name. Surely, he could get it from Tom.
“Anyone have questions?” Eric asked from the front of room.
Ty realized he’d tuned the man out and had no idea what they were doing or where they were going tomorrow. Maybe someone would ask a question.
But the seconds ticked by and no one raised their hand or spoke. Ty couldn’t believe it, there was always a person in every group with a plethora of dumb ass questions to ask. That guy. The one that made everyone roll their eyes whenever he opened his mouth.
“In that case,” Eric said. “Sleep well, and I'll catch you guys bright and early in the morning. If you’re riding the van, be sure to eat breakfast first. Wheels on the road at seven-thirty.”
Everyone headed to their cabins. Ty noticed Lillian yawning as they walked back. Their cabin was on at the end of the row. It wasn’t much of a walk, but the heat and mosquitos made it feel one hundred times longer.
He slapped at one of the blood suckers snacking on his neck. “I forgot to bring bug spray.”
“I brought some.” L
illian stifled another yawn. “You can use mine.”
“If I know you,” he said. “It’s some all natural, organic, doesn’t-work-like-crap spray you paid out the nose for.”
“Fine. Let the bugs eat you alive. It’s that or nothing.”
“Using that is the same as using nothing.” Ty opened the cabin door for Lillian to enter. She tried to talk but yawned instead, and he couldn’t make out a word she said. He chuckled and nudged her toward the bed. “Go to sleep. You’re exhausted. I promise I’ll let you insult me in the morning.”
She gave a sleepy nod. “Okay. Where are you going to sleep?”
“I’ll be fine on the floor.” She would have to ask him back into her bed. He wasn’t bringing it up, and he wasn’t asking.
He let her into the bathroom first, and by the time he finished she was already sleeping.
* * *
Ty groaned as he got to his feet the next morning. He was getting too old to sleep on the floor, was his first thought. His second was, when had he turned into such a damn wuss? It was still early, just after five, but he knew he’d never be able to go back to sleep. If he was in London, he’d go for a jog, and if he was in New York, he’d visit the gym Lance and Isaac had added to the office.
But he wasn’t in London or New York. He was in Florida, and already it was much too hot to jog, and he doubted the old resort had a gym.
Lillian was still sleeping after he made a quick trip to the bathroom and changed. Being as quiet as he could, he crept out of the cabin, making sure the door closed softly behind him.
As soon as he stepped outside, the humidity descended on him. Even so, he needed coffee. He wasn’t sure if anyone else would be up yet, but surely he could find a coffee marker in the area where they had dinner the night before.
The smell greeting him when he opened the door to the main cabin told him someone else was up and had the same idea as he’d had. Good. That meant he wouldn’t have to wait for it to make.