by Kait Nolan
Something flickered over Tess’s features, there and gone again. If Mitch hadn’t been watching, he’d have missed it.
“We’re having another family dinner?”
Mitch wondered what the hesitation was about.
Trey smiled. “Every week.” He leaned forward to pat her knee. “I know it’s weird for us, but you’ll get used to it. Especially if you end up sticking around.” Rising, he held a hand out to Mitch. “I look forward to seeing what the two of you come up with. And if you’ve got the time, while you’re out, why don’t you give Tess the grand tour? I was going to do it myself but I got caught up in stuff. It’s probably best delivered by a local anyway.”
“Sure. I’d be happy to.” Keeping his expression casual, Mitch turned toward Tess. “Are you ready to go now, or do you need to do something first?”
She drained the last of the tea and set her mug on the coffee table. “Ready to roll.”
He tugged open the door for her. “After you, Miss Peyton.”
Chapter 5
Tess was accustomed to getting exactly what she wanted, but not without working for it. No spoiling. That had been a firm rule of her mother’s after her parents had divorced. No buying of Tess’s affections with expensive things. Dad had been on board with that, wanting to instill in her an understanding of the value of hard work. She’d taken that lesson to heart long ago, and she was grateful for their forethought in keeping her as normal and down-to-earth as it was possible to be under their circumstances.
But as Tess strode out of his office on the top floor of the Babylon, she could barely repress the burble of excitement. Her father had just given her most of her heart’s desires—both a chance to spend time with Mitch and an opportunity to get to her passion project years before she’d expected to have the chance. It was a heady combination, one that made her nervous. She knew it wasn’t a done deal. It was business, as he’d said. The numbers would have to prove that the concept was viable. If she failed to prove that now, it might be a decade before she got another shot.
So she simply wouldn’t fail.
They slipped into Mitch’s truck. As he backed out of the parking space, he tucked her hand in his and glanced over. “I can see the wheels turning in your head. When Norah gets that look, it usually means major plans are hatching.”
Tess stiffened and tugged her hand away under the guise of pulling a notebook out of her briefcase. Norah. Again. Did the woman’s reach have no bounds in this town? “I keep hearing about Norah and how amazing she is.”
“I can assure you all comparisons are meant as a sincere compliment.”
“She seems to dazzle everyone. My father isn’t easily impressed.” And yet, how often had Tess heard him talk about her in the past couple of years? The city planner had obviously proven herself, and Tess couldn’t shake a bit of jealousy over that.
“She’s a powerhouse. Brilliant, with one of the biggest hearts of anybody I’ve ever met. She’s been a part of my family for years—long before she married Cam.” There was something in his tone. A deep affection and something else that had Tess’s suspicions stirring.
“Did you ever have a thing for her?” She hoped she didn’t sound as transparent as she felt.
“Oh, I fancied I did for a while. She and my sister became friends in college, and we flirted for years, but it never came to anything. We never dated, and once she met Cam, that was that.” He glanced over, a rueful smile bowing his lips. “I may as well tell you—because in the way of small towns, you’ll hear it eventually—I’ve got a reputation as something of a flirt.”
She’d known that without anyone making an announcement. Nobody came off as that effortlessly charming without considerable practice. Still, she feigned shock and pressed a hand to her heart. “You don’t say.”
Mitch didn’t rise to the bait. “I like women. I can’t and won’t apologize for that. But I have always been a one woman at a time kind of guy, and I haven’t even looked at another woman since I first laid eyes on you.”
“Not even since you came home?” She wouldn’t have blamed him. They’d had an expiration date and no understanding beyond it.
“Especially since I came home. My friends even staged an intervention over it yesterday.”
“An intervention? Over the fact that you’re not dating?” What kind of friends were these?
“Over the fact that I don’t want to. It’s a first for me, and they don’t know about you.” He twitched those broad shoulders in a shrug.
Yeah, she hadn’t told anybody about their affair either.
“I’m just saying, I’m not seeing anybody but you, and I don’t want to, no matter what my reputation might suggest.”
Tess understood that this was important to him and wanted to put him at ease. “I appreciate your honesty, and I’m fully in agreement on monogamy. As to the rest, I can hardly judge you for whatever adult relationships you had before me. Particularly as I have benefitted from your…cultivated expertise.” Just the thought of that expertise had her flushing hot.
He laughed, that wicked smile she loved so much flashing again. “We could skip the tour, and I could reacquaint you with that expertise.”
Tess crossed her legs, squeezing them together against the sudden throbbing between her thighs. The man was sin personified. “May I remind you that we have legitimate work to do? Unlike Superwoman Norah—”
“Wonder Woman.”
“What?”
“Cam calls her Wonder Woman.”
Of course he does. “Okay, fine. Unlike Wonder Woman Norah, I still have to prove myself.”
“Why?”
Tess stared at him. “I have to work twice as hard and long to have a prayer of people believing I’m in this job because I’m actually capable rather than because of nepotism. My father can afford to give me the world. It’s important to me to earn it.”
“Admirable. And, I would imagine, not an attitude that’s the norm among those who come from that kind of wealth.”
“No. Which is why I have to work so hard in the first place. I’m not going to blow this shot.”
“All right then. Work first.” He nodded, clearly shifting mental gears. “So Heirloom Home Furnishings was the core of the furniture industry that was the original backbone of Wishful’s economy. About two and a half years ago, they picked up stakes and moved manufacturing to Mexico. The building has been vacant ever since.”
As they turned down a long drive, Tess could see the building in the distance. Mitch drove through the gates—or what was left of them. The chain link panels hung askew on their hinges, twisted as if something huge had rammed through them. He continued his history lesson on the place as they went inside, but Tess had a hard time listening. He all but vibrated with tension. Her gaze swept the cavernous space, noting the metal racks around the perimeter and some kind of heavy equipment bolted to the concrete floor. The whole place was, predictably, industrial. It wouldn’t have been her first choice, but the company knew all about retrofitting and restoration. Right this second, though, she was more interested in why he seemed ready to break things.
She remembered what he’d said in her father’s office. “What exactly happened here?”
Mitch paused in the midst of describing how the space could be subdivided, a muscle jumping in his jaw. “My sister was kidnapped and held hostage.”
“Jesus! What happened?”
“Miranda’s a doctor. She was going the extra mile to help one of her patients escape a domestic abuse situation and the husband didn’t appreciate her interference. He took her from her house and beat her.” His voice shook on the words, his hands balling to fists. “If Ethan—that’d be her boyfriend, our chief of police—hadn’t found her as fast as he did, I have no doubt the son of a bitch would have raped and killed her. As it was, Ethan got shot during the rescue, and Harley went out in a hail of bullets. Over there.”
Tess followed the jerk of his head, expecting to see bloodstains on the concrete
floor. But evidently someone had been sent in to clean the place. Still, a chill crawled up her spine imagining it. She took a step closer to Mitch, wanting to do something to soothe but not knowing what. She laid a tentative hand on his arm, finding the muscles rigid as iron. “That’s horrible. But…she’s okay now?”
“Okay is relative. The bruises have faded and her broken nose has healed. She looks fine now, and she’s back at work. But she moved in with Ethan, now that he’s out of the hospital, because she can’t go back in her house. And she won’t even drive on this side of town yet.” His nostrils flared. “I wasn’t here to protect her.” The admission was raw, exposing a vulnerability she hadn’t expected of him.
“When was this?”
“While I was in Europe.”
She blinked. “Just a few weeks ago?”
“Yeah. Nobody told me until I got home. Didn’t even mention it when I called to say I was extending my trip. So while my baby sister was in a fucking hospital bed, I was—” He cut himself off, but Tess didn’t need him to finish.
“With me.”
“Yeah.” Mitch scrubbed a hand over his face. “I should have been here. I couldn’t have done anything then, but I should have been here.”
“And you feel guilty that you weren’t.”
“Yes.”
Because Miranda was family, and for Mitch—for all of the Campbells, it seemed—family was everything. It wasn’t a sentiment she had experience with, but she could admire the hell out of him for it. Stepping into him, Tess wrapped her arms around his waist. No intent to seduce or arouse, just offering the comfort of touch. When he folded her in, tucking her close and pressing his cheek to her hair, she counted it a victory.
“I feel guilty that I don’t—can’t—regret my time with you.” He pulled back to look into her eyes. “I wouldn’t change that week, Tess. It’s just that I see the lasting impact of this shit on Miranda, and I want to do something to make it better.”
She’d known he was a generous, big-hearted man. But this was a new layer to the casual lover, one she found she liked immensely. “Then I’ll help you build something better.” She was surprised at how much she wanted to do that for him. “But first we have to figure out the details so you can start on some plans.”
“I already have some.”
“You do?” How fast did he work? Had he drawn something up since this morning?
“I’ve been miserable since I came home. Between guilt over not being around for all this shit and missing you, I haven’t slept a helluva lot. I needed something to distract me. I remembered what we talked about in Scotland, about the small business incubator thing. And even without you here, it seemed like something that would be good for the town. So I started drawing it up. I never imagined I’d get to share it with you. You wanna go see?”
He’d begun drawing up plans for her passion project without even knowing who she really was. She understood a lot of it was about his sister, but he’d been thinking of her, even while they’d been apart.
She found a smile. “I’d love to.”
When they reached the end of the factory drive, Mitch turned in the opposite direction from town.
Tess sat up straighter. “Where are we going?”
“My place.” And he was grateful for it. This wasn’t the first time he’d visited Heirloom since the attack, but he was still every bit as affected, thinking about what Miranda had been through there. He needed some time to regain his equilibrium.
“I thought we were going to your office.”
“I work from home. If I have client meetings, I go to them or we meet on-site.”
“Oh.”
At the monosyllabic answer, Mitch glanced over. “Problem?”
Her eyes met his, suddenly serious. “Definitely not.”
Awareness prickled along his skin. At his place they’d finally be alone. In private. Without likelihood of interruption or nosy neighbors within sight of the house. Thank God.
Nerves crept in the closer they got. His house would be the first thing she’d seen of his design. It was a representation of him in a way his other work really wasn’t. He’d designed and built it not for the life he had, but for the one that existed somewhere in a hazy future that included a wife and kids. That hypothetical family had never been more than a fuzzy vision, a thing he planned on because it’s what you did when you grew up. But over these past few years, as his friends married and started their families, he’d begun to feel the emptiness of the house. It was way the hell too big for just him and instead of exciting him about the possibilities of the future, the place had made him keenly aware of what he hadn’t yet achieved. Before he’d left for Europe, he’d begun to wonder if he’d ever find the right woman or if he’d end up as the favorite bachelor uncle. That had only gotten worse since he came home.
But now Tess was here, back in his world, and he was about to get a real-life glimpse of the fantasy he hadn’t quite let himself imagine.
He turned into the drive, winding through a copse of trees all leafed out for spring. When they broke free of the woods and caught sight of the house, she gasped.
Two stories of river rock and timber, it sprawled along the small ridge, the hipped roof dappled from the old growth trees he’d deliberately designed around. The mass of windows glinted in the late afternoon sun and daffodils lined the walk, offering a glorious pop of color that showcased the lines of the landscaping to best advantage. Thank you, Cam.
“It’s gorgeous! Your work?”
“Yeah.” Mitch pulled into the garage and shut the door behind them. “Come on. I’ll give you the tour.”
Tess followed him into the kitchen, gratifying him by making the same sound of pleasure over the acres of counter space and the six burner Viking range that he’d coaxed from her during far more intimate activities. And that just sent his brain down a rabbit hole, imagining what it would be like to boost her up on the island and shove up that prim little pencil skirt…
Slow your roll, Campbell.
But his gaze followed her hand as she stroked it reverently over the soapstone countertops and imagined the feel of it on his body. He shifted to adjust his suddenly tight khakis.
“Dear God, the dinner parties you could host with this kitchen! I’m lusting after this range. And the counter space.”
“Do you like to cook?”
“I don’t get to as often as I’d like, but yeah, I do. I find it relaxing.” And there was something he hadn’t known about her.
“Did your mom teach you?”
“Some. Mostly it was our chef, Jean Luc.” She paused, her cheeks flushing. “And I realize how that sounds. But both my parents had high-powered careers and…well…that’s just how it was. But since I tended to haunt the kitchen, Jean Luc told me I might as well make myself useful.”
Because he couldn’t resist, he edged into her space, loving how her eyes dilated as he caged her in against the counter. “What’s your favorite dish to prepare?”
“I make a hell of a coq au vin. And I’ve never met a pasta I didn’t love. That’s probably the Italian in me.”
“Italian?”
“My mother is from Naples. She came to the U.S. for grad school in business. It’s where she met my dad.”
“Do you speak Italian?”
Tess grinned and rattled something off. The sound of it rolled over him like a caress.
“I have no idea what you just said, but that may be one of the hottest things I’ve ever heard.”
She laughed and laid a hand against his chest. “I said yes I do and asked if you actually do this magnificent kitchen justice.”
“I’m an adequate cook. Like any proper manly man, I can grill, and do whenever it’s my turn to host poker night. But the only real dinner party this place has seen was the year I hosted Thanksgiving. And really, I just provided the space. Grammy, Mom, Aunt Anita, and Aunt Sandy took over. We men were banished to football.”
“That seems like a tragedy. This
is clearly a space designed for entertaining.” She nudged him gently back and wandered through the wide entryway into the huge den, with the dining room off to one side.
“You like entertaining?”
“Love it. My parents used to host these huge fancy parties when I was little. I was supposed to be in bed, but I always snuck out of my room to watch the guests arrive in their fancy party clothes. They looked so glamorous. Like real-life royalty.”
Mitch liked the mental image of a tiny Tess with her face peeking out through the spindles of a staircase. “Is it just the fancy kind of parties you like?”
“No. I like entertaining, period. Bringing together friends. Doesn’t have to be huge or fancy. Just good food, good company.”
He could see how it might be, with the house full of friends and family, the two of them circulating, laughing, then sharing a glance across the room that made everybody else disappear. Despite their vastly different worlds, he could see how she’d fit. In this house. In his life. He’d never brought a woman here before. Hadn’t wanted to have memories with any other woman in this house, other than the one he married. That he could see her here so clearly just confirmed for him everything he felt in Scotland. But he knew that was getting ahead of things. Again. So he said nothing and continued with the tour, delighting in seeing his house through her eyes.
When they reached his home office and the plans he’d been working up, conversation turned to business again. He started with the front elevations he’d drawn by hand. He’d wanted the discipline of the details. She listened patiently as he took her through the AutoCAD drawings, asking the occasional question, making a suggestion or two as he described all the conversions and features. By the time he finished, her dark eyes sparkled.
“This is almost exactly my vision.”
“I know.” It’s what he’d been aiming for. Bringing to life everything she’d told him.
“You were paying attention.” Her smile warmed him down to his toes. And a few other places.
