Chapter 27
The rumbling of my stomach broke the quiet peace of the kitchen.
Ty chuckled, easing me up. The change in position made liquidy things slide out of me. He let out an appreciative sound. “I like the way that looks.”
I burst out laughing, even as I felt my stomach tighten. I was naked from the waist down, all kinds of things exposed. Clamping my legs together, I tried to keep my breathing even.
Ty ran a hand up my hip. “How about you go clean up and I’ll make us some breakfast.” He helped me stand, giving me a quick kiss, acting like everything was perfectly normal and I wasn’t starting the slow slide into freakout-ville.
Smacking my butt, he pulled his pants up. “Get going, woman.”
Hastily, I grabbed my leggings and went to the powder room.
Emerging a few minutes later, I felt refreshed, if sore, and apprehensive. The last twenty-four hours had changed so many things, and I wasn’t sure what to do with any of it. The smell of bacon and eggs drew me back to the kitchen.
“It’s a nice morning. Want to eat out back?” Ty plated the food he’d cooked up, grabbing the toast as it popped up in the toaster.
“Sure.” I grabbed a bowl of fruit I kept ready in the fridge. As an afterthought, I grabbed the fresh orange juice I’d squeezed along with two glasses.
The morning was surprisingly warm, only a hint of chill in the air. I wondered if we were in for another midautumn heat wave.
Settling on the settee, we dug in, letting the quiet noises of nature act as our music.
I demolished everything on my plate. It would have been embarrassing if Ty, who had double the amount I did, hadn’t beaten me to the finish line.
When my plate was empty, I reached for a piece of fruit from the bowl.
I curled into the corner, putting my feet between us.
As I played with a grape, my hand trembled slightly.
“We need to talk, Ty.” I took the initiative, something I wouldn’t have done in the past.
Setting his plate aside, he gave me his full attention, placing a large hand on my calf. “I agree.”
Biting my lip, I waffled on where to start. Cady-Jo’s visit had changed so much. “I’m not sure where to start.”
“Why don’t we just start with us and work our way out from there?” he suggested.
My mind spun, the low flap of butterfly wings in my stomach turning into an entire percussion section.
“That’s just the thing! It’s not just us!
It’s your mother, Louise, Helen, Jesse, and even Lock.
I’m still considered new in town. I have business with your mom.
My divorce is the definition of ugly.” Everything began spewing out of me like a geyser at a national park.
I didn’t know if it was because this was what my brain did or maybe I’d reached some kind of invisible line of the crap I could handle, or maybe it was just because it was Ty, and next to Alex and Aaron, he seemed to belong to that special group of people I could just talk to.
“My work commitments are piling up. I’m fighting to keep my anonymity.
The threats are scaring the daylights out of me.
I don’t know how they know who I am.” I didn’t even realize what I said, continuing on despite the tension that poured off Ty in waves.
“Your ex-girlfriend thinks you’re seconds from getting back together.
I have a kid I can’t screw any of this up for.
I told your mother I wouldn’t start something with you, and now I’ve gone back on my word—”
“What do you mean by ‘threats’?” His tone was dark and dangerous.
Crap. Crap. Craaappp! Me and my runaway mouth…
“It’s nothing,” I tried to dismiss it. “My agent and publisher are handling it.”
“Tell me.” Ty looked like he was seconds away from losing it. “Who has been threatening you?” He paused. “Is that why you have a security system and extra locks on the front door?”
Double crap. I’d hoped he hadn’t noticed. Yes, I was aware how stupid that sounded.
The hand on my leg tightened. “Tell me, Phoebe.”
Sighing, I closed my eyes. You and your big mouth, Phoebe. A part of me, call it stress, exhaustion, insanity, or…trust, had me telling him everything. The notes that came. The feeling like I was being watched sometimes. The fear.
The only reason I hadn’t hightailed it back to Atlanta was because they hadn’t threatened physical violence.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he demanded angrily.
“Because you didn’t know who I was? If I told you, then you’d know what I do and…” I hadn’t been ready for that. I trembled, thinking about how I came here to start over, to keep myself hidden, and every day I seemed more and more exposed.
“Come here.” He pulled me across the settee until I was pressed against his side. Instantly, I felt all those swirling emotions start to settle. And didn’t that just scare the holy hell out of me. “I’ve known about your identity for a couple of weeks now. You could have told me.”
“I—I’m not used to sharing things,” I admitted. Sharing meant opening myself up to people seeing me.
Ty pulled me closer, kissing the top of my head.
I could tell he wanted to know more. Maybe because he knew it would push me past my limit or because he figured I’d be more willing to share if everything else was sorted, he said, “We’ll circle back to those.
” I didn’t like the sound of that. “Let’s sort out the rest of your list first.”
I didn’t want to do that either.
When I remained silent, he sighed. “I know this is more complicated for you than it is for me.”
I snorted. “Cady-Jo asked me if anything had happened between us, and I told her it hadn’t.” Mental things and maybe a few scenes on the page didn’t count, right? “She also told me you were off-limits, and I agreed.”
Ty cursed. “She had no right.”
I shrugged. “She’s a mom. She has the right to want the best for her child.
” I felt the same way about my son. “Things are much more complicated now.” I told him about all the little quips and innuendo Cady-Jo had dropped over the last week, suggesting not just that Ty and Olivia were going to get back together but that Olivia was the woman she could accept for Ty.
“That’s not my only concern. Lock is finally happy and settled.
He has Scarlette. He’s made friends. He has you coaching his baseball team.
Hell, he’s playing baseball. He struggled so much in Atlanta.
If things don’t work out between us, what happens to him?
Cady-Jo’s made it clear she’ll make sure the welcome we’ve received is rescinded… ”
“What does that mean?” Ty’s finger hooked under my chin, forcing me to look up at him.
For the love of God, when would I learn?
“All of it, Phoebe.”
“Fine,” I grumbled, telling him about Cady-Jo’s subtle yet not-so-subtle threat.
Ty looked ready to explode. I reached up, running my fingers over the nerve ticking at his temple. “She’s gone too far.”
Did she? Maybe. “She’s a mom, Ty. None of us are rational when it comes to our kids.” Sure, just make excuses for her like old Phoebe, Phoebe.
“Don’t make excuses for her.”
“I’m not. I’m a mom. I know how irrational I can be.
I can’t hold her to a different standard.
” Even though I’d like to think I wouldn’t threaten to destroy another woman—a single-mom’s—standing in her new town.
Yeah, that was a line I couldn’t see myself crossing.
“It doesn’t matter, really.” At his incredulous look, I amended, “Okay, it does. But the bigger issue is…me. My life. It’s a lot to deal with for me and it’s mine to begin with. ”
“I know all that, baby, and I don’t care. I’m not afraid of a little hard work. You are more than worth it.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. Pressing my lips together, I burrowed into him with a shuddering breath.
Pushing my head back, he cupped my face.
I couldn’t help closing my eyes to savor the touch, trying to blink back the tears blurring my vision.
“Listen, scribbler.” He used the nickname I’d noticed he’d given me, which made me feel all gooey.
“This is complicated. I get it. I also know your ex has done some damage to your self-esteem.” He used his strength to keep me where I was when I tried to pull away.
“No. It’s nothing for you to be ashamed of.
The shame is his. What I’m saying is that I can handle that.
I can handle it all. What I can’t handle is looking at you, needing to touch you, and not being able to.
I’ll do this however you want. You can keep me your dirty little secret for all I care.
” I raised an eyebrow at him, earning a boyish smile.
“At least for Lock’s sake until things are settled between us.
As long as I get to have you, I don’t care. ”
It sounded like he meant something permanent…
His concern for Lock was my undoing. Any last shred of argument I had dissolved.
How could I say no when the man was going to let me be in charge because he was concerned about my son?
I didn’t know anything about the whole single-mom dating game, but I knew a man putting the child first was practically unheard of.
“A lot of my life is secret.” I didn’t say that I thought I’d never be able to let a lot of it out into the daylight. “What if…what if we kept this, us, just between us? At least until we are sure there is something more here than…?”
“There is.” He sounded so sure I almost believed him.
In my head, the million ways this could blow up in my face, in Lock’s face, flashed. I was thirty-nine; he was thirty. Our families were involved, our friends. At least if I could keep this between us for now, I could mitigate some of the damage when the reality of being with me hit Ty.
Ty gave me a long searching look, almost daring me to argue.
“I just need to make sure I’m doing the right thing for Lock.” I was pretty sure agreeing to this, to setting myself up for heartbreak because my heart was fully engaged here, wasn’t in my best interest.
“Okay. We’ll keep things between us for now.” Ty’s agreement was reluctant; he was not thrilled with it or with my unwillingness to agree there was something more here. I wasn’t sure which. “Actually, it will be between us and Wade.”
My mouth fell open in shock. “What?”
“Calm down. It’s not like I called him this morning to say I spent the night making my hot little scribbler scream my name.
” He gave me a sexy smile meant to tease, and damn if that didn’t work.
“He’s known about how I feel about you for a while.
” I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face.
I liked that while I’d been having illicit feelings for him, I hadn’t been alone.
“He won’t say a word, but it would be helpful having him know. ”
The situation last night with Ty’s truck popped into my head.
“Won’t he be mad at having to lie?” I already felt tremendous guilt over Ty, Wade, and Jesse keeping my secret. Asking Wade to keep another one…
Ty snorted. “He’s thrilled. He lives for clandestine stuff like this. No offense, baby, but Jack Ryan books are more his speed.”
Laughing, I said, “I happen to like those myself.”
“So, how would this work?” Hiding being a writer was probably going to be a lot easier than hiding dating someone.
“I think we play it by ear. We’ll continue on as we have. Only now, when we’re alone, instead of shoving my hands into my pockets to keep from touching you, I fully plan on indulging in touching you as much as I can.” His hand slid down my back, cupping my butt, and I giggled.
Was that why his hands were always in his pockets?
“What about Olivia?” After Jeremy and Layla, whether Ty and I were a couple in public or not, I wasn’t sure I could handle seeing him with another woman, especially one on a mission to get him back.
“I don’t know how much you overheard, but it’s beyond clear you are her endgame, and she seems awfully confident she’s yours as well. ”
Ty, the jackass, grinned. Narrowing my eyes on him, I shoved against his chest only to have him wrestle me back, this time laying me half over him.
“Calm your quill, scribbler. I’m not interested in Olivia. Now, you being so obviously jealous…”
Pouting up at him, I denied, “I’m not jealous!”
Ty’s belly rumbled against my chest as he laughed. “Whatever you need to tell yourself.”
Rolling my eyes, I pinched his side. “Stop being an ass.”
Ty took that as his cue to give me a long drugging kiss.
Lifting his head, he promised, “I’ll handle Olivia.
I can’t promise I won’t see her out and about.
It’s a small town and life just goes that way here.
I also don’t want to offend her and her family.
They’ve been friends with my mom for a long time.
But I promise you I won’t be alone with her, and I won’t be taking her to her parents’ party. ”
I let out a deep breath. When Ty said that, it sounded so different from when Jeremy had told me there was nothing going on with Layla after I’d accidentally met her. Still, a sliver of fear slid beneath my ribs and settled heavily inside of me.
“Now, about those threats…”