Back In The Bedroom

13

AS TESSA LEFT for work the next morning, her sister popped her head out of her door and made a big show of checking her watch. “Hmm.”

Tessa rolled her eyes. “Don’t start.”

“Your car is working again so I wonder why you’re leaving so early.” She eyed Tessa’s sleeveless purple blouse and cream skirt. “Let me guess, you’re wearing the purple lingerie today?”

“Maybe I’m not wearing any.”

Carolyn’s mouth fell open and Tessa laughed. “Don’t you have something else to do other than speculate on what I might or might not be wearing?”

“Sure. I can speculate on whether you might or might not get hurt. Who is this guy who’s making you glow? Eddie’s son? Reilly? I want to meet him. Rafe asked me about him, too.”

Because when Rafe had called Tessa the night before, she wouldn’t tell him anything either. “Nobody’s making me glow except for this chilly morning.” But she relented and kissed Carolyn. “Now, go have a good day, one that doesn’t include obsessing about my life.” She got to the carport and slid into her car. She patted the dashboard as she did every morning. “Good girl,” she coaxed and turned the key.

Nothing.

This was not happening. She shook her head and tried again. And then again, and finally had to concede she needed a new car. A new used car.

As was becoming routine by now, she took the bus, glancing at her watch every three seconds. She was still plenty early, and if she ran the block from the bus stop to the office…

Reilly was on a different treadmill this morning, looking long and hard and sleek and damp. Tessa sagged back against the wall, breathless from both the run and the view.

“Can I help you?” asked a woman dressed in white work-out shorts and a green polo shirt emblazoned with the logo of the gym.

Tessa jumped and straightened. “Um…no. Thanks.” Guiltily, she got back on the elevator and fanned her face all the way up to the fifth floor.

Reilly came in shortly after, carrying a duffle bag that she knew held his clothes for the day, clothes he’d change into after his shower. And though he greeted her before he headed toward his office, he looked awfully tense for someone who’d just worked out. She waited a little while-imagining him in the hot water all wet and sleek and soapy-before she brought him some files she knew he needed.

“Thanks,” he said and didn’t look at her.

She moved to the door, then stalled. “Are you okay?”

“Sure.” He was using his adding machine, his fingers racing over the keys.

So much for stalling. Still, she tried one more time. “Where’s Cheri?”

“She’s defected. She’s helping out Eddie.”

“And how is your father? Any more trouble?”

“No.”

“Okay, then.” She bit her lip, wondering how else to drag this out, but she had nothing.

Back at her desk, she worked for a few hours before she took a call from Eddie.

“Is my idiotic son there?”

“Well…yes.”

“Is he sleeping at his desk?”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because the boy is burning the candle at both ends, that’s why, babysitting me all night, then working all day.”

“He said you were doing fine.”

“Because he’s making sure of it. He’s always over here. I wanted some time with him, but this is ridiculous. Tell him to go home. Demand it.”

“Eddie,” she said, laughing, “have you ever had any luck demanding anything of Reilly?”

“Well, no.” He laughed regretfully. “At least tell him I just heard from the police. They think Sheila’s left the country. That means I’m safe. Oh, and tell him I promise not to date any more psychotics, so he can relax.”

Tessa didn’t think this was a conversation she wanted to deal with. “Why don’t I just transfer you to him?”

“Because he’ll listen to you. Look, whatever you do, just don’t let him come to my house tonight, okay? He needs his rest. I’m going to be just fine.”

“You’re sure?”

“As much as it secretly thrills me that he cares enough to want to keep me safe,” Eddie said, more serious than she’d ever heard him, “I’m completely positive. He can’t go on like this, he just can’t.”

“And the police are certain-”

“Don’t worry about me. Just keep Reilly from trying to babysit me again tonight.” His voice softened. “Be patient with him, Tessa.”

“Eddie, I can’t just-”

A dial tone sounded in her ear. She pulled the phone away and stared at it. She was to keep Reilly from trying to babysit Eddie. Right! The man was sorely mistaken if he thought she had that kind of influence over his son.

No one did. Reilly was his own man, who came and went as he pleased. His own man who, in spite of himself, cared deeply about the people around him.

She thought that just might be the sexiest thing about him. Sexier than his alpha behavior-and she hated to admit just how sexy that was. Sexier than how hard he worked. Sexier than kissing him, and that was pretty damn sexy.

Glancing at the clock, she rose and hit the intercom button for Reilly’s office. “I’ll be right back,” she said, and thought she heard a low, guttural grunt of a reply.

Well, no one would ever accuse him of talking too much, that was sure. A few minutes later she was back in the building, armed with takeout Chinese, her favorite. Heading straight down the hall, she let herself into Reilly’s office.

He was so engrossed with his computer, he didn’t move.

She came up behind him and dangled the bag between him and the computer screen. “Guess what time it is.”

“I could tell by the scent coming down the hall.”

So he had heard her coming. That shouldn’t have surprised her; he had the finely honed senses of a warrior. “Let’s go to the staff room,” she suggested.

“I’m too swamped.” But he put his computer to sleep and turned to face her as he rubbed his temples, looking so tired, she set the bag on the desk and touched his arm. “You look terrible, you know that?”

He let out a laugh and said, “Well, don’t hold back. Just tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I always will,” she said softly and kneeled before him, putting her hand on his knee. “Reilly? Why don’t you go home early? Get some sleep.”

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know, maybe because you’ve been up how many nights in a row now, making sure your father is safe?”

His eyes went a little chilly. “That had to be done.”

She sat back on her heels. “Wow, you’re good at that.”

“At what?”

“At shutting people down.”

“I’m not shutting you down.”

“No, you’re shutting yourself down. Making sure you don’t feel anything-not worry for Eddie, annoyance at Cheri, or…whatever for me.”

“Whatever for you? What the hell does that mean?”

“We kissed in the elevator yesterday and you walked away like we’d shaken hands. You never felt a thing.”

“What should I have felt, Tess?”

“You know what? Never mind. Be a non-feeling robot.” She stood and moved to the door.

He stood, too. “What did you just call me?”

She turned back and said, “A non-feeling robot.”

“You really think I don’t feel?” he asked incredulously. He stalked the length of the office to stand toe-to-toe with her. “I have plenty of feelings, damn it.”

She knew he did, just as she knew he hid them. She felt bad for upsetting him, but he’d asked for it. “Why don’t you ever show any?”

“Maybe I don’t like to exhibit everything I feel for show-and-tell.”

“Right, because if you keep all your feelings inside, you can control them.” She lifted her hands to cup his face. “That makes me sad, Reilly. Sad for you. You never vent. You never say how you feel about Cheri working for Eddie, though it clearly bothers you. You never say how you feel about what is happening to your father or what happened to us-”

“You think I don’t feel anything about any of that?”

“Unless you tell me, how would I know?”

He stared at her.

“Look,” she said, relenting. “I know some people have trouble getting in touch with their feelings. It’s not easy, but you need to vent or-” She broke off when he picked up a file on his desk and flung it at the opposite wall, where it opened and rained papers down to the floor. “W-what was that?”

“A vent,” he said roughly. “How was that?”

“Um…” She swallowed. “Good. Really…good.”

“That’s how I feel about what happened to us,” he said. “That’s how I feel about what happened to you.” He grabbed her and she expected anger or maybe a hard, thorough kiss, but instead he put one light, gentle hand over her throat, where her bruises had started to fade, the other at the small of her back, nudging her closer.

Her entire body softened to fit his.

“If I could go back and erase that night, I would.” His hands were soft and tender, his eyes utterly fierce. “I’d like to make sure you never got hurt again. Are you getting how strongly I feel about that, Tess?”

She nodded and whispered, “Yes.”

“Good.” He pulled her hard against him, putting his mouth very close to hers. “I blame myself for that night. And I’m going to have to blame myself for this as well, as there’s no one to point a finger at. I hate it when that happens.”

And he closed his mouth over hers.