Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy) (8 page)

“Jamie!  Would you stop?”

“Not until you give me details.”

“He knows what he’s doing, let’s just say that.”  My blush faded as I thought about my confession.  How was he so good at sex?  I know his main experiences were with an older woman, but he made it sound like they were all quick encounters, not long teaching sessions.  Margo.  The constant fear of that woman knocking on his door was always in the back of my mind. Tyler throwing her against a wall and plunging into her. 
Ewe.

“So you get off every time?”

I flushed again.  “Yes, sometimes more than once,” I whispered.

Jamie’s face lit up.  “Yeah?  So he knows where the buttons are, huh?”

I laughed at her terminology. 

“Oral?”

“Oh my God, if you have to know, yes,” I blushed again.  If we kept talking about my sex life with Tyler I was going to need to start running so I could blame the color of my cheeks on my exertions.

A sly smile came across her face.  “It’s about time you let someone eat at the Y.
  I personally enjoy that more than sex, unless the guy knows how to move his hips.”

I just shook my head, blushing further.  Tyler sure knew how to move his hips as well.

“So, do you think his brother is as gifted in bed?”  she coyly asked.

I had never thought of Nathan that way.  I had never heard of him with a girl actually.

“Nathan?  I don’t think he dates a whole lot, and from what I hear, Mitch gets around so he might know a few moves.”

“Yeah, I was
more curious about Nathan.  I won’t start with him anyway.  I wouldn’t want a repeat of that bar I worked at back in college.  Oh that was a mess!”

I laughed.  Jamie had a fling with the owner of the b
ar she worked at during college. Needless to say it did end messy, and she vowed to never sleep with her boss again-- and Nathan was exactly that.

After the gym Jamie and I ordered Chinese and watched movies.  She was leaving to go to Florida for the holidays on Tuesday for two weeks. Just as we were pouring the Chinese onto plates, the intercom buzzed.  Jamie and I shrugged our shoulders at each other.  Jamie walked to the buzzer and answered.

“I have a delivery for a Becca Stine,” the concierge
said.  “Is now a good time to send the security guard to make the delivery?”

“Sure, thanks. 
I wonder what, or who, sent you a gift?” Jamie flirted.

I rolled my eyes and continued pouring the Chinese on two separate plates.  “I bet it is something stupid from my mother.”

The door buzzed and Jamie raced to answer.

A massive flower bouquet greeted Jamie at the door.  She gasped then heard a muffling coming from the flowers.  We could hardly hear or see the poor security guard who had to deliver the flowers to our floor.

Jamie tried to help the gentlemen in so he could set the flowers on the kitchen table, which   happened to tower over and dominate the small wild flower arrangement from Gage. 

Then it clicked.

I tipped the security guard who was frazzled by carrying the large bouquet then went to examine the flowers with Jamie.  The arrangement consisted of at least four dozen roses with white lilies, hydrangeas, and baby’s breath mixed in.  It was breath taking.

Jamie searched the bouquet for a card and finally found one.  “It’s from your gentle lover,” s
he teased, handing me the card.  I scowled at her and looked at the card.

Becca,

I’m sure t
he flowers on your table are weepy by now and I thought they needed a proper

replacement from your proper muse.  I hope you like them, and I am sure they are nowhere

near as beautiful as you are. 

-Ty

“Jealous
of Gage’s flowers I’m assuming?” Jamie questioned with a knowing smile, removing Gage’s flowers and walking them over to the trash can.

“Good guess,” I said
, shaking my head.  Oh, Gage.  I never should have freaked out on him at my father’s Christmas party.  But then again, I never should have brought him in the first place.  I hoped he would forgive me one day, if we ever ran into each other again.

I decided to give Tyler a call once we were done with dinner.

“Hey baby doll,” he purred.

“Hi, thank you for the flowers.  They are beautiful,” I said, walking towards my room.

“You are very welcome,” he said pleasingly.

“Are you still in Cleveland?”

“Yeah, I am taking a flight to Chicago tomorrow after a few meetings.”

“Do you have your own place in Cleveland?” I asked curiously. 

“Not yet.  One weekend you should come with me and pick out a condo.  As nice as hotels are, I can’t keep clothes in them,” he chuckled.

I smiled into the phone. 

“Do you have any other houses or condos?”

“Only condos I have are in Chicago and Grand Rapids.  I have been debating getting a place somewhere warmer.”

“Warmer climates are overrated,” I teased.

“Warmer climates mean less clothing,” he murmured.

“Are you ever going to stop plotting to get me naked?”

“Nope.  I miss you,” he sighed.

“I miss you too.  Hey Ty?”
I asked trying not to sound needy.

“What
baby?”

“You said you wouldn
’t be back until late Wednesday.  Would you care if I stayed at your house?”

“You mean coming home after midnig
ht to you sleeping in my bed?” he asked, sounding amused.

“Yes, only if you don’t mind.”

“Why would I mind?  I wish you were in my bed every night,” he flirted.

I blushed.  Wednesday couldn’t come soon enough.

~

I had nearly an hour left of work on Tuesday.  My mind was more focused on my personal life than working on Conklin’s blueprints.   After work, I needed to get Christmas presents for Tyler, take Jamie to the airport, wrap all of the gifts Tyler and I had bought for our families, and I wanted to get a Christmas tree for Tyler’s living room. 

I was uneasy by all the tasks I wanted to co
mplete in the short amount of time.  If I could get Tyler’s present and the Christmas tree before taking Jamie to the airport I would be happy, but I was going to have to book it in order for that to happen.  Some of Tyler’s gifts I had already gotten.  I had made a call to my dad the second I got into the office about one of Tyler’s presents.  This time I didn’t take any shame in asking a favor from my father.

Will passed by my office dressed in his winter coat.  “Why don’t you take off, Becca?  It’s dead in the building.  I’m not going to be in tomorrow
. Last minute shopping, of course,” he added, resituating his satchel. 

“You know what?  I think I might.  I still have a ton of stuff I need to get done before Christmas.  Thanks Will.”

“No problem. Have a great holiday, Becca!” he said, walking backwards out of our offices.

I started to clean up my area and grab my things to take off,
thankfully I just gained another hour to accomplish my tasks.  I turned off my CAD computers and walked to the elevator and was met by a tall man in a basic suit.  His hands were on his hips, revealing a badge on his belt buckle.  He looked at me and smiled.  His eyes were piercing blue against his pale skin, causing his short buzzed hair to appear black.  I returned his smile as we waited for the elevator.

“Excuse me, but
you’re Rebecca Stine, right?” he asked.  Internally I rolled my eyes.  I hated being called Rebecca.

“Becca,” I
corrected, taking his outstretched hand.  The elevator opened, and we both walked on.

He smiled at me, his eyes creasing.  “I’m
Detective Anderson.  I have met with your father every now and then.  He is a good man, very ethical.”

“
Yes, I agree.”

“Ju
st like the Conklin’s, right?” he asked quickly.

I blinked at him, thrown off by his question.

“I would hope so, but I am just a junior commercial architect, Detective Anderson.  I don’t really work closely with the head honchos.”

“But you drove Tyler Conklin’s Lexus SUV to work this morning?”
he questioned, cocking his head.

I clenched my teeth, attempting to keep
my expression bleak.  What was I supposed to say?  That I was sleeping with the owner’s son? 
That I am in love with the owner's son.

The elevator dinged as he shook his head and laughed.  “Just an observation.  It was nice to meet you, Becca Stine.”  Detective Anders
on walked off to the main lobby.  Then the doors closed to take me to the garage parking lot.  What a weird encounter.  I blinked my eyes a few times and regained focus.  I had to get Tyler a few presents and manage to get a Christmas tree before 6:00pm.  

~

“Did you f
ind Tyler a Christmas present?” Jamie asked, throwing one of her suitcases next to the island counter.

“Yes, I found a few things,”
I said as I bit my lip.  I had a great idea, but I wasn’t so sure if I could pull it off how I wanted to.

“And a tree?”

I nodded my head.  “I got a fake one; I started to worry that he might be allergic,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

Jamie laughed.
“That would have been bad.  Nothing like good Christmas loving with a blotchy and swollen guy!”

I laughed with her
and then traveled to my bedroom to pack a few things.  I planned on staying at Tyler’s tonight since all of the presents that needed to be wrapped were there.  I quickly got my things together and headed back out into the kitchen.

“Are you ready to go?”  I asked Jamie.

“You have no idea. I’m so ready for warm weather!”

~

Once I dropped Jamie off
, I raced to Tyler’s house.  It was around 7:30pm and my stomach growled.  I frowned.  I didn’t have time to eat, but I didn’t want to put it off any later.  Besides, I promised Tyler I would be more careful about eating.  I called and ordered takeout from Bistro Bella Vita and picked it up on my way to his condo.

I had to take a few trips up to
Tyler’s condo because of all the bags and the Christmas tree box.  I started to work right away while taking bites of food in between putting the tree together and wrapping presents.  I let out a loud sigh as I sprawled on the big cream sofa, admiring my handy work.  The tree was small, lit with white Christmas lights with large red and green bulbs throughout the tree.  I even bought a set of blue and gold Michigan M ornaments.  Although Tyler didn’t originally want to attend the University of Michigan, he had pride in his school and would give me grief if I wore green. 

I didn’t put the star on top
because I wanted Tyler to do that.  I sure hoped he wouldn’t mind my taking over his living room and getting festive.

As I stared at the tree, I hear
d my phone go off.  I jumped up to answer it.

“Hi,”
I said cheerily, knowing who was on the other line.

“Hi.  How are you?”  Tyler asked, sounding a touch surprised.

“I’m wonderful.  Missing you, of course,” I sighed.

I could practically hear his smirk over the phone.  “I miss you as well.  What are you doing?  You sound very cheery.”

“You will have to wait and see,” I teased.  “I am at your house. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Oh no, I sure hope you’re not redecorating,” he laughed.

“Nothing that can’t be taken down,” I smiled.

“Now I’m intrigued.  Will you be sleeping in my bed tonight as well?”

“I was planning on it. Again, only you don’t mind.” A hint of insecurity was laced with my words.

“As far as I’m concerned, that bed is just as much yours as it is mine.  It will be hard for me to sleep tonight though.  I’m going to be picturing you wrapped up in my satin sheets without me,” he pouted.
 

“I can’t wait for Wednesday.  What time is your flight?”  I asked.

“9:45pm. I have a dinner meeting at 7:00pm otherwise I would fly home sooner,” he apologized.

“
It’s fine.  Text me when you land, and I will come pick you up.”

“I look forward to it.”

I yawned into the phone and heard Tyler chuckle.  “I need to call you earlier.  I will let you go to sleep.  I can’t wait to see you tomorrow evening.”

“Okay, I will keep your bed warm.  Goodnight Ty.”

“Goodnight baby doll.”

Chapter
5

It was hard sleeping all night in Tyler’s bed without him.  I slept hugging his pillow, constantly smelling his scent, a mix of citrus freshness from his soap and the sporty marine musk of his Hugo Boss cologne.  Oh, how I missed him.  It smelled lovely and safe on his sheets, but once I’d get a waft from his chest, my arousal would awaken, and I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off of him. Maybe sleeping in Tyler’s bed alone was more torturous than beneficial.