by Larkin Rose
Tessa erased the last step between them and jabbed her finger into Marci’s chest. “And so help me God, if you call me a lowlife cheater again, you’ll find out just how brassy my balls can get. Today’s cheap shot was the only freebie you get, stud. You won’t get another chance.”
With a growl, Tessa stepped back. Disgust and a whole lot of disappointment clear in her expression. From the look of those clenched teeth, Marci would never get to fuck this woman again. With her lip curled up in disgust, Tessa gave a casual inspection all the way to her tennis shoes before slowly crawling back up her legs, stalling at her abs, before finally looking Marci in the eye once again.
Sucked so bad that Tessa was sexy as hell and incredible in bed and she would never get the chance to do it again.
“What a shame we won’t get to play again. I have an unwavering habit of never making the same mistake twice.” Tessa flung her client notes on Marci’s desk. “I hope you and the stick up your ass have a great evening.”
Marci’s insides cramped as Tessa curtseyed, shot her a bird, then turned on her heel for the door.
Sexually insulted. That’s how Marci felt. Like Tessa had just sexually insulted her while driving Marci into her place. No. That was more like an assault. She’d just been verbally slam-dunked.
And it had been so hot. Damn, if Tessa wasn’t sexy as sin with her feathers ruffled and her beautiful face a mask of rage.
She couldn’t stop relief from flooding as Tessa slammed the front door shut. A nerve had been struck. Marci had struck it with her insinuation. With her accusation. A very raw nerve if Tessa’s enraged reaction was any proof.
Had she been terribly wrong? Had she let her cuts and bruises push her to make rash assumptions? Was Wendy right? Had she lost who and what she used to be?
Shit. She had.
She considered going after Tessa. To say she was sorry. To retract that ridiculous insinuation. The truth had been written in those eyes. In the way she’d jumped to defend herself. Something deep down inside told Marci she was wrong. That she’d been an ass and gone way too far. Marci’s inability to trust was the culprit.
Would Tessa accept her apology? Would she understand that Marci was still trying to climb out of the black hole a fucked up marriage had pushed her into? Would she understand if Marci told her the truth? That she had no desire to be attached again. That her heart couldn’t take another beating.
No. Tessa likely wouldn’t accept her excuses any more than Marci truly wanted to give them. Truth was, she needed to stay far away from the sexy Tessa Dalton. Far, far away.
There was nothing to retract. Or rather, nothing she should retract.
She’d said exactly what she needed to say to protect herself, even if she no longer believed that Tessa had been out to use her.
No doubt Tessa would never speak to her again. It was best this way.
Problem solved.
Chapter Six
Marci spent the next week watching Tessa from afar, watching her take this contest by storm. She and her team were proving that they were a force to be reckoned with by going far beyond what the client asked for, all starting with the very first round, a group of friends who simply asked for slope time, bonfires, and anything fun. Tessa and her team had reached outside the box by adding a Coldplay concert with private backstage passes, a bonfire that included a full fireworks display, and scored them slope time with a group of Olympians. Marci had never seen anyone more shocked than the group of best friends, who hugged Tessa and her crew over and over and over, practically in tears to meet their idols.
How they’d pulled it all off, Marci had no clue. How they had come up with those extra plans, was epic.
They truly made the other teams look like rookies who went strictly by the book by giving their own clients exactly what they asked for and nothing more. At all.
Tessa was here to win. At all costs. It showed in the way she went above and beyond to make her clients happy. And she definitely wouldn’t take no for an answer.
Marci was forced to text her for their second client to give her the bad news, that the restaurants her clients had requested couldn’t accommodate their reservations, that they would be unable to make room in the dining area on such short notice, Tessa wouldn’t accept that answer.
Somehow, she’d changed the owner’s mind and gotten her clients in. Or rather, gone over Marci’s head and gotten done what Marci couldn’t. That “we’ll see about that” factor was so hot. Marci liked that take-charge attitude. Too much, actually.
Tessa required very little help getting what she wanted.
What help she did need, she’d sent Seth to notify Marci. It was just a simple change in the time slot she’d reserved for the clients to take a ski lesson, but it was a great big fuck you to Marci.
Marci couldn’t blame her. She wouldn’t speak to the asshole who accused her of trying to cheat either.
Worse, the one time she’d gotten Tessa alone, when she had every intention of saying she was sorry, even though she’d convinced herself time and time again that she would do no such thing, she’d fucked that up too.
Tessa seemed to love the outdoors. Possibly more than Marci, which she thought was nearly impossible. No one had spent as much time as she had exploring these woods. Yet Tessa was giving her a run for her money with her numerous adventures in these white surroundings.
Marci could almost pinpoint what time Tessa would be outside walking in the woods and the path she would take. The same route she’d been taking day after day.
So Marci made sure she was along the path one day. She had to tell Tessa that she was sorry. She had to. No matter how many times her inner voice warned her against such bad judgment.
But when Tessa emerged on the trail alongside the creek, looking absolutely stunning with her hair trailing from beneath her beanie and those striking green eyes staring at her in disgust, she’d lost the rehearsed words stored in her mind. Lost every single one of them.
“Can we talk?” Marci had asked.
“About what?” Tessa’s hard stare had been daring, making Marci forget exactly what and how she’d wanted to deliver that apology. The one she didn’t want to give in the first place. The one her body seemed determined to give even with her conscience screaming that she shouldn’t.
Whatever hidden force was pushing her, against her own heart, her own judgment, was winning this battle, and Marci felt helpless and out of control.
“I think I owe you an apology.”
“Well, I’m sorry that you think that you owe me an apology.” Tessa turned and walked away, leaving Marci to repeat the words in her head until she finally figured out exactly where she’d gone wrong. Again.
There was no thinking that she owed Tessa an apology. She owed her that apology. Period. And that single word had been her downfall.
Marci had watched her walk away, struggling not to chase her, regretting her words, the order in which she’d put them, that she’d used that one word in particular at all. Seemed she couldn’t get them right to save her life around Tessa.
And now here she was, already planning the second attempt. If luck was on her side, she’d get it right this time.
She was going to follow Tessa to the pond house, where Tessa had made a habit of disappearing to.
Marci had found her own solace in the little two-room cottage as well. With nothing more than a kitchenette, bathroom, fireplace, and wraparound couch, it made the perfect quiet spot away from prying eyes, to be with her own thoughts, where she could actually concentrate on them.
There, she’d cried. She’d let out rage. She’d searched for the answer. Why? Why had Ashley leveled their relationship to the ground? She’d never gotten that answer, nor was she still searching for it. It was obvious that she was never going to get it anyway.
She had succumbed to searching for women to quiet her demons instead. They helped her forget that an answer was still dangling by a string, hanging in the distance, unreachable.
But right now, there was only one woman on her mind. One she wanted to taste once again. Even if she had to demolish her own standards to have her just one more time.
* * *
“I can’t believe you’re not going to party with us tonight.” Seth fell on his back across Tessa’s bed and gave a pout. “Don’t you want to go celebrate this fabulous victory?”
Celebrate? Of course she wanted to celebrate. But in a place where drinks would make rounds, where the strobe lights would be arcing around the room, and Marci and possibly Wendy would be feet away? Not a fat fucking chance.
She’d rather spend the evening in the little cottage by the pond, all alone, catching up on an erotic novel that could end with a little personal time with her vibrator.
Or getting a root canal without numbing medication. She’d rather do that than be near Marci Jones and her crazy behavior ever again. Crazy. The woman was crazy. And who did she think she was? A celebrity? The owner of this resort? Who? Who the fuck did she think she was that Tessa needed her to reach the top?
The past week hadn’t been easy. Especially with Marci always close by, sometimes stopping by each cabin to check on the crews. Not to mention running into her on the trail by the creek earlier in the week.
She’d been so sexy wrapped in her dark coat and beanie cap, those apologetic eyes so sexy.
An apology that had been hampered by her indecision to get her words right.
She thinks she owed Tessa an apology? There shouldn’t be any thinking involved with that decision. Yes, by God, she owed her an apology for being such a dick. For being so callous and untrusting. For calling Tessa an easy slut. A coward. And a cheater.
The nerve!
Even though she looked downright handsome stumbling over her words.
Bet she got them right the next time. Or stayed away from Tessa altogether. That was definitely the best option. She felt weak around Marci, and weak had never been part of her character. Sucked that Marci was bringing out that bad trait. Even if she didn’t know it. And never would.
Besides, Tessa didn’t trust herself around Marci. There was something about her that grabbed at her soul. Something that made her think of her every night when she was alone and the cabin was quiet. There, in the privacy of her mind, with the sheets caressing her skin, she could have the woman who had taken her away from the bar, the woman who had played her body like it had been made for her hands only. That woman. That was the one she drew into her mind while her hand splayed her lips open to flick her clit beneath the covers.
“I’d rather stay here and get a head start on our next clients. We get an extra day to make plans thanks to this win.” Tessa patted his outstretched leg, shoving thoughts of Marci away once again. She didn’t deserve to be in Tessa’s head. Ever again. “Besides, I might not want to see any of you in drunk mode.”
“You do have a point.” Seth snorted and rolled off the bed. “Have fun with your alone time.” He added a mischievous wink.
Thirty minutes later, Tessa watched the Jeep head down the hill, happy she would have that alone time. Finally, the cabin was quiet. She had the whole place to herself until tomorrow when they would return and she would be back to work as normal by afternoon, planning out an itinerary for the new clients. Unless she started tonight, which she should, but deep down, didn’t want to.
She should curl up with her computer to meet the clients. To get to know them and what they expected from their long weekend. It could be a wedding this time. Could be just a family coming for vacation. Could even be a bachelor or bachelorette party.
Whoever the clients were, they would be housed in the lodge at the top of the mountain. That added bonus came from having top points of this round.
And no matter who they were, they would have to wait for tonight.
Right now, all she wanted to do was get to the cottage and spend some quiet time beside a flickering fire, cuddled up with a book.
That’s truly all she wanted. She deserved just one night to herself, even if those top points, the win, would allow her one extra day to jump ahead of the other crews. Truthfully, she trusted herself and the crew members to get the job done with even half the time. She trusted their abilities that much. And that meant a single night could be spent thinking about something other than work.
She made a large mug of coffee, donned her coat and beanie, shoved the book in her pocket, then headed out into the snow, eager to get her cozy on. All alone. With her crew, though she loved them dearly, out of her hair.
The scent of pine and clean air surrounded her as she slowly made her way over the creek bridge. She stalled to watch the moonlit trickle of water veer between rocks and tree roots.
Heaven. She felt so close to heaven while standing in the middle of such magnificent nature. What was it like to live here year round? Did the forest trim down in the summer or stay just as full all year round? Was there snow three-fourths of the year? How hot was the summer? Soon, she might get all of those answers.
The thought made her giddy and she forced herself to keep moving. She made it to the little cottage that she’d found by accident while hiking one day. One of her many hikes. She truly couldn’t get enough of the nature surrounding her. She wasn’t sure why her crew wasn’t interested in exploring. None of them had ventured outside the cabin unless they were visiting people from the other crews at this so-called firepit.
She was glad they had found other friends and was prouder that she didn’t have to worry about loose lips. Sharing information in this contest wouldn’t do anyone any good. Each team had different clients, and no two clients wanted the same thing.
The whole thing was set up perfectly, and she hoped she got a chance to voice her admiration to Wendy for such calculated choices before this contest was all over. Before she and her crew were crowned the winners.
Several minutes after getting the fire started and curling up on the couch, Tessa heard footsteps on the porch. She considered grabbing a fire poker, maybe even the heavy glass candleholder on the table beside her, but her gut told her there was nothing to be afraid of. That she knew who was standing beyond the door.
Hadn’t she been expecting her with every trip to the cottage? Hadn’t she almost willed her to follow Tessa every single time?
And now that her wish was standing on the threshold, her gut curled. That churn told her to be very afraid of who would likely walk through that door. That person made her weaker than any contest. That person had the ability to make her wet.
Without knocking, Marci stepped through the door, and Tessa had to fight not to react. Not to push off the couch and go to her. No one should look that sexy in a thick coat and beanie, but damn if Marci didn’t take the prize.
Marci gave a single nod as she closed the door behind her.
“I’m impressed your ego fit through the doorframe.” Tessa flipped the page of the book she wasn’t reading and pretended that Marci being near her wasn’t affecting her breathing.
“Can we talk?”
Tessa lowered the book to her lap. “Does it have to do with my new clients?”
“No.”
“Does it have something to do with one of my crew members?”
“No.”
“Am I being ejected from the contest?”
“Of course not.”
“Then we have nothing to talk about.” Tessa opened the book again. “So please take your fat head and squeeze it back through the door.”
Marci took a timid step forward. “Look, I didn’t come here for a cat fight. I—”
Tessa snapped the book shut, pleased that Marci hadn’t turned on heel and left. Marci leaving was the last thing she wanted. She wanted to scream at her. Wanted Marci to tell her over and over that she was sorry. Then she wanted her to prove it. Fuck. She was so twisted it made her question her own sanity.
“No? Then why the hell are you here? Did you come to accuse me of knee walking for my clients, too? Hand job for the men, finger fuck
for the women, and ding ding, we have a winner?”
When Marci didn’t respond, Tessa eased off the couch, anger and need woven tight in her stomach. “You know, my grandpa always said it’s the punch you never see coming that hurts the worst. He was right. But I see you now, asshole, and I warned you that your sucker punch was a one-shot deal. So please remove your paranoid ass from my view before I’m tempted to do something stupid.”
Like fling herself into those arms. Like unzip that jacket and crawl inside it. Like sink to her knees and claim Marci. Yes. She’d be stupid enough to do just that.
“Would you please accept my apology?”
“What apology? The one you think you offered? The one you thought you owed me?”
“Tessa, what I said was uncalled for. It’s been a really bad year, and I guess you can say I have a few trust issues. For that, I’m sorry.”
“That’s your excuse? That’s your sales pitch? That you had a bad year?”
Marci inhaled but didn’t offer a response.
Tessa eased forward, knowing she was an idiot to do so. If she got too close, the hands of sexual need would shove her the rest of the way. “Do I look like a fucking therapist? Did you come here looking for a free pass because some cheating loser broke your heart?”
Marci cocked her head. “Who said someone broke my heart?”
“You did, just now, when you used that cheesy pathetic phrase, I had a bad year. You didn’t say a family member passed away. You didn’t say your dog died of old age. You didn’t say that you lost your job and had to seek government aid. Saying you had a bad year is a classic cop-out which means you’re either a coward, or ashamed, or haven’t found closure. Either way, I don’t possess the proper degree for the help you require.”
Marci’s jaw tightened. Tessa had struck a nerve and it was rather sexy. And deserved.
“I’m not ashamed or a coward. I didn’t do anything wrong.” Marci lifted her chin defiantly.