Tyson
I saw the moment I won. Now, we were moving into negotiations. I might have shown my hand by expressing my deep interest in the piece, but I didn’t care. I wanted it. I had already decided it was going into one of my museums, which was really just my private collection that I got to charge people to view. People paid a lot to see my vast collection of artifacts that dated back more than a thousand years.
She tossed out a number. I smiled, accepted it, and continued to browse through the artifacts that were lying on the tables. Alec followed behind me. Once I had made my selections, I left Alec to handle the business of payment and procuring the items and the necessary documents.
“I’ll meet you at the hotel,” Alec called behind me.
I put up my hand, indicating I’d heard him. I pulled on my sunglasses and walked back to the waiting jeep. I was taken back to the hotel by the driver I had hired to run us around. I was anxious to get home. I already knew Alec would be coming back to the hotel stoked about the awesome find. I was happy but not happy enough to go out drinking. That was more of Alec’s thing. He loved to celebrate a good score. My idea of celebrating was a good scotch in a comfortable, quiet room.
I walked into the hotel and headed for the penthouse suite I always used. I offered to let Alec stay with me, but he insisted on his own room. I knew that was because he was hoping to have company. I didn’t begrudge his lifestyle, but I wasn’t interested in the game of dating. And it was absolutely a game.
Women thought they liked me when they saw me. I had the looks, but my personality was lacking. At least, that was what I had been told. I supposed one of my character flaws was I didn’t give a fuck what people thought about my personality. I wasn’t a dick, but I wasn’t the friendliest guy on the planet. I didn’t have to be. I just had to be polite to my patrons.
I took a shower, changing out of the dusty clothes and tossing them in the plastic bag I always carried with me. I used my fingers to comb through my jet-black hair, pulling on a plain white tee. My jeans and tees were my favorite. I always felt like I was playing dress-up when I put on the suits I had to wear when I was working. The last year or two, I had been wearing less suits and more casual wear.
As the billionaire owner of Historical Estates, I could dress how I damn well pleased. I had slowly transformed into the guy that could wear faded jeans one day and a five-thousand-dollar suit the next. Keep them guessing.
I poured myself a healthy dollop of the smooth scotch and took a seat on the plush couch with my iPad in hand. I browsed through my emails, sending the ones with leads for new acquisitions to Alec to vet further.
It was an hour later when I heard the knock on the door. I got up and let Alec in without bothering to ask who it was. “Done?” I asked him.
He was grinning. “Done. They’ll be shipped at the end of next week.”
“Scotch?” I asked.
“Yes, please and then I need to get ready for my date.”
I shook my head as I walked to the bar to pour his drink. “Let me guess. Layla?”
He laughed. “How did you know?”
“Because you are like a rutting buck.”
“She’s a nice girl,” he answered.
I made a choking noise before handing him the drink. “If that’s what you call nice, I hate to see what you call mean.”
He sipped the scotch. “I like a woman that is a little feisty. Makes it fun.”
“I’ll take your word for it.”
“I got a lead on some stuff in Sweden,” he said. “I have asked for more pictures and documents. If it looks promising, I will let you know.”
I nodded. “I think we need to start digging around down south a bit more.”
“Like Mexico?”
I shrugged. “Mexico. South America. I’m looking for something interesting. The Egyptian thing is way overdone.”
He laughed. “It’s popular. People love the idea of King Tut and pharaohs and all that stuff.”
“I’m bored with popular,” I told him.
“Got it. I will put out some feelers. Are you thinking Aztec? Mayan? What are you in the mood for?”
I thought about it. “Surprise me.”
“How about something jade?” he proposed. “I have a couple of buyers who have reached out inquiring about jade artifacts.”
I curled my lip. “Boring.”
“But valuable,” he countered.
“Fine.”
“What are you going to do on our last night here?” he asked.
I held up my glass. “You’re looking at it.”
He laughed. “You certainly know how to party.”
“I don’t need to party.”
“But you should party. You are single, rich, and from what I understand, ladies find you attractive.”
I smiled. “Do I really come off as the kind of guy who needs to be responsible for someone? I’m no good at taking care of people.”
“You could be if you wanted to.”
“Maybe, but I’m not interested in learning how to be a good boyfriend. I suck at it and I’m okay with that.”
He finished his scotch and put the glass on the counter. “You know what they say,” he said, letting the words hang.
“What do they say?”
“Practice makes perfect.”
I rolled my eyes as he laughed and walked toward the door. “I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Don’t oversleep. I won’t hold the jet. You’ll have to find your own way home.”
He laughed and closed the door behind him, leaving me to my peaceful solace.
MaeI walked into the office, a little harried after the new twist in my morning routine. It had been a long time since I had been a thirteen-year-old girl. Sixteen years to be exact. Hayden was a sweet girl and asked for nothing. I had offered her breakfast and the answer was tears. I hated that she was going through so much. I hated my parents for putting her through it.It had taken some time to get her settled, her face cleaned up and then dropped off at school. I promised her a shopping trip on the weekend. The girl was in desperate need of new clothes. I wasn’t sure where my mom had gone shopping for her current school clothes, but the poor thing looked like a confused three-year-old going off to the eighth grade.“Sleeping in?” Patrick asked. “You didn’t show up yesterday and then you’re late today. What is this world coming to when the perfect employee doesn’t do her job?”“I’m not your employee,” I shot back, putting my to-go cup on my desk in the small office space we shared
TysonI scanned through the latest findings from one of the digs going on in Egypt. I appreciated being one of the first people the benefactors thought of when they wanted to sell their items from whatever dig they were funding. Unfortunately, I saw nothing that piqued my interest. I quickly sent a personal email thanking them and declining the offer at the same time.I continued to filter through the emails requesting items and those offering to sell others. My job consisted of much the same thing. Day in and day out. Most people would be bored. I wasn’t. I loved the excitement of finding that one thing. I loved the history. I loved to daydream about the people that had owned or used the items.People told me I had been born in the wrong century. I didn’t believe that. I liked running water. I liked cleanliness. I liked cars and flying. Right century with a healthy fascination for history. And that fascination had paid off very well for me.“Lunch!” Alec called from his office down t
Tyson “Who and where is this place? Do they have a storefront?” I asked Alec.“Not that I’m aware of,” he answered.I smiled. “I really like the sound of that.”He chuckled. “I thought you might.”“Then why would you suggest a merger? Why not just jump to the buyout?”He shrugged. “Because the deal was proposed as a merger. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.”“Will he go for it?”“I think he will. He proposed a merger, but I get the feeling he is more interested in just getting out of the business in general.”“Can you send me the information? I’d like to do some homework.”He reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card. He slid it across the table. “That’s him.”I reached for it. “Have you met with him?”“Briefly. It was a quick coffee. I wasn’t interested in getting into a big thing with him if it wasn’t worth my time. I’ve had plenty of other little mom and pop shops reach out. They are always a huge waste of time. They parade their knockoffs and want me to pay them
MaeParking 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 c
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