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“Dylan,” she warns again.
“In the spare room,” I quickly add. “I promise, no funny business. Not unless you want to,” I add, giving her a wink.
Tessa lets out a long, slow exhale as she stands there watching me. I have no idea what she’s going to say. I want her to stay, more than anything, but I have a feeling we aren’t quite there yet.
“Okay, fine,” she eventually concedes, surprising me. “I’ll stay. In the spare room,” she adds, hitting me with a stern look.
I grin, grabbing her hand and leading her down the hall toward the bedrooms. I show her where the spare room is before taking her to the bathroom. I continue on, showing her the other room I have, which is filled with shit I have yet to decide where to put, along with another room that’s set up as a small office that barely gets used, before making my way to the far end of the loft.
“And this is my bedroom,” I add, standing in the doorway to the massive main bedroom.
Tessa stands beside me, her eyes wide as she looks over the room. There’s a king size bed in the middle, side tables on either side of it and a whole wall of windows that look out over the river that runs through Napa. The wall across from the bed has one of those fake fireplaces that sort of look real, and a cozy couch in front of it. Beside that is a door that leads through to the ensuite, which has a double shower and large tub.
“You’re thinking you wanna sleep in here with me now, aren’t you?” I whisper, leaning close.
She tenses beside me, her hand still in mine as she turns to me. “Seriously, how the hell do you live here?”
Grinning, I squeeze her hand once before turning and leading her back toward the spare room. “Four more dates, Tessa,” I remind her, as I show her into her room. “Help yourself to whatever you need in the bathroom, and remember, my room’s just down the hall if you get scared,” I add with a wink. Then I lean in and press a lingering kiss on her cheek before forcing myself to let go of her hand and leave her to sleep on her own.
The next morning, my alarm cuts through the silence of my bedroom, waking me. I roll over, groaning a little as I shut it off before blinking myself awake.
The loft sounds quiet and empty and when I drag myself from bed and down the hall, I see the spare room is empty and there is nothing but a note on the kitchen counter.
Thanks for dinner and letting me stay.
Tessa.
That’s it, that’s all it says, and I have to admit, it kind of stings a little, how cold it feels. I thought we’d made good progress last night, but maybe I misread the situation.
Letting out an exhale, I put some coffee on while I grab a quick shower, pouring myself a cup to go before heading downstairs to my car.
When I get to Apple Jacks, I head inside the tasting room to find Jack, Lauren and Tessa standing around a table looking at what look like blueprints for something. I pause, my eyes automatically moving to Tessa, wondering if she’ll look at me or acknowledge last night. Or the note she left this morning when she disappeared.
Or how I suddenly seem to have turned into a total pussy here with no idea what to say or how to act.
“Dylan, perfect timing,” Jack says with a grin as he slings an arm around Lauren’s shoulder. “I need a word with my wife, look after Tessa for us, will you?”
Before I have a chance to respond, Jack is steering Lauren down the corridor and away from us. I can tell by the look she gives him and the questions coming from her, that Lauren is none the wiser either, but none of that matters because I now find myself standing here, alone with Tessa, feeling awkward as fuck.
Turning back to her, I find her watching me, this weird half smile on her face that I don’t know how to interpret.
“Morning,” I say, as I shove my hands in the front pockets of my jeans.
“Morning,” she says back, her smile widening.
“What?” I ask, rocking back on my heels as I feign causal.
Tessa chuckles a little, tilting her head to the side. “You seem nervous.”
“I’m not nervous,” I blurt out, a little more defensively than I intend.
Now she laughs. “Right.”
Smirking, I take a step toward her. “How am I the nervous one,” I fire back. “You’re the one who bailed this morning. Nervous you might have been tempted to wander down to my bedroom?”
