Chapter 17
SEVENTEEN
TESSA
“Okay. This surprised me.”
The second half of my day hadn’t gone anything like I’d planned. But even though I’d had the most terrifying experience of my life when I left work today, I couldn’t be upset about where it had led me.
Because I’d been craving this.
For nearly a week now, I’d wanted nothing more than to be able to spend some time with Ace. Until we’d recently started seeing each other more frequently over these last couple of weeks, I hadn’t really known what it was like to miss him.
This past week had given me a taste of that, and it felt like torture.
It was about halfway through the week when it became clear to me what I needed to do.
Because with the way I felt, knowing how Ace felt about me, and getting the support and encouragement from my friends last weekend, I was eager to have a conversation with him about where things were for me.
Ace had been so patient, never once bringing up the conversation since we’d discussed it with one another when he first shared his feelings with me.
He’d stay true to his word that he wouldn’t allow it to come between our friendship.
At least, I didn’t think it had. Prior to this week, Ace had made time to reach out to me over the phone and visit with me.
Did he avoid seeing me this week because he wanted to put some distance between us, or was I reading too much into it?
Either way, I guess it didn’t matter. Because I could no longer ignore what I felt, and Ace deserved to know the truth.
But first, I thought we should get through dinner. So, I tipped my chin up and to the side, a smile playing at my lips. “What surprised you?”
He hesitated a beat before he said, “I hadn’t realized you could cook.”
“I’m going to pretend I’m not insulted and that you meant that as a compliment.”
“I did.” He gestured toward his plate. “This is excellent, Tessa.”
I eyed him curiously. “Why would you think I couldn’t cook?”
“It’s not that I thought you couldn’t cook at all.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I just thought you could do basics and reheat stuff. I didn’t know all this was possible.”
Grinning, I shared, “It’s my dad.”
Surprise washed over him. “Pardon?”
“My mom cooks. She’s got quite a few recipes that are excellent, but I learned a lot of my cooking from my dad.
When we were younger, my mom spent time working at the dance studio, and since my dad retired from snowboarding not long after Archer was born, he did a lot of the cooking.
As I got older, I spent more and more time with him in the kitchen and picked up a ton of recipes. ”
Ace’s lips twitched. “See? I’ve always known you were a daddy’s girl—much like Lark—and I guess I assumed something like this was of no interest to you.”
“To be fair, I wouldn’t say I love cooking. It’s just something that needs to be done. And since I’ve got to eat every day, I figure it’s worth being half decent at it.”
Gesturing to the plate with his fork, Ace said, “Well, if this is any indication of your skills, I’d say you’re better than just half decent.”
“Thanks.”
“I never knew that about your dad.”
After taking a sip of my water, I asked, “Knew what? He pretty much stopped professional snowboarding around the same time as your dad. While your mom worked a few days at the hair salon and my mom at the dance studio, our dads stayed home with us. It was the same for you as it was for me.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t realize that your dad did most of the cooking.”
I smiled. If I thought back on it now, life when I was a kid was chaos.
With four children so close together in age, the demands on my parents were high.
But if they were stressed or frustrated during those days, I never knew it.
“Xander Stone loved every part of being a dad. Even now, he still does. I told you he wanted to take everyone out to celebrate when he learned that Ryan and I were over, didn’t I? ”
Ace burst out laughing. The sight of him like that held me captive.
I’d seen Ace laugh hundreds of times over the years I’d known him, but none had affected me like this.
Maybe it was because this time he was laughing at something I’d said.
As he got his laughter under control, I still couldn’t look away.
Those bright blue eyes were shining, and those few rogue strands of dark hair that fell over his brow made him impossibly good-looking.
The desire to drift through that hair made my fingers twitch.
My mind filled with thoughts of how he’d look if that hair was just wet from a shower.
And at the thought of Ace and a shower, I envisioned him naked with nothing more than a towel wrapped around his waist. I had to bite my lip to stifle a moan.
“You didn’t tell me your dad had said that, but I’m not surprised by that response from him. That sounds like the guy I know him to be,” Ace said.
For the next few minutes, Ace and I finished our dinner. We exchanged several smiles in the comfortable silence.
When we finished, I asked, “So, how was your week?”
Ace sat back in his chair, looking completely relaxed and like he belonged exactly where he was. “It was okay. Things have been steady at work, which is always good. It makes the days fly by.”
“And I just added to that for you,” I murmured.
He smiled. “I don’t mind. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that you’d been terrorized today and could’ve been injured, I’d actually be pretty excited about it.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it’d give me another excuse to talk to you,” he admitted. Following a beat of silence, he added, “Even though my time was occupied with other things this week, I missed you.”
This was the perfect opening. We were done eating, and Ace had brought up the subject in a way that made this feel a little less daunting.
“I was hoping to talk to you about that.”
Instantly, his body went from relaxed to tense. It was like he was terrified of what I was going to say.
Wanting to put him out of his misery, I said, “I missed you, too.”
His lips parted, and he blinked in surprise. “Oh?”
I had no idea what came over me, but I just blurted everything out. “I’ve thought a lot about what you said to me last weekend, and I want you to know that I’ve found myself daydreaming about you. You’re all I think about these days.”
Ace smiled as his features warmed. “Tessa, I—”
“I’m terrified.”
“What are you afraid of?”
Gone was the confident woman who, only moments ago, had said all that I’d said. My nerves got the better of me. I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear before fidgeting with my hands in my lap. After licking my lips, I inhaled deeply and let out a big breath.
This was Ace. No matter what I said, he’d never make me feel bad or wrong or awkward about it.
“You mentioned that you wanted something more than friendship between us. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and it scares me.
If we decided to take this step and things went south…
” I trailed off as my eyes dropped to my lap briefly.
Once I’d given myself a moment, I returned my attention to him.
“I don’t want my relationship with you to end up like what I have with Ryan now. ”
Long, agonizing moments of silence stretched between us. I didn’t know what to do or say, and Ace gave me no indication of what was going through his mind. It felt like an eternity had passed before he finally said, “Tessa, come here.”
I was already here. We were seated at the table in my dining room. He was at the head of it, and I was just off to his right side. If he wanted to, Ace could easily reach out and hold my hand, so I didn’t exactly understand how much more here I could get. “What do you mean?”
Ace scooted his chair back, and he turned his body slightly toward mine. “Princess, come here.”
My eyes rounded as my lips parted. I shifted my attention between his face and his long legs. Suddenly, I understood what here meant. Ace wanted me in his lap. A shiver ran along my spine, tingles of excitement spreading throughout my body.
Cautiously, I rose from my chair and took one step toward Ace. He reached for me, one hand curling around my wrist while the other wrapped around my waist. The next thing I knew, he had me settled in his lap.
Silence filled the air again, the tension crackling between us.
My breaths were coming in quick, shallow bursts as Ace searched my face, stroked a thumb over my cheek, and eventually drove his fingers into my hair.
“You and I will never wind up like you did with your ex. I would never cheat on you, Tessa. Not only could I not do that to you, but I’m just not that kind of man. ”
“Ace, I never meant to insinuate that you’d cheat on me, and I don’t want you to think I’m comparing you to Ryan.
It’s just that I don’t have a lot of experience.
He was my first real boyfriend. Obviously, it ended very badly.
I’m just worried that if things didn’t work out between us for some other reason that I’d no longer have you in my life the way I do now.
Could we… Would we even be able to go back to being friends if we took this chance and broke up down the road? ”
The hand he had in my hair drifted down my back, settling at my waist, while the other was heavy across my bare legs. I was acutely aware of his fingertips pressing firmly against my outer thigh.
“You’ll never not be in my life, Tessa Stone. And while I can’t make you any guarantees about where things will end up between us if we take this chance, I can’t imagine that I’d ever find it so easy to walk away from you. I think it’s foolish to assume that this would end.”
“Ace…” I trailed off again, because I wasn’t quite sure what I could possibly say to that. He was so sure of himself, of us, and I desperately wanted to feel that way, too.