“I’m sorry, Luke,” she said. “I’m sorry for what people are saying. And I’m sorry I can’t talk to you. I am.” Her fingers curled around his elbow, digging in. “I’m sorry about it all.”
Oh, Jesus. He started to reach for her, but she jerked away and dropped into the driver’s seat of her car.
“Just leave it alone, all right? I’m fine.” She slammed the door, nearly catching Luke’s elbow in the process, and he jumped back just as the engine roared to life. Simone roared out of there like a pregnant NASCAR driver, and she left Luke more frustrated than ever.
The door of the office opened behind him, and Luke looked back to be sure it wasn’t a big hulking bastard wearing a sign that said I Knocked Up Simone Parker. But it was just a petite blonde woman in pink scrubs. No such luck.
Thunder cracked in the distance, and Luke looked at his watch, hoping that he’d been standing there for hours and the day was almost done. But no, it wasn’t even noon. The whole day stretched before him, and most of it would be spent sitting next to his stubborn-ass partner. And now he didn’t even have the small hope that Tessa Donovan might call again.
Shit. The nausea in his stomach had focused itself into one spot, and Luke could already feel the ulcer starting. Yet another one to add to his collection.
CHAPTER SIX
BITCH, TESSA THOUGHT to herself, squeezing her fists tighter. Her knuckles shone white beneath the skin, and her nails bit into her palms, but she squeezed harder. She wanted to get up and pace, but she wouldn’t give Roland Kendall’s snotty receptionist the pleasure. The woman was already nasty enough, and she’d clearly relished the past four hours of watching Tessa squirm.
Two hours into it, she’d been forced to call in sick to work. She’d explained to Eric that her doctor wanted to run routine blood tests but she needed to go to a lab in Denver. To temper the lie, she said she’d take a vacation day and do some shopping, too.
He’d seemed distracted, and when she’d asked why, Eric said he was having trouble getting in touch with Roland Kendall. Tessa had felt as if she’d been flashed into another dimension at that moment. A world made of ice and anxiety.
But she’d talked herself down. Eric always had trouble getting in touch with Kendall because Kendall made a point of being hard to reach.
Nothing had changed except that now he was keeping two Donovans waiting.
Tessa glared at the receptionist’s bent head, focusing hard in the hopes that frustration would act as a magnifying glass and burn a hole into the woman’s scalp. But she didn’t even twitch. Not until Kendall’s office door opened and the man himself came into view.
Tessa sprang to her feet as Kendall walked out with his arm thrown around the shoulders of a man Tessa recognized from the newspaper. The Denver mayor, maybe? No, someone more important. A congressman.
Though she was standing three feet away, Kendall ignored her entirely as he walked his friend out.
For a moment, she considered following them out, then decided that kind of determination might get you arrested when a U.S. congressman was involved. So she held her ground, and a few minutes later, Kendall returned. He spared her a hard look.
“Mr. Kendall,” Tessa said brightly as she stepped into his path. “I’m Tessa Donovan.”
“I know who you are.”
Uh-oh. His voice dripped frost and disdain. He knew. There was no other explanation.
“I hoped we might be able to speak in private for a few minutes.”
“Is there really any point to that?”
Oh, God. This was bad. “I hope so, yes.”
“I’ll save you the time. I—”
“Please?” she asked softly. “Just one minute?” The man finally relented, whatever good that would do her.
He stalked into his office with Tessa on his heels. She closed the door behind her.
“Sit,” he said gruffly, waving toward a chair. She sat, but when he only stood above her, looming and stern, she stood again.
“My brother—” she started.
“Yes,” he spat, “your brother.”
Tessa cleared her throat and tried to think of some tack that might work. Unfortunately, the path to “please forgive my brother for doing your daughter” was narrow if nonexistent. “His behavior was…unwise.”
“Unwise!” Kendall said. “This is a multimillion-dollar business and he couldn’t keep his pants on for the time it takes to strike a deal.”
“Ah…” Tessa’s mouth wanted to say something about Kendall’s daughter not being able to keep her pants on, either, but she took a deep breath instead of slapping him in the face with that. “As a young businessperson myself, I’ve seen how work and social lives can so often intersect—”
“Unwise,” he repeated as if Tessa hadn’t spoken. “What kind of idiot risks a business deal over sex?”
Your daughter? her mind screamed. But she smothered her anger with a solemn nod. “Mr. Kendall, I’m sorry. It’s—”
“Your brother should be the one apologizing.”
“Oh, of course. He wants to. That’s why I’ve been calling. Absolutely. To schedule a meeting between you two.”
He seemed to buy that hook, line and sinker, probably because he assumed Tessa took care of phone duties around the office. The man was archaic.
“Screw it,” he growled. “It doesn’t matter. The deal is off.”
“No,” Tessa breathed. “No. This is business, Mr. Kendall, just like you said. Jamie and Monica are adults who let things get out of hand while they were discussing business—”
“He put his hands on my daughter!” Kendall shouted. “Do you really think I’m going to do business with the man now?”
“You won’t have to! Eric and I will take care of everything. If you never want to see Jamie again, I understand. I’ll keep him away from your daughter, too. I promise.” Okay, she had no idea how she’d keep that promise, but panic bubbled through her like she was a shaken soda can. Every single criticism Eric had ever thrown in Jamie’s face was about to turn into solid stone. A giant boulder of scorn and anger and frustration between the two of them. And where would that leave her? Her brothers were all she had.
Kendall paced away from her to stare out the window that overlooked the whole front range from Pike’s Peak to Long’s Peak. He glared at the mountains as if he could crumble them with his eyes.
Tessa crossed her fingers until she lost all sensation in her hands. Please, please, please.
“No,” he finally said.
“Mr. Kendall, don’t make a final decision now. You’re angry. Of course you are. So just give it a couple of days. We’re a family business like the Kendall Group is. It gives us our strength, but it makes things complicated, too, doesn’t it?”
His eye twitched. Just his left eye, and she took that as a good sign.
“My father started Donovan Brothers twenty-five years ago, and he named it in honor of the brother he lost in Vietnam. Both our parents died when Eric was only twenty-four. Just a kid. He could’ve sold the brewery. Anyone else would have. But he took over and built it up to what it is today. It’s a strong company, but it’s strong because of family, just like your companies are. Please. Take a few days. Look at the numbers Eric gave you. This deal would be good for both our families, I promise.”
He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. “The answer is still going to be no. But I’m going to New York for a few days, so I’ll sit on it until I get back. A week. That’s the best I can do.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Kendall. That’s all I ask. Just a few days.” She rushed forward and grabbed his hand. “Thank you,” she said again, shaking his hand too hard.
He finally extricated himself and waved her toward the door, and Tessa walked out surrounded by a bubble of hope. She didn’t even sneer at the receptionist as she passed. A few days. A few days of not panicking, and she just might pull off the impossible. If only she could get all the men in her life to cooperate at the exact
same time….
LUKE LOOKED OVER the pile of files to see Simone grab her jacket and walk out of the station without a backward glance. Sure, it was quitting time, but she could’ve at least waved on her way out. Or given him the finger. She was clearly still pissed about him following her. Well, that was fine. He was still pissed about everything else, so his self-righteousness was safe.
Closing the manila folder in front of him, he transferred it to the short stack of files, and grabbed another from the tall stack. He and Simone were going through every commercial break-in from the past two years to see if they could link any of them to the newer robberies. Five hours later, and they hadn’t found a damn thing.
He was thankful for the quiet of the glassed-in conference room, but the stark fluorescents were giving him a headache on top of the headache he’d had when he came in. Luke closed his eyes and laid his head against the seat back. The tight muscles of his neck stretched. His spine popped. But his mind still twitched like a dying fish. He’d come back to Boulder to simplify his life. Yet another failure to chalk up on his list.
When his cell rang, he ignored the first few chirps before he stretched and looked down at it. He couldn’t have been more surprised by the name on the screen than if it had been Santa Claus.
“What the hell?” he muttered. He hit the call button and put the phone tentatively to his ear.
“Luke?” a sweet voice said.
“Yes.”
“It’s Tessa. How are you?”
“I’m… Yeah, I’ve been better. I wasn’t expecting you to call.”
“Oh. Did Jamie talk to you?”
“Yes,” he said, his muscles tightening anew. “He did.”
Silence drew between them for a moment, and then he heard Tessa inhale on the other end of the line. “Is it true? About your partner?”
He closed his eyes. “No.”
“Does everyone think it’s true?”
“Yes.”
She sighed and Luke waited for the next question. “Why?” she finally asked.
And Luke found himself telling the truth about it for the first time. “Everyone thinks it’s me because Simone and I are close. We were best friends. But we were never lovers.”
“So who’s the father?”
It was Luke’s turn to sigh. “I don’t know. It’s a long story.”
“You sound sad.”
Sad. Yeah. That actually made him smile. “I guess that’s one word for it.”
“Pissed?”
He smiled wider. “Maybe.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
Luke frowned at the pen he was pushing around the table. “I don’t think that’s—”
“Come on. Just come over. Bring me dinner.”
“I…” Okay, this was awkward. Given any other circumstances, he would put up his hands and back slowly away from a hot virgin with two protective older brothers. Why the heck did she have to be the only person who managed to make him smile these days? Damn it, he said silently, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
“All right,” she said, her voice pulling down in disappointment. “I understand. I guess I’m the definition of complicated.”
Her? Good God. “Don’t be stupid, Tessa. I’ll be there in half an hour. Burgers okay?”
“I assume you mean burgers from the Sink?”
He grinned at the table. “I do.”
“Cheeseburger with guac,” she said quickly. “No onions. And park behind the house.” With that reminder of how idiotic they were both being, Tessa hung up the phone, probably afraid he’d call it off. Because any sane man would.
Yeah. That sounded about right. Any sane man.
At least he could claim one small comfort. There was no possible way he was sleeping with Tessa Donovan tonight, so she was probably the safest woman he could have dinner with.
“Even I’m not that stupid,” he muttered as he packed up his files and grabbed his keys. “No way.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
HE WASN’T A MISOGYNISTIC asshole with a pregnant girlfriend. He was just a hot single cop who was bringing her a cheeseburger.
Tessa smiled as she fired up the stereo, damn happy with the way this day was turning out. It might even call for a little Van Morrison. Yeah, it definitely called for Van Morrison. Tessa turned on “Brown Eyed Girl” and danced into the kitchen to finish tidying up.
She’d saved the day—probably—and now she was going to get the man—maybe. What more could a girl ask for? Feeling a lovely bond with all the other women in the world, Tessa typed up tonight’s Twitter message and sent it out.
Feeling my Celtic roots tonight, ladies. You know what that means. Come on by & and say sláinte.
Jamie had been wearing his kilt tonight, and their Twitter feed was already buzzing with it.
She was still grinning when a car door shut in the alley behind her house, and Tessa rushed to the back door to open it. But her smile fell when she saw Luke. He looked exhausted. As if five days had passed since she’d seen him and he hadn’t slept a wink since.
“Luke! You look awful!”
His brow crumpled even as his mouth turned up at the corners. “That’s a terrible way to greet a man who comes bearing burgers.”
“I’m sorry! You just look tired.”
“Fair enough. I am.”
Tired, but still hot and strong. So she kissed his cheek as she took the bag from his hand and led him into her lair. “Red wine with burgers, do you think?”
He raised an eyebrow.
“I don’t want to think about beer tonight,” she explained.
“Red wine, it is.”
Half a bottle and two burgers later, they were sitting snug on her couch with the music turned down to a whisper so they could talk. “So tell me why you look so beat up today. Big murder case?”
“You’re determined to turn me into a TV show, aren’t you?”
“Well, for a minute there, you were headed into Jerry Springer territory. I’m trying to steer you back toward CSI.”
“Oh, right. That.” The tightness around his eyes told Tessa that this was what had been weighing on him.
She raised her eyebrows and waited.
“I don’t really talk about it.” He paused as if that would be enough, but Tessa didn’t let him off the hook. “My partner. It’s complicated.”
“Complicated as in…you’re in love with her and she has a boyfriend?”
“No!” He shook his head. “But you put it in perspective, I suppose. Complicated as in, she’s pregnant and she won’t talk to me about it.”
Tessa felt the exact moment when her heart began to melt. She could actually feel it go warm and squishy inside her. “I’m sorry, Luke.”
“She’s not married. There’s no boyfriend. She’s alone.”
“Maybe she’s okay with that.”
His frown turned angry for a moment. “That’s the thing. Simone would be okay with that. So why the hell isn’t she?”
“She won’t tell you anything?”
“Nothing. And I…” He raised a hand as if he were going to make a point, but his fingers hovered, half curled, before he dropped his hand to his knee. “I just want to fix it.”
Aw. Tessa took his hand and curled her feet beneath her to scoot a little closer. Men were such adorable creatures. He was going crazy because he couldn’t fix everything for his partner.
She stroked his fingers until they curled around hers. “How far along is she?”
“Seven months, I think.”
“And she wasn’t dating anyone last year?”
“No. Not that she told me.”
She wove her fingers between his and stroked his thumb with hers. “Is she… Is it possible she, um, went to a clinic and did it herself?”
Luke sighed, and his body relaxed back into the couch as if someone had cut his strings. “It’s possible. I’ve never asked her if… She doesn’t date much, so there was talk. Stereotypical bullshit, and it’s nobody’s
business but Simone’s.”
Tessa squeezed his hand.
“But…I thought she’d tell me.”
She cocked her head and studied his face as he stared at some faraway spot. “You’re sure you’re not in love with her?”
He smiled and his eyes finally found her. “It’s not like that between us,” he said. “Promise.”
“I’m glad,” she whispered, and his eyelids dipped. He stared at her mouth. Tessa suffered a nearly irrepressible urge to lean forward. To taste him. To lick at his bottom lip until he devoured her. But she didn’t kiss him; she just stroked his thumb, over and over. Luke blinked slowly, and then he pulled her in.
Triumph roared in her blood, but it was premature. Luke’s mouth hovered over hers, but their lips didn’t touch. Her breath quickened. His hand curved around her neck. For a long moment, Luke rested his forehead against hers.
Just as it occurred to her that he might not kiss her at all, Luke whispered, “Damn,” and his lips touched hers.
Tessa’s heartbeat jumped to a frightening pace. He kissed her so softly, but she could taste him as his mouth parted, slowly opening her body to him. His tongue touched hers and she gasped into him.
Oh, God, he tasted good. So good. Tessa’s body went hot in a sudden rush of lust. She spread both her hands on his chest, but Luke didn’t deepen the kiss as she’d expected. His hand stayed light against the back of her neck. His tongue still teased her. He seemed content to taste and taste again. But Tessa wanted to drown.
Something about this man inspired a strange mix of urgency and vulnerability that turned her into a bundle of need. Clearly, Luke wasn’t laboring under the same burden. His tongue slid over hers with such slow sensuality that she found herself whimpering, hoping he only needed a hint.
But no. It was just his mouth on hers, his fingers against her neck. Then his other hand rose to spread over her shoulder, and shivers shot along her skin.
Screw it. She was all in. Tessa eased closer and straddled his legs.
“Mmph,” he said against her mouth. Ignoring his surprise, she pressed her belly to his and took advantage of her new leverage to kiss him deeper.
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