Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (40 page)

IT WAS THREE WEEKS to the day. Three weeks since Tessa had seen Brian last. Three weeks since she’d overheard Liv gush to her nurse friends out in the hall about how happy she was to have met such a great guy.

Three weeks since Tessa had laughed.

Because every minute of those three weeks had hurt.

Tessa had avoided Liv like the plague since the day she’d set her up with Brian. It didn’t take a genius to see that she’d been right about that particular match. Liv was a great woman, a wonderful nurse to Jilly, and a sweet person all around. All personal feelings aside, Tessa really was genuinely happy for her. And for Brian as well. He was an incredible man, an amazing father to Skylar, and a real-deal good guy who deserved the best. In her heart of hearts, she knew she’d done right by him by cutting things off like her mom had suggested.

But
still
, it hurt.

And though she’d been able to plaster a smile on her face the few times she had run into Connor or Abby, or during her weekly skype chats with Skylar, she
knew
she wouldn’t be able to keep up the charade around Liv. Definitely not around Brian, either.

Which was why they were now going on three weeks to the day of her avoiding them both.

And still, it
hurt
.

“Hey, Tessa!”

Damn it, damn it, damn it.
Tessa dug deep and slapped the best impression of a smile she could on her face before she turned around. “Hey, Liv. How’s everything going?”

Liv lit up like a Christmas tree. “So incredible. The past few weeks have been…oh my gosh, I can’t even describe it.”

Oh good. Please don’t.

“I’ve never been so happy.”

“That’s wonderful, Liv. I’m glad it’s all working out so well.” She was going to have to wash that last one down with some tequila later. Because right now, it was burning a jagged hole through her stomach.

And her heart.

Even though looking at Liv in all her joyful radiance was a bit like jabbing hot toothpicks into her eyes, she still appreciated what was standing there before her.

Love.

Lucky girl.

Liv gripped her arm.
What do you know, hot toothpicks on skin hurt like a bitch too
. “So, Tessa, I really wanted to do something for you as a thank-you. I mean, if it weren’t for what you did, I wouldn’t have ended up meeting the man of my dreams.”

Okay, let’s not get carried away. It was only three weeks to the day.

“My mom just loves him. And I absolutely adore his mother,” continued Liv, practically floating down the hall as they talked.

Well, hell. Tessa had met Brian’s mother as well, but that was only via Connor. But then again, why
would
Brian have introduced the girl he was having a casual fling with to his mother?

He wouldn’t. Those kind of introductions were reserved for…

Tessa stopped that train of thought before it crashed into the conclusion of what his introducing Liv to his mother meant.

Geez, was she still talking?

“…And we’re going away for a week-long vacation next month.”

Ouch. Now that one really hurt. Time to jump off this sinking ship and into the more-than-welcome shark-infested waters. “Hey, Liv. Sorry, but I really have to run. We’ll catch up more some other time, okay?”

“Wait, don’t go yet. I actually wanted to know if you were free tomorrow for lunch. There’s going to be a concert at Ocotillos.”

“Oh no, that’s okay. I’m not much of a dancer.”

“Well then just go to have lunch. You have to. You did this amazing thing by setting me up with someone you thought was perfect for me. Now let me repay the favor. I have a good friend who I think is
perfect
for you.”

“What? Oh no, that’s
really
not necessary. Thank you, but I’m not into blind dates.”

“I’m not going to take no for an answer, Tessa. You’re beautiful and just plain awesome. You deserve to be with a great guy. Besides, it’s just one innocent meal.” Liv crossed her arms and gave her the ‘nurse’ look that she used on prickly patients.

Damn, the woman was persistent. “Errr…I guess if it’s just lunch.”

“Great! We’ll meet you at eleven tomorrow outside of Ocotillos.”

“Wait,
we
?”

“Yes! It’s a double date. It’ll be fun!”

“But—”

“Oh! My break is over. Gotta run. See you tomorrow!”

And then she was off.

Tessa fell back against the wall and rapped the back of her head against it, once, twice, and then a third time just because.

A double date with Mr. and Mrs. Perfect.

This was going to be an absolute nightmare.

* * * * *

“HEY, TESSA. Wow, you look great. How’ve you been?”

Awful, miserable, heartbroken.
“Good,” she lied with the smile she’d practiced in front of the mirror for the last hour. “You look good too, Brian. Where’s Liv?”

“She’s inside getting a drink. I told her I’d stay out here and wait for you.”

Always the nice guy.

“Thanks. You want to head in?”

Tessa almost fell flat on her face when she felt Brian’s hand ghost across her back.

“You okay, sweetheart?”

The endearment was a knife to her gut. “I’m fine. Where’d you say Liv was?” The faster she could get through this lunch, the better.

“The concert’s on the rooftop. We have a table on the side opposite the dance floor.”

Tessa knew the way, so she hotwheeled it over to the stairwell, leaving Brian in her dust. The last thing she needed was him coming up from behind her on the stairwell.

When she got to the roof deck, she looked around.

“Our table’s over in the corner,” came Brian’s voice, right next to her ear.

Dammit. She couldn’t stop the shiver that ran through her system.

How long would his voice have this effect on her?

Forever, probably.

Brian pointed over to a booth with a reserved tag on it, and waited for her to slide in…before he slid in right after her, effectively trapping her in there.

This day just kept getting better and better.

Tessa scanned the crowd, finally seeing Liv on the dance floor, dancing with a pretty handsome guy.

“So is that my date?” she asked, acutely aware of how close Brian was sitting to her.

“What?” he asked in her ear.

Why in the world was the music so loud in this place?

“I asked if that guy Liv’s dancing with is my date.”

“No,” his voice rumbled across her jawline. “That’s
her
date.”

Momentarily drunk off the feel of his lips skimming across her cheek, it took a while for his words to register.

Even then, it didn’t make a lick of sense.

When she just stared at him, mouth agape with confusion, he smiled. “I think this is the first time I’ve managed to give you back one of your token nonsensical answers.” He moved in closer and said, “Tell me the truth. Have you missed me as much as I’ve missed you, sweetheart?”

Suddenly, the music wasn’t too loud anymore.

His words were ringing through clear as a bell, their only competition being the pounding of her heart.

“Yes,” she replied truthfully.

His smile just about knocked her into tomorrow. “Good.” He brushed a soft kiss against her lips, before taking her hand in his. “Then come on. I’ll introduce you to Liv’s date so we can get started on ours.”

HE COULDN’T get her out of the restaurant fast enough.

After spending exactly one minute making introductory small talk with Liv and her date, Brian had ushered Tessa out of Ocotillos and into his SUV, promising simply that he’d drive her back later to get her car.

Then he took the long way around the car to get himself under control.

Three goddamn weeks since he’d seen her last. Three goddamn weeks since she
gave up
on them and tried to fix him up with someone else. Three goddamn weeks since he’d held the woman he was in love with in his arms.

And every second since had hurt like hell.

He’d been up front with Liv from the very beginning. They’d had a nice dinner, during which, he’d poured his heart out about Tessa, and Liv had poured her heart out about the man she’d been hopelessly in love with for two years.

Her problem was about a thousand times easier.

So they’d tackled hers first. One call and she’d had herself a date—seriously, why did some women have to make the whole thing so difficult? Guys were simple beings, really. Sometimes too simple. The complicated workings of the female mind involving subtle signals over the course of two years was, nine times out of ten, way too difficult for the average guy’s brain to comprehend. A call asking him out, however...ding-ding-ding. Simple.

That’s when they moved on to Brian’s problem.

A much bigger problem with a far more complex female mind, the likes of which, he’d been lost without a compass and a map trying to figure out. So he’d called a full deployment, gathering Connor, Abby, Skylar, his mother, and Liv together to devise a plan.

He’d hated their plan from the start.

They’d told him to give her time to sort through her feelings—two to three weeks minimum—and he’d nearly walked out right then, with every intention of just stomping over to Tessa’s apartment and throwing her over his shoulder to drag her back to his cave. But they’d worn him down eventually. And he ended up spending the next three weeks miserable as all hell following their plan to the tee.

At least it looked like it’d been worth it.

The way she’d responded to his lips on her skin earlier...

His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.

The woman was still an expert at zapping his control. Before getting ahead of himself and hoping for more than he ought to at this point, he launched into the explanation her bamboozled, utterly confounded, but thankfully unshuttered expression was patiently requesting.

Ten minutes later, she was still gaping at him.

“So the man that Liv is all gaga over is the guy she was with today.”

“Yup.”

“And the last three weeks—”

“Have been unmitigated torture for me,” he broke in.

Silence.

“For me, too,” she said quietly.

He frowned. “I didn’t want it to be that hard for you. Honest. That’s the part of their plan I hated the most. That was why I asked Skylar, Connor, and Abby to keep you company when they could.”

Startled, she gave him a small grin. “I
thought
they’d been a little clingy these past few weeks.” Her voice got watery. “I can’t believe you did that for me, even though you were going through the same thing.”

He shrugged. “I didn’t want you to be sad and lonely the entire time. You’ve had enough of that in your life.”

Giving him a look he couldn’t quite decipher, she said softly, “Thank you. Not just for trying to spare me that, but for giving me time as well.”

He didn’t want to push, so he didn’t ask what the results of all her time thinking and sorting had led her to. He was just happy she was there with him now.

“Listen, Brian—”

“Nope. No big relationship conversations yet. Please.” Just in case she still didn’t want to be with him, he still wanted her to have this day. “I have a surprise for you first. We’ll talk after, I promise. Deal?”

After a long beat, she nodded. “Deal.” As they got farther and farther from the city, she peered out at the passing streets. “Where exactly are we going?”

“I told you, it’s a surprise. Actually, cover your eyes. No peeking.”

A minute later, he parked and helped her out of the car door, placing his hands over her eyes so she could use hers to balance. “I know the ground is a little rough. Just keep walking straight, about ten more steps.”

She tilted her head a bit and sniffed the air. “Are we at a lumberyard?” she asked, her voice brimming with adorable anticipation. He wondered then if Tessa had ever had anyone surprise her with a gift. From all accounts of her past, it seemed unlikely.

He stopped and pulled his hands off her eyes. “Okay, you can look now.”

Blinking rapidly to take the scene before her in, she absorbed every square inch of the deserted lot behind the lumberyard her dad had worked at, which had been transformed to now include strategically placed piles of dirt and gravel, some shallow trenches, a few small boulders, and the equivalent of mini ‘speed bumps’ and winding pathways with traffic cones.

Just as he’d envisioned for weeks.

The more she took in, the more her curious smile just grew and grew.

When the star of the show—a big yellow construction vehicle—pulled up and stopped dead-center in the lot, she spun back around. “Is that Frank driving?”

“Yep. He and I spent the past few days putting together this little obstacle course for you.”

“Obstacle course?” She turned back to survey the lot with a whole new light in her eyes.

“That’s right,” called out Frank, walking over. “Your gentleman friend here tracked me down and came up with this little surprise for you. He was here at the butt-crack of dawn with me clearing this side of the lot out and getting all this set up.” He pointed back at the construction vehicle. “My only condition on you riding the backhoe loader was that I be the one to teach you how to handle it, for safety reasons.”

Her eyes widened with delight. “You mean I’m going to drive
that
through the obstacle course?”

“Not just drive it, dollface. You’re going to be operating it. Brian here’s made a few little challenges for you that you need to use the digger and the shovel for. It’ll give me a chance to see if you inherited any of your dad’s genes.” Frank winked. “Because let me tell you, your old man was great with the equipment but, god rest him, he drove like shit.”

Tessa burst out laughing and wrapped Frank up in a giant hug. “That’s why I always used to drive us everywhere.”