5. Greer #2
“It has a great security system. That’s what made me look twice at it,” she said, disappearing around the corner.
His heart sank at the notion that her stalker ex affected every decision she made nowadays.
It made sense that it did, but he hated what she was going through.
Tessa was a great person. She didn’t deserve it.
She deserved the best.
“Greer, come look!” she said delightfully, walking through the kitchen and into the main part of the house. The living room was no less put together, filled with oversized couches and chairs, a massive flat screen TV, and, of all things, a pool table.
Clearly, this place was designed as a getaway.
“Do you know how to play?” she asked, approaching the table and dragging her fingers along the felted surface.
“I’ve been known to,” he said, keeping the fact that he was an ace at pool under his hat for now.
“Can you teach me?”
Greer bit back a groan, the vision of Tessa in front of him as he taught her how to hold a cue filling his mind. “Absolutely.”
“Yay!” she said gleefully, spinning on her heel and facing the backside of the lake house with its massive floor-to-ceiling windows.
Greer was sure that in the morning, this was going to be a spectacular view, but for now, he was pretty certain that with the lights on, they were practical bugs in a jar.
Approaching her from behind, he set his hands on her hips and brought her close.
“Whaddya say we shut some of these lights off?” he proposed, looking around for switches. “I bet the folks on the other side of the lake could see in right now.”
“Oh, sure,” she said, obviously having not thought of that. But that’s why he was here. To protect her from everything he could.
“You get the lights. I’ll go grab our stuff,” he said, his lips right by her ear.
He dropped a quick kiss on her shoulder, the straps of her dress providing ample skin for his greedy lips.
He could tell he’d surprised her by her sudden intake of air, but he didn’t let himself contemplate it too deeply, letting go of her as quick as he came.
As he made his way back out to the car, he knew he couldn’t let this all go to his head.
Andrea had told him, straight away, that his role was to be a fake boyfriend.
A friend in real life, and someone to support Tessa in her obvious time of need.
And he’d agreed to it, all before he’d even met her, thinking he was up for lending a helping hand.
He hadn’t realized what an amazing woman she was. Delightful. Full of life. Incredibly intelligent. Tessa Montgomery was the whole package.
And Greer was finding it impossible not to fall for her.
It took him a couple of trips, but he managed to empty the trunk in record time, despite her wanting to come and help. When he’d arrived inside with the last of it, she’d already moved her bags into a room and emptied the coolers into the refrigerator.
“Are you hungry?” she asked.
“Always,” he said, chuckling as he set the last of the stuff down.
Reaching for the refrigerator door, Tessa rifled quickly before producing a lidded glass bowl. “I have dinner if you want. Or we could try to order out?”
On cue, his stomach rumbled. “Now sounds good. I’m not sure how many places are open up here at this hour.” The drive through the sleepy little town was dark, indicating they barely had a population, much less restaurants that delivered.
“There’s actually seven restaurants, but you’re right. They all shut down between eight and nine during the week. Plattsburgh has more options, though, if you wanted to drive.”
“No, I’m done with driving for now,” he said, chuckling.
She smiled, reaching for an identical bowl and setting it on the counter, rifling in the drawer for some forks. “Did you want to sit down at the table?”
Greer went to nod, looking in the direction of the table. But as his eyes were drawn to the beautiful, moonlit lake outside, he suddenly had another idea. “Let’s eat out there.”
“What?” she asked, whirling around and looking out the same dark windows. “Out where?”
“There,” he said, pointing with his free hand. “Looks like there’s a dock out there.”
“Well… there is,” Tessa hesitated. “I mean, the booking description said there was. The pictures are lovely during the day… I’m not sure what it’s like right now.”
“Then let’s go find out,” he said, reaching for her bowl and stacking it on top of his. “It’ll be an adventure.”
“Greer,” she said, timidly taking his hand as he walked them through the living room. “We have no idea where we’re going.”
“It can’t be too hard to find the dock.” He held tight to her as he found the door on the far side of the room to a large patio deck. It overlooked a brief patch of lawn that led down to the beach.
“Greer, this isn’t safe,” she said, her small feet tapping on the steps behind him as he strode across the lawn in the general direction of the… thingy sticking out over the water.
Even with the moon out, he could only really see shapes. He figured a rectangle was a good enough place to start.
“What’s the worst that could happen?” Man, he loved pushing her out of her comfort zone.
“Greer!” she said in a relatively loud whisper. He wasn’t sure why; the next house over was a good distance away. “What if there’s a bear out here?”
Well, crud, he hadn’t thought of that. Maybe jump in the water? Could bears swim?
He didn’t have any idea; he was born and raised in Boston.
“I’ll protect you,” he said, slowing down and turning to face her, his hand still locked in hers. He scooped his arm around her, tethering her to him as he continued to move them toward the dock.
“Greer,” she said, hesitantly as they approached what looked like large, flat rocks that staircased their way to the edge of the dock.
Though there was no question that it was a dock once they started walking on it.
The tinny, hollow sound echoed across the surface of the water as they made their way toward the end.
“I’ve got you,” he assured her, pulling her tight to him as they walked down the perfectly level, smooth surface.
They discovered as they reached the end that the dock jutted out into a T shape, holding two perfectly placed chairs.
They were low to the ground with high backs and a tilted seat, ensuring you’d want to stay put for a while.
“Oh, that’s perfect,” Tessa said, glancing at the seats. “We’re in the Adirondack mountains, so it must be mandatory to have Adirondack chairs.”
Greer laughed, not realizing that’s what they’d been looking at on the drive here. He’d never been very good at geography. “I bet the chairs are facing the direction of the sunrise. We’ll have to make sure we’re out here some morning to take it all in.”
“Are you an early riser?” she asked, standing next to him as he gently set their dinner on the dock.
“Not at all,” he said, untying his sneakers and kicking them off. “But I’m up early every day to train, so it’s kind of a habit now.”
“What are you doing?” she asked, perplexed as he lowered himself down to the edge, dangling his feet in the cool water.
He turned and held his hand out to her. “Come have a seat with me.”
He could feel his heart clench somewhat when she, unquestionably, slid her hand into his, pausing only to slip off her delicate leather sandals.
She perched easily on the edge, her feet not quite slipping into the water as deeply as his did.
Greer passed her one of the bowls, as she swapped him for a fork she’d been carrying.
“Thanks,” she said.
“It’s me who should be thanking you,” he said, wondering for a brief moment what he was digging into. He was still training, but that didn’t mean he didn’t have a cheat day every now and again. “You brought dinner, after all.”
“It’s not a big deal,” she said. “I just had someone put together some travel-friendly meals that a fighter could eat.”
Greer paused. “Wait, you put this together with my diet in mind?” He lifted the lid on his bowl and tried to identify what was in there. He could see leaves which he assumed were greens, plus chunks of—he sniffed it deeply—salmon?
“It’s a high-protein salad,” she explained, digging a forkful into her own. “It’s meant to help maintain muscle and deliver nutrients, but also is a lighter option, which I thought might be good this late at night.”
“Wow,” he said, staring into the bowl. He couldn’t believe she’d gone to such lengths. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, taking a mouthful and crunching down. “We’ve got more stuff if you’re hungry, but I thought this might be a good start.”
He had to agree, digging his own fork in and taking a mouthful. Surprised at the punch of flavor it all delivered, he was shocked that something so good was actually good for him.
They sat together, looking out over the lake and watching more stars come out as they ate their dinner.
“So what’s the plan for the morning?” he asked, sliding his bowl to the side and dropping his fork in once he was done, snapping the lid on top.
“Mmmm,” she said, mumbling as she chewed around her last mouthful. “Well, the antique shop opens up at eight, so I’d like to be there when they do. I figure if we can get a jump on all this, with any luck, we might be done by noon.”
“I like the sound of that,” Greer said, swishing his legs in the water.
He could tell it had been a hot day, given the dock was still warm to the touch.
Sitting there had heated him up, and suddenly the idea of hopping into the cool, refreshing water didn’t sound so bad.
“I’ll probably be up early anyway, but I’d love to go for a run. Keep up my cardio.”
“That sounds fun,” she said, which he thought was odd. Who thought running was fun? Certainly not him, even if he did it regularly now. “I used to run all the time.”
“Used to?” he asked. “Did you have an injury or something?”