Page 75 of Take The Risk

When I remained silent, he sighed. “I know this is more complicated for you than it is for me.”

I snorted. “Cady-Jo asked me if anything had happened between us, and I told her it hadn’t.” Mental things and maybe a few scenes on the page didn’t count, right? “She also told me you were off-limits, and I agreed.”

Ty cursed. “She had no right.”

I shrugged. “She’s a mom. She has the right to want the best for her child.” I felt the same way about my son. “Things are much more complicated now.” I told him about all the little quips and innuendo Cady-Jo had dropped over the last week, suggesting not just that Ty and Olivia were going to get back together but that Olivia was the woman she could accept for Ty. “That’s not my only concern. Lock is finally happy and settled. He has Scarlette. He’s made friends. He has you coaching his baseball team. Hell, he’s playing baseball. He struggled so much in Atlanta. If things don’t work out between us, what happens to him? Cady-Jo’s made it clear she’ll make sure the welcome we’ve received is rescinded…”

“What does that mean?” Ty’s finger hooked under my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

For the love of God, when would I learn?

“All of it, Phoebe.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, telling him about Cady-Jo’s subtle yet not-so-subtle threat.

Ty looked ready to explode. I reached up, running my fingers over the nerve ticking at his temple. “She’s gone too far.”

Did she? Maybe. “She’s a mom, Ty. None of us are rational when it comes to our kids.” Sure, just make excuses for her like old Phoebe, Phoebe.

“Don’t make excuses for her.”

“I’m not. I’m a mom. I know how irrational I can be. I can’t hold her to a different standard.” Even though I’d like to think I wouldn’t threaten to destroy another woman—a single-mom’s—standing in her new town. Yeah, that was a line I couldn’t see myself crossing. “It doesn’t matter, really.” At his incredulous look, I amended, “Okay, it does. But the bigger issue is…me. My life. It’s a lot to deal with for me and it’s mine to begin with.”

“I know all that, baby, and I don’t care. I’m not afraid of a little hard work. You are more than worth it.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. Pressing my lips together, I burrowed into him with a shuddering breath.

Pushing my head back, he cupped my face. I couldn’t help closing my eyes to savor the touch, trying to blink back the tears blurring my vision. “Listen, scribbler.” He used the nickname I’d noticed he’d given me, which made me feel all gooey. “This is complicated. I get it. I also know your ex has done some damage to your self-esteem.” He used his strength to keep me where I was when I tried to pull away. “No. It’s nothing for you to be ashamed of. The shame is his. What I’m saying is that I can handle that. I can handle it all. What I can’t handle is looking at you, needing to touch you, and not being able to. I’ll do this however you want. You can keep me your dirty little secret for all I care.” I raised an eyebrow at him, earning a boyish smile. “At least for Lock’s sake until things are settled between us. As long as I get to have you, I don’t care.”

It sounded like he meant something permanent…

His concern for Lock was my undoing. Any last shred of argument I had dissolved. How could I say no when the man was going to let me be in charge because he was concerned about my son? I didn’t know anything about the whole single-mom dating game, but I knew a man putting the child first was practically unheard of.

“A lot of my life is secret.” I didn’t say that I thought I’d never be able to let a lot of it out into the daylight. “What if…what if we kept this, us, just between us? At least until we are sure there is something more here than…?”

“There is.” He sounded so sure I almost believed him.

In my head, the million ways this could blow up in my face, in Lock’s face, flashed. I was thirty-nine; he was thirty. Our families were involved, our friends. At least if I could keep this between us for now, I could mitigate some of the damage when the reality of being with me hit Ty.

Ty gave me a long searching look, almost daring me to argue.

“I just need to make sure I’m doing the right thing for Lock.” I was pretty sure agreeing to this, to setting myself up for heartbreak because my heart was fully engaged here, wasn’t in my best interest.

“Okay. We’ll keep things between us for now.” Ty’s agreement was reluctant; he was not thrilled with it or with my unwillingness to agree there was something more here. I wasn’t sure which. “Actually, it will be between us and Wade.”

My mouth fell open in shock. “What?”

“Calm down. It’s not like I called him this morning to say I spent the night making my hot little scribbler scream my name.” He gave me a sexy smile meant to tease, and damn if that didn’t work. “He’s known about how I feel about you for a while.” I couldn’t stop the smile spreading across my face. I liked that while I’d been having illicit feelings for him, I hadn’t been alone. “He won’t say a word, but it would be helpful having him know.”

The situation last night with Ty’s truck popped into my head.

“Won’t he be mad at having to lie?” I already felt tremendous guilt over Ty, Wade, and Jesse keeping my secret. Asking Wade to keep another one…

Ty snorted. “He’s thrilled. He lives for clandestine stuff like this. No offense, baby, but Jack Ryan books are more his speed.”

Laughing, I said, “I happen to like those myself.”

“So, how would this work?” Hiding being a writer was probably going to be a lot easier than hiding dating someone.