Conklin's Foundation (Conklin's Trilogy) (6 page)

I put the packet in my make
up bag and walked over to him, forcing his face to look at me.  “I take it religiously.  I wouldn’t have slept with you without a condom if I hadn’t been.  But I traditionally take it in the morning.  I just wanted to get it into my system.  It’s fine as long as I take it today, I just might…”  I flushed. 

Hi
s scowl deepened.  “Might what?” he snapped.

“If you have to know, I might bleed a little because I didn’t take it at the same time as I normally would.” I dropped my hands from his face, walking into my closet to get my shoes and an outfit for work tomorrow
, in case Tyler wanted me to stay even though I might be bleeding soon. God that was embarrassing to say.  Would he not want me to stay overnight if we couldn’t be intimate?

I heard a loud sigh and my bed
creak.  As I pulled out a simple black dress, I caught Tyler leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.  “It just threw me off, and
, well, we hadn’t been together in a while… I shouldn’t have questioned if you were still taking birth control.  I know you are more responsible than that.”

I grabbed the dress and slipped on some gray
heels then walked over to him.  “Do you still want me to stay over tonight?” I said, trying to swallow the lump in my throat.  I was worried he wouldn’t want to stay with me because I screwed up my pill regiment and would have to face the consequences.

He stood from the door frame, “Of course I do,” he licked his lips and his eyes grew bigger.  “Why wouldn’t I?  I’m
sorry for being short with you. I just don’t want to miss our reservations, and I got nervous with the whole birth control thing,” he said with soft sincere eyes. 

I bit my lip
and held my eyes closed for a long second. 
Why was I feeling the urge to cry? 

Tyler pulled me into his arms and nuzzled my hair.  “I want to hold you all night, Becca.  I have to go to Clevela
nd tomorrow then Chicago.  I won’t be back until late Wednesday.” He squeezed me tight to his chest.  I settled into his arms, still holding my dress for tomorrow.  “I need you so much,” he whispered, running a hand through my hair.

“I need you too, Tyler.  More than you know,” I whispered back into his chest.

He pulled back and held my face in his hands.  “Good.  Now let’s go eat, okay?”  He gave me a soft smile.  I returned the same smile back as we walked out the door.

The whole way to Louis Benton I couldn’t get Tyler’s reaction out of my head when he saw me taking the pill.  Did he not want kids?  Did he just not want an unplanned pregnancy?  Neither did I, but I wouldn’t have freaked out like he clearly would.  I needed to know if a family was something he would want in the future because it was a must for me.  I was afraid to ask though because he could break my heart with the simple word,
no
.

We pulled up to the valet in plenty of time.  It was
three minutes to our reservation as we walked out of the car.  Tyler took my hand and started talking to the hostess.   Just as we were about to be taken to our seats a strong, familiar voice rang from across the lobby.

“Tyler?
  Becca?  What a surprise to see both of you here,” RJ said, gracefully walking towards us with a tall bleach blonde at his side.

Tyler snaked his arm
around my waist and pulled me to his side.  “We are just grabbing dinner.  Becca hasn’t been here in a while, so I promised I would take her.”

RJ’s smirk grew wide as he watched Tyler pull me in close.  I blushed as Tyler pressed his lips to my temple.
  This was the moment I had been waiting for, when Tyler claimed me in front of his father.  Exposing that we were an item and not just sleeping with each other.  But RJ didn’t seem surprised.  He acted as though he already knew.

“Molly, my assistant, and I were having our usual pre-week
dinner meeting.  Tyler, you should have told me, we could have all had dinner together,” RJ grinned.  His eyes were twinkling with mischief. 

“Not reall
y into double dates, sorry RJ,” Tyler said, his face hardening.  “Becca is coming to Chicago for Christmas dinner though.  Will we be graced with your presence this year?” Tyler mocked.

RJ’s eyes were alight with fire.  “You
r mother would be very upset if I didn’t make it to Christmas, you know that.”

Tyler looked over to Molly with annoyance.  She was playing with RJ’s cufflink and staring off
absent-mindedly as though she didn’t realize we were both standing in front of her.

“Since when are you for pleasing my mother?  What is she up to right now, anyway?”
Tyler bit, throwing his scowl at Molly.  I put my hand on his stomach and looked up at him, hoping to calm him down.  I could see RJ was already getting under his skin.  Seeing him with someone who wasn’t his wife was pretty irritating to me too.  I wasn’t stupid; there was no way he was dealing with just business with Molly.

Tyler looked down at me and gave me a wry smile and put his other hand over the top of mine.  RJ’s snicker broke our gaze.  “Aren’t you two cute.
  It’s about time you took Becca out.”

Tyler’s eyes found the floor as my jaw clenched, remembering how Tyler told RJ he didn’t need to take me
out to dinner because I was easy.  Of course it was all a ploy, but embarrassment spread throughout my entire body.

“
I should be going.  It was lovely to see you again Becca.  I look forward to Christmas dinner,” RJ said, leaning forward to take my hand from Tyler’s. He brought my hand to his mouth while keeping his mischievous grin on Tyler as he let his lips linger on my skin.  I could feel steam radiating off Tyler.  “Goodbye son, enjoy your evening,” RJ smirked to Tyler, then eyed me up and down, licking his lips as he walked backwards with Molly on his arm.

Wow
, did he know how to make my skin crawl.

Tyler sprawled his hand out on my hip as he wrapped his other arm around my wais
t while kissing my temple again. I’m sure his eyes were on RJ the entire time as though he were marking his territory.  As slimy as RJ made me feel, I was starting to believe he just wanted to get under Tyler’s skin and not necessarily under my dress.

“Is RJ why you were so worried about making our reservation?”

Tyler looked down at me and nodded, his eyes wary.

I gulped and stared up at him.  “Worried we
would run into him on purpose or on accident?”

“I wanted him to see us together, outside of work.  I had more of a plan, but I didn’t realize he would have Mo
lly with him.  She threw me off,” he whispered.

My poor Ty.
He looked so sad, almost lost.  It must be hard for him to see his father with other women when his mother was left at home.  I couldn’t imagine either of my parents going out to dinner with someone else, even as friends, especially on a Sunday.

“I think we made an impression.  Plus, you told him about bringing me to Chicago,” I
said excitedly.  He really was trying to make our relationship seem real.

“Come on, let’s go eat,” he said with mild amusement.  Tyler looked towards the hostess, giving her the sign that we were ready for our table.
 

Tyler squeezed my hand as she
led us through the lovely dining area.  It was a unique dining room set against a backdrop of wines, mahogany wood, and a warm fireplace with candlelit tables and white linens.  Tyler was right; the restaurant was very quaint and romantic. 
Good thing you went and got your heels.
  I gripped his hand tighter as we followed the hostess. 

Once we were at our table, Tyler took my jacket and handed it to the hostess who scurried off.  Before I could take a seat
, he pulled me to his chest and gave me a long, soft, gentle kiss while holding my hips. 

Wow…
wasn’t expecting that!
  He wasn’t kidding about giving me kisses in public.  He probably felt a pang of instigation from our encounter with RJ. I flushed when he pulled away and pulled out my chair for me to sit.

“Isn’t this place great?” 
he asked as he took a seat in his chair kiddy corner to me, his mood starting to sober.  He moved his hand to my knee as he flipped open the menu with one hand.

“Want to get a bottle of wine?”
Tyler asked.

I shook my head no.  I had enough wine last night, and if I was contemplating calling my mom tonight, I really needed to have a clear head.  “I think I’m going to stick with water tonight.”

A waitress arrived to take our orders.  She was tall, blonde, and thin and gave Tyler a sly smile, clearly giving him her full attention.

“I’ll have a
gin and tonic please.  Do you want sparkling water, baby?”  Tyler asked, leaning towards me.  I nodded my head yes, pleased he called me baby in front of the overly friendly waitress.

“We’ll start with the steamed mussels,” Tyler
ordered, barely looking at the waitress.  She whipped her hair around as she swayed back to get our drinks and appetizer.

“Do you know what you want to eat?”  Tyler asked while looking over his menu.

“I don’t know. The spinach salad looks really good, but I haven’t had a good steak in a long time,” I contemplated.

“
Get both,” he said, shrugging his shoulders, keeping his eyes on his menu.

“I don’t need two meals,” I said under my breath.

Tyler glanced up at me.  “The spinach salad isn’t a meal.  You can get the small size and then get the queen filet.”

I hugg
ed my chest and crossed my legs. Why was I suddenly feeling uncomfortable?

Tyler sighed and leaned over the table.  “Becs, stop it. 
You don’t have to eat it all.  Just get the steak and the side salad.  It’s not a big deal.”

I hummed under
my breath.   I’m sure the skinny blonde would love to see me stuffing my face.

The waitress gracefully came back to our table, placing the plate of mussels in
between us.  She was standing much closer to Tyler’s side of the table.

“Are you read
y to order your main dish?” she asked, batting her eyelashes.

“Yes, go ah
ead baby,” Tyler nodded my way.

“I will have the queen filet please.  Medium.”

“What would you like as your side?” she asked, not taking her eyes from her pad of paper.

“Asparagus is fine, thank you.”

She darted her eyes to Tyler the second I stopped talking.  Tyler stared intently at me.

“I will have the Ultimate Steak, medium rare, with your whipped potatoes and TWO small spinach salads, please.”

I scowled at Tyler.  What was his deal?  I thought he understood my eating habits and wasn’t going to give me a hard time?

The waitress scurried off,
amused with our interaction.

“You should have just gotten
yourself the medium size salad.  It would have saved you two dollars,” I grumbled.

“Well
, that’s an idea and then we could have shared it.  Although a
Lady and the Tramp
scene would be hard with a piece of lettuce,” he smirked.  “I think this establishment would frown upon us.”

“I told you I didn’t want both,” I said in a harsh hush.

“You can eat half of each,” he said through gritted teeth.  “For God sakes it’s just a salad, Becca.  Besides, I’m sure we have burned enough calories in the past 24 hours for you to eat a little more.”  His eyes becoming more heated.  He ran his top teeth along his bottom lip.  It was so sexy paired with his scowl.

I shook
my head, attempting to bring my thoughts back to the now. “That’s not the point.  I don’t like you dictating what I’m eating.  I… I have to be careful about what and how much I eat.” I scrunched my arms around my body, feeling exposed as I crossed my legs tighter.  “I thought you understood,” I whispered.

Tyler’s eyes softened as he set his hand on my crossed thigh.  “I do understand.  But baby, you have to eat.”

I winced and scoffed.  “Are you joking?  Tyler you have been throwing food at me all day!”

His grip tightened on my thigh, his eyes becoming nervous.

“I didn’t mean for you to notice. I know eating is a sensitive topic for you, but it’s obvious you haven’t been eating lately.  You’ve lost weight, and I need to know you’re not starving yourself.”

I was on the verge of tears.  I hated talking about food.  It was such a demon for me.

“I’m not capable of starving myself.  I know I haven’t had a normal eating routine lately, but it will come back. I just have to gradually get into it, okay?” I whispered, staring down at my lap.  “I doubt I have even lost that much weight.”

Tyler snorted, “Becca, you have lost
a lot of weight, you are way too thin. If you keep up these eating and fitness habits, you are going to be a figureless twig like Ashlynn.”

I rolled my eyes.  “That’s a good one.  With my ass I will never be as thin as Ashlynn.”