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“Okay.” She pressed one last kiss to the warmth of his neck. “You go.”
“I feel like I should hang around. That was a big night, with you becoming a woman and all.”
Tessa pushed him away with a growl. “You’re worse than my brothers.”
“Not true. I adjusted to reality a lot better than they will. I think I showed admirable courage in the line of duty.”
She raised one eyebrow. “Wow. You might deserve an award.”
“Oh, I think I do.” He stepped closer, sneaking his arms around her waist.
“Good,” she said, pressing herself into his hard body. “I’ve got a whole box of them in my closet just for this situation. Well…half a box after last year. It was a good one.”
Luke smiled, then grinned, then he threw his head back and laughed. Tessa just stood there smiling like an idiot. He had a gorgeous laugh, deep and booming. She put her ear to his chest to listen to the rumble, and then his heartbeat, and finally his sigh.
“I really do have to go,” he whispered against the top of her head. “I’ve got to catch some bad guys. Or at least do a lot of paperwork.”
She kissed his chest. “You watch too much TV.”
He laughed again, and kissed her, and Tessa’s skin was still tingling when he left. Maybe it was a good thing that her brothers knew about Luke, because Tessa liked him more than she’d liked any of the men they hadn’t known about. Maybe way more. She touched her lips where they felt sparkly with heat and smiled against her own fingers.
Or maybe she just watched too much TV.
CHAPTER TWELVE
TESSA OPENED THE BACK door of the brewery as quietly as she could and slipped into the kitchen. It was empty, thank God. She tiptoed across the gray tile and edged her head around the hallway. Eric’s door was halfway open, and she could see his desk and one of his hands typing on the keyboard.
Holding her breath, she rushed past the hallway and pushed through the double doors to the front room. Jamie was just taking the chairs down from the tables after vacuuming.
“Jamie!” she whispered. “I need to talk to you.”
He rounded on her with wide eyes. “You need to talk to me?”
“Yes—”
“Are you kidding me? You slept with him. You slept with him after I told you not to!”
“Come on. You don’t get to tell me who to sleep with.”
“I do, too!” he shouted.
Tessa shook her head frantically and rushed at him to put her hand over his mouth. “Be quiet! Eric will hear you.”
“Oh, he wants to speak to you, too, believe me.” His words were slightly muffled by her hand, but at least he wasn’t yelling.
She set Jamie free and wiped her hand on her pants. “This isn’t about Luke.”
“Luke,” he spat.
“Listen! You didn’t call me back yesterday. I talked to Kendall. I think I might be able to get him back on board.”
“I— What?”
She nodded. “He’s agreed to think about it for a few days. But we still need a backup plan.”
He looked suspicious instead of enthusiastic. “What kind of backup plan?”
“Something to offer Eric if this falls through. Something that’ll help him forget about High West. What about your idea to turn the barroom into more of a pub? Sandwiches and burgers and stuff?”
