Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (29 page)

HE’D NEVER BEEN on this side before.

It was a startling revelation, really.

All these years, he’d always been on the receiving end of the ‘I’m so sorrys.’ Oh, he’d said his fair share before, meant every one. But not like this. Not for a pain right before his eyes that rivaled, if not eclipsed his own.

For the first time, he heard the ‘I’m sorry’ for the actual apology that it was. He wanted to apologize to her for not being able to ease her grief, apologize for not having the perfect thing to say that could make it all better again, apologize for the universe being the cruel and unyielding bastard it could be.

Brian couldn’t imagine losing two loved ones that close together. By Connor’s estimation, Tessa had been just twenty years old when her sister died, and a brand new adult with a lifetime of hurt already when her father died shortly after. Honestly, if he’d lost Beth at that age, it probably would’ve broken him. Losing a second loved one soon after would’ve been inconceivable.

“I’m so sorry, Tessa.”

“I know,” she said softly. “Me too.”

It wasn’t the standard response. Or even a logical one. In fact, it was one of those answers they’d talked about earlier, the ones that seemed to only make sense to her.

Except this one, he actually got.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a bit, finishing their meals. By the time he was done, he saw that she’d only managed to finish half her pies.
Lightweight
, he chuckled to himself. Skylar and Abby would each be on their second helpings by now if given half the chance—sugar junkies that they were.

“What are you smiling at?” she asked, eyes dancing in amusement. “No fair hoarding all the happy thoughts.”

“I was just thinking that you need to train with Skylar and Abby. A few days with the sugar twins and you’ll be able to whack those two pies and then some.”

A surprised laugh tinkled out of her then. “You think I can’t finish these pies?”

Christ, he loved that laugh.

“I could give the sugar twins a run for their money, thank you very much. Especially when it comes to pies. Seriously, give me a pie over cake and ice cream any day.” Still chuckling to herself, she leaned over and slid the plates forward. “I was just saving the rest for you to try.”

He wasn’t at all prepared for the warm thump he felt in his chest.

“You are unlike anyone I’ve ever met,” he told her, shaking his head. “You’re always surprising me.”

“Let me guess, you hate surprises,” she teased.

He picked up his fork to take a chunk of the odd, green pie and then slid the rest back to her to finish. “Not so much anymore.”

The brief moment they seemed to be having was pierced like a bubble at the sudden sound of a familiar musical medley he couldn’t quite place.

“That’s me.” Tessa grabbed her phone, with its classic Rosie the Riveter
‘We Can Do It!’
decal proudly displayed on its back. She furrowed her brow in non-recognition at the screen and then answered it anyway.

Her sad frown soon after, followed by a firm, “I’ll be right there,” instantly had him on alert.

Why he felt so overwhelmingly protective of a woman he barely knew, he had no idea. “Everything okay?”

“It will be. I’m afraid I have to cut our dinner short. Normally I wouldn’t ask, but do you think you can follow me back to my place and then drive me over to Cactus Creek?”

“Now?” Brian checked his watch. Damn, they’d been talking for hours. “Most everything there will be closing by midnight.”

“I know but a friend of mine is sloshed drunk at a bar and I need to drive him home.” She headed quickly out to the parking lot. “If you can’t, it’s no big deal. I can call a cab to meet me at my apartment.” She was already pulling out her cell phone.

And that bugged him to no end.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll take you. Skylar is at a sleepover so I’m free. Let me help.” His eyebrows shot up when he saw her climb into an old grandpa Rambler wagon…which had what sounded like a hemi engine.

Honestly, the woman just didn’t have a normal bone in her body.

“Thanks, Brian. Okay, just follow me.”

A frighteningly quick minute later—speed limits were apparently a laughable suggestion and yellow lights a dare for Tessa—she was parked and climbing into Brian’s SUV. “Do you know the way to
One-Eyed Snake
?”

“The biker bar?” Geez, never a dull moment.

“Yup. My friend Isaac does this sometimes, and since I programmed my number into his cell phone under the name ‘
If I’m Drunk Off My Ass
,’ if he’s ever too drunk to drive, I occasionally get a call from a bartender to come get him.”

“Is your friend an alcoholic?”

She shook her head sadly. “No, nothing like that. Not even close. He’s just a good guy in a world of pain.”

So a fellow kindred soul, then.

Brian took the highway exit towards Cactus Creek in silence. He was accustomed to the larger than life, bubbly Tessa. This quiet, sad side of her tugged at his heart. While also captivating him all the more.

“Isaac and I met in a grief group,” she revealed in the silence. “He lost his younger brother around when I lost Willow. We became friends right off the bat. We’re not the talk-all-the-time sort of friends like you and Abby are, but if ever I get a call from a bartender, I always go running.”

Somehow, that didn’t surprise him.

They pulled into the parking lot of the rustic bar and she hopped out before he even shifted into park. “I got it from here, Brian. Thanks for driving me. I’ll call you sometime this week so we can talk about the whole HD testing thing some more. Sorry we didn’t get to—” She frowned and backed up when he got out of the car. “What are you doing? You can head home. I promise, I’ve got it from here.”

Yeah, like he was really going to let her go into a biker bar alone. The fact that she looked so damned surprised that he wasn’t leaving her there shot another dart into his chest. “Come on, let’s go get your friend.”

With a resigned shrug, she turned and just headed on in. As if her serene smile, Smurfs t-shirt, and frayed denim skirt over backless sneakers weren’t the most misplaced thing in the joint.

She was driving him nuts.

As she headed for the bar, the tatted-up bartender looked up, one eyebrow raised. “I take it you’re ‘
If I’m Drunk Off My Ass
?’” His glance swept over her up and down, and Brian felt his hackles rise.

“Damn, you
are
as sweet and delicate as you sounded on the phone. I was hoping, but at the same time not. You do know that Isaac rode his Harley down here, right?”

“The V-Rod is his usual bar-going ride of choice,” she replied matter-of-factly, scanning the room for her friend and finding him in the corner, all but passed out.

“Alright,” said the bartender, shaking his head and handing her Isaac’s phone, but holding onto his keys. “I don’t normally allow this but I can lock his bike up in the back for you until tomorrow afternoon.”

She gave him a surprised smile—damn near lighting up the whole room in the process—and scooped Isaac’s keys from his hands. “Thank you but I got this. I can ride. Plus, that’s Isaac’s brother’s bike. I can’t let it out of my sight.”

A measured pause, and then, “Is that the brother he’s been talking about all night?”

She nodded.

The bartender gave a quiet look of sympathy. “Okay then. You sure you can handle it? That’s a lot of bike.”

Pulling out a twenty, she slid it over to him. “I’m fine. Thanks for calling me.”

“I already charged the standard tip for his drinks on his card, hon. You can put your money away.”

With a determined stare, she walked over and shoved the bill at him. “This tip is my ridiculously small way of saying thanks. Not every bartender would take the time to go through a drunk customer’s phone or find out which bike is his. You did. You didn’t just boot his ass into a cab and leave his bike out in front to get stolen. You genuinely care. I heard it when you called and I’m looking at it now. You’re a good bartender and an even better guy. Take the tip or not, your choice.” She shrugged. “I’m just going to leave it on the counter regardless.”

Then she just up and walked away.

Holy shit. The little hellion was more potent than a shot of illegal moonshine.

And evidently, he wasn’t the only one who thought so.

Reaching over to pocket the twenty, the bartender couldn’t take his eyes of Tessa. “Sugar, if your boyfriend wasn’t looking ready to tackle me, I’d be embarrassing myself in front of all my regulars right now begging you for your number.”

Tessa laughed. That damn, captivating laugh that had a half dozen heads at the bar turning her way. “That’s my friend Brian. He’s not my boyfriend.”

An amused chuckle rang out from behind the bar. “Tell
him
that.”

Smart bartender.

Tessa tossed them both a puzzled look and went over to retrieve her friend—a guy that could’ve passed as a bouncer for this very bar. Even though he was too drunk to stay on his feet without swaying, the second he saw Brian, the man’s frame went stiff, fists at the ready as he exchanged a few hushed words with Tessa. One drunkenly blinking eye on Brian the entire time.

With an arm wrapped around his waist, Tessa walked Isaac out of the bar, exchanging mollifying introductions as she walked Isaac over to the row of bikes out front. It wasn’t until Tessa mentioned him being Connor’s brother—and just a friend she’d spent the night discussing HD testing with—that Isaac eased off with the suspicious glaring.

Seemed like the need to protect her wasn’t his compulsion alone.

Brian watched then as Isaac barely managed to throw his leg over his Harley.

“Tessa, you can’t be serious. The guy is too drunk to sit up, let alone hold on to you. He’ll take you both down if you try and ride double with him.”

The corner of her lip rose up. “Are you offering to ride double with him instead?”

He scowled at her. “I’m being serious. Were you telling the bartender the truth? Do you really know how to even ride this thing?”

“Yes. I took lessons years ago.” She met his eyes quietly. “It was one of the things Willow always wanted to do.”

He cataloged that info to read more into later. “Still, this is dangerous and you know it.” He helped Isaac off the bike. “C’mon, let’s get him in the SUV. Then you drive and I’ll follow you on the bike.”

She pulled back. “Have you ridden a Harley V-Rod before?”

Admittedly, no. But he’d driven a few dirt bikes when he was younger and the occasional buddy’s motorcycle in college. “It can’t be that different a ride.”

With a fierce headshake, she clutched Isaac’s keys tighter. “Sorry, no can do. I’m not letting you near the bike.”

Annoyed, he bit back. “I’m not going to wreck it.”

Surprised, she looked up. “I was worried about you hurting yourself. But yes, now that you mention it, I can’t let anything happen to the bike either. But I will take you up on the offer of putting Isaac in the SUV. It’ll save me from using his belt to buckle his arms around me like last time.”

He came to a stuttering halt. “You did
what
last time? Tessa, the guy’s got a hundred pounds on you, easy.”

“I didn’t get on the freeway or anything,” she defended, chin raised stubbornly. “Isaac has actually never come to this bar before. Normally, he sticks to bars in Mesa or Tempe. Since I don’t exactly know where he lives, I usually just coast us over to get some coffee and food in him to sober him up enough to ride back to my place where he sleeps it off. And I go really slowly. You could call me Fred Flintstone by the way I ride.”

Such an illogically weird reference, that, for some reason made him want to protect her even more.

“Fine. You ride the bike. But just because I’m morbidly curious to see if you can actually adhere to a speed limit. You go slow though, you hear? I’m talking granny-on-a-scooter slow. I’ll be right behind you the entire time.”

Smiling, she suddenly jumped up and kissed him on the cheek. Out of the clear blue sky.

“What was that for?” he asked gruffly, wanting seconds.

“Your alpha-protectiveness. It’s growing on me. It’s sweet.”

Sweet?
That was the last description he wanted to hear coming from her mouth. He didn’t want Tessa to think of him as the sweet guy she could just give an innocent peck on the cheek to.

He wanted more.

“She meant it as a compliment,” came the slurred commentary from his backseat.

Brian glanced up in the rearview mirror.

Isaac blinked at him slowly. “Tessa. She hasn’t had sweet guys in her life. It’s actually a hell of a compliment.”

And then he passed out again.

Huh. Brian processed that drunken revelation later while half-dragging Isaac up to Tessa’s little one-bedroom apartment. After dropping him onto her living room couch, Brian motioned for Tessa to follow him back outside.

“Why don’t I stay over tonight too?” he offered. “Just give me a spare pillow; I’m fine sleeping on the ground. Better to be safe than sorry. I mean I know he’s crashed here before, but let’s face it, he’s really drunk and he’s a guy.”

She gave him a reassuring headshake. “You don’t have to worry about Isaac. He wouldn’t try anything, trust me. He’s in love with a woman from his past. Random flings are the only thing he’s open to while he waits on her. And that’s just never going to happen with us.”

No, just as he’d thought. A girl like Tessa wouldn’t be open to just a fling.

Then again, for a girl like Tessa, Brian wasn’t sure he’d be open to just a fling either.

“Isaac and I have been friends too long,” she continued. “And since I don’t have a whole lot of friends, I make it a point not to fling or get flung by one.”

Funny, Brian would think a woman as full of life as Tessa would have a ton of friends.

“I guess you could say we’re more like each other’s emergency brake if we ever find ourselves sliding backward down a hill.” She shrugged. “No muss, no fuss. We just know to screech the other to a halt since we already know exactly what the other is going through.”