Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
Lydia finished vacuuming her large alphabet rug, then started rolling it up as Camille stepped in from the adjoining classroom.
“Knock, knock.”
Lydia smiled as she kept rolling. “Hey, you.”
Camille leaned her shoulder against the wall as she exhaled a long sigh, wearing a similar outfit to Lydia’s black capri yoga pants and tank top, but Camille’s shirt was pale pink, and Lydia’s was dark green.
Long ago, they’d both pulled their hair back into ponytails.
“I’m ready for a break. Right about now, I’m wondering why I didn’t hire professional movers. ”
Lydia grinned as she finished her latest task, standing upright as she wiped at her damp forehead with her forearm.
They’d been at it for a couple of hours.
It was likely they would be at it for several more, but she’d actually slept a little last night, so she was here for it.
“We are professional movers. Twice a year.”
“Well, I hate it,” Camille snapped.
Lydia winced. “Uh-oh. Do you need some of the chocolate in my emergency drawer?”
“I do.” Camille wandered over, opening the top drawer, helping herself to a full-size bar like she often did. “I can always count on you for the good stuff.”
“Let’s not pretend that that’s not survival food.”
Camille laughed before she bit into a dark chocolate square, humming in appreciation. “And just like that, I’m already starting to feel like me again, just a much less bitchy version.”
Lydia laughed this time as she wrestled the rug closer to the door, where everything would be taken out of the room so the janitorial staff could buff and polish the floors over the summer months. “Chocolate. It’s the true miracle drug.”
Camille took another bite. “Amen to that.”
She dropped the rug and brushed off her hands, stiffening when she spotted Ty standing in the doorway.
He grinned as their eyes met. “Hey, baby.”
Remembering her role, she forced a smile, noting the surprise in Camille’s big blue eyes as she darted a glance at her friend. “Hey.”
He stepped farther into the room, looking absolutely yummy in a pair of black athletic shorts and a white compression T-shirt that accentuated every glorious bump and ridge of his spectacular torso. “I brought you an iced chai.”
“I see that.” She took the cup that he held out to her, recognizing the logo from the local coffee shop down the road. “Thanks.”
“No problem.” He looked at Camille as several silent seconds ticked by. “Hey, I’m Ty.”
Camille nodded, clearly still surprised. “Hi.”
“Uh, Camille, this is Ty.”
Camille looked at her now. “I know. He just said that.”
“Right. Of course.” She exhaled an uncomfortable laugh as she shook her head, completely flustered.
She’d known that Ty would stop by at some point.
She just hadn’t realized that it would be now.
At the worst possible moment. When Camille was standing in her room and she hadn’t had a chance to mentally prepare. “Ty, this is my good friend Camille.”
He stepped forward, all cool and smooth, smiling as he shook Camille’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Camille returned his handshake. “You, too.”
He moved closer to Lydia, hooking his powerful arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side as his gaze tracked around the room. “This is really cute. Super cheerful.” He looked at her. “So, what are we cleaning up?”
She struggled to focus on what he was saying, knowing that Camille was still staring.
And it didn’t help that he smelled great again.
“Uh, everything. The bulletin boards need to come down, the posters need to come off the walls, and the name tags can come out of the cubbies and off the tables. Then we’ll need to stack everything in the corner. ”
He tossed her a wink. “Sure thing.”
“I should get back to my room,” Camille said, looking at Ty. “It was nice to meet you.”
“You, too.”
Then she looked at Lydia. “You’re going to need to give me a call later.”
Lydia nodded. “Okay.” But she planned to avoid her friend for the next little while because Camille undoubtedly had a million questions that she had no idea how to answer.
Camille looked at them once again, then closed the adjoining door.
Lydia immediately untangled herself from Ty’s hold, frowning as she looked at him. “Was that really necessary?”
He nodded. “Definitely. You’re in, so the show begins.”
She turned away, still completely rattled, pressing her hand to her stomach, more than half sick. “I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t think I can lie to all of my family and friends.”
He turned her back to face him, pulling her hand from her stomach, holding it in his. “From this point forward, it’s not a lie.”
“Yes, it is.”
He shook his head. “I think you’re a beautiful woman. We haven’t spent a lot of time together, but I meant it when I said that I like you.”
She nodded.
“This is the part where you’re supposed to tell me that I’m not too bad to look at either.”
She rolled her eyes as he made her smile.
He squeezed her fingers as he grinned. “Maybe it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that you might like me a little bit, too.”
Her smile vanished as she shook her head. “I can’t like you.”
His smile disappeared as well. “Why?”
“Because you’re trying to destroy my family.”
He shook his head. “I’m not the bad guy here.”
“It certainly feels that way.”
He sighed. “I’m not.”
“Uncle James and Will are good people. Honest people. There’s an explanation for all of this,” she reminded him again.
“That’s all I’m looking for. I’m just trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on. But if we’re going to do this…” He gestured between the two of them. “If you’re going to help me, I need you all in. It won’t work any other way.”
She swallowed.
“Are you all in, Lydia?”
She hesitated because she didn’t want to be. But she nodded because she didn’t have much of a choice.
He squeezed her fingers again. “Give me a chance. Be my girlfriend for the next few weeks.”
She closed her eyes as she blew out a quiet breath. “Okay.”
Ty stacked the last of the tiny tables and chairs in the corner by the cubbies as Lydia sat at her desk, filling out forms or typing on her laptop. She’d been quiet over the last couple of hours, mostly only talking when he asked her about the next task on her to-do list.
It was safe to say that this morning hadn’t gone well. His introduction to Camille had been less than smooth. Lydia was by no means a master of deception.
He sighed, worrying a little as he looked at her. He’d been optimistic after their meetup last night, but it was becoming clear that they had some serious work to do if they had any chance of pulling this off.
Lydia needed to be completely comfortable around him, which was currently a tall order when she saw him as the enemy.
They weren’t going to get anywhere if he couldn’t gain her trust. Now seemed like as good a time as any to try to move them in the right direction. “What are you working on over there?”
She looked up from the stack of papers. “Report cards.”
He frowned. “Report cards in kindergarten?”
She nodded. “In a lot of ways, kindergarten is what you and I remember as first grade. It’s not just playtime and naps. In fact, there are no naps. We have a full curriculum.”
“That seems like a lot for little kids.”
“They do okay. I try hard to keep it fun. We have several wiggle breaks throughout the day.”
He nodded as she got back to work. “So, what’s it like? Being a teacher?”
“It’s wonderful.” A smile lit up her face as she looked at him again. “I love it. The kids are so bright and curious. Little sponges. I love that I get to fill their fantastic brains with all kinds of knowledge.”
He loved it when she smiled like that—when she forgot to be careful, which didn’t happen very often. “How long have you been at it? Teaching?”
Her smile dimmed. “It’s hard to believe that you don’t already know that. I’m sure it was in your ‘get to know Lydia Monroe’ packet.”
He nodded because it was true. “I know you went to Michigan State. I know you have a master’s degree in education with a specialty in literacy education,” he said as he moved to her side of the desk, leaning his ass against the edge.
“But I want to hear about your life from you. I want to know you as much as you want to know me.”
She sighed as she nodded. “Okay. I just finished my seventh year.”
“And I imagine you’ll be back for your eighth?”
She nodded again. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
“I can understand that.”
Setting down her pen, she sat back in her chair as her shoulders visibly relaxed. “I take it you feel the same way about the FBI?”
He winced as he glanced around, making sure the doors to the hallway and Camille’s classroom were closed. “Yeah, I love what I do.”
“That’s good. It’s important to like your work.”
He nodded as he looked around at the empty walls and the furniture piled in the corner. Her once-adorable classroom now appeared cold and sterile. “What else can I do to help you around here?”
She shook her head as her gaze tracked around the room. “Nothing. You saved me a ton of work. Thanks to you, all I have to do is submit these to the office, and I’m finished for the year.”
“That must feel good.”
She nodded. “It really does. The next two months are pretty much mine.” She sent him a small smile. “Thank you, Ty.”
He smiled back. “No problem.”
“I could, um—I could buy you lunch,” she said as she sat up again. “There’s a food truck at the park that serves really great burgers.”
He nodded, recognizing that she was trying to do her part after their earlier conversation. “You certainly don’t have to pay for my lunch.”
“I don’t mind. It’s the least I can do.”
“Okay, then. Are we driving over together, or am I meeting you there?”
“How about we meet up? It’ll take a couple of minutes to get everything submitted to the office.”
“Sure.”
“Give me about twenty minutes. The food truck usually parks by the fountains. Right off Twelfth Street.”
He stood. “All right. I’ll see you there.”
She sent him another small smile. “Okay.”