Bree turned back to Tess. “And tomorrow night—will it be your turn for the couch, princess?” She raised her eyebrows.
Princess.Tess couldn’t decide whether to laugh out loud or be totally offended. Boundaries were being bulldozed that hadn’tbeen crossed in decades, if ever. She needed to keep whatever escalation Bree was causing to both her temper and her libido out of her tone. “I’m no princess. How about queen bee to you?” Tess clenched her jaw. Had she really just said that? She couldn’t let Bree get to her. She had no intention of relinquishing her claim to the bed. She cleared her throat. “It’s Tess.”
Bree studied her and finally nodded. “See you in the morning then…Tess. But maybe I’ll still call you Your Majesty.”
Bree winked at her, and Tess silently swore. The obnoxious woman had a sexy wink. She turned away so that Bree wouldn’t see the heat she was feeling, and it wasn’t temper. She was going to have a difficult time falling back to sleep.
When Bree squinted toward the sound of movement in the kitchen, she silently cursed herself for having gone from Hank’s mediocre guest room bed to this ancient, backbreaking excuse for a couch—certainly not a substitute for a decent horizontal surface that wouldn’t wreck her spine. She forced herself to a sitting position with a loud groan that brought the two cats jumping up next to her. Tess was about twenty feet away and eyed her from the kitchen.
“And you had the audacity to call me a princess when it sounds like it’s the princess and the pea over there,” Tess said.
If Tess’s morning voice wasn’t so rich and throaty, Bree would have had a few choice words for her. Instead, the aroma of coffee and something freshly baked had her focused on her stomach instead of the pain in her lower back. She’d been driving and skipped dinner last night.
“Nocturnal incontinence? You’ve got to be kidding me.” Bree put some growl into her indignation. She knew that Tess had notmeantp-e-e, but it had been a bad night and the easiest target for her lack of sleep was the person who’d claimed the only decent bed in the place.
The flash of mirth in Tess’s eyes gave away her apparent well-schooled mask of indifference. The queen bee was not nearly as frosty as she tried to appear, and she was just as attractive this morning as she’d been last night.
“I’d sayprincessis still a good fit for you with all that moaning and groaning. I’m talking Hans Christian Andersen and one uncookedp-e-aunder a huge stack of mattresses—the true test of a princess,” Tess replied.
“I’d have settled for a single decent mattress. Now I’d settle for a cup of coffee.” Bree leaned forward and forced herself to muster a hopeful smile. She was desperate for caffeine.
“You want it doctored?” Tess asked. “The coffee, not your delicate anatomy. Just to clarify.” Tess didn’t quite manage to suppress her levity, even though she was still doing a decent job of maintaining a straight face.
Bree decided to enjoy this hint of a lighter version of Tess after their rather heated exchange last night. There was no reason to cause Tess to adopt a less congenial attitude if they were stuck here together for this next week, so she ignored thedelicate anatomycomment and focused on getting that cup of caffeine. She’d been trying to cut her bad habits but now wasn’t the time to suffer any more than she already was.
“Cream would be great.”
“I’ve only got oat milk. Organic.”
“Of course you do,” Bree mumbled before she raised her voice. “That sounds perfect.” The mug was handed to her a few moments later.
“I’d have milked a cow if I’d known you were going to crash my vacation.” There was that same hint of humor that Tess couldn’t quite suppress, even though she seemed to be trying.
Bree chuckled as she took in her caffeine supplier’s amused hazel eyes and appreciated that her long blond hair was unconstrained, and she was still makeup free. She was a sexy, mature woman who undoubtedly had a history that played into that rather contained regal demeanor. Bree might as well try to enjoy herself if she was stuck sharing the cabin with her for the next week.
“You don’t strike me as a farm girl.” Bree injected a touch of reciprocal tease into her tone.
“The only way I’m like a farm girl is, as a teen, I might have tried to sneak off to the hayloft with a girlfriend—metaphorically,” Tess quipped before she swallowed hard and froze as she took measure of Bree’s reaction.
Bree’s pulse escalated at Tess’s indication that she wasn’t straight as Tess turned a lovely shade of pink. She liked that Tess didn’t seem to be an experienced, unrestrained flirt, just the opposite of Cora.
“Are you always this entertaining in the morning?” Bree gave her a grin. Then she watched Tess blink a few times and shake her head. It was clear that Tess wasn’t comfortable being this relaxed around someone she didn’t know well. Bree didn’t want to ruin the mood further, so she changed the subject. “Are those muffins up for grabs?”
“Come over to the table. Would you like an egg too?” Tess’s side of the conversation was now delivered in a solemn tone. Even a bit guarded.
Her shift in demeanor signaled that Tess had retreated into herself. Bree made note not to tease when Tess wasn’t censoring herself. She was obviously sensitive about it, as if she had an image that she felt a need to project.
“I’d love one, if an egg’s not too much effort.” Bree headed to the table. They sat in silence while Tess finished preparing and plating the food. “When did you arrive?”
“Yesterday.” Tess took the chair across from Bree.
“And how long are you planning to stay?”
“The plan is two weeks.” Tess kept her answers succinct and her focus on her plate. She cleared her throat. “I called Flo earlier this morning. She confirmed that this”—Tess looked up and gestured between the two of them—“was a failure of communication.”
Bree nodded. Tess didn’t ask about Bree’s plans, so Bree decided to volunteer them. “I’m here for about a week, until next Saturday. I’m originally from LA, but I’m starting a new job and—”
Tess held up her hand, palm out in a halt fashion. “Look, I’m here to get away from it all.” She blew out a prolonged sigh and waved her hand toward the window, indicating what was outside beyond the cabin. “Let’s make a deal if we’re stuck spending a week together here. The world’s baggage will be there when we each return to our separate lives. How about no outside world discussion and no other personal life info?” Then Tess added, “And no last names, so there’s no temptation to google. I’m simply Tess. You’re simply Bree. Let’s just enjoy the here and now. That would be the best time I could ask for under the circumstances.”
