Page 74 of Take The Risk

​The rumbling of my stomach broke the quiet peace of the kitchen.

​Ty chuckled, easing me up. The change in position made liquidy things slide out of me. He let out an appreciative sound. “I like the way that looks.”

​I burst out laughing, even as I felt my stomach tighten. I was naked from the waist down, all kinds of things exposed. Clamping my legs together, I tried to keep my breathing even.

Ty ran a hand up my hip. “How about you go clean up and I’ll make us some breakfast.” He helped me stand, giving me a quick kiss, acting like everything was perfectly normal and I wasn’t starting the slow slide into freakout-ville.

Smacking my butt, he pulled his pants up. “Get going, woman.”

Hastily, I grabbed my leggings and went to the powder room.

Emerging a few minutes later, I felt refreshed, if sore, and apprehensive. The last twenty-four hours had changed so many things, and I wasn’t sure what to do with any of it. The smell of bacon and eggs drew me back to the kitchen.

“It’s a nice morning. Want to eat out back?” Ty plated the food he’d cooked up, grabbing the toast as it popped up in the toaster.

“Sure.” I grabbed a bowl of fruit I kept ready in the fridge. As an afterthought, I grabbed the fresh orange juice I’d squeezed along with two glasses.

The morning was surprisingly warm, only a hint of chill in the air. I wondered if we were in for another midautumn heat wave.

Settling on the settee, we dug in, letting the quiet noises of nature act as our music. I demolished everything on my plate. It would have been embarrassing if Ty, who had double the amount I did, hadn’t beaten me to the finish line. When my plate was empty, I reached for a piece of fruit from the bowl. I curled into the corner, putting my feet between us. As I played with a grape, my hand trembled slightly.

“We need to talk, Ty.” I took the initiative, something I wouldn’t have done in the past.

Setting his plate aside, he gave me his full attention, placing a large hand on my calf. “I agree.”

Biting my lip, I waffled on where to start. Cady-Jo’s visit had changed so much. “I’m not sure where to start.”

“Why don’t we just start with us and work our way out from there?” he suggested.

My mind spun, the low flap of butterfly wings in my stomach turning into an entire percussion section. “That’s just the thing! It’s not just us! It’s your mother, Louise, Helen, Jesse, and even Lock. I’m still considered new in town. I have business with your mom. My divorce is the definition of ugly.” Everything began spewing out of me like a geyser at a national park. I didn’t know if it was because this was what my brain did or maybe I’d reached some kind of invisible line of the crap I could handle, or maybe it was just because it was Ty, and next to Alex and Aaron, he seemed to belong to that special group of people I could just talk to. “My work commitments are piling up. I’m fighting to keep my anonymity. The threats are scaring the daylights out of me. I don’t know how they know who I am.” I didn’t even realize what I said, continuing on despite the tension that poured off Ty in waves. “Your ex-girlfriend thinks you’re seconds from getting back together. I have a kid I can’t screw any of this up for. I told your mother I wouldn’t start something with you, and now I’ve gone back on my word—”

“What do you mean by ‘threats’?” His tone was dark and dangerous.

Crap. Crap. Craaappp! Me and my runaway mouth…

“It’s nothing,” I tried to dismiss it. “My agent and publisher are handling it.”

“Tell me.” Ty looked like he was seconds away from losing it. “Who has been threatening you?” He paused. “Is that why you have a security system and extra locks on the front door?”

Double crap. I’d hoped he hadn’t noticed. Yes, I was aware how stupid that sounded.

The hand on my leg tightened. “Tell me, Phoebe.”

Sighing, I closed my eyes. You and your big mouth, Phoebe. A part of me, call it stress, exhaustion, insanity, or…trust, had me telling him everything. The notes that came. The feeling like I was being watched sometimes. The fear.

The only reason I hadn’t hightailed it back to Atlanta was because they hadn’t threatened physical violence.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?” he demanded angrily.

“Because you didn’t know who I was? If I told you, then you’d know what I do and…” I hadn’t been ready for that. I trembled, thinking about how I came here to start over, to keep myself hidden, and every day I seemed more and more exposed.

“Come here.” He pulled me across the settee until I was pressed against his side. Instantly, I felt all those swirling emotions start to settle. And didn’t that just scare the holy hell out of me. “I’ve known about your identity for a couple of weeks now. You could have told me.”

“I—I’m not used to sharing things,” I admitted. Sharing meant opening myself up to people seeing me.

Ty pulled me closer, kissing the top of my head. I could tell he wanted to know more. Maybe because he knew it would push me past my limit or because he figured I’d be more willing to share if everything else was sorted, he said, “We’ll circle back to those.” I didn’t like the sound of that. “Let’s sort out the rest of your list first.”

I didn’t want to do that either.