by Dee Burks
Arlene peered inside. “Would you like me to help with this? You know I did the accounts payable for the church for years.”
Tyler opened his mouth to accept, but Serena cut him off.
“No, I’m sure you’re tired and need your rest.”
Wow. It was almost like slamming a door in her face, but Arlene seemed to shrug it off. “Okay, I have a book I’m almost finished with, and then I’ll probably turn in for the night.”
“If you need to get anything from your room, you might want to get it now.” Serena gave him a pointed stare.
“Uh, sure.” He hurriedly gathered up clothes and some personal grooming items. Once back out in the hallway, he paused. Where was he going to put this stuff? He started back toward the kitchen and heard Arlene’s hushed whisper.
“I don’t think it’s right to be living with him.”
“Well, I am living with him and that’s not going to change,” Serena whispered back.
“What kind of effect do you think this will have on Justin?”
“They get along fine. They even work together. Justin is almost grown, Mother. I don’t think he’ll be damaged for life by Tyler’s presence.”
Tyler grimaced. Arlene was putting Serena through an emotional beating, and he couldn’t figure out why. Serena was a great mom, and Justin proved it. Arlene talked as if the kid were 3 years old.
Arlene turned down the hall and almost ran into him. Serena wasn’t far behind. Tyler stood with his arms full of clothes. He’d been caught eavesdropping. He looked at Serena, whose face flushed a bright pink. He shrugged an apology and nodded at the garments. “Where do you want me to… put these?” But what he wanted to ask was, “sleep?”
Arlene scooted past and gave him a small smile. “I hate that I’ve forced you to have to sleep on the couch.”
Me too. Tyler gave her a quick smile. “It’s no problem.”
“He’s not sleeping on the couch.”
“I’m not?” A few other possibilities passed through his mind. The best of which was bunking with Serena, and he knew that would never happen. The worst was sharing a pallet with Shadow. He waited for his instructions, dreading the hard floor and furry bedmate.
“No,” Serena said. “You’re sleeping with me.”
Chapter 21
Serena dug through the box and plopped an armload of papers on the table. She couldn’t believe she’d let it happen again. Her mother pushed her into a corner, and she’d spouted off the most outrageous thing she could think of: sleeping with Tyler. What must he think?
Tyler helped empty the box, placing envelopes, papers, and manila folders in a haphazard pile. Picking up several of the envelopes, she watched him covertly. He didn’t seem the least bit phased by the fencing match with Arlene or his new bedmate. Did anything bother him?
At least for a little while, Serena needed to get her mind off her mother and the possibility of sharing a bed with Tyler, not necessarily in that order. Even if it meant going cross-eyed looking at numbers all night. She glanced at the postmark on the first envelope. “Is this unopened mail?”
He nodded.
“It’s from January.” She waited for an explanation. Surely he at least opened his mail once in a while.
He continued piling, the stack now so high it threatened to slide off the table.
“How far behind are you?”
“A ways. I never can find the time for this type of thing.”
“How far is ‘a ways’?”
He paused. “I’m not really sure.”
“Didn’t you file your taxes last year?”
“I talked to the accountant and told him I could bring stuff over, but I didn’t have it all together yet.”
Didn’t have it all together? From what she could see he didn’t have anything together, least of all his finances. “What did he say?”
“Not to worry about it until August.”
“So he filed an extension?”
“A what?”
Oh my god! She gazed at the files and invoices, formulating a plan of attack.
“Look, you don’t have to help; I know it’s a lot of work.” Tyler tried to let her off the hook. “My business partner took care of this kind of stuff; I managed the people and cooked. After he left, I was so busy trying to keep things going I didn’t really pay attention to all the details.”
She gave him a small smile, realizing he needed her help more than he even knew. It gave her a surge of energy and brought out the cheerleader in her. “We can do it. The good thing is, we don’t have to conform to what someone else has done; we can start from scratch.”
“Start from scratch?” He looked overwhelmed.
“That’s a good thing,” Serena tried to reassure him, as she made her way to the desk in the living room.
Tyler’s voice rang out from the kitchen. “Are we taking a break?”
Serena returned with her laptop and letter opener. “Absolutely not. No breaks until we get this in some kind of order.”
“That could take years.”
She pulled out a chair and motioned for him to sit. “We don’t have years. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.” She didn’t believe a word she said. It was an auditor’s worst nightmare. Hopefully, they could piece enough together to get by. She handed him the envelopes and letter opener. “You start opening all the mail, and I’ll stack invoices.
They worked in silence for almost half an hour. Tyler finished the last of the unopened mail and stood to help arrange it into the correct piles. His arm brushed against hers and she glanced at him. He didn’t seem to notice. Serena’s feminine pride took it hard.
While her thoughts strayed from the paperwork in front of her time and again, Tyler seemed to have no problem concentrating. If one little touch made her heart flutter, what would it be like tonight? In bed with him? She imagined herself lying next to him, trapped in a sleepless frenzy of sexual frustration while he snored. That would be about her luck.
Tyler shuffled papers, unaware of her perusal. He had to think she was a floozy. After all she’d told him that he’d sleep with her. Didn’t ask, or politely suggest, but commanded. In front of her mother. What kind of sane woman would do that? If it struck him as odd, he hadn’t said so.
In fact he hadn’t commented on it at all. What did that mean? Did he think she did this everyday? That certainly wasn’t the case. If Arlene hadn’t shown up unexpectedly, things would be exactly as they were last night.
The conversation with her mother both irritated and disappointed Serena. Nothing had changed between them in the last 20 years. Absolutely nothing, including her own reaction to the moral indignation her mother displayed.
Arlene still treated her like a teenage floozy, and, damn it, she’d reacted like one. It didn’t matter what Arlene thought about her or her parenting techniques. Serena had gotten over that long ago, but the fact that the woman still pushed her buttons added to the disappointment. It hardly seemed worth the effort to have some kind of relationship with Arlene at this point.
“What’s wrong?”
Serena met his gaze, suddenly aware that she’d been staring into space. “What?”
“What’s wrong?” Tyler asked. “Did you find something?”
“Uh, no. I was thinking about other stuff.” She waved her hand to dismiss the subject and tried to concentrate on the invoice in front of her. It looked very familiar, like she’d read it 10 times, and probably had.
Tyler put down the papers and lowered his voice. “You know, if it’s the sleeping arrangements, I don’t mind sleeping on the floor in your room. She’d never know the difference.”
So he had been thinking about it. “It’s not that.” He was such a nice guy, trying to give her an out and save her pride at the same time. She whispered back, “I’d hoped it might be different this time with my mother.”
He nodded. “Things seem a little tense between you.”
“A little?” She gave a smile and pointed to
the mess on the table. “And this is a little pile of paperwork.”
He laughed with her, lightening her mood. “I guess you have a point there. So why’d you tell her that we’d sleep together?”
Good question. Serena thought about Jeffery, trying to remember if he’d ever given her a good “shrinkified” excuse for this thing between her and Arlene. “Well, it was sleep with her or with you.”
“So you’re saying I rank barely above a sixty-year-old woman?”
Serena gave him an exasperated sigh. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.” His grin gave him away.
“It’s not like we haven’t sleep together on the couch before.” Her face warmed, remembering his kiss. She tried to read his expression. “Two adults can sleep in the same bed and not have sex.”
“Yes, but why would they?” He teased.
“My mother.”
“Of course.” His tone indicated how ridiculous her response sounded. And it was.
The stress of the day weighed heavy on Serena’s shoulders. She rubbed the back of her neck.
“Why don’t you go soak in the tub? I can finish organizing this stuff.”
Great idea. As much as she’d been determined to jump into this paperwork, her mind refused to focus on anything. Except her mother. And Tyler.
He reached over and pulled the papers from her hand. “Go.”
“Are you sure you can handle this?”
“Absolutely not, but it’s my mess. I’ll do the best I can, then we can try again tomorrow night. How’s that?”
She nodded and left him to it. Trudging down the hall, Serena turned into her room to gather her pajamas. She paused at the dresser. Tyler’s brush, toothpaste and shaving items sat on the surface in a jumbled pile. She glanced in the mirror at the bed behind her. She’d be sharing it with him soon. The idea excited and made her nervous at the same time. What would it be like lying next to him? In the same bed? For hours on end? She’d wondered exactly that last night as she lay staring at the wall that separated their rooms.
Shadow followed her to the bathroom and sat patiently observing the bath preparation. Serena lowered herself into the steaming water and the dog assumed her now familiar posture resting her head on the side of the tub. Serena rubbed Shadow’s ears, while the water soothed and relaxed her tired muscles.
Sinking down to her chin, she closed her eyes, enjoying the quiet. After what seemed like only seconds, Serena realized the water had grown cool. She shook the sleepy fog from her brain and turned on the faucet with her toes, adding more heat. In only minutes, the tub engulfed her in warm pleasure once again. Her mind drifted away. Away from the stress over her job, away from her mother, away from the evening’s pending sleeping arrangements.
A sharp rap on the door brought her to full sitting position. The now cold water splashed over the edge of the tub. “Just a minute,” she sputtered.
“I was afraid you’d drowned in there.” Tyler’s muffled voice came through the door. “It’s been over an hour.”
“No. I’m fine.” Serena grabbed for a towel. “Be right out.” She stood and allowed the frigid water to drip from her body before stepping onto the rug.
Gooseflesh rippled across her skin and all her fingers and toes resembled white prunes. She must have been more tired than she thought. Pulling on her white silk PJs, Serena quickly ran a comb through her hair. She yanked open the door, running right into Tyler’s chest.
“I hated to wake you, but your mother’s in there.” He pointed to his room.
Serena glanced around him at the closed door. Had Arlene made some awful accusation while she’d been fast asleep in the tub? She hated to think about it. “And?”
He cleared his throat. “And, I really have to . . .” he pointed at the bathroom, “You know.”
She scooted out of the way, her face warming. “Of course, I’m sorry.”
“No problem.” He quickly shut the door.
Completely embarrassed, Serena shook her head. How long had he waited, with a full bladder, before he woke her? He was really taking this nice guy thing to the extreme.
Tyler opened the door and caught her standing in the exact same spot. “Thanks a million.”
“You didn’t have to wait like that. You could of . . .”
“What? Peed off the deck?” He breezed around her and turned into her room. “Thought about it, but one thing stopped me.”
Convinced he was teasing, she had to ask. “What was it?”
“Mosquitoes.” He shuffled through his pile of clothes. “That’s not really an area you want exposed to the little critters.”
She stared at his back, not quite believing him.
“I should get you one of those bug zapper things. Then you could soak in the tub as long as you want.” He disappeared out the door and into the bathroom with no hint of a smile.
He was serious. Serena plopped down on the bed and dropped her head into her hands. Like she’d even consider making it easier for him to personally water her backyard, so to speak. Let alone have one of those electrical death traps that left a pile of insect corpses. She still didn’t know quite what to make of him. He seemed to know what to say to ease her mind and soothe her anxieties, but he had none of the qualities she usually considered important.
She stared at his haphazard pile of clothes. She didn’t think he even owned a suit and probably wouldn’t know cashmere if it bit him in the butt. She didn’t want to even think about what other social skills he lacked if peeing off the deck was acceptable. Then there was the whole financial mess. Her mind wanted to classify him as Mr. Wrong, not an option, in the “just friends” category. But her heart wouldn’t allow it. Why? It’s not like she was in love with him. That would be ridiculous. They’d known each other barely a month. She listened to the sound of water running as Tyler took a shower. Mr. Right or Mr. Wrong, it didn’t matter. He was her bedmate for the night.
The front door opened, and Serena heard the flop of Justin’s backpack on the living room floor. A spike of panic jammed her chest. She’d thought that she’d come up with an idea of how to explain this odd turn of sleeping arrangements to Justin before he got home, but she’d spent most of the evening snoozing in the tub. Hurrying toward the kitchen, she found him heating a take-out tray from the restaurant in the microwave.
Justin glanced at her. “Fancy jammies. What happened to the sweats? Somebody here?”
She let the comment about her attire slide. “Your grandma.” Although she’d selected the white silk with Tyler in mind.
“Swell.” He didn’t sound pleased. “So, do I get the couch?”
“No, there was a small incident. The couch is wet.”
He frowned. “Did you not take Shadow out?”
“It’s water. Your grandma and Tyler kind of…”
“She tried to kill me with a plunger.” Tyler rounded the corner, his wet hair slicked back.
Justin laughed. “Sounds like I missed some good stuff.”
“Definitely.” Smiling, Tyler filled a glass with water.
“I was about to explain the new sleeping arrangements,” she said, expecting Tyler’s cooperation.
The kitchen went silent.
Serena searched for the right phrasing. “Since the couch isn’t really an option, Tyler will be bunking with me.”
“Bunking?” Justin raised an eyebrow at her. “Is that what they called it in the wagon wheel days?”
Her hand itched to smack the smirk off his face. “For your information, two adults can sleep in the same bed and just sleep.”
“But why would they?” Justin gave her that fake confused look he’d used since he was 3. “You know, you could have called, and I could have stayed over at David’s, and he…” He pointed to Tyler with an elbow, “…could have had my bed.”
Why didn’t she think of that?
“I offered to go to a hotel,” Tyler chimed in.
“That would have worked too.” Justin took a big bite of
barbecue.
Serena glanced from her son to Tyler. Only a short time since they started to work together and they were even sounding alike. As much as she’d wanted a father figure for Justin while he was growing up, she wasn’t sure Tyler was what she had in mind. And she definitely didn’t like them ganging up on her.
Tyler crossed his arms and waited for her response, a grin twitching at the corners of his mouth. She glared at them both, irritated and annoyed that they pointed out the weakness in her rash decision. Like she wasn’t well aware of it.
“Fine. Sleep where you want. I’m going to bed.” She stalked down the hall and flipped off her bedroom light as she entered. She could still see without much trouble and left the door open, hoping to catch any conversation that floated down the hall. Yanking down the covers, she climbed into bed and pulled them up to her chin. She ground her teeth together.
She knew her idea had been impulsive without either one of them pointing it out. Especially Justin. Most of the time she loved the fact that he was growing up and had a great since of humor, but there were times, like tonight, it pissed her off to no end. Not that Tyler was any help. Nice guy just lost points on that one. Big time.
Chapter 22
Tyler sat alone in the living room watching the news. Then the late show. Then the late-late show. Serena had been angry at him for teasing her about the sleeping arrangements, and he wanted to make sure she was asleep before he turned in. Her nerves were on edge tonight, but so were his. He’d thought of nothing else but holding her close every night since he’d kissed her on his sister’s porch. Now that the opportunity presented itself, he felt like a teenager on a blind date. He had numerous reservations about this situation, the main one being the fact that this wasn’t exactly how he’d fantasized things would be.
