Getting His Way: Sapphire Falls Book Seven (16 page)

He stopped in front of her. “Tess—”

“If you care about me at all, please go before I start crying.”

He hesitated. She could see the battle on his face. He didn’t want to leave her. He hated that she was on the verge of tears. He
did
care.

He looked at her for a moment, then cupped the back of her head and pulled her in to his chest. “I definitely want you to
care
about me and what happened and what I can and can’t do. Because if you didn’t care about me, my world would be a very different place.” He kissed her forehead. “This isn’t over.”

Then he left.

But she didn’t cry. She wasn’t sad. She was angry. So, no, she wasn’t going to cry. She was going to make her dreams of travel and marathons and high-level, specialized training come true. And she was going to buy a vibrator.

But first she was going to have chocolate.

She completely bypassed the sugar-free pudding cups in the kitchen—there wasn’t enough chocolate pudding, even the good stuff, in the world for this. She headed straight for the bag of chocolate kisses with almonds that she stashed in the back of her freezer for just such an emergency.

And thirty minutes and several little gold wrappers later, she had to admit that she’d been duped. All these years, she’d believed what she’d heard about chocolate producing the same endorphin high as an orgasm.

What a bunch of crap.

Chapter Seven

Tess was late getting to the fashion show rehearsal the next day, and all Bryan could think about was what if she’d left town late last night?

For Denver.

She fucking wanted to go to Denver.

And that had been only one of the many surprises from her last night.

She’d kicked him out of her house. After reassuring him that someone would love him someday. Tess Sheridan had turned him down for forever.

That was
not
how he’d expected last night to go.

He’d alternated between thinking all of that over and remembering her naked on his lap, coming apart for him.

He hadn’t slept much.

And he
needed
to see her.

She had been right on with the things she’d said, he’d finally admitted. He’d been counting on Tess because he thought she was the epitome of the small-town girl who wanted a small-town, sweet, simple life. And, okay, because she’d loved him forever.

But was he only in this because she was easy? Because focusing on making a real relationship work and building a life in Sapphire Falls was better than focusing on his injury and the things he’d given up? Because he wanted to feel like someone’s hero and he wanted to make Tess happy?

No.

Well,
yes
. He wanted to make her happy. But he wasn’t rewarding her for waiting around for him. He wanted her. He wanted a relationship with her.

Had he quickly shifted his focus away from his losses to new things ahead? Yes. That was what he did. He coached people with that attitude and he applied it to himself. That didn’t mean he was in denial.

He had a partial spinal cord injury—nothing could change that. He’d rehabbed back to his maximum potential, but he’d never be back to one hundred percent—nothing could change that either. What good did it do to focus on that and wallow?

So he’d turned his attention to positive things, uplifting things, things that made him happy and hopeful.

Like Tess.

But he had to admit that seeing her now, not just sassy but able to say no to him, made him think of her differently. It was damned attractive. He liked a challenge and thinking that Tess might need to be actually won over made his heart beat faster. He’d wanted her in his life when she’d been sweet. Now he wanted her…bent over his desk.

Which sent him right into wondering if she was late because she was shopping for a vibrator, as she’d threatened.

She would have had to go to York, probably, but he wasn’t sure York even had a shop that sold sex toys. It was hardly a big, fast-paced city. It was about six times the size of Sapphire Falls, but even so, it wasn’t impossible that you could run into your first-grade teacher or your pastor on the downtown streets. Coming out of a sex shop. With a vibrator in your bag. So, no, York might not have a sex shop.

Of course, Tess could have bought a vibrator online. But Bryan wasn’t sure she knew that. Surely she did though, right? Didn’t everyone know that? She wasn’t a kid, she was just a little inexperienced.

Except for those romance novels. He liked the dirty talk that had come from them. He might need to get a hold of one of those so he could figure out what she knew exactly. Or thought she knew anyway.

And clearly, he’d been giving this whole thing a lot of thought.

Bryan tried to relax in his chair as he watched the ladies putting on the jewelry and hats that went with the summer wear they would be modeling.

Cora’s hat was nice, if huge. Bright yellow with pink flowers and a pink ribbon trailing from the brim seemed a bit much to him, but what did he know? Stella was wearing a purple shawl with her blue dress. Ruby had green and orange on. Overall, it was very colorful.

And he didn’t give one damn about it.

He wanted to see Tess. He
needed
to see Tess.

He’d left her last night. That was not something he did. He stuck. He worked through things until they were fixed. He was the pro at pep talks and giving people perspective and coaching them through. But this wasn’t a big race, this wasn’t a tough training week, this wasn’t a loss that someone was trying to come back from.

This was a woman.

And she’d given him some stuff he’d needed to think about. She’d clearly believed the things she’d said. So much so, that for a little bit, he’d believed them too. But as he’d pondered if her sweetness had made her easy for him, and if that was the whole attraction for him, it was the passion and confidence he’d seen in her while she’d been telling him that he didn’t need her that had made him certain Tessa was the girl for him.

He’d been assuming a lot. And he was kind of enjoying being surprised. And he liked thinking that Tess would tell him no when he needed to hear no. Or that he was being an assuming ass.

He was a good guy, but he was under no illusions that he wouldn’t definitely need someone to tell him he was being an ass again at some point in his life. He’d had his doubts about Tess being that person. He’d figured he would have to rely on Hailey and Ty for that. Maybe his sister. Maybe. But Caitlyn hung out in sweet-girl land a lot of the time too. Ty had been his shape-up-you’re-being-a-dick advisor for years. Bryan had assumed Ty would keep the title and that Hailey would be a fantastic backup.

But Tess was clearly not overwhelmed by him or going to fall at his feet. She wouldn’t put up with him being an ass. That was wonderful. If Tess could be comfortable calling him on any behavior that got out of hand, it meant that he didn’t have to be so careful. He didn’t have to walk on eggshells around her or treat her delicately. He wouldn’t be a jerk on purpose, of course, but he could relax a little bit, be more natural, be himself.

He was still stunned that he was off-balance over Tessa. The woman he thought he knew all about.

He wanted to make love to this woman, not just have sex with her, and that was, as it turned out, the whole problem.

He’d spent many sleepless hours last night pondering that. After all, Tessa Sheridan had said words like hot, sweaty, sex, fuck and deep. She’d kept asking for more. When he hadn’t given it, she’d
taken more—
playing with her own nipples, pushing his finger deeper. She knew what she wanted. She just hadn’t had it. Yet.

She was a gorgeous, curvy, blonde contradiction. Sweet but sassy, innocent but demanding, the glue that kept Sapphire Falls together but ready to move to the mountains and see the world. In love with him but preparing to leave him behind.

How was he supposed to
not
think about that?

Bryan had spent almost as many hours wondering if treating Tess sweetly was the wrong move as he had spent aroused and frustrated remembering having her in his lap, her beautiful bare body under his hands and mouth, making her moan and squirm and finally come apart.

The bottom line was he needed to see her. And his heart was going to stop if she walked in with a bag from a sex shop.

But surely she wouldn’t bring the bag
here
, he thought, watching Dottie and Susan compare their sandals.

“Tess!” someone greeted just then.

Bryan turned on his chair so fast he almost slipped off and fell on his ass. Tess came into the room with a ball cap on her head, her hair pulled through the back, cut-off denim shorts, fitted white tee covered by an open button-down light pink shirt, flip-flops, and huge dark sunglasses.

“Hi everyone,” she said.

But there was a definite lack of
Tess
in her tone. It wasn’t bubbly and sunny and upbeat. She sounded tired.

Bryan turned back toward the stage with a smirk. He didn’t want her feeling bad. Exactly. But he didn’t mind knowing she’d lost some sleep last night too.

Especially if it was because she’d stayed up all night practicing giving herself orgasms. And thinking of him.

Bryan’s body tightened immediately, and he had to clear his throat as she took the chair next to him.

“Morning.”

“Hey,” she said, not meeting his eyes.

“You’re late.”

“Yeah, I was finishing up at work.”

“Work?”

She nodded. “Okay, girls, let’s do this!” she called to the women onstage.

“I thought
this
was work,” Bryan said.

She leaned over and set something on the floor. Bryan heard the rustle of plastic and he gritted his teeth. He could not look down. It was a bag of some kind, and in his mind it was full of vibrators and a chocolate body pen.

“This is work too,” she agreed. “Okay, Dottie! You’re first.”

“This is work
too
?” he asked.

“Read your script, Bryan.”

“Am I supposed to come on now?” Dottie yelled from the stage. “Or do I wait for him to read?”

“You wait for him,” Tess told her. “Bryan, read.”

“But I—”

“I can’t hear you!” Dottie shouted.

Bryan gave a little growl, but he turned to the script and started reading.

They got about halfway through before Linda decided that she couldn’t do her turn the way she wanted to at the front of the stage in the shoes she was wearing. A pow-wow commenced with all of the women passing their shoes around and trying them with the different outfits. And it didn’t seem to matter if they matched or not. The stage was an explosion of color, and Bryan thought it really looked like they were going for the most
mis
matched concoctions they could come up with.

As they debated heel height and strap placement, Bryan turned to Tess.

“You okay?”

She’d pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head to perch on the brim of her cap. She wore no makeup and definitely looked tired, but she looked completely beautiful.

He remembered everything about the night before in one brief, hot, shining moment. The shape of her breasts, the silkiness of her skin, the taste of that skin, how tight and wet she’d been for him. And maybe most of all, the way she’d responded to him. And if his ego hadn’t been enormous where Tess was concerned before, now he felt like the king of the world. Other than the thing about her kicking him out.

“I’m fine,” she said.

As if commenting on her breakfast. Breakfast was fine. It was rarely amazing or life-changing. And she definitely didn’t sound as if she felt amazing or as if her life had changed now.

Tess kept her eyes on the stage as Bryan watched her, biting back the first words that came to mind. Words like “bullshit” and “I can make you very okay”.

He couldn’t. Not yet. This would be her first time. He was going to be her first…and her last. No matter what she’d said or what she thought about him finding someone else.

Their first time called for something special.

“You sleep okay last night?” he asked instead of telling her about his romantic plan. But he couldn’t leave it totally alone. He realized he really wanted her to have had as restless a night as he’d had.

She shrugged. “Sure.” As if it was strange to think otherwise.

Sure.

Sure?
Not only did he want her to have lost
a little
sleep over him, but he wanted her to acknowledge why he was asking. She had to have thought about what had happened on her couch. She had to have. She was a virgin. How many naked make-out sessions had she had?

“Last night was awesome, Tess.”

That got her to look at him.

“Really? We’re going to talk about that here? Now?”

He glanced at the stage and back at her. “It’s all that’s on my mind. Yours too, I’m guessing.”

Tessa’s eyes narrowed. “As a matter of fact, I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

“About last night?”

“No, Bryan, not about last night.”