Tempt Me: A First Class Romance Collection

by Hawkins, Jessica

  “Oh.”

  “Tessa and I had met prior to the Hawaii trip—about three months beforehand, just by random chance—and the minute I saw her back then, I felt like I’d been struck by a lightning bolt. I’ve never felt that way before with anyone, but the minute I saw your daughter, I instantly felt like she was rightfully mine and I didn’t want anyone else.”

  Mr. Rodriguez pauses and then says softly, “I know the feeling well.”

  “So, fast-forward three months after that initial lightning bolt, and I’ve had the good fortune to spend an entire week with your daughter in paradise, getting to know her well, hanging out with her and seeing how she interacts with my family—they all love her, by the way—and those initial love-at-first-sight feelings I had for her have grown exponentially, and now I can confidently tell you, sir, without equivocation or a shred of doubt, your daughter’s the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. The woman I want to raise a family with.” I clear my throat. My heart is racing so fast, I feel like I’m gonna faint. “I know it’s been a short amount of time, sir, and that marriage is hard and not a fairytale, but I’m positive I want to make a life with Tessa and no one else.” I inhale and exhale a shaky breath, emotion suddenly overcoming me. “Sir, I want Tessa to be my wife and the mother of my children, if God blesses us that way.”

  “Wow,” Mr. Rodriguez says. “This is... wow.”

  “So, I’m hoping to ask Tessa to marry me as soon as possible; but, before I do that—I know you’re a traditional man and that Tessa shares your values, sir; so, before I ask her to be my wife, I’m well aware I’ve got a question to ask of you first, as her father—actually, a question I’d like to ask you and Mrs. Rodriguez both. It’s a very important question, sir, a very traditional one, and I don’t want to ask it over the telephone, and especially not before you and your wife have met me and had ample opportunity to look me in the eye and assess the depth of my sincerity and feelings for your daughter.” I take another deep, steadying breath. “So I’m hoping you and your wife—and your two sons, too, if they’re available—would be willing to meet me for dinner in the next day or two? I live in Seattle, but I’ll fly down to L.A. to take you all out to a nice dinner.” I let out another shaky breath, my chest tight and my head throbbing.

  “That sounds wonderful. What did you say your name was, son?”

  “Ryan Morgan.”

  “Thank you, Ryan. One moment.” He speaks to someone on his end of the line for what seems like forever. “My wife says she’s very excited to meet you. How does tomorrow or the day after work for you?”

  “Tomorrow’s perfect. But, um, sir, fair warning? It won’t be just me coming down for dinner. I hope this doesn’t seem too crazy, but my entire immediate family wants to come with me—my parents, Thomas and Louise Morgan, and my three brothers, Colby, Keane, and Dax. My sister Kat would have joined us, too—she really wants to meet you—but she’s still on her honeymoon with Josh, so she made me swear to FaceTime her from the restaurant so she can say hello to your family, face-to-face.”

  Mr. Rodriguez laughs. “Well, why don’t we wait until Josh and Kat return from their honeymoon and include them? I’ve always wanted to meet Josh—Tessa has told us wonderful things about him over the years. In fact, maybe our family can come up to Seattle, instead of you coming down here. We’ve been meaning to see Tessa’s new place in Seattle, anyway.”

  “No, um, actually, that won’t work, sir. I’m sorry, but...” I take another deep breath. “Tessa doesn’t know I’m calling you, sir. And, although I’ve told her I love her, she doesn’t know I’m planning to ask her to marry me.” I take another deep breath, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “I’ll tell you more about it when I see you in person, but suffice it to say, your daughter’s kind of a tough nut to crack so I wanna do this right.”

  Mr. Rodriguez sighs. “Oh, Tessa. She’s her own worst enemy sometimes.”

  “Yeah, she is, God bless her.”

  We share a chuckle.

  “But, it’s okay,” I say. “I love that about her. I love everything about her.”

  “Your patience will be well rewarded. Our Tessa’s a rare jewel once she finally lets down her guard.”

  “Yes, she is. I know that about her. So if you’re willing, sir, I’d appreciate it if we could keep our dinner a secret for just a couple days, until I’ve popped the question, which I’ll do very soon after our dinner, assuming things go well when our families meet.”

  “Ryan, I can already tell things are going to go very, very well when we meet. But, yes, we can certainly honor that request for a few days. Of course. We look forward to meeting you and your family.”

  “Thank you, sir. I can’t wait to meet you, too—and to introduce you to my family.” My entire body feels electrified. “Thank you so much, Mr. Rodriguez,” I blurt, suddenly overcome by adrenaline. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  66

  Tessa

  “Welcome home, Josh,” I say, settling myself into a chair opposite Josh at his desk. “You and Kat had fun?”

  “So much fun,” Josh says. He leans back in his desk chair and absentmindedly twirls the wedding band on his finger. “Thanks for holding down the fort while I was gone.”

  “My pleasure. It was quiet. So, now that you’re back, are you and Kat in full nesting mode?”

  We chat for a moment about the baby’s expected arrival in about six weeks and what remains on their To Do List, and then Josh places his forearms onto his desk and says, “There’s something I want to talk to you about, T-Rod. It’s about Captain’s.”

  My chest tightens. “Yeah, I want to talk to you about that, too,” I say calmly, but the truth is I’m about to burst into tears.

  When I first got home to Seattle, I convinced myself for about two days I’d made a good call by throwing on the brakes with Ryan—that taking things slow never hurt any situation and usually helps it significantly, especially since he still hasn’t told me whom he’d called the day he arrived at the resort; but on the third day, I woke up feeling like I’d most definitely fucked up in a big way, even if Ryan never winds up telling me whom he called. On the third day, I woke up feeling like I’d made the most catastrophic mistake of my entire life by not throwing my arms around Ryan’s neck right then and there on the beach and declaring my undying love for him. And on the fifth day, I woke up feeling like I could barely breathe. And that’s how I’ve felt ever since.

  So this morning, I picked up the phone to call Ryan, wanting to tell him I love him and can’t live without him—that I don’t give a crap what anyone else says or thinks, not even Josh and Jonas—that I don’t care if he’s Josh’s brother. I wanted to tell him I reacted that night out of fear—that’s all it was, stupid fear—and that I’ve decided I’ll go to therapy or do anything else I need to do to work through my issues, but please, please don’t give up on me because I promise my love will be well worth his patience and understanding.

  I wanted to tell him all of that... until I realized two things: one, if I’m being honest, I still want to know who he called that day; and, two, I still want to talk to Josh about Captain’s.

  Whether I like it or not, I simply can’t embark on a relationship with Ryan and work with him to launch Captain’s at the same time. What if something happens and he breaks my heart? I’m certainly never planning to leave Ryan, but can he say the same to me? Of course, he can’t. Not after one week in paradise together. Even if I’d be willing to pledge forever right here and now, I can’t rationally expect that of Ryan in return. Which means we absolutely shouldn’t mix business and pleasure—not this soon, anyway, not when what’s at stake is his lifelong dream.

  So, I’m here today at Josh’s office to tell him I don’t wish to work on Captain’s, despite our prior discussions, but that I’ll be happy to work on anything else he likes, including whatever role he might have for me at Climb & Conquer. And then, right after I’ve spoken to Josh, I’m gonna call Ryan and tell him I
love him and I’m sorry and throw myself on his mercy—and, hopefully, when I tell him all that, he’ll feel comfortable enough to finally break down and tell me whom he called that day.

  “So, about Captain’s,” Josh says. “Jonas and I are for sure gonna invest.”

  “Wonderful. I’m thrilled to hear it.”

  “I’ve had a chance to talk to Reed and some other friends of mine with expertise in the bar industry, and I’ve gained some valuable insights and an even greater appreciation for Ryan’s vision and knowledge. The guy definitely knows what he’s doing. So Jonas and I are thinking we want to expand Ryan’s initial idea to five or six more locations beyond Seattle over the next three to five years—and, thankfully, Ryan’s totally on board with that idea.”

  “Great,” I say, my heart panging. Damn, that sounds like something I’d give my right arm to be a part of. “The thing is,” I begin, but Josh cuts me off.

  “Hang on, T,” Josh says. “Lemme just get all this out, and then you can put in your two cents, okay? Thanks.”

  I lean back in my chair, my body trembling.

  “Jonas, Ryan, and I have talked about it and we’d all like to make you an equity partner in Captain’s. You wouldn’t hold an equal share with the three of us—your share would probably be settled at around twelve percent, based, in part, on capital contributions I’d personally make on your behalf, and also in consideration of the sweat-equity we all expect you to contribute. Basically, you’re gonna be the person with nuts-and-bolts oversight as we give birth to this thing. But those are details we can hammer out later. The main point is this: we’d like you to be our partner, not just a hired employee. And, in recognition of your six years of valuable service to me, during which time period my portfolio has grown exponentially, in part because I’ve had you holding down the fort for me in a thousand ways, not to mention providing a steadying influence on me when I’ve needed it most, I’d like to contribute your share to the business as my gift to you.”

  I can’t believe my ears. Oh my effing God. This would have been a dream come true if I weren’t in love with Ryan. “Josh, thank you,” I say. “But you can’t do that. If I were going to invest in the business, I’d do it with my own money. I’ve got plenty saved, thanks to the ridiculous salary you pay me.”

  “T, I’m talking about, like, a quarter-mill here.”

  “I’ve got that sitting in the bank and then some.”

  “You’ve got a quarter-mill sitting in the bank?”

  I nod. “I’ve been saving.”

  Josh laughs. “I’ll be damned. Well, I tell you what. I’ll pay the initial two-fifty as a gift, like I was planning to do, and you can add however much as we start to expand.”

  I rub my forehead. What the hell am I doing? I shouldn’t be negotiating my partnership share in Captain’s—I should be telling Josh I can’t be part of this venture at all, due to my feelings for Ryan. That was my plan coming in here, after all. Why am I going off plan? “Josh,” I say. “Thanks for the offer, but I can’t do this.”

  “Sure you can,” Josh says. “Jonas and I will be far too busy with Climb & Conquer to be hands-on with this, so we’re gonna need you and Ryan to pick up the ball and run with it together.”

  I bite my lip. Oh my God. That sounds like heaven on earth—working alongside the man I love to build something together from the ground up?

  “So what do you think, T?” Josh asks. “Does this sound like something you’d like to do or what?”

  I open my mouth and close it, suddenly feeling like I’m going to burst into tears. I swallow hard and gather myself. And then promptly burst into gigantic, sobbing tears.

  “Tessa?” Josh says, looking stricken.

  “I love him!” I blurt. “I love Ryan! He’s the love of my life, Josh!” Oh, God, I’m crying like a shaken baby. “Ryan and I secretly got together all week in Hawaii—all week, Josh!—and now I love him! But he doesn’t know that because I’m a fucking idiot with major trust issues!” I continue babbling incoherently for a long moment, ultimately confessing I’m Samantha the Flight Attendant.

  Josh gets up and walks around his desk and opens his arms and I throw myself into his embrace and sob my eyes out.

  “Why haven’t you told him how you feel yet?” he asks.

  “Because I wanted to talk to you about Captain’s first. And because I still don’t know who he called that day. He said he’d tell me and he still hasn’t and I don’t understand why he’s keeping that from me. I shouldn’t care. I love him. I should just trust him, but that last little thing is holding me back.”

  Josh is looking at me like I’m a little, injured bird in his palm. And I don’t blame him. I’ve never once cried in his presence, or shown any kind of vulnerability, as far as I know. “Sit,” he says simply.

  I sit.

  Josh walks around to his side of the desk again, offers me a tissue, and then places his muscled forearms on his desk. “T, I already know about all of that. Kat told me everything on our trip, even the Samantha thing.”

  I put my hands over my face. “Oh my God. Ryan swore he didn’t tell Kat.”

  “He didn’t tell her. She figured it out on her own, thanks to something Henn said.”

  “Henn knows, too?”

  Josh nods. “Ryan didn’t tell Henn, either, by the way. Henn just figured it out.”

  “Shit.”

  Josh laughs. “Tessa, nobody cares about the Samantha thing. Do you have any idea how crazy Kat is? The girl’s one brick short of a wall.”

  I laugh.

  “Look, the only reason Jonas and I warned you about Ryan was to protect you—because we both want you to be with a guy who loves and respects you, a guy who’s gonna treat you right.” He smiles. “And that guy is Ryan.”

  I feel the weight of the world lifted off me. “But Ryan called some other woman the day everyone arrived at the resort. If he’d been obsessed with ‘Samantha,’ who’d he call?”

  Josh bites the inside of his cheek, looking guilty as sin.

  “You know, don’t you? Kat knows and she told you?”

  Josh nods. “I’m not supposed to tell. But, fuck it, I’m gonna do it, anyway, because you having any remaining doubts about Ryan over something this stupid is a fucking tragedy.” He sighs. “It’s your best friend, T. The flight attendant with the leprechaun name.” Josh tells me the whole story, exactly as Kat told it to him.

  “Holy fuckburgers,” I breathe. “So Ryan decided to keep his promise to Charlotte rather than clear his name with me?”

  Josh nods. “Kat says that’s a total Ryan move. The guy never breaks a promise. He’s just like Jonas, I guess. His word is his bond, maybe to a fault.”

  I feel light-headed all of a sudden. “I thought you’d be pissed about me dating your ‘brother,’ especially after your falling-out with Stu. Every time Reed comes near me, you chase him away.”

  “Oh, you’ve noticed that, huh? And here I thought I was being so subtle.”

  “You were as subtle as a flying brick, Josh.”

  “I just didn’t want you dating a prick.”

  “Okay, that explains Stu. But you didn’t want me dating Reed, either—and he’s like a brother to you.”

  “Yeah, my brother the prick. At least when it comes to women. They love him for it—so whatever works for him—but that shit’s not gonna fly when it comes to my T-Rod.” He smiles broadly. “But none of that applies to Ryan. Not that you need my blessing, of course, but as far as I’m concerned, the greatest thing that could ever happen would be for you to be sitting with Kat and me, right next to Ryan, at Morgan-family dinners.”

  Tears flood my eyes. I swallow hard and rub them, completely overwhelmed. I’ve known Josh for years and we’ve never once had a conversation like this before. “Thank you so much,” I squeak out.

  “Kat’s been trying to get you and Ryan together since the first time she met you. It’s been her mission from God.”

  I laugh. “God help anyone who
comes between Kat and something she wants.”

  “Amen.”

  “I really love her, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know. That makes two of us. And she loves you. She couldn’t stop talking about you and telling me how badly Jonas and I fucked up. So what do you say, T-Rod? You gonna help me get myself out of the doghouse with my wife and agree to be a partner in Captain’s?”

  “I’d love to—if me being a partner is okay with Ryan.”

  “I already talked to Ryan about it and he loves the idea.”

  “But what if things don’t work out between Ryan and me?” I say. “Ryan shouldn’t have to be stuck with an ex-girlfriend as a partner on his dream business.” A horrible thought seizes me. “Or what if Ryan’s feelings have cooled since Hawaii and he doesn’t want to start a relationship with me anymore?”

  “T-Rod. Stop being a fucking freakazoid. Ryan warned me you’re a loon. Dude, I had no idea.”

  I laugh.

  “How have you kept your crazy hidden from me all this time?”

  “It hasn’t been easy.”

  Josh chuckles. “Ryan loves you. He wants you to have his babies. Do you think he’s stopped loving you in a week’s time, just because you’re acting like a nutcase?”

  I shrug, but I can’t help smiling.

  “Take a chill-pill, woman. I’ve talked to Captain Morgan and he’s anything but ‘cooled’ on you. To the contrary, he’s more determined than ever to lock you down.”

  My heart leaps with joy.

  “But, okay, hypothetically, if things ultimately don’t work out for you two and you decide leaving the partnership is for the best, then I’ll personally buy you out at a number that’s insanely awesome for you, okay? Above-market valuation. And, furthermore, any such buy-out will come out of my own personal pocket, not the business’s and not Ryan’s, so there won’t be any protracted negotiations or hard feelings.”

  I cock my head to the side. “Why would you agree to that? It’s sweet and generous and I’m grateful, but from a business standpoint, that’s just plain stupid, Josh.”