“That was a long time ago.” She’d gotten quiet. And wasn’t meeting his gaze anymore. But he wasn’t going to let her off the hook.
“I want to know why you chose Sam over me.”
He set the third piece down, and she pretended to study the puzzle. “You were the guy everyone loved. You had millions of friends. I was never in your league.”
“I liked you, despite all our competing against each other. You must have known that. I even asked you out, and we had a great time. Remember?”
Ah yes, he’d remembered everything about that date for a long time. Tessa waved her hand dismissively. “You liked me for about ten seconds, and you would’ve moved on to the next girl. And with our families not talking—”
“Our families not getting along didn’t end what was going on between us.” He tapped the puzzle piece on his knee. “So, what’s the real answer?”
“I never thought you were serious about me, okay?” She held out her hand. “Give it over, Leo. I answered your questions.”
He felt that something was off, that she wasn’t telling him everything. He should just end the game, because she was getting angry with him. But perversely, he turned his mouth up in a mischievous grin.
“Leo, I’m warning you. I did what you asked. Now give me the last piece, please.”
“Here it is.” He dangled it in front of her. “It’s yours if you answer one last question.”
“No more questions.”
She lunged for it, but he lifted it out of reach, causing her to lean against him.
The force tipped them both backward on the couch. Tessa was on top of him, both of their hands firmly gripping the piece. “Give it up, you cheater,” she said. “It’s mine!”
Her blue eyes snapped with frustration as she refused to surrender. Her damp hair tickled his face, its sweet fragrance surrounding him. For a moment he contemplated giving up the piece and taking her soft, sweet-smelling body in his arms.
“I’m sorry, Countess,” he said coolly, meeting her infuriated blue gaze. “I can’t give you the last piece until you answer one last thing.” His voice was quiet, his grasp unyielding. “I want to know what happened with the scholarship.”
…
Tessa gasped. She was hovering over him, pillows askew, one hand on his shoulder and the other clamped around his as they fought for the last piece.
And she was trembling. From being near him and from the truth that hovered on her lips.
She’d been okay keeping all of this to herself for so many years. She’d lived with the consequences of her choices, even as they’d eaten her up on the inside.
“That’s ancient history,” she said as calmly as possible. It was in the past, over and done.
“I want to know the truth,” he said quietly.
“There’s nothing to tell.” She forced herself to meet his gaze. “We were neck and neck, and you won.”
“I don’t think that’s the whole story,” he said.
She bit down on her lip to stop from tearing up. “Who told you?” But she already knew the answer.
Her suspicious, troublemaking sister who could never leave well enough alone. Well, both her sisters would qualify for that distinction, but she suspected the culprit was their very recent house guest.
“Juliet loves you,” Leo said. “She wants to be the one to look out for you. I can’t fault her for that. It’s about time someone took care of you for once.”
That made her tear up for real. She pushed up to get space, to sit upright on the couch, but Leo was right there next to her, waiting for the truth.
She wanted to look away. Away from his beautiful brown eyes. Away from his strong jaw and thick wavy hair and the knowing gaze that seemed to see right through her.
“Just tell me.” His voice was practically a whisper. She wondered how many women that deep, gravelly voice had caused to spill all their secrets. “I was part of this, too. I need to know.”
She looked at his handsome face. It was predatory. Waiting. But he wasn’t really a predator, was he? He’d been aggressive about this fake-marriage scheme, but he hadn’t ever forced her into anything; she’d agreed on her own. And he’d done it because he loved his family. He cared about his sister. He’d been kind to her mother and grandmother—and her sister. He was making her a gorgeous kitchen island, for goodness’ sake, to get her out of that bakery.
At every turn, his actions broke down all her assumptions.
But telling him the truth, opening up to him, would make her vulnerable. And if she fell for him, she couldn’t withstand another heartbreak in this town with a million eyes. Where everyone followed each little misstep with a high-powered microscope.
Don’t you dare fall for him, Tessa, a voice that sounded a lot like Juliet’s chided from inside.
Yet part of her wanted him to know the secret she’d kept hidden for all these years. And maybe he deserved to know. Because she’d hurt him because of it.
She took a deep breath. “Juliet took my dad’s death very hard. I mean, we all did. But her especially. We were all mourning, and my mom was beside herself with the business, working overtime to keep it on its feet. We thought it was just the stress, you know? The grief. But it wasn’t.
“Juliet wasn’t getting out of bed. She stopped eating. Stopped seeing her friends. Her grades were falling. The doctors said her grief had turned into a major depression.”
“That’s terrible, Tessa.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze or she’d never get through this. “I would get up and work for a couple of hours and then drive her to Indianapolis for therapy or to the doctor, and my mom would sit with her in the afternoons. And during all this, Vivienne was just twelve. Her childhood got cut short by my dad’s death, and then…then she needed someone to watch over her and protect her and make sure she could still be a kid, while we were all stretched so thin.”
Tears spilled out of her eyes. The memories were still so painful.
Leo reached over and took her hand. She swallowed hard and continued. “I had to do everything in my power to help my family at a terrible time. That meant growing up fast. So—”
Unable to go on, she gave a little sob. Leo reached over and held her hand. And finished her sentence for her. “So you threw the final calc exam. You let me win.” He looked a little bit stunned, but his firm grip didn’t falter.
“I want you to know everything was my idea. If I’d gotten that scholarship, my mom would’ve driven me to NYU personally and shoved me out of the car. She never would have let me stay.”