Chapter 13
Ty smoothed a hand over the fresh sheet on her table, her mind busy with the events of the past week. On Sunday, she and Lucas had said goodbye to her parents. Ty felt good about the amount of time she’d spent with them. She’d worried that her mother would try to sneak in more conversation about Eric and his family when they went to the outlets on Saturday. Luckily, that hadn’t happened. Or at least, when she’d attempted to bring him up, Dad swooped in and changed the subject. He’d since called her to say how proud he was of her accomplishments. She was a good mother, a good employee, from what the Duran family had told him upon his visit, and a great daughter too.
“Your mom feels the same way,”he assured. “She just doesn’t know how to say it.”
Was he kidding? Mom was terrible at hiding her feelings. Ty could tell that her mom was disappointed with nearly every aspect of her life. Still, it felt good to know that her dad was proud of her. That he saw her for the person she was—a caring mother. A hardworking woman who strived to do better each day.
Of course, it was hard to focus on much of anything outside of her and Memphis’s heated moment in the kitchen. Forget the fact that he was putting ice on her face, that kiss to her cheek was fire hot, and Ty wanted more.
The mere memory triggered on onslaught of physical reactions. Her muscles went lax, flutters tickled her tummy, and a warm bath of anticipation moved over her skin. She’d forgotten how powerful the draw of attraction was. The heated sparks of anticipation, the restless streaks of yearning. The want—nearneed—for more of him felt supernatural at times. And she wasn’t even sure he felt the same way.
No,her inner voice said.You know he does.
She grinned.Knowwas a strong word, but she did feel confident that Memphis felt something for her in return. Had that ice pack not slipped from his hand as he kissed her face, Ty was positive he would have kissed her lips that night. And as much as she hated to have missed that kiss, Ty looked forward to the time hewouldbring his mouth to hers.
She had hoped—on the few occasions she’d bumped into him that week—that Memphis would ask her out. But rushed hellos as they crossed paths in the staff’s cafeteria probably weren’t the ideal set up for asking someone out. Especially since she was an employee of the inn.
Ty reached for her iPad and checked to see who her next appointment was. Her eyes went wide as she saw the name in the next time slot:Memphis Duran.
“Crap!” she hissed, her muscles tightening with panic. She couldnotmassage Memphis. Ty wasted no time hurrying to the back locker and retrieving her phone. She considered texting Andie, but since the matter was more…urgent, she decided to call her instead.
She headed out the back door as the phone let out its first ring. It was bright outside, and pretty too. Ty squinted against the sun and lifted her face toward the soft, autumn breeze that blew in.Breathe,she reminded herself. She could fix this.
“This is Andie,” Memphis’s sister said as she answered.
“Hi, Andie. It’s Ty. I’m here at the spa, and I just noticed who my next appointment is.” The dilemma was an awkward one, but there was no way to beat around the bush.
“Oh, was this the fill-in? Are you talking about Memphis?”
“Yes.” Even the sound of his name made her heart skip. “This isn’t an easy thing to say, but…I can’t massage him.”
The line went silent.
“Um, it’s just that there’s an honor code in my line of work, sort of.No, not sort of.There’s a code of conduct that I take quite seriously, actually, and it states that we should never take on clients that we’re…” She spun full circle to make sure nobody was close by. “Attracted to,” she said in a quieter tone.
“Oh!”The surprise in Andie’s voice made Ty blush.
“I’m so sorry. Please don’t think I’m—”
“No, no,” Andie blurted. “Don’t apologize. I can take him off the schedule. I’ll tell him you had to fit someone else in.”
A rush of relief pooled through her. “Thank you.”
“Or you could just take the hour off. We could say you had an emergency.”
And how many emergencies would she have to come up with in the near future? “I’d prefer to squeeze someone in if that’s at all possible. I’d feel guilty doing nothing for the hour.”
“Hmm…it’s been a few days since you’ve seen Maverick, hasn’t it? Unless there’s an issue with—”
“There’s not,” Ty was quick to assure. “I have no problem massaging him.”
“Good. He’s the only one not working around here,” Andie said with a laugh. “So that makes him a good shoo-in. I’ll call him and tell him to head on over if he’d like. If not, I’m afraid you’ll have to take that two-hour lunch after all.”
“Sounds good.” Ty pinched her lips closed, feeling unsettled about the conversation she’d had to have. “And Andie?” she blurted. “If it’s…wrong for me to see Memphis,” she started to say. “I mean, if that crosses a line or something, I can try to keep this to myself. My feelings, that is.” Only she didn’t want to. Ty mused that if Memphis liked her back, she’d rather lose her job than not pursue a relationship with him.
“There’s no foul where I’m concerned,” Andie said. “Memphis owns as much of this inn as I do. I trust that you two can make that decision on your own.”
Ty nodded and sighed. “Perfect. Thank you.”
