I turn back to her and quickly stand, but she takes a step back, cautious of my approach. Her hands lift, palms outright.
“Tessa.” My throat clogs for some reason.
“It’s all good. This is good.” She nods once while lowering her gaze, and then she spins away from me, rushing away from the front desk.
Fuck.
+ +
I called Zack to meet me for lunch. “I’m out of my element here.”
“I’m not certain I understand what’s wrong with Lakeside.” We sit inside the game room of the inn, eating sandwiches I ordered from Crossroads Café.
“Not Lakeside. Tessa.”
“The innkeeper?” Zack smiles, looking over my shoulder while lowering his voice.
I shake my head. “She’s letting me leave for an interview in the Caribbean.”
Zack lowers his sandwich and sits back in his seat. “Another place called you?”
“The resort’s original candidate declined the opportunity. Now they want me.” My explanation doesn’t sound great to my own ears, and Zack has a questioning look on his face.
His mouth opens, and then clamps shut. He tips his head. “When do you leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
Zack’s brows lift. “What about her bank interview?”
I’d asked Zack to intercede with the bank. He has connections because of Four Points, and the runaround Tessa was getting didn’t make sense. How long does it take to check someone’s credit in the modern age?
“I won’t be here.” The words taste sour, and suddenly, my turkey sandwich is staging a revolt in my stomach.
“I thought you wanted to help her.”
“I do.” Swiping a hand through my hair, I glance away from my younger brother.
“What about the inn? Her? And her son?”
My eyes close. This is why I haven’t taken anything further with Tessa. We’re only kissing, right? Nothing below the belt, at least since that first time. A few stolen moments to relieve some pressure. No emotions need to be involved. Only with every kiss we shared, the tension feels like it’s doubled in a new way. I want her. My dick hasn’t had the kind of workout my hand has given it in years. The sexual frustration is off the charts, but I haven’t given in for this reason.
I’m leaving.
“What about Tessa and Jonas?” I snap.
“I thought you liked them. I thought you liked spending time with them. You take Jonas to baseball. You help Tessa find things for her art.”
I stare at my brother, wondering what his point is while the pinch to my chest holds the truth. I care about Tessa and her son, and leaving them will be difficult. But I’m not cut out for folding towels, making beds, and repairing leaky faucets. I’m a people person, and this place is too quiet and reserved. Hell, we don’t even have televisions in the guest rooms. It’s a step back in time, and I’m moving forward.
Zack re-wraps his unfinished sandwich. “You know I love you, Noah. But I really thought this time would be different. I thought you’d stick instead of running. I thought you’d do something for others instead of doing for yourself.”
“When have I done something for myself?” The second the words leave my mouth, I know what Zack will bring up. We’ll return to an old argument about me leaving him in high school when our family fell apart. He’ll forget how hard I worked, paying my way through college because our dad gambled my college fund away. Most of what I’ve done over the past twenty-plus years has been for others. Scoring tickets. Seeking reservations. Fucking lonely women. Nothing was for me.
“Maybe it’s time I finally do something just for me. Where there isn’t a lot of extra work and bullshit.” I stand abruptly. “And having the same old argument with my brother.” I grab my unfinished sandwich and step toward the bin to toss it out.
“Taking the easy way out,” Zack mutters. “Again.”
“Fuck off, baby brother.” I glare at him. He’s so damn self-righteous sometimes. As if he’s never made a mistake. He got a woman pregnant and married her, distancing himself from both her and his boys for years because he didn’t love her. He isn’t perfect. River has made him a better man.
Who has ever been there for me?
Tessa comes to mind, but I quickly erase the thought. She doesn’t want me for more than the work I do around this inn. I’m giving her kisses as a consolation. She hasn’t asked for more. She hasn’t expressed feeling more. She’s like everyone else. I’m here for a job, and that position is about to end.
“I’ll call you when I’m back,” I mumble.
“Yeah, thanks for lunch.” My brother’s voice doesn’t contain a hint of gratitude. He’s disappointed in me yet again.
And for the teensiest second, I’m disappointed in myself.
13
[Tessa]
I don’t consider myself a seductress. I didn’t seduce Isaiah. We just sort of fell into one another as he comforted me after my father passed. However, I have a plan. Accepting that Noah is going to walk out of my life, I want one night with him. A night we both deserve.
I don’t make an elaborate dinner or even fill the room with romantic candlelight. I simply tell Noah I need his help in room twenty-seven near sunset.
Our other front desk worker is a high school student and has often offered to babysit Jonas so I can have a night out. I’ve never taken her up on it, but today, I’d asked for her help.
Standing before the windows as I did that first night when Noah kissed me and we… I wrap my arms around my midsection.
Noah is leaving. I shouldn’t do this.
I’ve almost talked myself out of it when he enters the room.
“Squeezing one more leaky faucet out of me,” he jokes. He nears me with a wrench in hand.
Turning to face him, I catch his eyes. “The faucet isn’t leaking.” My voice doesn’t sound like my own.
“Okay.” Noah scratches the back of his neck. “So what did you need?”
Swallowing around the thickness in my throat, I answer. “You.”
His eyes widen as I step up to him, slipping my hands up his chest.
“Tessa,” he groans.
“Tell me you don’t want me, and I’ll walk away.” I struggle with the possibility he could reject me. “But if you’re attracted to me at all, give me this one night before you go.”
“Because I’m leaving is the exact reason we shouldn’t do this.” His warning is the reality I should heed. The truth should stop me from making a fool of myself.
But I continue. “Because you’re leaving is exactly why I want this. I’ll have something to hold on to when it all gets too much.” I tap my temple, referring to all the times I’ve escaped in his kisses. This memory will tide me over for the future.
His hand tucks my hair behind my ear. “Little bird.” The softness in his voice, the caution, prompts me forward. I tip up on my toes and kiss him. The wrench hits the floor with a heavy thud.