Chapter 12

After a day of fussing, Tyler's grandfather was declared out of danger by his doctors, who stated that he wouldn't be able to speak to anyone else until he was out of the ICU. After a day of worrying, he drove Mary home but was too tired to drive back to the hospital, so he decided to rest at her small apartment.

The next morning

Knock. Knock.

The last pound on the door jolts Mary upright. She squinted and shielded her eyes from the beams of light streaking across the room. What the hell?

It’s daylight now. Her mouth was parched, and a cold taste was thick on her tongue. She didn't remember falling asleep. On a yawn, she stretched her limbs, feeling the muscles release. Then another sound stopped her heart.

Snoring.

The fuck? Tyler Johnson? Sprawled out on his stomach, her secret husband lies shirtless and in only his boxers.

"Hey! Mary, open the door! This is my room!" Dave, her brother, screamed. More knocking. Pounding.

Shit. Dave’s home.

Mary’s eyes widened. "Mr. Johnson, get up." She shakes Tyler's hand. He didn't stir. "Dammit! Mr. Johnson, get up. Tyler! You need to leave. Damn it!"

What the hell happened? Why was he here on her bed? The last thing she remembered was that he was resting on their shared living room couch.

Mary didn't understand how he was still here or when she fell asleep last night. A quick glance showed she was still dressed in her socks, so why the hell was Tyler practically naked? They were too tired to argue last night, so when she told him he could sleep on the couch and she could sleep in her brother's room, she wasn't expecting him to just lie beside her.

Nothing happened to them last night, right?

"Get the hell out, Mr. Johnson. My brother is coming in any minute now, and he is going to start trying to kick the door down."

"Hmp!" stirred Tyler. "Come on, get up." She gave Tyler a tough smack to the small of his back, which made him jump in bleary confusion.

"What the hell was that, woman?" he mumbled incoherently.

"You... here, you fell asleep. My brother’s back, and he wanted his room back. This is his room," she whispered urgently. "You need to get dressed; he is coming in. Now!"

Tyler falls out of bed. He stood a bit unevenly, still mumbling nonsense under his breath. Cringing, Mary unlocked and opened the door, where a furious Dave and Jane stood fuming in the hallway. Behind her, the entire shared living room was awake, with people loitering in their pyjamas and bed hair with mugs of coffee and cold pizza.

This apartment had a shared living room and kitchen among three other occupants, but only her and Dave's rooms were joined, and they were only separated by thin walls.

"What the hell, sis? Why was my door locked? You have your own door, Jesus!" Dave grumbled.

"Good morning, brother dear, and, oh, Jane, fancy meeting you here very early in the morning?" she widened her eyes at her friend. “Why are you here?”

She rolled her eyes. "Jesus, Mary, it's almost eleven o'clock, and yes, I'm here because you promised to accompany me to the gym, remember? And wait? Are you with someone here?" Jane raised her brows, smirked, and nudged the door wide open.

Mary spotted Jane’s cruel smirk among the faces crowding the hall. "I’m sorry, I—" Without letting her finish, Dave and Jane shoved open the door and burst inside, allowing everyone a good look at Tyler, shirtless and buttoning his trousers.

"Oh, hell," Tyler squeaked. Mary's little wrath was repressed almost immediately by the sight of Tyler’s immaculate body.

"Who are you?" Dave yelled, his voice echoing throughout the room, while Jane's mouth dropped open. Mary couldn't blame her for gaping. Tyler was elegantly exquisite, with broad shoulders and defined muscles. The perfectly smooth, inviting planes of his chest. She couldn't believe she slept next to it and has no recollection of it.

"Morning," Tyler mumbled with a smirk. He nodded to the other ladies on the other side of the room's peeling door. "Ladies."

"Who the fuck are you?" Dave repeated.

"Dave, stop. He is my... ah, boss," Mary explained.

"What?" Jane and the girls at the door gaped. "How on earth did you sleep with him? I thought you hated his guts?" Dave mumbled and looked at the man, then ignored Mr. Johnson.

Tyler raised his brows, and Mary closed her eyes from the embarrassment. "I did not. We did not sleep together. I was so exhausted last night, and...

Jane smiled. "Go on, what did you do? Why are you two so exhausted?"

"Seriously, Jane?"

"What?! I'm just asking? You can't blame an old soul for hoping that her best friend finally had an amazing sexual life."

"Oh hell, we did not sleep together, okay? I was so tired, and he was exhausted, so I told him to rest on the couch in the living room, but... I woke up with him in the bed, and... Can you please stop staring at me, Jesus? We aren't fucking each other." Mary grumbled and looked at Tyler, gesturing to him to hurry up. “Hurry up, Mr. Johnson.”

"Hmm! I'll buy that, but I didn't realise you had company," Jane said, staring at Tyler as Dave left the doorway and went to his closet to get something.

"My fault, my apologies, ladies," Tyler said effortlessly, then pulled his shirt over his sculpted chest. He stepped into his shoes. "Sorry about that." To Mary, he winked on his way to the door. "I will call you later. Make sure to bring the laptop and the papers, plus my scheduled meeting in the afternoon. Don't be late. Ladies, goodbye."

And just as suddenly as they became two unlikely allies, he departed. Until he was gone, heavy footsteps thudding down the living room, every single eye was fixed on the taut ass hugged by his pants.

Mary gulped a few times before speaking. "Jane, I—"

"I didn’t think you had it in you, Mary," Jane muttered. She looked surprised, of course. But she was also impressed. "Next time you slay a hot boss in Dave's room, be out before breakfast. OK? Hell, it's almost noon."

"Sure," Mary mumbled with relief, then rolled her eyes at her friend. She thought the worst had been avoided. Then there’s Dave.

"Dave? What are you doing?"

"Packing again."

"Why?" Mary furrowed her forehead. “Why?”

"Sis, you know I need to go. Right?"

"But why...now? Why too early?" She asked, knowing her brother would leave her alone again in Scotland for his painting job. “I need to go, and you know that.”

Mary sighed.

While the others returned to their morning coffee and cereal, Jane lingered at the door, waiting for her. Mary wanted to push past her, dismiss her, and maybe plunge her a little down the steps. Instead, like a dumbass, Jane stood there and met her eyes with a smirk.

"You must be pretty sure of yourself to ignore my silent questions," Jane muttered, arching one perfectly tweezed brow. "No, Jane, I am just tired."

"If you think you proved something last night, you’re wrong. Your boss was known to fuck someone who wore a skirt and would fuck a wet sock if it smiled at him. So don’t think this makes you special, Mary. You knew him better, and..."

"Ew, Jane, but seriously... I told you, I did not fuck him. Bloody no, I called you yesterday, remember? I was stuck at the hospital, waiting for his grandfather, I mean. He was out of danger, and then Mr. Johnson drove me home. We were both so dead and sleepy. I assumed he would rest for a while. I lost my keys in my own room, but Dave's open, so..."

“Really?”

“Come on, Jane, you know me better."

"Hmp!" Jane smirked. This time, she brushed past her.

"I wouldn’t dream of it, Jane. The man is a walking sexual machine. I know my limits," Mary added.

"Why is he naked?"

"For heaven's sake, he isn't naked. He is half-naked. And to answer your stupid silent questions, I don't know, so sue me."

"He is hot, by the way!" Jane grinned.

"I know, girl. But no! We didn't have sex!"

“Okay!" Jane smirked.

"Now, do you want some coffee or what?"

---

Ten minutes later, Dave left, and her roommates were gone. Now sitting at the dining table alone with Jane, Mary sighed again. "And he didn’t make a single move?" Amaya demands over the phone after Jane has finished telling her about the previous unexpected exploits.

Amaya, unlike Jane, was not teasing her but rather asking her a slew of probing questions. Usually, she was too lazy to answer, but Amaya was relentless. The two were coerced into asking her more, but she guesses they couldn't get juicy details from her either—or a lack thereof. What else is there to say? She couldn't even remember anything. She slept like a dead moth. "Nope, Amaya. I told you, we did not have sex. I awoke to find him snoring and half-naked in the bed. That's all there is to say about it."

Mary confirmed it all over again. "No action whatsoever." She was not worried about Jane's blabbing and teasing. She trusted her implicitly, and there was no way she was going to allow their closest friend to think she hooked up with a notorious billionaire playboy. "He didn’t try to kiss you?"

"Nope." Mary slowly chewed a bite of whole-wheat toast and sipped her coffee, with an omelette and bacon on the side. She always ate the same breakfast every day, and if "calorie counting" was a job option, she'd be richer than Bill Gates.

"I find this shocking," Amaya announced over the phone. "I mean, his reputation precedes him."

"Well, he did flirt a bit," Mary admitted, reaching for her water glass. "And he pretended he found me sexy without the awful sandal on my feet. Can you believe that? He is just..."

Her two friends giggled.

Mary rolled her eyes. "Dear, I guarantee you, he wasn’t pretending, the sandal is awful. He is telling you the truth. How many times have I told you to get rid of it? But I think he likes you and your curves. I know you think men only get hard-ons from skin-to-the-bone women, but trust me, you’re wrong. Curves drive them wild and crazy," Jane added.

"Yeah, curves. Not rolls, and no! My feet are comfortable with the sandals. So no! I am not throwing it away," Mary said with conviction in her voice.

"You don’t have rolls," Jane grumbled.

"I do have one, Jane, but it's all about confidence, you know," Mary added. Thankfully, not at the moment. She had been diligent about eating healthy since Christmas Eve after overindulging during the holidays and putting on nearly seven pounds. In two months, she shed about six of those seven, which she was happy with, but she wished to lose more.

Her ideal body goal was somewhere between Amaya and Jane; she tended to vary between the two, but if she could get down to Amaya size, she'd be delighted. She truly believes that all body types are beautiful. It was only when she looked in the mirror that she forgot. Since Jason, she has been stressed for two years, and her weight has been a source of pressure and insecurity for her entire two-year life, so maintaining it was a priority for her.

She swallowed the last bite of her omelette while pretending not to notice Jane ending the call. "Lucky for you, the gym was cancelled. This COVID-19 is a mess, really. And I heard we would then have a long, massive lockdown soon."

"Yup, so forget about whatever fantasy romance you were concocting in your pretty head. Last night, I did him a favour," Mary shrugged. "There's nothing more to it than that."

"Yeah, yeah! Shall we go for yoga?" Jane winked, and Mary smiled, knowing full well what she meant.