Page 11 of My Heart Still Beats
She nods and hops off her stool again.
“Leanna, could you bring her sparkling water to that table in the corner?” I gesture toward it.
“I’ve got it right here.” She slides it across the bar to Tessa. “Sorry for the wait.”
Tessa thanks her, picks up her water, and I follow her to the table. She sits down, and then she glances over her shoulder and all around the bar, becoming aware of her surroundings.
I clench my jaw. That asshole did a real number on her.
I’d like to pound him into next week, and I don’t even know the shithead. He’s out on bail right now, I’ve heard, but he was let go from his architecture firm. Out on bail, out of work, facing trial for rape… He’d better stay the hell away from her.
I’m not one to talk to women about serious stuff. Hell, I’m not one to talk to anybody about anything serious. I’m usually the one who’s the life of the party, telling the jokes, getting the crowd excited.
But for some reason, I want Tessa to talk to me.
“You doing okay?” I ask.
“I’m fine.” She takes a sip of her sparkling water and wipes her lips with her cocktail napkin.
“Are you hungry? They make a good burger here.”
She doesn’t reply, simply shakes her head. Her lips tremble a bit. They’re full and dark pink.
So sexy.
I recently took a break from my alternative sexual lifestyle and ended my long-term friends-with-benefits relationship with Apple. Some things from my past have resurfaced, and the last thing I need is to be focused on a woman.
But Tessa Logan—Tessa Logan, with her sad eyes—has my groin reacting.
Easy, I say to myself.I am thelastthing she needs right now.
It’s been a long time since I’ve had this intense of a reaction to a woman. Have I ever?
I don’t know much about her except that she’s an accountant. And, of course, what she went through with that asshole architect.
“You want to tell me anything about yourself?” I ask.
She blinks. “Why would I want to do that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe make yourself a little more comfortable.”
She draws in a breath again, holds it for a few moments. “You know all about me. You’re Braden’s brother. You know from him, and he knows from Skye. So you know what happened to me.”
I absently reach forward to lay my hand over hers, but she pulls her hand back quickly.
“I’m sorry,” I say. I’m fucking this all up.
“I don’t like to be touched.”
“I get that. I respect that. I was just trying to offer you some comfort.”
“I don’t want any comfort.”
“I won’t do it again.”
“Let’s just do what we came here to do, okay?” Then she sighs. “Look. I’m not trying to be rude. I’m not a rude person. I just… Just tell me what you have planned. I’ll work around it.”
“I need to know what you have planned as well.”
