Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Lydia sighed with satisfaction as Ty drove into Oliver Heights’ downtown limits, always happy when she spotted the park and pretty buildings in the distance. In ten minutes or less, she would be walking through her front door. “Home sweet home.”
Ty looked at her. “I thought you had fun.”
“I did have fun. Lots of fun. It’s just always nice to be home.”
He nodded as he moved into the right-hand lane not far from her neighborhood. “I can see that.”
“Don’t you like to be at your apartment after a long day?”
He shrugged. “Mostly, I eat a meal, catch a few Zs, shower and shave, then head out again.”
She frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. “Well, I love my house. It’s one of my favorite places to be.”
“I can’t blame you. It’s a gorgeous space that’s easy to sink into. I feel more at home there than I do at the condo or at my apartment.”
She beamed. “Aw, I love that.”
He opened his mouth to say something else as her phone alerted her to a text.
“Hold that thought,” she said as she plucked it out of the front pocket of her purse, wincing as she read Mac’s message.
Gram-Gram just shared some very interesting news about your recent visit to DC. There was talk of a handsome personal trainer. Apparently, he’ll be joining you at the compound?!?
“Great,” she whispered, feeling the quick rush of dread flooding through her body, knowing that the curtain was officially up on her and Ty’s act.
Ty glanced her way. “What’s up?”
“Mac just texted. She talked to Gram-Gram.”
He raised his brow. “I take it you’re going to give her a call?”
She nodded as she blew out a long breath. “I’ll wait until we get home.” Which now seemed much too close when she wanted to avoid the inevitable conversation.
Ty slowed, turning into her neighborhood. “It’s going to be okay, Lyd.”
“Mm-hmm,” she said, bobbing her leg up and down, hoping that the sick feeling in her stomach would go away.
And then Ty pulled into her driveway.
“Oh God,” she whispered as her heart began to race. “I don’t know what I’m going to say.”
He turned off the truck, looking at her. “Let’s get out. Come inside and talk to me.”
She got out with her phone clutched in her hand, not bothering to grab anything else as she followed Ty up the walkway.
He used his key, opening the door for them.
She walked in before him, heading for the living room, pacing back and forth instead of sitting on the couch.
Ty stood in the kitchen, watching her. “This won’t be any different than when you talked to your grandmother.”
She huffed out a laugh as she turned for another walk across the room. “And that went so well.”
“It did. You did exactly what you were supposed to do.”
She adamantly shook her head. “Mac is different. This is entirely different. She knows me, Ty. She knows every little thing about me. She’ll see through all the lies.”
He stepped in front of her, stopping her in her tracks, holding her gaze as he captured her hands in a firm grip. “Do you and I go out on dates?”
She frowned. “Yes.”
“Do we like each other and spend a ton of time together?”
She shrugged. “I’d say I like you most of the time.”
He grinned. “I think you like me all of the time.”
She struggled with a smile because he was right. “I probably do like you more than I don’t.”
His grin was back. “Did we just get back from a getaway?”
She nodded.
“Did we share a bed?”
“Yes, we did.”
“We’re a couple, Lyd. In every way that matters, you and I are very much girlfriend and boyfriend.”
Her frown was back. “But we both know that there are layers here.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, if you want to pick it apart.”
Her eyes grew huge. “You’re investigating my cousin. Mac’s husband. I’d say that’s a hell of a layer, Ty.”
He blew out a long breath. “You and I are a couple, Lyd. That’s what you need to focus on today. We’ll deal with whatever tomorrow brings tomorrow.”
She closed her eyes, exhaling a sigh of her own. “Okay.”
“Do you want to put the call on speakerphone so I can listen in?”
She adamantly shook her head again. “That will just make me more nervous. I need to talk to her in the same way that I always do. Keep it as normal as possible.”
He nodded. “How about you call Mac, and I’ll make us some lunch?”
She nodded, ready to stop worrying and finally get this over with. For weeks, this moment had been on her mind. It was time to see what was what. “All right.”
He tossed her a wink. “You’ve got this.”
Whether she did or didn’t, they were about to find out.
Heading upstairs, she closed herself in her office, then immediately pressed on Mac’s gorgeous, grinning face in her contacts, sending the call through.
“I figured I would be hearing from you.”
Lydia closed her eyes as she gripped the side of the desk. “Yeah, we were driving back from DC. I wanted to wait until I got home before I called.”
“So, there really is a ‘we’? Lydia, when did this happen?”
“A few months ago.”
“Months? I don’t… Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know. I wanted to see where things were going to go before I said anything.” She assuaged her stomach-clenching guilt by reminding herself that on a very technical plane, that was entirely true.
“His name is Tyler?”
“Yeah, but I call him Ty.”
“And a last name?”
“Corddry.”
“Lydia Corddry. No, Lydia Monroe-Corddry,” Mac said with a hum in her voice. “They both work.”
She huffed out a pained laugh as she walked closer to the window, paying little attention to the view as she played her part in the FBI’s messed-up game. “I am not worrying about surnames at this point.”
“You’re bringing him to the compound, aren’t you? You didn’t bring Andy.”
“Yeah, I guess this relationship is different.” She rolled her eyes, hating everything about this conversation.
“Well, I need to see him. Gram-Gram said he’s quite handsome, and that’s a direct quote. If Gram-Gram’s saying that…”
“Hold on,” she said, scrolling through her camera roll, deciding on the picture from their first night on the rooftop deck, even though she now had dozens and dozens of shots to choose from, but that one was still her favorite.
She sent the picture through.
“Holy crap, Lydia. Ho. Ly. Crap.”
“Yeah, he’s certainly not tough to look at.”
“And besides being seriously yummy, he’s good to you?”
“He’s very good to me.” She smiled because it was easy to be honest as she said so. “He’s sweet and smart and funny. We have a ton of fun together.”
“Aw, I can hear how happy you are.”
“He does make me happy.” She frowned as she said so, realizing that that was also true.
“And the sex? How’s that? God, I miss sex.”
“You and Will have sex.”
“Mostly it’s quickies before one of the kids wakes up.”
Lydia chuckled as she walked back to lean her butt against her desk. “You’ll be back to the good stuff before you know it.”
“I really hope you’re right, but give me something to think about in the meantime. He’s good at it? Because he looks like he’s great in the sack.”
“I certainly don’t mind waking up with him,” she said, wincing.
“Ugh, that’s way too G-rated. Usually, you share a few details.”
“Well, we have all summer. If I tell you everything now, what will we talk about when we sit by the pool?”
Mac laughed. “You bring up a good point.”
She smiled, even as she realized that she and Ty had an issue to rectify. “I should probably go, but I can’t wait to see you guys in a couple of days.”
“I can’t wait either.”
“I’ll see you soon, Mac.”
“Okay.”
She moved to disconnect.
“Lydia?” Mac said.
She put the phone back to her ear. “Yeah?”
“If Ty makes you happy, I’m happy. I’m looking forward to meeting him.”
She closed her eyes again. “I’m looking forward to introducing him.”
“Bye.”
“Bye,” she said before she hung up and shook her head, staring at the ceiling. “How did I get myself into this mess?” she whispered as she started back downstairs.
Ty stopped his lunch preparations as their eyes met. “How’d it go?”
“We should kiss.”
He frowned as he set the knife down. “Huh?”
She nodded as she walked closer, feeling certain that what she said was right. Because it had become painfully obvious that she was going to have serious problems if she didn’t have something that she could tell Mac about her sex life. “We need to kiss.”
He shook his head. “Lyd—”
“Mac asked me if you were good in bed, and obviously, I have no idea. But I want to know what it feels like to kiss you. Kissing is its own level of intimacy, so I think we should.”
“You really want to go there?”
“I do,” she said with a definitive nod. “For the most part, our conversation was pretty smooth, but then she brought up sex. This will feel like less of a lie. People in a relationship kiss.”
He blew out a breath as he scratched at his chin. “So, are you looking for a peck or full tongue?”
She shrugged as she shook her head. “Uh, just a normal kiss.”
He rubbed at the back of his neck now. “Am I touching you? Like groping your ass or anything?”
“What?” she said as she frowned. “No. I don’t know. Just kiss me like we’re on a first date or something.”
He closed the distance between them, nodding. “Okay.”
She swallowed, staring into his amazing eyes as her heart began to race.
He blew out another breath as he took a step back. “I feel kind of on the spot here. I don’t usually think this hard about my moves. It just sort of flows because the moment feels right.”
She huffed out a breath and turned away. “Just forget it.”
“No, wait, Lyd.” He snagged her by the arm, pulling her back around. “You took me by surprise. Give me a second to catch up.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
“Okay,” he said, stroking his knuckles along her jaw before he slid his finger down her neck, stopping on her rapid pulse point.
Her breathing quickened as he licked his lips—as he leaned in, pressing them to hers.
She held his blurry gaze as he pulled slightly away, then let her eyes close as he came back again.
He hummed in his throat, bringing his mouth back to hers for a third time, touching his tongue to hers, then capturing her face in his hands as he pushed her back against the counter, taking them both deeper.
She moaned as she melted, gripping his wrists, meeting his tongue for each sexy stroke.
He made another sound in his throat as his hands journeyed to her shoulders and then to her waist, pulling her closer as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck.
He dove in again before he eased back to hold her gaze but didn’t let her go. “Is that what you were looking for?”
She nodded, struggling to concentrate on what he was saying. “That should probably do it.”
“You taste good, Lyd.”
She nodded again. “You do, too.”
“I imagine… Do you want some lunch?”
She felt herself nod yet again. Because she couldn’t seem to think. “Uh, yup.”
He smiled as he untangled them. “I made us subs.”
She looked at their plates, where turkey, lettuce, and tomato subs sat next to small heaps of greens. “I see that.”
He took both plates, bringing them over to the stools at the island. “How about here?”
“Sure.”
They both sat down.
He looked at her as he picked up half of his sandwich. “Did I make you uncomfortable?”
She adamantly shook her head. Kissing Ty had made her feel many things—mostly notably, incredibly turned on—but uncomfortable didn’t make the list. “I think I should be asking you the same question. I sort of forced you into that.”
He raised his brow. “You definitely didn’t force me, Lyd.”
She exhaled a quiet breath, still trying to pull herself together. “Okay. Good.”
“So, kissing is on the table, then?”
She shrugged. “Not in the same way that we hold hands, but if it seems right in the moment, I’m not going to push you away.”
“That’s good to know.” He took a bite, chewed, and swallowed. “We’re going to need to go to the store if we’re eating dinner here.” He paused with his sandwich halfway to his lips. “I guess I should ask you if you even want me here for dinner.”
“You can stay.” She took a bite and chewed. “Are you—are you staying over?”
He shrugged. “I can. If it doesn’t bother you.”
She shook her head. “Last night was fine, and we’ll be sharing a bed for the next month, anyway, so it’s not really a big deal.”
He put his food back down. “I feel like it works to our advantage. Sleeping in the same bed pretty much locks us into ‘official couple’ territory.”
“That’s true.”
“And I learned something new about you today, which might not have happened if we hadn’t woken up together.”
She frowned. “What’s that?”
“Your egg chunk hang-up.”
She laughed as he grinned. “Picking those out is a perfectly reasonable thing.”
“If you say so, Lyd.” He tossed her a wink. “How do you feel about me bringing my stuff over here if we’re leaving in a couple of days anyway?”
She hesitated before she nodded. “Sure.”
“I don’t have to.”
Last night had certainly changed things between them. But it didn’t feel wrong. “You’re bringing it to the compound, so it’s the same difference.”
He nodded. “I’ll head over to my place and toss stuff into my bags.”
“I can help you. Then we can stop by the store.”
He shrugged. “Sure. It won’t take me very long.”
“Okay.” She pulled the pad of paper and pen that she always kept handy closer, ready to get back to life in Oliver Heights with Ty. “What do we need for the next couple of days?”