Rock Star Kisses (Romance on the Ranch Book 6) (10 page)

Preston was ready to call it a day. The cat and
dog debacle that afternoon had just been a prelude to the rest of the
afternoon. Three emergencies had shown up, two of which were dogs hit by cars
and the other a calf that had gotten tied up in barbed wire. The owner of the
calf had loaded the animal, barbed wire and all, into the back of his truck and
hightailed it to the office. It had taken two hours to get the poor animal
fixed up. While Toby had worked on the two dogs, Preston had doctored the calf
and suggested to the rancher that he change over to barbless wire. Of course, the
emergencies had set the appointments behind schedule and now it was an hour
past closing.

He walked to the front desk and was surprised to
see Tessa still there. "Hey, what are you doing here? You should have left
an hour ago."

"I just had some charts I wanted to catch
up on."

Preston scratched his ear. "Tessa, is something
wrong. You've seemed despondent lately. I'm not trying to pry, but I'm worried
about you."

She glanced at him and he could see she was
holding back tears. "Oh, I'm fine." She shrugged.

He lifted a finger. "Hold on just one
sec." He walked to the nearest examining room, picked up the rolling
stool, and returned to the front desk. Setting the stool in front of Tessa, he
plopped down onto it. "You're not fine. Do you want to talk about it? I
promise I can keep a secret. Does it have anything to do with Sean
leaving?"

A tear dripped down her cheek and Preston said,
"I thought so. Come on, honey, tell me what's going on."

She sniffed and swiped at the tear. "I pushed
him away. He…he wants to marry me and I pushed him away. I'm not so sure it was
the right thing to do. I feel miserable."

Preston sucked a breath. He'd always known Sean
liked Tessa, but he hadn't realized the extent of the man's feelings.

Softly, he said, "Do you want to marry
him?"

She nodded.

"Then what's stopping you?" He pulled
a tissue from the box on her desk and handed it to her.

She blotted her eyes. "I'm stopping me.
Look at me, Preston. Do I look like the kind of girl a famous rock star would
go for?"

Preston frowned. "What the hell? If he
loves you and you love him, what does it matter what either of you look like?
And to tell you the truth, I don't think Sean is
all that.
The guy rubs
me the wrong way, always has." He handed her another tissue.

She blew her nose.

Puffing a breath, he said, "Tessa, I'm
about to share something that everyone seems to know, except you."

She swiped her eyes again and waited for him to
speak.

He took a deep breath. "I've been in love
with you since I was fourteen."

Her eyes widened.

"And the reason Sean and I never got along
is because we both wanted you." He smiled slightly. "I can't tell you
how many times I wanted to kick his butt."

She said in a weak voice, "I always knew
you liked me, but I never thought it was that…serious."

"Oh, it's been serious for years. After you
married Jared, I thought my world was over, but then you came back and I tried
to get you to go out with me, but you always said no. And then Sean showed up
and you were suddenly happy. It hurt, of course, but then something happened to
rock my world."

Tessa whispered, "Freckles?"

Preston smiled. "Yes. The woman drives me
mad. She's so different from the women I'm used to. She's beyond outspoken, for
one thing." He laughed. "She's kind of like a female Toby. Just says
whatever's on her mind, regardless of the consequences. Anyway, the day the
puppy got lost and I rushed over to help find him, was the day everything in my
life changed. You could say everything fell into place. I realized just how crazy
in love I am with her. I was also able to view my feelings for you objectively.
Yes, I love you. I always will and if you had chosen me, I believe we could
have had a good marriage, stable and…boring. You and I are alike in the fact
that we're not movers and shakers, but we need to be with those who are. We
need a special someone who keeps us on our toes." He chuckled.
"Someone who brings out our wild side. And the reverse is that Sean and Freckles
need our stability. Opposites do attract and can be perfect for each other as long
as they realize they're opposites."

Tessa seemed to ponder his words and then
nodded.

"However, I have one more thing I want to
address."

"Okay, I'm ready to hear it."

"You are one of the most beautiful women I
have ever known. And I'm not just talking about a beautiful heart; I'm talking
about your whole package. You have the kind of curves that drive men crazy, and
believe me you've driven me crazy over the years. And your face is gorgeous. Do
you know how many times I imagined…"

Her eyes widened and he grinned. "Well, we
won't go there. So, if you think any of these skinny gals that follow Sean
around like puppies have anything on you, you seriously need to have your head
examined. I've watched him whenever he's around you. He has a hard time…"
He rubbed the back of his head. "We'll we won't go there either."

Tessa inhaled deeply. "Thank you,
Preston."

"Anytime, honey. Now I need to go see my
ladylove and have a heart-to-heart with her, too."

"Oh, with all the chaos this afternoon, I forgot
to tell you that she came in around noon, but she didn't stay. She said she was
just out walking Biscuit. I asked if she wanted me to page you to the front,
but she said no. I guess she realized how busy we were and didn't want to
bother you."

He nodded. "Thanks, Tessa. Now go home. If
you need some time off, we'll bring in a temp."

"You know, Preston, you've given me a lot
to think about. I'll let you know about the time off."

Preston walked Tessa to her car and then climbed
into his truck. He couldn't wait to see Freckles. He'd been thinking about asking
her to go some place special, maybe Disney World in Florida.

He pulled to the front of her duplex and bounded
up the steps. There was an envelope taped to the door and he thought maybe she
was out walking her babies and she was just letting him know.

The envelope had his name on it and he hastily
opened it. His happy attitude soon vanished.
What the hell!

Preston,

I'm really pissed at you! All this time I
thought your dream girl was just that, a dream fantasy. But today I got a rude
awakening. I came by to see you at noon, and when Tessa smiled, bam, I suddenly
realized that she's your flesh-and-blood dream girl. She's stacked and she's
got a gorgeous dimple.

How could you not clue me in? Looks like I got
bonked by another cowboy. I hate cowboys!

I figure you owe me, so I've taken Biscuit.

I hope you have a great life with Tessa. Well,
maybe I don't.

Freckles

Preston slapped the paper against his thigh. So
the little hellion thought she could have the last word. No way. He was going
to find her, tell her off, and then ask her to marry him.

On her drive home, Tessa thought long and hard
about everything Preston had said. Was she ready to go for what she wanted—who
she wanted more than anyone in the world? Was she ready to see herself in a
different light? The way Preston saw her; the way Sean saw her. She knew neither
of them were liars and if they saw her as desirable, why was her inclination to
discount their words so strong? She knew why. Partly, it was because she had
bought into society's lies of what a beautiful woman looked like, but the other
part was more difficult—Jared, her loser ex. His constant bombardment about her
weight, her hair, her makeup, had eroded whatever fragile self-worth she had
developed since the age of ten with the help of her dad and stepmother.

She punched the fob to open the garage door and
was surprised to see her dad sitting at the bottom of the stairs leading to her
apartment. Lucky lay at his feet but jumped up to rush forward and greet her.
She patted his head. Her dad stood and waited for her.

"Hi, Dad. Is everything okay?" "Yeah.
I just wanted to have a father-daughter chat. Do you have a minute?"

"You know I always have time for you,
Daddy."

He smiled and sat back on the stair, patting the
place next to him. "Have a seat, sweetie."

She set her purse down and sat beside him. Lucky
decided to run into the yard to play with Sadie.

Her father said, "Tessa, I know that you
and Sean had a physical thing going on."

Her eyes rounded and she felt herself turning
pink.

Her dad reached and patted her hand. "And
I'm actually happy that you let a man like him into your life. But the two of
you also had so much more going for you. You had a connection, the same as
Monica and I have a connection. The same as your mother and I had a
connection." He kicked the heel of his boot against the floor.
"Honey, you didn't go ballistic until that woman showed up. Sean came to
me after she left and told me that he'd been intimate with her and he regretted
it every day of his life. He also told me how much he loves you."

Tessa lifted a hand to her mouth.

Her father reached for her other hand.
"Tessa, I want you to know that your mother carried extra pounds and it
never mattered to me. I thought she was the most beautiful, sexiest woman I had
ever met. After I met her, I couldn't even look at another woman, and when she
died, I thought I was going to die, too. But I had you, our beautiful daughter,
so I knew I had to go on. And then Monica came into our lives. Monica is the
total opposite of your mother and, believe me, I was surprised by my love for
her. I guess what I'm trying to say is that love can't be tamed, it can't be
put in a box, it can't be manipulated—it just happens. And when it happens
mutually, like it did with me and your mother, and then me and Monica, you need
to grab it with both hands and hang on."

Tessa turned into her father's arms. "I
know, Daddy. Preston just had a similar talk with me and I've been trying to
decide what to do. But hearing you now, I
know
what I've got to do. I've
got to make a phone call." She jumped up and said, "It's time to do
something positive."

After the concert, Tessa rushed back to her
hotel, the same hotel Sean was staying at, although he didn't know she was
there. After Preston's talk with her and then her father's, she'd put a plan
into action. It had taken the help of her mom and dad and Sean's mom and dad to
pull her caper off, but she was determined to see it through to the end. No
matter how the night ended, it was a new beginning for her. She was letting the
old Tessa rest in peace in exchange for a woman determined to accept herself and
move forward. No more pity parties. If Sean rejected her, at least she'd know where
she stood and she wouldn't wonder "what ifs" for the rest of her
life.

She had plenty of time to get ready because
Mark, a member of the band that Sean's dad had designated the go-between, had
said Sean didn't get back to his hotel room until after midnight. Mark was
going to call as soon as he did.

Tessa showered, changed out of her Levis and
pretty blue top, and into the skirt and blouse Monica had helped her pick out.
The forest green confection matched her eyes and floated around her body—a body
she was determined to accept. She'd finally figured out that as long as she
exercised and ate right, her extra pounds didn't matter. In fact, as she
twirled and watched herself in the mirror, she decided she looked damn sexy.
The skirt reached mid-calf and the blouse dipped just low enough to give some
tantalizing views of cleavage. The bodice was reminiscent of a peasant top from
the regency period and had just enough green lace to make it elegant and not
fussy. Silently, she thanked Monica again and then slipped on some low heels.
Although tall heels would have looked nice, she didn't want to increase the
odds of tripping over her own feet in her nervousness.

Fluffing her springy curls with her fingers, she
twisted a few and pulled them to her cheeks. Her hair had just the right amount
of "muss" to make it appealing to a man. Next, she outlined her eyes
the way Monica had showed her and applied blusher and lipstick. Standing in
front of the full length mirror again, she
really
looked at herself, and
then smiled.

Anxiously, she glanced at the clock beside her
bed; almost twelve-thirty. She started to bite her fingernails, but quickly
reached for a glass of water. No way was she going to mess up her beautiful
manicure painted with tiny butterflies.

Her cell phone rang and she almost jumped out of
her skin. Inhaling a calming breath, she said, "Hello."

"Tessa, he's in his room. Knock lightly on
the door in exactly ten minutes and I'll let you in. He's going to be pissed
when he thinks I'm letting a groupie in, so I'm just warning you he might cuss
me out until he sees you. I'll walk into the sitting room first, and then you follow
a few seconds later. Oh, this is gonna be fun. I've already clued the guys in,
and believe me, they're as excited as I am to get you and Sean back together.
All he does is mope around. Are you ready?"

"Ah, I don't know if I'll ever be ready,
but let's do it."