Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Tess
I’m seated at the bistro set on the porch with a hot tea, staring at a blank word document and listening to the hammering next door that seems to bang exactly in time with the blinking cursor. It isn’t even that loud, but for heaven’s sake, since that searing hot kiss a week ago, every sound makes me think of him, the way it felt to be pressed so firmly against him, and what it might be like to have that same hammering rhythm stroking inside me.
Groan.
I look over at the six large gas cans and hose sitting by the door and bite my lip. Now that I’ve sabotaged his site again, I’m a little excited about the prospect of another encounter. Another hot, angry kiss. Gah. I’m so twisted.
I rise, dump my hot tea and go for some ice water instead.And a moment later I’m considering dumping it down my chest to douse the fantasy that’s heating me up like never before when my cell rings and snaps me back to reality.
“Hello,” I answer without even looking at the caller ID because for whatever reason my hot neighbor fantasy has fried my brain. And why hasn’t he been over here yet, by the way? He must have noticed all his equipment is out of diesel by now.
“I’m outside your cottage.”
“Paige?”
“Hi bestie. I flew all the way here to see you so you cannot deny me entry. If I go to my parents’ first they’ll hold me hostage for at least twenty-four hours and we need to talk.”
“Hang on. I’m coming.” I rise, shutting my laptop, and go let Paige in, the ‘we need to talk’ weighing heavily on me.
“And you didn’t fly all the way here to see me. Your dad’s hip surgery is tomorrow.”
“Caught me. But we still need to talk.”
I step aside and let Paige in.
“I forgot how amazing this place is,” she exclaims, tossing her bag onto the old over-stuffed sofa and walking through the cottage, eyes darting everywhere. “It’s so cozy. There are so many sunny places to curl up with a book.” She deadpans me. “If only I had the latest Tess Harlow to read.”
I cross my arms, but I can tell from Paige’s face she can see right through me to my gooey guilty center.
“Except you can’t concentrate on any one of them with the damn banging outside.” I growl and go to the kitchen. “Tea?”
“Yes please. And seriously Tess, this is the noise you’ve been whining to me about? I can barely hear it.” Her voice is suddenly louder, and I turn to see her standing in the kitchen doorway.
I scowl. “When you’re trying to write, it’s very distracting!” I swallow and turn to the teapot so she can’t see my face.
“Traffic at the penthouse is louder.” She sounds matter of fact and I mock her silently while adding two tea bags to the pot.
“It is,” she repeats as if she saw my insulting parody with her best friend and agent superpowers.
“No, it isn’t,” I blurt turning back to give her my best warning glare, which she’s, of course, immune to. So, I try a different tactic. “You should hear when the equipment is going, which you won’t today because… well, never mind.” Ignoring the face Paige pulls, I turn back to pour boiling water into the pot. “And the traffic there was basically white noise.”
“Ha! Except for the sirens and honking every three minutes.” Paige plops down at the kitchen table.
I grind my teeth but bring over the teapot and then fill the milk and sugar bowl from my grandmother’s set, suddenly aware that they’re all chicken-shaped. I harrumph as bring them to the table before grabbing the rooster and hen cup and saucers and setting them down as well.
“Oh my God, they’re adorable!” Paige’s animated voice, normally a pick-me-up after days alone writing, irritates me.
“Gran apparently developed a thing for chickens after I left,” I say in annoyance.
“What’s so bad about that?”
We’re silent for a few minutes and of course so is my neighbor. Jerk.
“She likes the real ones too.”
Another shrug from Paige forces me to sigh and explain further and when I get to the part about Jake and his alarm clock qualities she snort-laughs for several minutes.
“You’re not helping my foul mood, Paige Penelope Parker!”
“Do you mean, f.o.w.l. by chance?” More snorts come from across the table, and I can’t help but smile. Damn it, she’s impossible to stay annoyed at.
“Did the lawyer look over the paperwork?” I question, pouring tea into the cups.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
I groan setting the pot down a bit too hard on the table with a clunk. “Gran wouldn’t have done this. She wouldn’t sell, and certainly not to him.” The him comes out harsh and accusing.
Sliding the rooster cup across the table at Paige, I plop down in my own chair.
“How did she seem to you?”
“If I’m honest, I didn’t notice anything different.” My eyes, suddenly wet, find hers. “She was sharp as ever, but then again I’m not know for my attention skills.”
Paige reaches forward to squeeze my arm. It’s a comfort I don’t deserve so I sit back breaking our contact. “I hadn’t seen her for over a year before that last trip. Maybe if I’d been a better granddaughter and hadn’t missed my yearly visit, I’d have noticed something was off before it was too late.”
“You were busy, babe. She knew that. Hell, she was so proud.”
I nod, the words ‘ you were busy’ sending my brain off in another tangent.
“I should have seen it coming, Paige.” I look away, into the living room.
“Did you get your MD when I wasn’t looking? How could you know?”
“You know I can be a little self-absorbed when I’m in writing mode. God, I should have made more time for her.”
Paige frowns. “Yes, you’re more than a little self-absorbed at times, but you couldn’t have known about Gran. She seemed fine. As spry as ever.”
Paige was one of the few people, besides Gran, in my life that didn’t walk on eggshells around me. No one upset me for fear I’d find a new fill-in-the-blank — restaurant, publisher, cover artist, grocery store, dry-cleaner, doorman — pick your noun, so her words were actually a comfort.
“Why haven’t I fired you yet?”
She rolls her eyes. “Because I’m your best friend and have been since we were ten. And I’m the only one that will put up with you.” She crosses her arms, giving me a haughty look fit for… well, me.
“Besides, I’m grandfathered in.”
“Never work with family they said,” I say sighing, as if working with her was a mistake.
“Aww, you said family.”
I laugh. “Of course that’s what you’d take out of that.”
She winks, sipping her tea. “Okay tell me what’s going on besides the hot guy across the field making you crazy.”
My cheeks heat and I suddenly regret telling her about my annoying neighbor. “I never said he was hot,” I blurt. She smiles instantly and slaps her hand on the table making the cups tinkle against their saucers.
“I knew it! You wouldn’t have reacted that way if he wasn’t. You wouldn’t have even noticed I’d said hot.” She points her finger at me before jumping up, heading for the mudroom at the back.
“Paige!” I blurt, almost tripping on the table leg as I stand to follow her. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to introduce myself.” She shoots a wicked grin back at me.
“He’s the enemy, Paige, the enemy !”
“I’ll bet.” She makes an mmm sound while pressing her lips and ignoring my protests, continuing her mission to the back door.
“I will fire you!”
She pauses at that, turns to me, and her eyes widening, says, “Oh, you like him.”
I swallow. Hard. It’s too soon to like him. I don’t even know him.
“Pfft, no.”
“You do.”
“I said no. It’s just… I kinda did something awful to him and I don’t want to see him right now.”
“That’s a lie. I can always tell. You do want to see him.” She releases the back door handle, and plops onto the old milking stool by the door. “Spill.”
“Nope. No way.” I turn and head back into the kitchen, but like the little elf she could be mistaken as, she darts in after me passing my form and stopping me dead in my tracks, holding me by the arms.
“Tess! Spill.”
“I may have canceled his lumber order last week while pretending to be his wife. And today… I syphoned all the diesel out of his equipment.”
Her eyes widen further but not in shock at the awful thing I’ve done, no, they practically sparkle. “You didn’t?” Her lips curve up slightly.
Swallowing again, I nod.
“And he knows it was you?”
I shrug. Anyone else would be horrified at my behavior, but not Paige. Paige is my best friend for good reason. We are shenanigan sisters.
“I’m sure he suspects.” I point at her. “But he can’t prove it and you’re sworn to secrecy!”
She holds her hands up, palms out. “Fine, fine.”
“And I did fix the lumber issue.” I give my lip a quick nibble before explaining. “Basically, I just had it delayed a little to put him in his place.” I lift my chin. “He got his order, it just arrived at a more decent hour.”
She looks past me for a second, her own lip catching between her perfect white teeth. “But what happened?”
“Well, he stormed over here all angry-biker-like and I played innocent. And then… um…” My eyes shift down to my teacup on the table. “We kissed.”
“You what ?” Her voice comes out in a screechy-excited way before her hand goes to her mouth.
Moving around her, I pour more tea into my cup. I need more than another cup of tea for this conversation, but it’s too early to break out Gran’s whiskey. “ He kissed me actually,” I say adding milk and sugar to my cup.
“I don’t think he meant to do it. I think he was just really pissed off and thought it would piss me off. Which it kinda did…” I scrunch my face, embarrassed. “But then… Oh, god, Paige, he’s a really good kisser. He canoodled the angry grouch right out of me! So much so, I sabotaged him again… er…for revenge.” I freeze when I realize my friend isn’t responding. Instead, she’s staring past me like she’s seen a ghost or something.
“Are you listening to me?”
“He’s very handsome, Tess, actually, handsome as a descriptor is too damn stuffy for him. He’s smokin’ hot! He looks like Tank?—”
My brow knits and I cut her off. “Long, yes. How would you—?” I spin before I finish my sentence, my ankle barely protesting, and see Case coming through the thigh-high back gate. At first I only blink, attempting to see him through my best friend’s eyes, but then I notice he’s carrying some two-by-fours over his shoulder.
I yelp a moment, jumping further into the cottage, grabbing at my friend and attempting to pull her back so she won’t be visible through the windows. Of course, she doesn’t budge or remove her eyes from him.
My tiny pixie-like best friend is suddenly immovable. And then, just when I accept I’m going to need to use more force, she moves, just not in the direction I want her to. She’s—oh, damn.
Paige heads straight for the back door.
“Stop!” I whisper-yell, but she doesn’t even offer me a bit of hope by slowing. Nope, she bowls forward and sure enough… I slap a hand over my eyes.
“Well, hullo, neighbor,” she says in a flirty tone that both embarrasses and makes me a tiny bit jealous. “Awfully nice of you to drop by. What do you have there?”
My eyes fly open to peek through my fingers. Thankfully, she hasn’t opened the door but has her face practically pressed against it. And Case is nowhere to be seen.
“What the hell?—”
“Is he doing?” my friend finishes and then flashes me a smile. “He’s fixing your deck.” She assesses me for a reaction. I do not give her one, but… he’s fixing my deck?
“But he already nailed down the boards last week.”
“Well now he’s replacing them.” She looks over her shoulder at me. “Do you have any beer?”
My forehead tightens. “No, of course not! You know I don’t drink beer. And why do you want one? It’s not even 11 am.” I frown at her eye roll.
“Because he looks like a guy that drinks beer when fixing things. With his handy tool belt and bulging, glistening, tatted muscles.” She sighs, her eyes taking on a dreamy look, her smile suddenly hidden as she bites her lip hungrily. “His massive pecks working under that tawny sun-kissed skin…. I wonder what’s under that tool belt— Is that—” Her head snaps back to me. “Is that a nipple ring I see through his shirt?”
“Stop!” I hold up my hand. “I don’t want to hear another word.” I have the sudden urge to tap the keys of my Mac after her description but don’t give in to it. Instead, I turn, go to my fridge and pull out a juice box. I consider first the can of cola sitting there, but when I see the juice box, I smile.And then to add further to his humiliation, I grab two of the butterscotch candies Gran kept in an old ashtray on the table.
I push my friend out of the way and open the door. Setting the juice box and two candies down, I turn, slam the door, and walk straight into the front room, the farthest room from the back deck besides my bedroom, and I don’t dare go in there because Paige would take that like a dog with a bone and chew it to death.
I hear my best friend making oohing noises from the back room but don’t leave my spot on the couch. I don’t need to know what she’s oohing over. Nope! Nuh uh. Except, dammit, I really do.
“He can even make drinking a juice box look sexy, Tess. Holyfuckingshit! ”
Gah! No, I will not go look. But I can’t completely ignore my urges, so I stand up onto my tiptoes, swaying to find the perfect angle to catch a glimpse through the window.
And damn. He does. I mean it’s partially my fault since I chose a box with no straw attached but … man-oh-man . He’s leaning back, squeezing the box just hard enough that the juice pours into his open mouth. And his Adam’s apple… I drop down to the floor as soon as he turns my way and my ankle twinges in discomfort.
That’s where I stay until I hear the door slam shut and talking outside. I’m about to crawl through the kitchen over to the window to see what’s happening when Paige comes back in and blurts, “It’s fixed.” She sighs then, that dreamy look still all over her face. “I’ve always wanted a regular handyman, haven’t you? And he just left, not expecting even a teeny-tiny thank you.”
“No, I haven’t wanted a handyman,” I say, sounding incredibly petulant. “I have enough money to pay a different stranger each time I need handy manning anyway. Ugh, and I’m not thanking him for something I didn’t ask him to do.”
“You actually don’t have the money, and you can’t lie to me. As kids, we both used to swoon watching Charmed when Leo was playing their handyman.” She pauses her sentence when I shoot her a dark look. “But regardless, your handyman and I introduced ourselves. And he had a message for you.”
I hold my breath, trying not to seem eager or even curious. “Don’t care,” I reply breezily. Her laugh tells me she can see through my bullshit.
“He says, and I quote, ‘Tell Ms. Fancy Pants we will be discussing the neighborhood diesel thief. And by discussing, I mean her naughty ass is mine and where there’s diesel, there’s fire. ’ End quote. While he said that last bit, he pointed at your gas cans.” She bites her lips, her eyes sparkling mischief and I press mine to suppress my smirk.
“Don’t you think you should have hidden the evidence, Tess?”
I roll my eyes but don’t speak. My heart has been pounding between my thighs since the moment she relayed his message, and I still haven’t found the power of speech.
“Unless… You wanted him to know it was you.” Paige points at me, and like an evil sprite, she grins. “You wanted to piss him off again, but not for revenge. You wanted another angry kiss! Tess Harlow, you are a badass and I have never been prouder. He’s the perfect fling—no strings attached. Right next door whenever you get horny.”
“Oh stop. He’s annoying. And I can’t write with all his noise. That’s why I syphoned his diesel. It’ll give me a few extra hours of peace and quiet. And I planned on returning it, just at a more decent hour.”
Paige is pressing her lips tightly together to hold back her laughter, but I ignore her. “He legit just threatened to spank you like Tank Long did to the heroine of Harley and Hearts…” She assesses my face before hers brightens. “And you like the idea.”
I don’t reply to her accusation, I’m not sure I can, so I shrug instead, hoping the heat I feel on my face isn’t too obvious.
“Ohmigod! That’s so fucking hot. You kinky bitch! ”
“Let’s just go to lunch,” I say and grab my purse, my insides as melty as ice cream in the hot sun.
“Maybe you should change your panties first,” she says with an evil laugh.
I shoot her a deadly look even though, dammit, she’s right, I should.
Paige pesters me the entire drive to the restaurant, but I don’t give her an inch, so by the time we get our menus, she’s given up and in place of my best friend, is my agent. And Paige’s face is no longer dreamy, teasing or fun.
With her mouth is set in a stern grim line, she opens her phone to show me the not-so-friendly reminder emails from my publisher that my manuscript is long overdue. She taps her phone with her short pink nails.
“They want the final book in the contract asap, Tess, and they’re tired of the excuses. You haven’t given them anything in year. And the last two books weren’t exactly your top sellers so they’re even less patient.”
I open my mouth to reply but she shakes her head.
“I know you’re struggling since Gary, but you can’t ruin your career over him.”
My eyes narrow on hers. “Since Gran’s death. My struggles have nothing to do with him. ”
She changes her lane. “Yes, of course.”
“So, what do we do?” I ask, staring out over the pond behind the restaurant. I turn back when she doesn’t answer. Her face seems flat, pale and concerned. “Could we break the contract?”
“They want to drop you. But first they’ll sue for breach of contract, which wouldn’t have been an issue last year.” She sighs. “But this year… with every dime tied up in the divorce?” She turns her head, biting her lip. “You just can’t afford to fight them.”
I drag in a breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve been loyal for fifteen years. I was twenty—fresh out of college then. Some might say I gave them my best years.” A duck with her older babies waddles to the edge of the pond and jumps in. I watch each of her almost grown babies follow her plop after plop.
“Some might say bullshit to that. Your best is yet to come, Tess. I feel it.” She pauses. “But they’re giving you three months.”
My head snaps back to face my friend.
“Three? Jesus! After all the money I’ve made them?”
“They’re taking in a lot of newer authors, ones with big followings on their socials and substantial indie backlists. They’re getting their cake and eating it too these days. But we can’t just tell them to shove it. Right now, with Gary, you can’t afford a lawsuit or any negative publicity.”
“Publicity? Is there something going on?”
Paige’s lips press and her eyes lower. “I didn’t want to bother you but there’s social media chatter.”
I sit forward in my chair. “What kind of chatter?”
“Gary’s been talking about writing his own book… He’s even done a few interviews with book bloggers. He says he’s going to title it: Passionless: The Ugly Truth of Loving a Bestselling Romance Author. ”
I reach for my ice water and take several sips, absently fingering the leather bill wallet on the table, our bill long since paid.
“After this book, I can query other houses. But Tess, we’ll need something new to entice them. Have you considered contemporary?”
I rise. “Let’s go. I want to get back.”
She follows. I’d never have considered changing my brand after all these successful years, but maybe that’s just what I need. And ever since Tank Long and my sexy neighbor, I’d been itching to write something contemporary and spicier, but I couldn’t have something like that connected to my name.
Besides, I bet I couldn’t even pull it off. Even when Gary and I were happy… okay, satisfied… I was never satisfied - satisfied . Sex had never been that important to me. My mind pulls up the memory of Case’s kiss and what even thinking about it does to me.
“You don’t have to change, babe.You can do this your way and still be back on top,” she adds coming up behind me as we exit the cool air-conditioned restaurant.
“Yes, of course I can,” I say with my usual confidence, but I’m not so sure. In fact, I’m surer that I can’t. Because maybe there really is some magic muse that helps writers create and mine decided I was a lost cause. Maybe when Gary left, she left too. Maybe my muse found another writer, like Gary found another lover.
Paige pauses outside the restaurant when she gets an alert from her phone and I’m happy for a reprieve of best friend/agent scrutiny.
Her long sigh alerts me when she’s ended the call. And that’s when I look at her, really look at her. Her eyes are puffy and have the slight purple bruised look of a person who’s missed more than a few nights sleep. What a great friend I am. Jesus.
“Are you okay, Paige?”
She blinks at me as she shoves her phone away. “I’m...” She doesn’t finish speaking and I can see her trying to decide if she wants to tell me what’s wrong and it breaks my heart a little bit. I’ve failed as a granddaughter, wife and now I see I’ve failed my best friend too.
“Let’s spend the weekend forgetting our problems. Have a mini vacay.”
“I… I don’t have the money to go away, Tess.”
I swallow hard. “Who said anything about going away? We’re on an island with gorgeous beaches right now. But what do you mean? Are you having financial problems?”
“No, I just have to watch my spending.” Another pause and she looks away. “I haven’t been paying myself.”
“What?”
She looks at me, her face guilt ridden. Pulling open her purse she pulls out an envelope, putting it in my hand. “I didn’t want to take anything from you when your assets are all frozen. I’ve been putting everything in this envelope for you after the financial guardian pays me. I do have other clients. They’re just not as successful—although I’m working on that.”
“Why the hell would you do that?” I’m angry and appalled that my life drama is now affecting the only other person besides Gran that’s stuck by me all these years. I shove the envelope back at her.
“Help my littler clients be more successful?”
“No, you know what I mean. Not paying yourself because of my crap. It’s ridiculous. I can handle Gary screwing me over, but I damn well won’t tolerate him screwing with my best friend.”
“It’s okay, I don’t need much. And Tess, that’s just it. Why is it okay for him to mess with you, when you won’t tolerate him messing with others? Maybe you should fight just as hard for yourself. You deserve to be fought for too.”
Her words hit hard, as if I’d been sucker-punched. But I can’t deal with myself now, so I brush the thought away and focus on her.
“Is that why you’re here? Did you lose your condo?”
“God, no. I’ve been fighting with one of my clients and just needed a break.” The corner of Paige’s lip is clamped between her teeth as she looks off at the ducks. “Believe it or not, you’re not the most stubborn client I have.”
“A break?” I ask.
She sighs again. “It’s not fun being on this end of the conversation, Tess.” She gives a little dry laugh before she continues. “I totally get why you avoid me so much.”
I grab her, turn her to face me. Her eyes, so big, brown and doe-like, are shiny. “No way. I never avoid you. I avoid Paige, the agent. Hon, I love you. And I know I’m not the best friend I should be, always caught up in my head, in my own drama, but I’m here for you. And we’re going to a bank right now, and every dime in that envelope is going into your account and then you’re going home to see your parents, and tomorrow, after you sleep in and laze around all morning, because you deserve to, we’re going to go to the beach. We’re going to spend the weekend checking out hot guys, watching movies, eating too much junk food and drinking way too much wine. And you are going to spill the tea, my friend—every last drop.” I cross my arms, giving her my best ‘don’t you dare argue with me; I’m the diva’ look.
“We could also watch that hottie neighbor of yours,’ she suggests, finally smiling. “But remember I’m here to help my mom with my dad after his surgery so I’ll be going back and forth.”
“Yes, I remember. And I’m in agreement with everything but the hottie next door. He’s part of my problem. And we’re dealing with yours now.” I hook my arm into hers and drag her to the car.
“Yeah, if your problem is being a bitch in heat!” She laughs throatily, tipping her head back before stopping us, and pinning me with her firm, non-negotiable, agent look. The kind that makes her the best at what she does and keeps my Diva in check. “But here’s my counteroffer. We don’t talk about my problems, or your real problems — instead, we get up to no good with your hottie neighbor. It’s time the shenanigan sisters make a comeback.”
I laugh, surprised she remembers what Gran used to call us back when we were kids. Opening my mouth to protest her plan, I remember Case’s message earlier. I give Paige a half smile. “Let’s teach him what happens when he threatens Tess Harlow!”
Raising my hand in a high five, she slaps it. She’s right. A fling. A dirty, dirty fling is exactly what I need.
“And I already have a wicked idea.”