Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
TESSA
“Alright. Have a look. Tell me what you think.”
I stood watching as my bride, Grace, evaluated the job I’d done on her makeup for her big day. Years of experience told me that with one look she was in love with the way it turned out. A sense of pride washed over me at her satisfied expression.
Despite how relieved and happy I was that I’d done a satisfactory job, I felt conflicted. I loved what I did for a living—especially being with women on the biggest day of their lives—but I hated that today was one of the days I’d been scheduled to work.
It was Ace’s birthday, and I’d had to wake up in his bed this morning and leave him so I could work.
Granted, I’d always known our entire group would all be getting together to celebrate with Ace tonight, but at the time I’d added this wedding to my schedule, Ace was just my friend, and I’d been involved with another man.
Ace hadn’t seemed bothered by my needing to leave this morning.
Part of the reason for that might’ve been because before I’d even crawled out of bed, I showered him with birthday kisses, apologized profusely for having to leave, and promised he’d get me to himself all day tomorrow if he wanted me.
Ace confirmed that he did, in fact, want me.
In addition, I’d promised to be back at his place on time to leave for the night out with him tonight.
Given my track record for not being on time to anything, I wondered whether he believed I’d actually make it by the time I’d said.
If he had doubts about my ability to make that happen, I wasn’t upset.
I was perpetually late to everything but work.
But come hell or highwater, I was going to be on time tonight. For him.
“Oh, Tessa, this turned out even better than the trial run we did months ago,” Grace marveled. “I couldn’t be happier with what you’ve done.”
“I’m so glad. You look utterly stunning, and you don’t even have your dress on yet.” I walked up behind where she was leaning forward toward the vanity, still inspecting her look, placed my hands on her shoulders, and squeezed. “You are going to be a gorgeous bride.”
“Gracie,” a feminine voice called from behind us.
I released Grace, and both of us turned to find Bernadette, her Maid of Honor.
“Yeah?” Grace replied.
“If you’re all set here and want to stay on schedule, it’s time to get your dress on,” Bernadette said.
Excitement littered Grace’s features, her eyes shifting to mine. “Go!” I whispered. “I’ll take care of getting this all cleaned up, and I’ll see you before I leave.”
Smiling brightly, she nodded and took off to get her dress on.
As I packed up my things, I experienced something I never had before.
I thought about my own wedding. It wasn’t that I hadn’t ever considered the day I’d get married, but it was always to some nameless, faceless man.
Even when I was with Ryan and thought he was the one, I’d never envisioned him as the groom.
But at that moment, images of Ace dressed in a tux, wearing a handsome smile while that lock of hair that so often fell over his brow flashed in my mind.
The vision was so strong, I’d stopped gathering my things for a moment in order to catch my breath.
He was exquisite. It was true, I’d always thought he was a good-looking guy, but over these last few weeks, I was seeing him in a new light. It wasn’t just about his bright blue eyes and fantastic hair and breathtaking smile. It wasn’t even about his strong, beautiful body I had yet to explore.
It was about the man beneath the surface.
Because as gorgeous as he was on the outside, who he was beneath the exterior was even better.
The way he cared for me before we even became an us had melted my heart.
And now that we were together, and I was dealing with one bout of bad luck after another, his need to look after me had only intensified.
All that I felt for him, the fact that I could see him as my groom one day, left me with the confidence that I was making the right decision about tonight. Ace had shown me what I’d deserved to have all along, and I couldn’t wait to give him what should’ve been his for years.
A thrill of excitement raced along my spine as I thought about what this evening would bring for us. Even though I didn’t have the experience and would need him to take the lead, it delighted me to know I could put myself out there and trust him to make it what it was meant to be.
I finished gathering the rest of my things, found Grace, and said goodbye to her and the rest of the bridal party whose makeup I’d also done.
Then I made my way to the parking lot and toward Ace’s truck.
He’d offered to drive me this morning, but since he said he had nowhere else to go—and I’d told him I was going to be getting myself ready for tonight’s festivities with Lark—he didn’t mind that I drove myself.
I made it to Lark’s, and because the two of us could always find a way to delay doing what we should, I insisted we get to work immediately. My bride had planned a later ceremony and reception, so the timing for this was going to be tight.
I hopped in the shower the second I arrived at Lark’s, and the minute I was out, she got to work on my hair. Caring for people’s skin might’ve been her daytime gig, but Lark picked up some tricks of the trade from her mom, a professional stylist, who’d cut and styled our hair our entire lives.
After she finished, I got to work on my makeup before doing hers. Then I put on the dress I’d gotten in hopes it’d make Ace just a tad more excited than usual to see me and gave myself a once-over in the mirror.
“What do you think?” I asked Lark.
“It looks incredible. You look amazing. But you already knew that because I told you so the day you bought it.”
I smiled. “Right. Well, maybe what I’m asking is… Do you think Ace is going to like it?”
Understanding dawned on her features. “I mean, I can’t speak for him, but I’d seriously question his mental state if he didn’t want to fall to his knees at the sight of you.”
“I want him to do more than just fall to his knees,” I murmured.
She curled her lip in disgust. “I get it. And I hope for your sake that he responds however you want him to, but I can’t think about those details.”
I giggled. “Fair enough. So, I’ll meet you there?”
“Absolutely.”
We hugged one another, and I left to return to Ace’s.
Although we still had an evening out for dinner and fun with family and friends, with each hour that had passed throughout the day, I felt my nerves ratchet up.
Now that I was on my way to see Ace, my insides were trembling.
I could only imagine how I was going to feel by the time we returned to his place later tonight.
When I finally got back to Ace’s, I exited the truck and grabbed the bag I’d taken with me for work, as well as the one I’d stuffed all my clothes in from the back seat. Then I walked up to the front door and knocked.
There was almost no time for me to attempt to compose myself before Ace flung the door open. When he did, his eyes swept over me and darkened as one half of his mouth quirked into a smile. “And here I thought I’d only ever appreciate the door when I was on that side of it.”
I didn’t have the chance to respond before he reached out, hauled me to him, and drove his fingers into my hair as his mouth came crashing down on mine.
The bags I’d been carrying fell to the floor, and my arms went over his shoulders.
Like always, Ace kissed me breathless, and my knees buckled when his tongue swept into my mouth.
If it hadn’t been for the hold he had on me, I’d have collapsed.
God, I’d missed him.
It had only been hours since I’d left him this morning, but it felt like years. If we didn’t have all our family and friends waiting to celebrate with Ace tonight, I might’ve done what I could to convince him to spend the night in with me instead.
Something told me it was likely I’d be successful if I tried anyway.
But I didn’t.
Because he deserved to be able to celebrate with everyone, and once we got back here tonight, we’d have the rest of the night and all day tomorrow to get lost in one another.
Since he didn’t seem to be interested in stopping, I allowed our kiss to go on for a lot longer than normal. But eventually, knowing we had so much to look forward to, I tore my mouth from his and whispered against his lips. “Happy birthday, handsome.”
He smiled. “This is the best birthday of my whole life.”
I blinked, my head jerking back. “From a kiss?”
“Princess, do you know how good your kisses are?”
One question.
One simple question, and I could feel the blush creep over my cheeks. How was I ever going to do what was necessary to convince him to finally take things to the next level between us?
“I think they’re like that because it’s you,” I explained. “I haven’t kissed many men, but the few that I have never made it seem like my kisses were anything special.”
“Well, they were fools, then. But if you don’t mind, I’d rather not spend any portion of my birthday talking about men who’ve kissed you.”
“Sorry.” I bit my lip. “So, can I assume you like my dress?”
Ace’s hands came to my hips as he took half a step back to look at me again. “I love it, Tessa. You look beautiful.”
I smiled. “You look incredible, too.”
“Do you need anything inside?”
Shaking my head, I answered, “I’m all set if you are.”
Without delay, Ace took the keys from my hand and led us back out to the truck. The next thing I knew, we’d arrived at Lou’s.
“Who knew this was all it would take?” Harper declared.
“What?”
“All my sister needed was a boyfriend to get somewhere on time,” she clarified.
“Boyfriend?” Archer murmured, belatedly noticing my fingers linked with Ace’s.
Before I could address that, Mia noted, “Technically, there was a boyfriend before Ace, and that never helped.”
Laughing, I said, “I’ll have you know, I worked so hard to make sure I’d be here on time for Ace’s birthday.”
“Hang on. Who cares about what time Tessa showed up here?” Archer asked. “I’m still back on Tessa and Ace showing up, holding hands, and everyone seemingly aware that he’s her boyfriend.”
“I had no idea,” Taj declared.
“I didn’t, either,” Kingston added.
The men directed their attention to Phoenix as Archer asked, “Did you know?”
He nodded. “I was aware.”
Ace laughed as my eyes slid through to all the women. My girls were positively ecstatic for me. “Relax, guys. This is nothing to get worked up about. Tessa and I are together. Yes, it’s new, but don’t be weird about it.”
“New?” Taj asked.
Ace nodded. “Uh, yeah. This has only been official about a week.”
Kingston said, “Okay. Maybe when you talk in official terms. But if we count all the time that you two spent together over the years, pretending to just be friends, I’d say it feels like this has taken an eternity.”
Lark had arrived somewhere in the midst of everyone coming to grips with the news and didn’t hold back.
“At least they finally did something about it, though. I’m glad for them, and the rest of you should be, too.
” She narrowed her eyes on the men, specifically Archer, Kingston, and Phoenix. “Some of you have no room to talk.”
I bit my lip as Archer said, “But Tessa… You just… If you’re happy, I’m happy for you. And Ace, I love you like a brother. I just want to make sure you’re not rushing into something so soon after…”
“It’s fine, Archer. I appreciate your concern, but I promise, this is solid.”
He jerked his chin down. “Okay.”
“Great. Now that that’s out of the way, can we celebrate this man’s birthday?” I asked.
Several of the girls shouted birthday greetings to Ace as others made their way over to him. The guys followed suit. Then the night was all about celebrating Ace with good food, great music, and the best of friends.
We were having such a wonderful time together that the evening felt like it flew by in a flash. Before I knew it, Ace and I were saying goodbye to our friends and heading back to his place.
On the drive back, I tried distracting myself from my plans for the night by talking to him about the time we’d spent with our friends. It worked.
But when we pulled up in front of his place, the excitement and anticipation overwhelmed me.
“I’m going to go change out of this dress and get ready for bed,” I told him when we’d made it to the bedroom.
“Sure.” I could’ve sworn I saw a flicker of disappointment. Like Ace had been hoping he’d be the one to help me out of my dress. Since I had a whole plan already worked out and wanted to stick to it, I didn’t deviate from it. But I didn’t think it’d hurt to offer him a little bit of a tease.
Spinning around, I gathered my hair in one hand and looked back over my shoulder at him. “Would you mind unzipping me?”
Even as his stare grew intense and heated, Ace hesitated. But eventually, he lifted his hands to the zipper and slowly opened it, stopping just above my ass.
Still looking over my shoulder at him, I smiled and whispered, “Thank you.”
Ace didn’t stop himself from scanning my body before settling his eyes on my face. “It was all my pleasure, Tessa.”
I released my hair, letting it cascade down my back. Then, I put a little extra sway in my hips as I walked away and into the bathroom.
As quickly as I could, I freshened myself up and slipped into my nightie. No panties. No obstacles for him to overcome. When I was ready, I took one last look at myself in the mirror and took a handful of settling breaths to calm my racing heart before I reached for the knob and opened the door.
Ace took one look at me, quickly dropped his gaze, and said, “I’m just going to change.” He moved to walk past me, but I grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stop. “What’s wrong?”
“I have a birthday present for you.”
His features softened. “Tessa, you didn’t have to buy me anything. I’m honestly so happy I was able to have you with me tonight. That means more to me than anything I could unwrap.”
I smiled, loving how much he adored spending time with me. Then I countered, “Not even if it’s me you’re unwrapping?”
Ace’s body went solid. “What?”
Heart hammering, I licked my lips. “I want you to make love to me tonight, Ace.”
He seemed unable to breathe for a bit. Once he realized he needed to, and did, Ace swallowed deeply. “Tessa, I… Are you sure you’re ready for that?”
Nodding, I insisted, “I am.”
The air rushed from his lungs as he pulled me into his arms. “Christ, what did I do to deserve you?”
I didn’t get a chance to respond before he dropped his mouth to mine and kissed me.