Getting His Way: Sapphire Falls Book Seven (5 page)

“I’m sure he wasn’t
nice
and sweet to all the other girls. He even kissed
me
hotter than that a few years ago during the festival. But he was drunk then,” Tess said. “This is because he’s stone-cold sober and it’s
me
.
I’m
sweet, and Bryan’s known me all his life and can’t bring himself to kiss me the way he kisses the other girls when he’s really thinking about it.”

“But maybe—”

“But it’s a
good
thing,” Tess went on.

“It is?”

“I don’t want to date him. So it’s good that the heat isn’t there and that he can’t deliver for me on the fantasy.”

“You don’t want to date him?” Hailey asked. “Why not?”

She couldn’t tell Hailey about Denver. No one in Sapphire Falls knew about Tessa’s big plans. No one knew that she’d been saving every little bit of extra money from her three jobs for the past year so she could move to train for competitive marathons.

“Because after that kiss, I realize he would want to…make love. He’d be sweet and gentle and
nice
. And that is
not
what I want, Hailey. I really think it would be better for Bryan and I to be friends. He clearly doesn’t feel the heat.”

Hailey chewed on the inside of her cheek.

“You know I’m right,” Tess said. “I’m sweet. Everyone knows it. No guy in this town, maybe especially Bryan, thinks of me as someone he wants to nail on the hood of his car or go down on behind the Come Again or use toys with or tie up. They want to romance me and light candles and make love to me.”

Hailey nodded. “You might have a point.”

“So there you go,” Tess said, even as her heart fell with Hailey’s agreement. Tess needed to head to Denver. And not just to run. There were other hot guys in the world who
would
do the hood-of-the-car thing. Probably. She assumed.

“I’m sorry, hon,” Hailey said, pulling Tess into a brief hug. “All those years you were waiting. And then it fizzled.”

Tess shrugged. “Now I know. And I don’t have to wait any longer.”

That thought made her stomach flip. But not necessarily with excitement as she might have expected. It felt a little like nerves.

“Right,” Hailey said. Her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes, but she didn’t tell Tess she was crazy or wrong. “You can have any guy you want.”

“Thanks.”

But Tess didn’t think that was quite true. Bryan might have been warning guys off asking her out, and she might have yelled at him about that, but the truth was, all the guys in Sapphire Falls thought of Tess as the sweet-little-sister, girl-next-door type.

Probably because Tess
was
the sweet-little-sister, girl-next-door type.

To these guys.

In this town.

She hadn’t had a hot date with a guy she wanted to sleep with in—ever. She’d been
stupidly
saving herself for Bryan for years. She hated thinking about it now. It had been so naïve and
pitiful
, but at the time, it had seemed romantic. Then she’d discovered herself. That she was strong and hardworking and capable of being more than she’d ever thought. So she’d stopped letting her life revolve around him, stopped
waiting
for him, putting her life and dreams on hold. And she’d dated other guys. And not once had she dated one she wanted to have sex with. Maybe it was the idea tucked in the back of her mind that she was leaving. Maybe it was the romance novels that set the bar super high for chemistry and sex and love. Or maybe she just wasn’t programmed for hot, casual sex. But it still sucked that she hadn’t found anyone to get down and dirty with. It made her want to scream. Or run.

She really loved night runs.

Tess pushed off the car. “I should head home.”

“Good idea,” Hailey said. “Some ice cream therapy should help.”

Yeah. So would a dirt road and a Miranda Lambert playlist.

Tess drove home, making a mental checklist of things she needed to get lined up for her move.

Like contacting Jake and finding an apartment and packing. And telling her mother.

She was going. She could be someone new in Denver. She could be the woman she’d been slowly becoming over the past two and a half years. The woman ready for more.

And now that Bryan had kissed her and it hadn’t curled even one of her toes, she could leave Sapphire Falls without any what-ifs.

* * *

“Hey, TJ, it’s Bryan Murray.”

“Hey, Bryan, what’s up?”

A plan. A brilliant plan that had come to him last night as he’d watched his office door close behind Tessa.

“I was wondering about the festival committees. Are there any that need some additional help?” Bryan knew that the festival and the committees were more Hailey’s thing than TJ’s, but he couldn’t call Hailey. She’d tell Tess.

He also knew that Tessa was involved in every bit of the festival. She might not officially be Hailey’s assistant anymore, but TJ would have given Tess to Hailey for festival time simply to keep Hailey out of TJ’s hair.

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. Bryan leaned against the bar and noted that he needed to fill up the orange juice and check his stock of olives in the back room.

TJ was Ty’s older brother. Ty was Bryan’s best friend. Surely as someone who had spent lots of time in the Bennett household growing up, who had left his home and family to go to Denver with Ty, who had coached Ty to multiple triathlon wins, not the least of which was an Olympic silver medal, Bryan could ask a favor from TJ?

“Are you calling me about mayor business on my cell phone?” TJ asked a moment later.

“Uh, yeah. I guess I am.”

“Man, I’m on the farm. I’m elbow deep in shit out here. Literally. You need to call Tessa about this stuff,” TJ told him tersely.

Bryan knew that TJ was on his farm working today. That was why this was the perfect time to call him. He could get Bryan hooked up with a committee without Tessa overhearing.

He just needed some time with her. Time where she couldn’t walk away from him and time doing things that would show her he was more able than she maybe thought. He didn’t think his physical status and occasional wheelchair use was an issue for Tess. She was way too nice a person to let something like that bother her. But it wasn’t a
bad
idea to show her how physically able he still was. Just in case she was wondering. And the more time he had with her, the more time he would have to romance her and remind her that she loved him.

“Yeah, well, there’s a little issue with that,” Bryan said. “I can’t ask Tessa about this.”

Bryan winced slightly and waited. TJ was the oldest Bennett and a genuinely great guy. But he was not easygoing and fun-loving like his three younger brothers. He was the eldest son of the most beloved family in town. He was well respected because he was no-nonsense and loved Sapphire Falls as much as anyone. People loved him as mayor.

But there was a reason TJ had an assistant.

He didn’t like to deal with the little details.

He’d
rather
be elbow deep in shit on the farm. Literally.

Bryan heard TJ’s heavy sigh. “Why can’t you ask Tessa about this?”

“Because she’ll try to keep me from helping out,” Bryan said.

“And why would that be?” TJ was clearly feigning patience.

“It’s a really
long
, complicated story,” Bryan said. “I guess it started back in kindergarten.”

“Never mind. I don’t care,” TJ said, as predicted. “As far as I know,
all
of the committees need help. You want to help build the pen for the petting zoo?”

“Uh, is Tessa helping with that?”

TJ laughed. “Doubt it.”

“I was thinking something more along the lines of…” Bryan thought through the various activities and booths and stands that were a part of the festival over the years, “…maybe the craft show?”

There was another pause on TJ’s end. “Did you say craft show?”

Bryan infused his voice with enthusiasm. “Sure. Why not?”

“Because you don’t know applique from assholes,” TJ told him. “What’s going on?”

What the hell was applique? And how did TJ know what it was? “I just want to help.”

“Bullshit. What do you want?”

“I want to be a part of the festivities. I missed the festival for a few years, and now that I’m home to stay and feeling good, I want to help out.”

“Bryan, tell me what’s going on or I’m hanging up.”

Dammit. There was a downside to having spent a lot of time around TJ growing up. He knew Bryan pretty well. “Okay, fine. I want a chance to work with Tess.”

“And you don’t think Tess will want this same chance to work with you?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, considering I’m not at my desk at the moment,” TJ said drily. “All I know off the top of my head is that Tess is heading up the kids’ talent show.”

“Perfect, I’ll do that.”

TJ sighed again. “They’ll need help constructing the backdrops and things like that.”

“Perfect. I’m in.”

“And Tess is totally in charge. Don’t give her a hard time.”

“Perfect. I mean, of course not,” Bryan told him, grinning widely.

“Totally in charge,” TJ said again. “You have to do what she tells you.”

Bryan honestly had no problem with that. “As long as she can’t kick me off. You put me on this committee and you’re her boss, so she can’t get rid of me, right?” Bryan asked.

“Oh for fuck’s…” TJ muttered something. “You really have a thing for her?” he asked, louder.

“I do.”

“And you’re going to treat her well. Be romantic and sweet and shit, right?” TJ asked.

“Absolutely.”

“Then if you don’t do anything stupid, I won’t let her take you off the committee.”

Bryan breathed out in relief. “Thank you, man. I mean it.”

“Fine, fine. But, Bryan?”

“Yeah?”

“If you hurt her,
you’ll
be in deep shit. Literally. And it won’t be just up to your elbows.”

Bryan grinned in spite of the threat. He loved that TJ was taking care of Tess. Even though he didn’t need to anymore. Bryan was here now. “I got it. I’m not going to hurt her,” he promised.

Hell, he wanted to marry her and make all of her dreams come true.

“Okay, then be at the rehearsal tomorrow at three,” TJ told him.

“I’ll be there.”

* * *

Tessa read the list again. There were three people signed up to help with the talent show. Her, Mandy Jenkins, one of the moms who had three kids in the show, and a name that had been scrawled on there by someone other than Tessa between yesterday at four o’clock and now.

The name looked like it started with a B.

She knew exactly whose handwriting that was.

“TJ?” She knocked softly on his office door.

He looked up. “Hey, Tess.”

She crossed the room and set a cup of coffee next to him. “Did you add someone to the talent show committee list?”

He nodded and looked back down at the papers in front of him. “Yeah.”

“Did you
mean
to add that person to that committee?”

“Talent show. Yep.”

The fact that the big, straight-shooting, gruff-but-honest mayor wouldn’t meet her eyes made her certain whose name that was on the bottom of the list. She crossed her arms and waited.

He’d look up eventually.

TJ was almost five years older and towered over her at six feet and five inches of burly grumpiness. But he didn’t scare her.

Finally, TJ sighed. “He begged.” He glanced up.

“He begged to be on the children’s talent show committee?” Tessa asked. No way.

“He begged to work with
you
on something, and that was the first thing I could think of when he called me,” TJ said.

Tessa’s heart dropped. God, Bryan was pursuing her. What she wouldn’t have given to have that happen a few years ago. “TJ—”

“I made him swear to behave,” TJ said quickly.

Tess rolled her eyes. Behave. She actually wasn’t afraid of that. She was pretty sure Bryan was going to be a total gentleman. Great with the kids. Charming with the moms. Sweet and considerate of
her
.

He’d been charming and sweet and considerate ever since he’d moved back.

That was the whole problem.

Bryan Murray had been sweet and considerate to her all her life. She wanted him to be…inappropriate. Sexy. Naughty.

No. No, she didn’t. She was leaving. She could leave sweet considerate Bryan behind. She wasn’t so sure about sexy, naughty Bryan.

“I’m sure it will be fine,” she said, trying not to show her frustration. That would be very difficult to explain.

“Work his ass off,” TJ said. “He said he’d do anything as long as he could work with you.”

Was that right? Suddenly, Tess had an idea.

She just needed to be sure he hated every minute of his time with her. Because if she spent too much time with him, she might forget how to spell Colorado. If history was any indication of Bryan Murray’s influence on her. Which it was. There was the time she’d forgotten how to spell
contagious
in the fourth grade because he’d smiled at her. And the time she’d messed up solving for X because he’d winked at her.