My pitch black computer screen.
“Right,” Ty says slowly, raising an eyebrow at me. “Want to try that again?”
Noah, the absolute traitor, says from behind Ty, “She’s been acting strange all day, all jumpy and knocking into things. She wouldn’t tell me why and insisted she was okay, but it’s beenveryweird.”
It takes less than three seconds for realization to dawn on Ty. He reaches behind him to clutch Noah’s arm and he gasps, staring at me wide-eyed. His eyes are on me, but it’s to Noah that he says, “She hooked up with him.”
“Who?”
“The sex god,” Ty practically squeals. “That’s why she’s been jittery and she acted like a freak, running and hiding when he showed up.They hooked up. Oh my god.”
“Shhh,” I whisper-yell. “He could still be in the shop.”
“So it’s true? You guys hooked up?” Noah practically yells over Ty’s shoulder, ignoring the succulent-shaped foam stress toy I toss at his head. Or I try to, anyway. It bounces off Ty’s chest and falls to the floor.
“Will you two get in here and shut the door before throwing accusations at me?” I scold. “For god’s sake, there could be customers out there.”
Shit, thecustomers–
“What am I doing? The shop is still open, I have to –”
“Don’t you dare.” Ty pulls Noah into the room and shuts the door behind them. It’s almost comical, seeing these two men pushing six feet tall crammed into my tiny office. It’s not even close to being big enough for the three of us to fit in here comfortably. “Noah put a note on both doors saying you’ll be back in fifteen minutes, and Lucy is happily running around the backyard. We’ve got some time.”
I open my mouth to protest and he shakes his head. “Spill it,” he says.
I slump in my seat. “This doesn’t leave this office, okay?”
“Oh, this is going to begood,” Ty says, grinning.
I glare at him. “I’m not telling you anything until you promise.” The last thing I need is people gossiping about Declan and I. If this whole thing implodes at some point – which, if we’re being honest, it probably will – then the fewer people who know about it, the better.
“I promise,” Noah says, making an X across his chest with his finger.
“Same, obviously.” Ty rolls his eyes, likeI’mthe one being difficult. “Now tell us what’s going on.”
I take a deep breath. “I went up to his apartment last night,” I begin, and Ty cuts me off with, “Elsie, you dirty slut!” Somehow, he makes the harsh words sound like a compliment.
“Not likethat. Some of his mail got delivered here and I accidentally brought it home, so I was returning it to him.”
“Instead of just waiting until today?” Noah questions.
“It could have been important, okay?”
The two exchange a look, and I fight the urge to go on the defensive. I hadn’t thought it wasthatunusual to show up at Declan’s place like that. I thought I was just doing my duty to be a goodneighbor, but maybe on some subconscious level, I really just wanted to see Declan.
Ugh. That’s a worry for another time, when I don’t have two men eagerly awaiting the salacious details of my love life.
“Sure, sure,” Ty says, waving his hand. “Continue, please.”
“So I brought him his mail,” I reiterate. “And just as I was about to leave, he put his hand on my hip to stop me. I don’t know what came over me then – I think I might have blacked out a bit – but the next thing I knew, we were kissing.”
“You kissed!” Noah yells. “How was it?”
“Hold up,” Ty cuts in, his hand raised like he’s in class. “Who kissed who in this scenario?”
“Is that important?” I try to brush off the question, but I should have known better. Alarm bells have officially been raised. Ty is a hound who’s caught a scent, and his eyes narrow on me.
“Very important,” he says.
