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Pure delusion.
Had Tessa picked up that baton and started seeing things in Luke that didn’t exist? She was almost sure she hadn’t…but that was just another symptom, wasn’t it?
She tried to shake it off. After all, she’d had sex with the man; she hadn’t married him. Regardless of whether he was an asshole or not, he damn sure knew his way around a woman’s body. She’d walked away more than happy. That’s all it needed to be.
She smoothed her T-shirt down and took a deep breath, then sat down to go through the invoices awaiting her attention. She processed them as quickly as possible, because she needed to carve out time for some secret number crunching. If Jamie’s idea to add food to the bar menu wouldn’t make Eric happy, then Tessa had to work extra hard on the Kendall deal. She’d run the High West numbers for Eric months ago, but what if she could nudge them a little bit? Sweeten the pot for Roland Kendall? Excitement urged her on, the feeling that she could make this right. She could fix it. She always did.
Yes, there was definitely some wiggle room in the numbers. Not much, but a little. And if she served them up to Kendall on a silver platter, with garnish, and a big, confident smile…?
A feeling of impending triumph kept her grinning as she closed the spreadsheet. Determined to keep the feeling going, she opened her Twitter feed and read all the compliments women had left for Jamie. The public had a great affection for his bare legs, not to mention a burning curiosity about what he wore under his kilt. She ignored all that—it wasn’t her job to flirt on his behalf—and posted a new message.
If enough people request “Danny Boy” tonight, maybe I’ll dust off the old vocal chords.
&n
bsp; Ha. He hated that song. She wished she could hang around to see it.
But the lightness of her mood didn’t last. The hard strike of a knock on her door wiped her smile clean. “Come in,” she said warily.
Eric pushed the door open, but seemed hesitant to walk in. “Hey,” he said. He raised a hand to show the stack of envelopes he held. “Bills,” he said unnecessarily.
“Thanks.”
He stepped in and put them on the edge of her desk, then immediately stepped back.
Tessa was torn. On one hand, she wanted to apologize to him for this morning, to assure him that everything was fine and he didn’t have to worry about her. He never had to worry about her. That was the point of everything she did.
On the other hand, she wanted to ask for her key and tell him not to drop in anymore. But she knew she wouldn’t do that. That house had belonged to their parents. Frankly, it still belonged to all of them, though her brothers had tried to sell her their shares at a laughably low price. How could she refuse him entrance to their family home? Better just to conduct any sexual liaisons at the man’s house instead.
“I’m sorry,” she said, but Eric only shook his head.
“No, I’m sorry. You’re an adult and you don’t need my permission to…” He waved his hand. “Do…anything. I’ve just been stressed out.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“That bastard Kendall has started ignoring my calls again.”
Tessa’s heart dropped. “Oh,” she managed to push out past her closing throat.
“We’ve already drawn up the final contract. All we need to do is sign it! What the hell does he think he’s doing?”
Tessa had to gulp down a deep breath in order to speak. “Maybe he’s… Maybe he’s not even in town.”
“Yeah, he’s out of town, but he’s not answering his cell phone, either.”
“He’s probably busy. It’s not like he hasn’t done this before.”
Eric didn’t look anything close to convinced. “It doesn’t feel right. Before he was trying to make me work for this deal. But now we have an agreement.”
“Well, don’t keep calling him,” she said in a rush. “You’re just going to piss him off.”
“He’s already pissed me off,” Eric grumbled. “You know what? I think I’ll call Monica.”
“What?”
Eric’s eyes finally focused on her, and Tessa realized that her screech of horror might have been a little suspicious. “What’s wrong with calling Monica?”
“Um, aside from a couple of business dinners, all your dealings have been with Roland.”
