Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy) (9 page)

I dressed simple for work, k
haki dress pants and a button up blouse.  The office would be deserted since it was the last day before the building would be closed for four days because of Christmas.  Most likely Corey and I would be twiddling our thumbs while our coworkers were gone.  I wonder how much time I would have to put in before I could take off time before the holidays.  Maybe Tyler and I could take off somewhere warm once I worked up the vacation days.  Picturing him lying shirtless on a lounge chair basking in the sun, sweat from the heat rolling from his chest to his abdomen… wow, I wouldn’t be able to keep my greedy eyes off of him. Or my hands for that matter.

Get your mind of out of the gutter!

Right!  I had to get through today and prepare myself for the weekend of family, including meeting Tyler’s mom.

I wonder
ed what she would be like.  Tyler made it sound like she was a lush who sat around with a grin on her face all the time, as though she were in her own world.  I wondered how she would feel about her son dating someone.  Seeing him hold my hand or put his arms around me.  I hope she wouldn’t change her demeanor with me around and turn from a happy drunk to a possessive crazy drunk.  Maybe she wasn’t even a big drinker but Tyler just thought she was?  I would have to wait and see and try not to be nervous about meeting her.  She was Tyler’s mom, and I would learn to make her a part of my life, especially since I wanted Tyler to be in my life more than the air I breathed.  Getting along with his mom would be a must, no matter what his relationship with her was like.

Just as I was about to take my lunch break
, my phone rang.  I smiled when I saw it was a Facetime call from Heather, which meant one thing.

“Auntie B!” a
small voice squealed.  She was smiling brightly through the phone with two pigtails on top of her head.

“Hi Josie!  What are you and Mommy doing?”  I asked, curious why she called me
midday.  Oh no!  Maybe she was going into labor and needed my help!

“Is Mommy
okay, Josie?”  I asked with concern.

Josie giggled, bringing the phone closer to her face so I could only see her teeth and chin.  Then I heard Heather in the background telling Josie to pull the phone away from her face. 
Phew
, she didn’t sound in distress.  Josie’s face came back into view.

“Yes, I bugged her to call you.  I miss you.  When
are you going to babysit me?” she squeaked, furrowing her little eyebrows.

I smiled at her.  While being in my without Tyler phase, I had ignored my darling niece.
  “I know Josie. We will play tomorrow, okay?  After Christmas I will take you somewhere fun, sound good?”

I
had lost her attention already. She was fidgeting with something, the phone was crooked on her face and her eyes were focused on something else.

“
Josie!”  I heard Heather say in the background to get her attention.

“Okay, Aunt B,” her little voice s
queaked, bringing her big brown eyes back to me.  She looked so much like Heather it was scary.

The screen on the phone moved so it was facing Heather.  Her face barely swollen
, looking through the phone at me.  She was only days away from her due date, and I’m sure she was miserable.

“So Mom
told me you were bringing Tyler to Christmas Eve and Christmas morning brunch?”  Heather beamed, getting right to the point.

“Yes,
I am.  How was Mom when you talked to her? Did she seem off?  Or upset?”  I asked.

“She was fine
. Very excited that you and Tyler are trying to work it out.  Why?  You have that nervous face on, you know when you bite your lip and scrunch your eyebrows together.  Did something happen between you and Mom?”

“I said some
things to her at the Christmas party.  Clearly she is over it though,” I sighed.

“Things like what?” s
he questioned, making a face and resituating herself on her sofa, causing the screen to quake.

“It’s not important.  How are you feeling?”  I aske
d, knowing she would be more than happy to talk about herself and change the subject.

“Oh, Becca…I’m miserable!”

I laughed in my head.  Heather, so dramatic.

~

At 5:30pm Corey and I took off out of the deserted office down the elevator.  Corey got off at the main lobby, wishing me a good Christmas.
  I descended down the elevator to the garage parking ramp.  I was beyond giddy. It had been three long days since I saw Tyler, and I was anxious all over.  My skin felt extra sensitive and was in desperate need of his touch.  I decided to go to my condo and do some laundry since I would be moving around the next four days.  I needed to wash my favorite jeans anyway so they would go back to fitting me.

I plugged my phone
in to my stereo and cranked up some music after I started a load.  I hadn’t cleaned my bathroom in a while, and it needed it badly. I refused to hire a housekeeper.  There was no reason I couldn’t clean my own living space. I was going to have to distract myself so I wouldn’t get lost day dreaming about Tyler.

I washed my hands once I was finished, feeling damp and sweaty in my baggy FSU
t-shirt and sweats.  My hair was a mess, my pony tail flopping to the side with multiple dark strands falling out and cascading around and over my face.  I needed a shower badly.  Striping of my clothes, I hopped in the shower.  I wanted to be extra clean and shiny for Tyler.

After thoroughly washing my hair and body, making sure I didn’t miss any spots
shaving my legs or armpits, I jumped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around myself, then started to towel dry my hair with another towel.  Once it felt dry enough to not drip, I started to apply some lotion.  I didn’t put it on as much as I should, but I loved the smell: light, citrus, and clean.  I lifted my leg to the bath tub and started to slowly rub the lotion along my ankles to my calves and up my thighs, causing my towel to hike up.  I threw my head to the side so my hair wasn’t cascading down in front of my whole face and nearly had a heart attack when I found Tyler leaning in the door frame watching me with wide, smoldering eyes.

“Tyler!”  I gasped as I
jumped backwards against the counter, clenching my towel to my chest.  His grin grew wide as he walked towards me, all young and rugged in baggy carpenter light blue jeans and a Cubs t-shirt.

I
pulled on my towel, feeling horribly self-conscious as he damn near pinned me against the counter.

“
Surprise,” he whispered, leaning down to kiss me, putting his hands on either side of the counter top. Tyler coming home early was the best surprise ever.

Forgetting about my
lack of clothing, I got lost in his kiss. Wow did it feel like forever since his lips were on me.  Holding my towel with one hand, I ran the other through his hair, which happened to be much shorter.  He had gotten a haircut. It was practically buzzed in the back and faded up, but still had enough length on the top to keep his incredibly sexy messy look. 

His arms wrapped around me tighter as I kissed him harder,
fisting my hand in as much of his hair as I could, pulling him into me, devouring him.  He groaned and clasped his arms around my back, pressing his hard body to mine.

“I take it you missed me,
too,” he breathed, slowing down the intensity of our kisses.

“M
mm…,” was all I could manage to say.  I took a long breath, inhaling his intoxicating scent.  Oh, did I love how he smelled.  Letting go of my towel, I pressed my chest into his, the towel as my barrier, and brought my hand around his waist, lifting up his shirt so I could feel his skin.  I grinned into his mouth as I ran my hand up his muscular back.  He was smooth again.  He pulled back and cocked his head at me, trying to hold back a smile.

“Take a trip to the spa?”  I teased, moving my other hand up the front of his shirt.  He squirmed and chuckled, grabbing both of my wrists.

“Nathan scheduled an appointment for me.  Lucky for you it was Tuesday, so I’m not red and blotchy,” he bantered back.

“Nathan makes appointments for you to go to the spa?”  I question
ed.

“Yes,
he does the whole shebang while I get the wax and a haircut.  Thank God he didn’t make me go shopping with him afterwards like usual.”

I attempted to hold in my laugh but failed.  Tyler let go of my wrists and lifted me so I was sitting on the counter top during my fit of giggles. 

“It just seems odd that you and your brother go to the spa,” I giggled again, as he narrowed his eyes at me, clearly trying to look stern and upset instead of laughing along with me. 

“Wh
y?  I can’t be pampered too?” he said, half offended.

“I could pamper you,”
I flirted, losing my giggles, bringing my hands to his lower back and slowly up his spine.  Tyler’s eyes closed as his chest rose with each deep breath.

“I love that idea,” he murmured, slowly meeting my lips with his.  His kisses were slow and intense, as close to making out as possible without tongues. 

I ran my hands up and down his smooth back then brought them to his front, slipping my fingers in his waistband so I could play with the elastic of his boxer briefs.  He wasn’t as smooth on this part of his body, but I was okay with that. 

Tyler pulled my body tighter to him, running his hands down my back
then to my hips, finding my thighs and nestling himself in between them. 

Just as Tyler finally slipped his tongue in my mouth, his phone started to ring.  He completely ignored it.  Eventually it stopped ringing, and Tyler’s hands moved up under my
towel on my thighs, caressing up my thigh, brushing his thumbs along my pubic bone.

His phone started to
ring again in his back pocket. Tyler still ignored it.  Keeping one hand drawing circles on my thigh, he took his other hand and tugged at the towel, trying to reveal my breasts.  Just as his hand started to wander past my belly up to my ribcage, his phone rang
again
.  He still ignored it, but I pulled away gently.

“Ty, maybe you should answer that,” I s
ighed, betraying my body that was telling me to pull his phone out of his back pocket and throw it out the window.

Tyler groaned and pulled his hand from my thigh to reach in his back pocket.   He looked down at his phone and furrowed his brows.

“What?” he snapped.  I studied Tyler’s eyes as he listened to whoever was calling him.  I dug my hand lower into his pants, just barely making contact.

Tyler smirked as his eyes lit up.

“Let me call you back in a minute.” He hung up the phone and put it down on the counter next to me.  His eyes had a hint of excitement, reminding me of a small boy.  I looked at him, biting my lip. 

“That was Cooper,” he said, moving his hands around my waist under the towel, helping it to drop to my waist and on the counter.  I leaned into him, pulling my hand from inside
his pants to around his neck.

“Is something wrong with work?” I asked,
moving to kiss his neck.

I heard him sigh.  “No, he wants me to come and play basketball in his league
at the Y tonight.”  He moved his lips so they were just below my ear.  “I don’t have to; we can finish what we’ve started.”

I pulled my head back to look at him.  He was torn between w
hat to do.  I could tell he desired me, but he also had that spark to go hang with the guys, something I don’t think happened often.  I smiled at him, putting my hands on his shoulders.

“Go play.
We can do this afterwards.”

He
raised his eyebrows and traced his bottom lip with his teeth.  “You’re sure?”

I no
dded my head and hugged him, needing to take my eyes from his mouth before I started using my own teeth on his lower lip.

“Well
, we are going to have to hurry. His game starts in 20 minutes,” Tyler said quickly, taking a step back as I wrapped the towel back around me.  I jumped off the counter in search for clothes.

“Do I have any shorts here?  Otherwise I have to run home
,” he asked hurriedly, following behind me into my closet.

“Yeah, in the drawer next to my side of the bed there ar
e a few pieces of your clothing.”

Some nights when we were broken up I would lay with his shirt, inhaling his scent, willing myself to not call him.  I shuddered at how awful being without him was.

  I quickly put o
n some panties and a sports bra. I might as well get a workout in since he would be playing were my gym was. I threw on yoga pants and a shirt then started to pull my damp hair up into a bun while walking out of my closet.  “Good thing you changed into casual clothes and have your Nikes-”

I stopped dead in my tracks.  Tyler was curiously holding a few dead roses and an envelope. 

Shit.

I forgot I had stashed all of the roses he had hid for me throughout the time we had been apart, along with the little notes I had forced myself to ignore.
  Why didn’t I tell him his clothes were in the bottom drawer and not the top?