That was the way it was supposed to be, but she and Sheldon didn’t have an ordinary relationship. They didn’t have one at all, anymore. It still irked her that in all the time they had spent together, he hadn’t trusted her completely, enough to open up about the pain of losing his brother. And her heart simply couldn’t accept that he’d walked away from her so easily. Initially, she could understand his fear, but why send her that letter? Why lead her to believe he was involved with someone else?
She supposed it was plausible that he was hoping she would forget him, but in Tyanna’s eyes, true love wasn’t supposed to be that way. True love dealt with the most difficult of struggles.
He came back
, she could hear Wendy say, and yes, that was true. The real question was whether or not they had what it took for the long haul.
Life always presented struggles. And what would Sheldon do then? Run again? Or trust her?
Her thoughts troubling her, Tyanna climbed out of bed. She grabbed some clothes, went to the bathroom and took a long shower. When she re
turned to the bedroom, makeup on and dressed, Sheldon was awake and sitting up.
“Morning,” she said. She sounded gruff, even though she hadn’t planned it that way.
Sheldon gave her a perplexed look. “I thought I heard the shower…You got up and left me here?’’
Tyanna sat on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t want to wake you.’’
He stroked her exposed stomach. “I’d hoped we would shower together this morning.’’
Tyanna shrugged, giving a ‘who cares?’ attitude about the suggestion. “Next time.’’
There was confusion in Sheldon’s eyes, and it disturbed her. Tyanna looked away as she rose from the bed.
But his arms encircled her wrist, and she looked over her shoulder at him.
“
Will
there be a next time?” he asked.
“Oh, sure.’’
“Sure? You make it sound like we’re talking about going to a movie or something.”
“What do you want me to say?” Tyanna knew she was being cold, but the way she saw it, she had no choice. She had let Sheldon back into her life, and to do that was to risk letting him back in her heart.
Sheldon frowned. “How can you do this?’’
“Do what?’’
He looked dumbfounded. “Act as if…as if last night meant absolutely nothing to you.’’
She chuckled softly. “Oh. Is that what you think? Of course last night meant something to me. I appreciate you coming over. It’s been a long time since I’ve had that.’’
“Had that?’’
“You know.” But she didn’t look at him. “Great sex. I guess I didn’t realize how much I missed it.’’
Sheldon looked at her with as much surprise as if he’d woken to find a stranger in his bed.
“What?” she asked.
“You appreciate me coming over?’’
“Yeah, I do.’’
“As if you could have just called anyone?’’
“Technically—”
He sat up fully. “Forget technically. Would you have? Just called anyone to come over?’’
“I didn’t.’’
Sheldon groaned. “God, I guess I now know what it’s like to feel cheap.’’
Tyanna once again looked away. She hadn’t been prepared for this from Sheldon, and she wasn’t sure how to respond. “Look,” she finally said, “I’m not trying to offend you or anything. I’m just trying to keep things in perspective. You said yourself that our relationship was always about sex.’’
“I said that?’’
“Well, it wasn’t about love, now was it?’’
Tyanna watched him, holding her breath as she waited for him to respond. But she soon realized
that she would surely suffocate before Sheldon told her he loved her, and she released the breath of air she’d been holding.
“Just like I said,” Tyanna announced, doing her best to keep her tone light. “And I’m all right with that. At first I wasn’t sure what it would be like, taking that step with you again. But I think you were right. We’re so great in the sack, I don’t see any reason that we can’t get together from time to time to scratch that itch.’’
“That
itch
.”
“Whatever you want to call it.’’
Sheldon got out of bed. “Where are my clothes?’’
“I picked them up from the hallway,” she told him. “They’re on the chair by the window.’’
“Thanks.” His tone said he was irritated.
Tyanna watched him as he quickly dressed, then turned back to her. “I’ve got to go.’’
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Things to do. You know.’’
“Yeah, I guess I do. I have a few errands to—’’
“I’ll talk to you later,” he said, cutting her off.
Tyanna stood. “Um, I can make you some breakfast.”
“Naw. I’m fine.’’
She nodded, and the next thing she knew, Sheldon was striding through her bedroom door. She lagged behind him as he went into the hallway and put his shoes on.
He unlocked the door and then looked her way. “Later.’’
“Yeah.”
For a good few minutes after he’d left, Tyanna didn’t move. She merely stood staring at the door, as if she expected it to open.
Finally, she made her way into the living room, where she plopped herself down on her plush sofa. She went from staring at the door to staring at the ceiling.
Remembering to breathe, she slowly sucked in air, then expelled it in a frustrated rush.
She should be feeling victorious that she’d managed to play cool and nonchalant about the night she and Sheldon had spent together. Instead, all she felt was a hole the size of Texas forming in her stomach.
Sheldon pressed the heel of his hand to the horn and gave it a good, long blare. “Son of a bitch, will you move out of the way?’’
The car in front of him did a jerky lane change to the left, cutting in front of an unsuspecting driver. Sheldon sped up, and as he passed the car on the way to his exit, he whipped his head to the left to get a look at the dimwit behind the wheel.
It was an elderly woman, and the look of absolute horror she leveled in his direction zapped some sense into him.
Shit, what the hell was wrong with him? This woman hadn’t committed any heinous crime. In fact, she’d been doing the speed limit—in the slow lane, at that. It was he who was driving like an idiot, and quite frankly, he was only lucky that he hadn’t run into a state trooper, who definitely would have given him a citation for speeding.
Sheldon slowed down as he drove along the
exit ramp. It was then that he noticed his hands were jittery. Christ, he couldn’t even hold the steering wheel properly. He was damn lucky to have made it this far without an incident.
He made a concerted effort to rein in his scattered emotions as he drove the rest of the way to his mother’s house. But the words
scratch that itch
wouldn’t leave his mind.
Scratch that itch.
The words burned him. Sheesh, the way Tyanna spoke, she had basically used him to get off. And it wasn’t a nice feeling.
Not that Sheldon minded having sex for the sake of it, but he certainly didn’t look at Tyanna as a means to simply get off. If that’s all he wanted, he could masturbate in the privacy of his bedroom.
Call him a wuss, but he actually enjoyed the sharing aspect of sex, enjoyed knowing that he was giving as much as he was receiving. At least he enjoyed that with Tyanna. Sure, any vagina could make a man feel good, but he had a special connection with his ex-girlfriend’s.
He had hoped that Tyanna also felt they had a unique sexual connection, but her callous attitude this morning made him think that what he had spent a year dreaming about was not so special after all.
He wasn’t used to this Tyanna. Before, she had given herself to him body and soul. He had felt that way last night. But her words and attitude had shattered that illusion this morning.
Sheldon had the distinct feeling that they had taken one step forward, two steps back.
Right now, he had no clue as to where they stood. All he knew was that he couldn’t obsess over this all day. Minutes later, Sheldon was thankful to be pulling into the driveway of his mother’s North Miami home. What he saw made thoughts of Tyanna instantly flee his mind.
Rather, what he didn’t see.
His mother was a teacher and therefore home for the summer. Every morning she either sat on the porch or worked in the garden. But this morning she wasn’t outside. Was she okay? Had she had another heart attack?
Sheldon parked and went into the house. He still didn’t see her. Didn’t smell the scents of eggs and bacon, which often filled the air when his mother cooked for him. She had told him not to worry about her; in fact, she had urged him to get his own place—something Sheldon had planned on doing, especially now that he had found another job. But how could he live somewhere else until he knew that she was back to 100 percent?
His mother was one of the most stubborn people he knew. Despite her weak heart, she had plans to start teaching again in the fall. But what worried him was that lately she hadn’t been taking her medication at the times she was supposed to. “I’m feeling much better and I can’t be bothered with all the fuss,” she had told him last
week. Well, until the doctor told her not to, Sheldon wanted her taking her medication.
Had she not taken her medication this morning? Sheldon’s concern increased as he quickly hurried through the house to her bedroom. “Ma,” he called, then swung the door open.
He found her sitting on the edge of her bed with the shades drawn and no other lights on.
“Ma, what’s the matter?” Sheldon flicked the light switch and stepped into the room. “Is it your heart? Do you want me to call a doctor?’’
“Oh, Sheldon.” Relief laced her tone. “You’re home.’’
“Of course I’m home,” he replied. “I was out last night, that’s all. I guess I should have called so you wouldn’t worry….”
She sighed, a weary, heavy sound. Her lips went lopsided in a worried expression, and Sheldon wondered what was going on.
Millie Ford was a robust woman, with graying hair that she always wore in a bun. Though almost sixty, her dark skin was smooth and wrinkle free.
Sheldon sat on the bed next to her. “Why were you sitting here in the dark? It’s your heart, isn’t it? You were doing too much—’’
“No, it’s not my heart.’’
Sheldon frowned. “Then did something happen?’’
“Yes,” she answered softly.
“What?”
“Oh, Sheldon.” She placed a gentle palm on his cheek. “I’m so worried about you.’’
“Nothing’s gonna happen to me, Ma.” He didn’t need her worrying about him, not in her condition. “I’m fine.’’
Shaking her head, she said, “You don’t understand. I got a call last night.’’
Sheldon’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of a call?’’
“Sheldon, it was a threat.’’
His heart started to beat faster. “What did this person say?’’
“Whoever it was said to tell you that they’re watching you, and they know what you did.’’
“They’re watching me?” Sheldon asked.
“That’s what he said. And…that you would pay. Then he hung up.’’
Sheldon stood, paced to the window, then turned around. “What time did the call come in?’’
“A little after ten last night. This person asked for you, and when I told him you weren’t home, that’s when he said to tell you they’re watching you and they know what you did.’’
“They?”
“I think he said ‘they.’ Yes, I’m pretty sure he did.’’
“Shit,” Sheldon muttered.
“All night, I could hardly sleep. I was so worried.’’
“Oh, Ma.” Sheldon went back to the bed, sat beside her, and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that.’’
She looked up at him with worried eyes. “What’s going on?’’
“I’m not sure.’’
“You have no idea?” his mother questioned.
“No,” he answered. And that was the truth. The only danger to him had died with Dino.
Or so he’d thought.
There was a chance that one of Dino’s associates might want to do him harm, but that was a remote chance, as far as Sheldon was concerned. He hadn’t really acted on anything—just collected information. Besides, no one from that time knew he was back in town.
Except for Tyanna. And Maria.
“I’m sure it was a crank call,” Sheldon told his mother.
“He referred to you by name, Sheldon.’’
“Maybe some old friend who’s trying to get a rise out of me,” he lied, knowing it sounded lame.
“I don’t know.” She bit down on her bottom lip, then gripped his hand. “After what happened to Dwight, I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you….”
“You are not going to lose me. I promise you that.’’
Millie rested her head against her son’s chest. “I pray every day for your safety.’’
“I know. And God’s hearing your prayers. Don’t worry about me.’’
“You’re all I have left.’’
Sheldon ran his hand over his mother’s hair. “I know. And I’m not going anywhere. I need you to believe that.” He knew Dwight’s murder had brought about her heart attack, and if she made herself sick with worry, who knew what would happen to her next?
“I’ll try.’’
Sheldon stood and pulled back the covers on the bed. “You look like you didn’t get much sleep.’’
“I didn’t.’’
“Did you take your pills?’’
“No.”
Sheldon tsked. “Ma. I’ll get your pills and some water. You climb into bed. I want you to get some rest and not worry about me.’’
Millie swung her legs up onto the bed and pulled the covers up.
“Like I said, this is probably somebody’s idea of a crazy joke,” Sheldon told her. “Either way, I’m going to get to the bottom of it.’’
And he would.
Wendy’s face broke into a smile when she heard Phil’s voice on her message service. She promptly dialed his number from the phone in her office.
The receptionist at Phil’s office told her that he wasn’t there, so Wendy tried him on his cell.
He sounded harried when he answered. “Phil Jackson here.’’
“Hey, Phil. I hope I’m not catching you at a bad time.’’
His voice softened. “Wendy?’’
“It’s me.’’
“Hey. How are you?’’
“Better than you, from the sound of it.’’
Phil chuckled wryly. “Yeah, I’m running all over the place today. Other than that, I’m fine.’’
“You working on a project today?’’
“Uh-huh. We’re shooting a corporate video.’’
“Oh. Sounds exciting.”
“Not particularly. But, I can’t complain. A bad day on my job is still pretty cool.’’
“No doubt.” Wendy twirled a tendril of her curly hair. “One of these days, you’re going to have to come by my place and let me make you a nice dinner. You’re one of the busiest guys I know.’’
“You know, I just may have to take you up on that offer. I’m definitely due for a break.’’
“I’d say so.” She paused. “Anyway, I got your message.’’
“Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I’ve got good news for you, and I just need to firm up the details.’’
“Oh?”
“I’ve got a crew together for your video shoot. We can pull this off on Sunday if that still works for you.’’
“Oh, great.” Wendy beamed into the phone. “Sunday is perfect.’’
“Cool,” Phil said. “So far, the consensus is that around two will work best for them. It’s me and two other guys.’’
“No problem.’’
“We’ll bring two cameras to shoot the video from two different angles. That should also help time-wise.”
“Whatever you say. You know what you’re doing in that regard.’’
“It’ll be good.” Phil spoke with confidence. “It’s fairly straightforward.”
“I think so,” Wendy said. “But Tyanna and I are wondering about music, which is our only complication right now. Granted, this is a demo tape, so maybe we don’t have to get rights or anything. I was wondering what you think about that.’’
“You mean using a published song in your video?’’
“Uh-huh.”
“If you’re not selling it, I wouldn’t worry about it.’’
“I know you said there are generic beats available out there, if you think it’s questionable.”
“I don’t think so. Like I said, I would worry about that only if you were producing a video that you planned to put on the market. However, if you’re more comfortable with a generic beat, that’s your call. You can decide what you want to do by Sunday and let us know. I can add music in the editing stage.’’
Wendy released a nervous breath. Sunday was
only six days away. “Phil, I am so grateful to you for doing this.’’
“No problem. I’m happy to volunteer my time.’’
A thought struck her. While Phil may help for free, he would have to pay his crew. “I know we haven’t discussed pay—’’
“I told the guys I was doing this as a favor.’’
“Still, I’d feel better if we paid them. How does a hundred bucks sound? Plus food and drinks.’’
“All right. I’m sure the guys will like that.’’
“And of course, my offer to make you dinner anytime you want it still stands. Just say when.’’
“Sure will.’’
Wendy glanced at the clock at the same moment Phil told her he would have to run.
“Okay, Phil. I’ll talk to you later. Thanks again.’’
“No problem.’’
“All right, Ken,” Tyanna said. She made the last of her notes on her sheet documenting his performance today. “You’re done.’’
He clapped his hands together. “At last.’’
“I’m really impressed,” she told him. “You have come a long way in the past few months.’’
Ken flashed a cheesy smile as he flexed. His skinny arms boasted muscles that hadn’t been there four months earlier. The protein shakes had been working to help him build body mass.
Tyanna chuckled. “There you go. Results. It makes it all worthwhile, doesn’t it?’’
“It sure does.’’
“See you next time, Ken.’’
He gave her a quick nod and smile, then walked off. Tyanna was proud of him. It wasn’t that easy for a man to gain weight, not fat, but with her diet counseling, Ken had been doing a great job. Slow and steady was the way to ensure lasting results.
Feeling satisfied, Tyanna sauntered over to the nearby water fountain and lowered her head to take a drink.
“This must be heaven, because you are definitely an angel.’’
At the sound of the deep, male voice, Tyanna whipped her head up from the drinking fountain and looked over her shoulder. Jay stood there with his arms crossed over his chest, a playful smile on his lips.
“Jay,” Tyanna said simply.
He held up a hand. “Don’t be offended. It’s just that you are…so beautiful.”
Tyanna could argue with him, but she knew there was no point. Jay would probably always flirt with her.
So she said, “Thank you, Jay.’’
Another man approached the water fountain, and Tyanna stepped away to give him access. Jay moved with her.
“I know you said you weren’t interested in a re
lationship, and maybe I came on a little strong. But I was wondering if we could go out sometime as friends? For dinner or something. Just to hang out.’’
Tyanna looked up at Jay and could only shake her head with a wry expression. “You don’t give up, do you?’’
“I can’t lie. You’re a beautiful girl. Sure, I like you, but I feel kind of bad that you’ve been avoiding me. I just want to make amends.’’
Tyanna’s eyes slowly roamed Jay’s body. He was an attractive man, that was certain. And he was nice. Yet Tyanna had always closed her mind off to getting to know him better.
“Jay…” Looking over his shoulder, her heart got a sudden jolt when she saw Sheldon in the distance. He was staring at her intently, watching the interaction between her and Jay.
Tyanna’s breathing became shallow. Sheldon’s gaze burned her skin, and in a flash she remembered the incredible way she had spent the better part of the last evening and night.