Parking was at a premium on the crowded street and the yahoo sitting in his limo and staring at nothing didn’t belong. I was forced to do a shitty parallel parking job because of the giant car in the way. Now, the man was staring at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was crazy. It probably wasn’t the best idea to go around pounding on the car windows of strangers. Not in this day and age.
“Well?” I asked when he continued to stare at me instead of answering my very legitimate question.
He made a move to open the door. I took a step back, ready to kick the door shut if I felt threatened. Hell, I would kick him if I felt threatened. He was still staring at me. He stood, his full height towering over me.
I frowned at him. “You do speak English, right?”
“Mae?” he said.
I took a full step back. Now I was on guard. “Who are you?” I snapped.
“Mae,” he said again. “Mae Kendell.”
He was going to serve me papers. My parents had somehow managed to retain a high-powered attorney and he thought he could show up at my work and intimidate me. The guy had another thing coming. Although his outfit was rather relaxed for an attorney. I reasoned he could be the muscle for the attorney. I would not be intimidated. I was going to fight for Hayden.
“What do you want?” I snapped. “I will call the police if I feel the least bit threatened or harassed.”
The man smiled and my heart did a funny little pitter-patter. It couldn’t be. There was no way. My eyes roamed over the very large man in front of me.
“Mae, it’s me, Tyson. Tyson Helms.”
“Tyson?” I breathed his name. He was so different, so manly. He wasn’t the young guy I knew. He wasn’t Patrick’s best friend that used to tease me incessantly.
He stepped forward, his big arms going around me as he hugged me close. I didn’t know how to react and went with instinct and hugged him back. It was a little weird to be hugging him. If someone would have told me this morning when I woke up that I would be hugging Tyson Helms that day, I would have laughed in their face.
He released me and took a step back, looking me up and down. I was suddenly very glad I had worn one of the new skirts I had bought during our shopping spree with Hayden.
“You’ve grown up!” he exclaimed.
I laughed. “That happens. You’ve changed a lot too.” I didn’t give him the specific details of those changes. He was a man. I couldn’t get my head around the idea. I was staring at the bicep with ink. The sleeve of his shirt hid the artwork. I was intrigued.
“Is your dad running this place now?” he asked.
“No. Patrick. And me, kind of.” I was nervous. I was acting like the teen girl with a crush on her big brother’s best friend.
“Is he here?” he asked.
“No.”
“Oh,” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He looked just as uncomfortable as I was.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
He blinked. “I came to see Patrick.”
“Oh,” I said, unable to hide the disappointment I had no right to feel.
He didn’t move. He was staring at me just as hard as I was staring at him. There was an awkwardness that was undeniable. We were both adults and the past was long gone. There was no reason for us to be weird around each other. “Would you like to grab some coffee?” I blurted out.
The same sexy smile that I remembered from our younger years spread over his face. I stared into the blue eyes that were so light, they were almost translucent. The bushy black brows and the long black eyelashes served to highlight his perfect eyes. His black hair was cut short with a little flip in the front, giving him a boyish look.
“I would love to,” he answered after a long pause.
“Great.”
“We can take my car,” he offered.
I looked at the luxury ride and figured I might as well. “Thanks. There is a place not far from here.”
He gestured for me to get in. I climbed in, scooting to the other side. He got in and told the driver to find the nearest coffee shop. “You look good,” he commented.
I felt the blush spreading over my cheeks. “Thanks. You too.” I turned and looked out the window, feeling like a complete idiot.
The car pulled to a stop a few minutes later. I suddenly felt completely ridiculous. “I feel like we are a little over-the-top,” I said with a laugh. “Do you always take a limo to grab coffee?”
He grinned. “Yes.”
The driver opened the door for me, which made me feel even more ridiculous. I climbed out of the car and thanked him before practically running around to the front. I had to work in the neighborhood. I didn’t want to be one of those obnoxious people that backed up traffic because my limo was double-parked.
Tyson opened the door to the coffee shop for me. “After you.”
“Thank you.”
I got in line with Tyson beside me. We both ordered lattes, which he insisted he pay for. I found a small table for us near the back of the shop. I looked at him over the cup, taking in the chiseled jaw and the broad shoulders. I couldn’t believe how much he had changed over the last fifteen years.
“Do you live in Philly?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes. Mostly. I travel a lot, but I have a house here. You?”
I raised an eyebrow. It was kind of a silly question, considering he’d just picked me up at my work. “Yes. Chestnut Hill. I have a small apartment.”
“I assume Patrick lives here as well.”
I nodded. “He does. What have you been up to? Last I heard, you were going off to college at Penn State.”
He smiled. “I’ve been working. A lot.”
“What did you go to school for? I remember you were undecided back then.”
That sexy smile was going to be my undoing. “I decided to double major.”
I laughed. “Of course, you did. You were always a go-getter, making us average people look bad.”
“You are not average,” he quickly said.
Mae“You are not average,” Tyson said.“Thanks. So, what did you major in?”“Archeological Science and Business Administration,” he answered.“Wow. Those seem to be on very opposite ends of the spectrum.”He chuckled. “I suppose they are, but it has worked well for me.”“Are you an archeologist?” I questioned.He shook his head. “No. I own a few museums.”I cocked my head to the side. “You own museums? Aren’t museums generally publicly funded?”He shrugged one of his beefy shoulders. The movement lifted the sleeve on his right arm just a touch, giving me a glimpse of a tattoo on his other arm as well. Tyson. Tattooed. That was different. And hot. “There are quite a few that are public. Mine are for profit.”He didn’t sound ashamed of the fact at all. “What kind of museums?” I asked with genuine curiosity. “I mean, what do you display?”“I have a few different ones that specialize in different cultures. Egyptian, European, and I even have one down south that focuses on early America.”
TysonIt had taken me the entire day to recover from my encounter with Mae yesterday. Seeing her had left me shaken.She was so much prettier than I remembered. She was gorgeous. Those eyes? My god, those green eyes were just stunning. She had filled out. A womanly figure with round breasts and a gentle flare at the hips.Her hair was a little longer than it had been back in high school. It looked silky and soft and perfectly touchable. She used to wear it back all the time. I remembered waiting for that moment at the end of the day when she would take it down and let it hang loose around her shoulders.Her smile was just as I remembered. She could light up a room or a man’s soul with that smile that reached her eyes, crinkling them at the corners. There was a softness about her that drew me in. She had a gentle nature, but I knew when poked, she could be very outspoken and a little scary. Thinking about those moments made me smile. I didn’t realize how much I’d missed her until I saw
TysonThe car pulled to a stop in front of my museum. I got out and headed inside. I walked toward the small office I kept in back. Alec was already there.He looked up from where he was sitting at the desk. “You’re here,” he said, getting to his feet.“Apparently,” I answered. “What’s up?”“I was just going over the latest numbers.”I raised my eyebrows. “And?”He grinned. “You know they’re good.”“Attendance up?” I questioned.“Slightly. I think once we get those new pieces on display and start doing some advertising, it will definitely go up.”I nodded. “That’s the idea.”“Did you talk to that guy, the one I gave you the card for?” he asked. He got up from behind the desk and moved to close the door. Once again, I got the impression he wanted to tell me something.“I did.”“Is he interested in selling?”“We didn’t get that far,” I said.He groaned. “Oh no. That good, huh?”“Actually, it isn’t bad. He’s out of town for a couple of weeks. When he gets back into town, we’ll talk.”“Di
MaeI was impressed by the cleanliness and organization the moment I stepped through the doors of the museum. I had been to plenty of museums over the years, but Tyson’s felt different. There was soft music playing, something that would have likely been the music of the ancient Egyptians. That was different and it did give a more immersive experience.I felt eyes on me and looked around, spotting Tyson about forty feet away. He was intently staring at me, making me squirm a little. He was wearing loose-fitting jeans with a black polo. It was casual and sporty and very hot. Once again, my eyes were drawn to his biceps. I wanted to know what the tats were. I wanted to know how many more he was hiding.When he started walking toward me, I realized I had been ogling him. Even now, my eyes were locked on his. I didn’t move. I didn’t look away and neither did he. I knew there were people around, but I didn’t see them. I didn’t see anything but the man stalking toward me, staring at me like
Mae“I’m going to call you, Mae.”The way he said it sent another shiver down my spine. I was treading on thin ice with him, but I didn’t care. I wanted to spend time with him. I wanted to get to know the man that had once been the boy I had a fierce crush on. “You better,” I said with a smile. “I know where you work.”He gave me a smoldering look that sent butterflies flitting about low in my belly. “Friday,” he said.I nodded and decided it was a good time to make a break for it before I said or did something stupid or embarrassing. I walked out of the museum, being careful not to trip or stumble and make a complete ass of myself.I made it to my car, got inside, and released the breath I had been holding. “Holy shit,” I breathed. “What are you doing, Mae? He’s trouble with a big, fat capital T.”Tyson was the forbidden fruit. He was the one man I couldn’t have. Patrick would never forgive me if I started dating his old best friend. One dinner did not constitute dating. I could enjo
TysonMy car pulled to a stop in the parking lot of the building where Mae lived. I wanted to do it right. I was going to go and knock on her door and the whole nine yards. I didn’t know what this thing was between us, but if there was a chance I could have something real with her, I wanted to treat her right. I had to treat her right or Patrick would want to kick my ass. Hell, he was probably still going to want to kick my ass.I got past the doorman and rode up in the elevator. When I knocked on her door, she was ready to go. I had to hold myself back. She was wearing a little black dress. It clung to her figure, showing off her shapely ass and the womanly curves.“Hi,” I said for lack of anything better to say.“Hi. I’m ready.”“Yes, you are. You look amazing.”“Thank you.”I was glad I had dressed in one of my nicer suits. I wore a jacket because the restaurant I was taking her to required it. I wanted to impress her with a nice dinner. I wanted to show her a good time with the ho
TysonMae’s parents were obviously a closed subject. “Are you involved with the business outside of promoting it?”She shrugged. “Somewhat. Patrick does the traveling. Because we deal with a lot of other cultures, we have learned the hard way they tend to take him more seriously than me.”I nodded in understanding. “It can be tricky.”“Do you search out your finds or do people come to you looking to sell?”“Both. I enjoy the hunt. I love searching for the items. I love traveling.”“Do you go out to the digs?” she asked.“I do,” I told her. “Not always, but when I get the chance to go out, I do. I like to verify the origin.”She sipped the wine. “Do you ever dig?”I smirked. “No. I don’t have the patience to jump through the hoops. I did a lot of volunteer work and got some hands-on experience, but I don’t think I could do it full time.”“I imagine it is very dirty work,” she said before bursting into laughter. “All right, that was pretty cheesy. But you know what I mean. I don’t think
MaeI sipped the Moscow Mule, slowly stirring it with my straw as I studied Tyson’s face. My brain was trying to see the boy I knew. I saw hints of that boy, but the soft, boyish features were gone. In their place were sharp, manly features.“You’re staring at me,” he said.“I just can’t believe you are here. Grown up. Like a real man.”He chuckled. “That tends to happen. It’s been what, fifteen years?”“Give or take a year.”“You’ve changed, too,” he said. “You’re all grown up. Like a real woman.”I smiled and sipped my drink. He had chosen a quiet lounge. It was dark with lots of amber lights that set a very romantic tone. I liked the privacy. I liked the quiet. It made it nice to have a conversation in a public place but without the need to shout over loud music.“Do you remember when we first met?” I asked.He cringed. “I don’t know if I remember the exact moment, but I remember when I noticed you.”I laughed. “When I begged you and Patrick to take me to the mall that one day? You