Sleeping With The Enemy

by Parker, Ali

  She reached for my hand and squeezed. I leaned down and dropped a kiss on the top of her head. It was a “shit or get off the pot” kind of situation. I needed to make a decision one way or another. The game wasn’t working. Patrick’s opinion did not matter that much to me. I was confident Mae was also just as stubborn and capable of standing up to her brother if she really wanted to.

  I felt Mae jerk and her hand pull away from mine. “What are you doing?” I hissed.

  She nodded her head at the teens. Jared had just put his arm around Hayden and had given her a rather innocent side hug. “He’s making a move.”

  I smiled, watching as the boy put his arm back in place and appeared to take Hayden’s hand in his. I grabbed Mae’s hand and squeezed. “She’s fine. They aren’t doing anything risky.”

  She relaxed a little. “If she gets pregnant, I’m holding you responsible.”

  My eyes widened. “What the hell? They are holding hands.”

  “You know that’s how it starts,” she said with a scowl.

  I squeezed her hand again. “We are right here. If he shoves his tongue down her throat, I will kick his ass. Try to enjoy the movie.”

  She heavily sighed before settling into her seat a little more. “You shoved your tongue down my throat when we watched movies.”

  I grinned. “I did. I’m thinking about doing it right now.”

  Her soft giggle earned a hush from someone behind us.

  Chapter 55

  Mae

  The car ride to Tyson’s place was filled with awkward silence. I glanced in the rearview mirror to see Hayden staring out the window. Tyson was on my right, staring at me. I offered him a smile, knowing exactly what he was thinking. We were both trying to keep our amusement to ourselves after witnessing the horrible goodbye between Hayden and Jared at the theater. I didn’t envy the girl. Or the boy. It was so weird and uncomfortable to be thirteen and crushing on a person when you didn’t know how to act or what to say.

  I pulled into Tyson’s driveway and put the car into park. “Thank you for coming along,” I said.

  “Thank you for inviting me. I had fun. I hope you had fun tonight, Hayden.”

  She shrugged her shoulder. “You guys didn’t have to babysit me.”

  “We weren’t babysitting,” I answered. “We wanted to see the movie. It just makes sense to all go together.”

  She rolled her eyes. Tyson looked at me and grinned. “I hope we can all do it again sometime. Maybe we can grab some ice cream after.”

  “I would like that.”

  He stared at me and I was suddenly in Hayden’s position. Did I kiss him? Did I dare do it in front of Hayden? She wasn’t a complete innocent. I knew she knew but I didn’t think I was ready to kiss him in front of her. “I’ll see you later,” I said, the universal signal for get out, there will not be a kiss.

  He nodded. “I’ll give you a call.”

  “Do, please.” He got out of the car and walked away. I looked back at Hayden. “Are you going to get in the front?”

  She shrugged. “I’m good.”

  “Hayden, I am not your chauffer.”

  “Tonight, you are,” she said with a grin.

  I growled, threw the car into drive, and headed for our apartment. I tossed my purse on the kitchen table and opened the fridge in search of a snack. “So, did you have a good time?” I asked her as I pulled out the leftover cheesecake.

  She smiled. “I think you had a better time than me.”

  “What?”

  “I saw you two.”

  “Unless you have eyes in the back of your head, no, you did not,” I protested.

  She took a bite of the cheesecake. “Thank you for coming. It did make it a little better.”

  I raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How?”

  “Because it would have been weird if we were all alone. I didn’t want to kiss him. I mean, I do, but I didn’t. I just used the excuse you were watching, and I had to go.”

  I laughed. “That works for me. Never feel uncomfortable. I will always be there.”

  “You looked a little uncomfortable,” she teased.

  “What? When?”

  “Dropping him off,” she said with a laugh. “You wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss you. I’ve seen kissing before. You could have kissed him.”

  “We are adults. We don’t always have to be kissing and touching.”

  She scoffed. “Could have fooled me. Every time I looked back, you guys had your heads together or he was holding your hand and kissing the back of it. It was a little too sugary sweet.”

  I could feel myself blushing. “I was supposed to be spying on you, not the other way around.”

  “It was really cute. I like him.”

  “So do I,” I confessed.

  “He really likes you.”

  “We go back a long way. It’s all very complicated.”

  She took another bite of the cheesecake. “It didn’t look complicated. He looked like he was really into you. When I grow up, I want a man to look at me like that.”

  I shook my head, using my fork to point at her. “What do you know about that look?”

  “I’m not an idiot. I have eyes. I can see the way he looks at you and you look at him. You guys have this weird glow about you. Like an aura you share when you are together. It’s really cute.”

  I had to laugh. Oh, to be young and naïve and believe life was really so simple. “Unfortunately, our auras usually clash. I think we fight more than we get along.”

  “No, I’ve seen a couple that fights all the time.”

  “Who?”

  She tilted her head to the side. “Mom and Dad. You’ve seen them with each other. I don’t even know if they realize they are in the same room together sometimes. When they do figure it out, it is usually them bitching at each other for one thing or another. It got old.”

  I slowly nodded. “They did fight a lot. Then they were quiet a lot. I do remember the tense silence. I usually stayed in my bedroom.”

  “Me too.”

  “I’m sorry you had to grow up with that,” I told her. “It isn’t healthy.”

  “I’ve still got a little growing up to do. I’ll just pretend I never saw Mom and Dad’s relationship and focus on what I see with you and Tyson.”

  I winced. “I’m not sure that’s a great example either. We aren’t exactly together.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  “No. We see each other on occasion, but there is nothing official between us.”

  “What’s the deal with you guys anyway?”

  I realized that now that Hayden had living proof of my relationship with Tyson, it was best to fill her in on the situation. I didn’t want her to accidentally say something to Patrick before I got the chance to tell him first. I did not think he would appreciate finding out via our little sister. He was going to be pissed as it was. I wanted to minimize just how pissed he got. Not just for my sake, but for Tyson’s as well. The two of them were friends. They had slowly been talking again and I didn’t want to get in the way of that.

  In many ways, I felt like Tyson could be a source of grounding for Patrick. The guy was kind of going off the rails with his early retirement. I didn’t want him to do anything too crazy. Tyson was about the only person I knew in Patrick’s life that had money and knew the trappings it could bring.

  “Tyson and Patrick used to be best friends in high school,” I explained. “Patrick, as you know, has always been a little on the protective side. You probably don’t see it as much because he is relying on me to be the protector of you.”

  “You have known Tyson that long?” she asked as if it was more than a hundred years.

  “I’m not that old,” I retorted. “Yes, I have known him since I was about your age.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Gross.”

  “I didn’t say we were a thing. I said I knew him.”

  “But you liked him,” she replied.

  I shrugged. “I didn’t really
notice him until I was a little older. He was getting ready to go to college after doing some classes locally. It was like a light bulb went on. I liked him. He liked me. We dated a while.”

  “And then you broke up?”

  “We kind of had to.”

  “Why?”

  “Patrick didn’t know about us. He still doesn’t. I don’t want to ask you to lie to him, but I would like to tell him myself.”

  Her eyes widened. “Oh my god! Patrick doesn’t know?”

  “No.”

  “Does he know about the two of you seeing each other now?”

  I grimaced. “No.”

  “You are going to be in trouble,” she said in a sing-song voice.

  “I’m twenty-nine. Patrick can no longer get me in trouble.”

  “Then why haven’t you told him?”

  “Because he will be angry and I’m not sure there is anything happening between us. I don’t want to cause problems if there is nothing to worry about.”

  She laughed. “Mae, there is something to worry about. You guys look good together. He’s cute. You are into him and he is way into you. I don’t understand why you don’t just date him. Really, what is Patrick going to do?”

  She had a point. A very valid point. “Things are complicated between Tyson and I.”

  “How? I think adults over-complicate things. You guys say teenagers are dramatic, but seriously, why are you making such a big thing out of this?”

  I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. “Because there is business involved. He bought Mom and Dad’s company.”

  “Patrick and your company,” she corrected.

  “Patrick’s company. He sold it to Tyson. I wasn’t very happy about that. I wanted that business.”

  “But now you have the museum. I think this was your path. You were supposed to have that museum. It’s destiny.”

  I bit my bottom lip. I wasn’t going to give her all the dirty details about Tyson’s recent attempt to buy my museum. “I don’t know if I believe that, but I am happy to have gotten the museum. I plan on doing everything I can to hold on to it.”

  “It’s great. You’ll be great.” She put her fork in the sink and looked at me. “Thank you for tonight.”

  “You are welcome. Anytime you want to double date again, just let me know.”

  She rolled her eyes. “You cannot be my Patrick.”

  I burst into laughter. “I promise I won’t. I just want to make sure you are safe.”

  “Thank you. I’m good.”

  “Please talk to me if you have any questions about anything,” I told her.

  She smiled. “I will. Goodnight.”

  “Don’t stay up all night texting,” I teased.

  Her laughter followed her down the hall. I put the cheesecake back in the fridge and mulled over what Hayden said. There was nothing standing between me and Tyson being happy together except my own stubbornness. I could deal with Patrick. If my big brother thought to beat up my boyfriend, he was going to have another thing coming. Tyson wasn’t a pussy. He would hold his own. Obviously, I didn’t want it to get to that point, but if it did, Tyson would be okay. Boys would be boys. They needed to pee on each other’s trees or measure the size of their dicks or whatever the hell they did to feel more manly.

  I was wrong to get my hackles up when Tyson proposed a merger. I could have said no thanks. Instead, my claws came out and I went after him where I knew it would hurt him the most. I would withdraw my proposal. I would ask him to forget any of it happened.

  I had to give him the benefit of the doubt instead of always looking for the negative. He wasn’t necessarily trying to steal the company. Tonight, was evidence of his generosity and kindness. He liked to buy things. He had the money and didn’t mind spreading the wealth. His plans to infuse my museum with cash to allow me to do all the things I wanted to do wasn’t a malicious attempt to steal it from me.

  “You are a fool, Mae,” I murmured as I shut off the lights.

  I hoped I didn’t shoot myself in the foot by trying to turn the tables on him. I was going to have to put aside all my hurt feelings and insecurities and have an honest conversation with him. Assuming we could have a conversation without sex. It needed to be face to face. We would just have to turn off the sexual need and focus on the matter at hand.

  I stripped down to my underwear and crawled between the cool sheets. I closed my eyes and replayed the evening. He had been very sweet tonight. The little touches. The gentle kisses on my knuckles or little nuzzles against my neck while he whispered a comment. I drifted off to sleep with Tyson on my mind.

  Chapter 56

  Tyson

  I stepped out of the shower, feeling refreshed after a long run. I was famished though. From the very moment I walked through the front door of my house, my focus had been on food. I was still thinking about what I was going to eat as I quickly pulled on a pair of sweats, skipping a shirt and socks. It was late in the day and I had almost talked myself out of going for a run at all. Then I thought about Mae. I needed to stay in shape and keep my stamina up.

  I rounded the corner, ready to dig into whatever I could get my hands on. I heard the doorbell and considered ignoring it. It was a Sunday. The gate was open. Odds were it was a Bible thumper hoping to save my soul. It was food or my soul. Difficult choice.

  I made my way to the door and jerked it open. I would scare the hell, pun intended, right out of the person daring to knock on my door on a Sunday evening. The state of undress and the display of tats could be enough to send them running.

  “Mae?” I questioned. Obviously, it was her, but my brain was so confused.

  She leaned back, raising one eyebrow as she scanned my shirtless body. “Do I want to know?”

  “I just got out of the shower.”

  “Oh.”

  “Did you want to come in?”

  “I don’t know,” she murmured.

  Not exactly an answer one expected when someone knocked on their door. “You don’t know?”

  “I don’t want to have sex.”

  I laughed. “I wasn’t necessarily offering.”

  “Oh, you know you were,” she scolded. “You answer the door half-naked. What’s a girl to think?”

  “I didn’t know you were at the door,” I reminded her.

  “I wanted to ask you to dinner,” she said.

  “If you only knew how hungry I was. It has to be somewhere fast. I just got back from a run and I could eat a horse.”

  “Okay, we can grab a burger. Or should you eat a salad?”

  “God no!”

  She giggled. “I see.”

  “Come in and I’ll go put some clothes on. Give me three minutes.”

  She nodded and stepped inside. I left her in the foyer and raced upstairs. I dressed in record time, running a comb through my hair before grabbing a pair of Nikes and running back downstairs. I found her in the living room, flipping through the newest edition of National Geographic.

  “Ready?” she asked, popping her head up.

  “I am. I don’t mean to be hasty, but I am hungry. I just need a snack to take the edge off. Then I can be normal.”

  “I’m almost afraid to get in the car with you.”

  I leaned down and dropped a kiss on her head. “I won’t take a bite out of you unless you ask nicely.”

  She shook her head as she got to her feet. “Let’s go before things get out of hand.”

  “Your body is safe from me,” I assured her. “At least until I eat. Then all bets are off.”

  She giggled and slapped at my arm. “You are just full of crazy.”

  I swatted her ass as we walked out of the house. She drove to a local drive thru. I leaned across her to shout my extensive order.

  “Leave some food for the rest of us,” she teased.

  She quickly ordered, and less than four minutes later, we were pulling into the street. “Can I eat?” I asked, dying to dig in. The aroma coming from the bags of food in my lap was
too much to ignore.

  “Yes. Should we go to the park?”

  I bobbed my head up and down, remembering my manners. I had taken a bite of the burger. Bite was an understatement. I ate half the damn thing in one bite. I finished the burger and managed to keep my hands out of the bags while she navigated through Sunday traffic to a local park.

  “Good?” she asked, pulling to a stop.

  “Perfect.”

  “Let’s get out and enjoy the nice weather,” she said.

  I carried the bags to a picnic table. The park was clearing out as people headed home for Sunday dinner. “This is unexpected,” I said as we separated our food and placed it on the paper bags.

  She shrugged. “I was hoping we could talk.”

  I grimaced. “About?”

  “Nothing in particular. I feel like we have been focused on ancient history, literally and figuratively, and not really talked about the here and now.”

  I nodded. “You are right. I would like that.”

  “I figured if we are in a public place, we would actually be able to have a conversation.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Because lately, whenever we are alone, we don’t do a lot of talking.”

  I grinned. “I have no problem talking during sex. I’ve been upping my running, working on my stamina. I can talk and—”

  She rolled her eyes. “I get it,” she said, cutting me off. “The conversation is always so meaningful.”

  “You’re right. This is a good thing. Maybe we can go for a walk once we’re finished.”

  “I’d like that,” she replied with a smile.

  “Is Hayden mad at us?” I asked.

  “Mad?”

  “For crashing her date.”

  She smiled prettily. “No, not at all. I knew she wouldn’t be. She would pretend to be mad, but we were good buffers. Those first dates can be very tricky. Just because they got along great at school, it does not mean he would be the same guy outside of that setting.”

  “Smart,” I said with a nod.

  “The voice of experience,” she said with a laugh.