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Tyler was my home.

“You look gorgeous,” Tyler greeted as I came down the stairs a short while later.See?Mark would have never complimented you as you were. He would have found some stray piece of lint or hair and fixed it before he was satisfied.

Almost an hour later we pulled up to a beautiful red brick two-story house with meticulously groomed landscaping that looked like a full-time job in itself. It looked like Tyler’s dad had achieved his goal of success, judging from his home. No wonder Natalie wanted to tap into that; she was probably a gold-digging whore. Looked like I was about to find out for myself. The front door opened. Using the entryway as an elaborate frame, a woman with long, black hair centered herself within the entrance and smiled coyly.

“Here we go,” Tyler frowned. “You ready?”

I winked. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you. Let’s go meet your stepmother. ”

He huffed and got out of the car, ignoring his stepmother to come around the car and open my door for me. He clutched my hand as we walked up the sidewalk.

Holy crap!

As we drew near, I realized with a slight start that this was the same woman I’d seen walk out of Tyler’s office all those months ago; the same one who’d left her lipstick mark on Tyler’s face. The very one I thought he had played for a one night stand, and all he was actually doing was fending off this vile woman. A surge of protectiveness for Tyler overcame me as she started to reach both arms toward Tyler. “You must be Natalie,” I sang sweetly, stepping into her embrace before she could alter her advance. I nearly gagged on her sickening sweet smell. “I’m Jennifer, and I’m so pleased to meet you,” I babbled. “Tylernevertalks about his family, so you can imagine just how excited I was when he invited me to dinner tonight. Why, I only just learned he even has a stepmother.”

She drew back in surprise, but managed to stammer, “Well, we hardly have a mother-son relationship since I’m not much older than him.”

“Oh, silly me,” I giggled like a flighty schoolgirl. “I must have misunderstood Tyler, then. The way he described you made it sound like you weremucholder than him.” I turned to Tyler and poked my finger in his chest. “Shame on you, Tyler. You know how older women are sensitive about their age. And a twenty years age difference really would make her awfully young to be a mother.”

Tyler looked like he was trying not to swallow his tongue while I heard Natalie sputter behind me, “Twenty years?”

“You’re right as usual, sweetheart,” Tyler finally managed to say. It was obvious he was struggling not to laugh. “And you know I only have eyes for you, so I don’t pay attention to details about other women.”

“Aww, baby,” I simpered as I ran my fingers up his chest, “you always know just the right thing to say.” I winked at him and turned back to Natalie, who was staring at us with narrowed eyes. A hardness settled around her mouth, actually making her look closer to the age I’d insinuated. “I sure hope Mr. Cranston is as good to you as Tyler is to me.”

“Speaking of,” Tyler interrupted, “where is my father?” He brushed past his stepmother, dragging me along behind him. Natalie gave me a dirty glare as she answered, “He’s isn’t home, yet.”

Of course, he isn’t.Tyler lifted his eyebrow in my direction with a knowing look. I shook my head. This woman was something else.

I followed Tyler through a living room that looked like it could have been included in an Ethan Allen advertisement; beautiful, but the kind where you were afraid to sit lest you put a dent in the couch cushions.

“Can I get you a drink, Janet? Some water perhaps?” Natalie asked, the malicious gleam in her eye overriding her pleasant tone. Before I could answer, she continued snidely, “I know Tyler appreciates a girl who watches her weight.” She flicked her gaze over me. “I do hope you don’t mind the dinner I prepared. It isn’t the most diet friendly, but I know it’s one of Tyler’s favorites, and I do try to spoil him when he comes over.”

Game on, lady!“Oh, don’t worry about me, Nat,” I said sweetly. “I’ve been blessed with a great metabolism. Or maybe it’s all that yoga, I do. Do you do yoga, Nat? Tyler just loves how flexible it makes me, especially when I do this little move in bed when we’re—” I paused as Tyler made another choking sound. “Oh, dear, I’m so sorry. TMI,” I chirped. “Don’t worry, Tyler. I’m sure I didn’t embarrass your stepmother. You don’t appear to be the inhibited kind, are you Nat?” Her eyes bulged, and I had to smother a smile. “I’m sorry, do people call you Nat? Oh, probably not.” I waved my hand at her. “Now that I think about it, it sounds too much like that pesky little insect that’s annoying as hell, doesn’t it?”

Tyler had moved to look out the window as if he was disinterested in our conversation, but I saw his shoulders quaking slightly.

Natalie looked like she had bit into a lemon as she stuttered some excuse about checking on dinner and hurried out of the room.

“Humph,” I mumbled, staring as she left the room I really couldn’t imagine how she was able to move as shrouded as she was in a tight leather skirt that emphasized her ass. “I guess I should wait until she takes a bite of her food before I eat mine, huh? You know she’s probably out there now adding antifreeze to my plate.”

Tyler turned to face me, and I was surprised to see what looked like moisture in his eyes. He bent over and burst into laughter. I just watched, amused, until he straightened up. “I thought I was going to blow an artery, I was trying so hard not to laugh,” he finally managed to say. He crooked his finger at me. “Come here,Janet.” He waited until I stood before him. “You were amazing. I don’t think she knew what hit her when your cat claws came out.” I joined in his laughter. He draped his arms around my hips and whispered in my ear, “And I’m excited to learn more about this yoga move you’ve been holding out on me.”

I slapped his arm as his arms slid up my waistline. “Stop that! If she sees you groping me, I wouldn’t put it past her to try to scratch my eyes out, and then I’d have no choice but to drop her on her ass.”

Tyler pretended to ponder my words. “Two women pulling hair and trying to claw each other? Throw in some jello and that’s every guy’s wet dream, baby.”

Any comeback I was going to say was interrupted by the slamming of the front door.

“Tyler, your damn car is blocking my sidewalk,” a voice thundered from the entryway.

I leaned close to him. “I see he’s not a fan of your car, either,” I said, using a teasing voice, so he knew I wasn’t revisiting my previous statement about advertising his single status.

“He just suffers from car envy. He drives some pretentious four-door sedan.”

“And a ‘Vette isn’t pretentious?”

“Nah,” he grinned “It’s hot!”