She's Got Dibs

by AJ Nuest

  A knowing smirk quirked one side of Tiffany’s lips. “You wear your emotions on your face, Tessa. I can tell you’re stressed about something.”

  “Everything’s fine.”

  “Uh, oh.” She leaned forward on one forearm. “That’s code for ‘I’m hanging on by my fingernails,’ you know. Everything all right with Dibs?”

  “Perfectly wonderful. I’m fine, he’s fine, everything’s fine.”

  She narrowed her eyes, drumming her fingernails on her desk. She finally sat back. “I’m expecting a full report when you return from your meeting with Michael.”

  Tessa groaned and left the doorway. It was small consolation Tiff had been privy to Michael’s phone calls, knew he’d been trying to reach her. The woman was just too damn perceptive. “Remind me to never throw you a surprise party!”

  ****

  The revolving door of the Palmer House Hotel swung around at a steady pace, people coming and going about their daily chores. Tessa breathed deep and pushed through, walked the door around, and returned to the sidewalk.

  Let Michael sit there and stew. Let him wait for her to never show up, just like she had with him. She hailed a cab, and once it eased to the sidewalk, she clutched the door handle…and then hesitated.

  Michael had hounded her for this meeting, insisted on seeing her face to face. Standing him up would only delay the inevitable…or, God forbid, encourage him to show up at her office. She refocused on the steady pulse of the hotel door. Better to get it over with someplace public, someplace she could choose to leave, if need be. She waved the cab off, went back inside, and strode briskly down the corridor.

  The staircase banister glided sleek and cold beneath her trembling fingers. She entered the dimly lit restaurant and immediately zeroed in on Michael, alone in a corner booth, a place mat and a glass of ice water sitting before him. She adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder, crammed her fists into her pockets, and forced her feet to cross the room.

  He turned in her direction and quickly scooted from the seat, but she refused to get any closer than necessary, and stopped a few feet short of him. “What is it?”

  He opened a hand toward the booth. “Please, sit down.”

  She cautiously surveyed the table before studying his face. “This had better be good, Michael. And not some ridiculous ploy to see me again.”

  “Just sit down, Tessa. I promise not to waste your time.”

  His open expression conveyed sincerity, but irritation tightened her chest in its vice-like grip. How annoying to discover she could still so easily gauge his mood. She stalked to the booth and perched on the edge of the seat.

  He slid in opposite her and gulped a mouthful of water. “How are you, Tessa?”

  She glared at him.

  He dropped his gaze to the backs of his hands, resting on each side of the glass, and filled his lungs. “Almost one year ago I started my own company, Phoenix Rising Video.”

  “Good for you. Anything else?”

  A weary sigh lowered his shoulders. “We make short educational films used for employee training purposes at large corporations.”

  “Fascinating. What does that have to do with me?”

  “Brenner Financial Group Investments has just become our biggest client.”

  Her breath stopped. Only one word blurted from her closed throat. “And?”

  “And, well, two things.” He sat forward, propping his elbows on the table. “The first is to let you know my company has been hired to film certain parts of the BFG summer event.”

  The heat leached from her face. The restaurant reeled dangerously off kilter. She removed her hands from her pockets and seized the edge of the table to maintain her balance.

  “I wanted to be the one to tell you,” he said quietly. “I thought it was the least I could do after…So, I guess we’ll be working together.”

  This could not be happening! No way, no way, NO WAY could this be happening! Her fingertips whitened as she struggled to control the hysterical screaming inside her head. “No. We won’t.”

  Confusion furrowed his brow. “I’m sure you realize how important this event is to both our businesses. It would be a shame if we let our personal—”

  “You will provide TNT Entertainment a schedule of dates and times Phoenix Rising plans to be at the Park.” She stayed riveted to the table, speaking over the shrilling whine in her ears. “If I find it unavoidable for us to be there at the same time, you will have contact with Tiffany only during the event. Never with me. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes, but—”

  “Am I clear?” she asked loudly.

  He collapsed against the booth. “I hoped we could get through this and be friends.”

  She fought the urge to leap across the table and throttle his neck. “What’s number two?”

  “It’s difficult for me to tell you this.” He darted a glance at the bracelet on her wrist.

  “What’s number two, Michael, and be quick about it because being near you is making me ill.”

  “Fine,” he snapped. “But understand I’m only telling you this because I care about you, Tessa. I know you don’t believe me, but I do still care.”

  “You have ten seconds.”

  “I’ve worked for the Brenner family before, and you need to be careful.” He spoke through a tight jaw. “They’re not normal people. They don’t do things the way you and I and the rest of the world do them. They have a power that runs deep. Connections that could destroy you, ruin everything you’ve spent the last four years building. I’m afraid you’re making a big mistake getting involved with this David Brenner character, that you’re in over your head. You need to be warned, Tessa, and since I know you and do care, I thought it best to let you know.”

  He sat back, the unwavering finality of his words lingering in the air. He firmly believed everything he had said. His steady gaze alone confirmed it…but she didn’t care.

  The man had virtually destroyed the last three years of her life, used her up and tossed her aside like yesterday’s trash. And now here he sat, offering his advice, insinuating his opinions into her life. Who the hell did he think he was? Her champion? Her knight in shining armor? The unmitigated audacity, saying something was wrong with Dibs, the one person who had literally saved her from self-destructing in the wake of his aftermath.

  “How dare you,” she seethed.

  “Please, Tessa. You need to be aware of this before the relationship goes too far.”

  “How in the name of God do you expect me to believe a stinking word that comes out of your mouth? How can you sit here and presume to advise me about anything? What right justifies your badgering me to come here so you can tell me who I should or shouldn’t be involved with!”

  “I know, I have no right.” He held up both hands. “I know I don’t. It’s just…ever since I saw your picture…I’m worried about you, Tessa. I still feel…I can’t help wondering…” He sprang forward. “What if I made a mistake? What if I’d never left?”

  A crack split the air, met by immediate silence from the tables around them. She fell back in shock, the vicious red mark she’d left on his cheek contrasting sharply against his pale skin.

  Tears flooded her eyes as she worked her legs out from the booth. “Do not call me again.”

  She spun away and stormed from the restaurant.

  ****

  Tessa shoved through the revolving door, desperate to be free, wishing the cool air would just wash the whole sickening ordeal away in the breeze.

  Michael believed it was his responsibility to warn her about Dibs. A bitter laugh spilled from her lips. What a joke. What. A. Joke!

  The man was an ass. He had no clue of the amount of love she shared with Dibs, the enormous sacrifice he might face so their love could continue. Michael didn’t understand the strength of Dibs’s promises, or how he was prepared to place their love above everything else.

  She stuffed her hands in her pockets, her steps brisk down the
sidewalk. As if being near Michael wasn’t vile enough, now she would have to tolerate his presence over and over again until the whole BFG event was concluded. The weight of her past strung like a noose around her neck while planning the biggest, most important event of her career. She hated him even more for spoiling the entire thing. Just like when he left, the excitement was gone. He had taken her accomplishment and success and flushed them straight down the toilet.

  She blazed a trail through the pedestrian traffic, jostling past bodies at the crosswalk, heedless of the screeching tires and blaring horns when she stepped into the street. How on earth was she ever going to tell Dibs? She must now spend time with the one person she wanted most in the world to avoid.

  That conversation would lead in one direction. Already the outcome blinked at her like some eye-wincing neon sign. Dibs would insist she quit. Or, worse yet, ask his father to find someone else to host the event. The entire misunderstanding would create a huge amount of friction, only serving to validate every single warning his mother had given him. He wouldn’t see the incredible opportunity this was for her business. Bless his heart, his only concern would be for her personally. Not TNT, or the work invested, or Tiffany...

  She stumbled to a stop. Tiffany…she was the answer. If Tiffany agreed to run some interference, maybe, just maybe, the event might still work.

  Quitting was out of the question, especially because that would mean Michael had won. Once again he would have cheated her out of something important, something that could change her circumstances for the better. She couldn’t allow that to happen. She wouldn’t allow it, yet again.

  She stepped off the sidewalk and tossed her hand in the air. As a cab slid in front of her, she made her decision. Continue with business as usual, and move forward with the same plan. Do the BFG event, and keep her mouth shut about this whole Michael business with Dibs. That was the only way the event would work, while at the same time she protected their future.

  By the time she entered the office, most of the details were concreted in her mind. She stormed directly into Tiffany’s office and threw her purse onto a chair. “You’re never going to believe this!”

  “Oh boy.” Tiffany swiveled away from her computer, tucking her hair behind her ear.

  Pacing a worn tread in front of the desk, Tessa spilled all the gruesome details. Tiffany’s shoulders drooped farther and farther, until Tessa had finally talked it all out.

  “This is a really bad idea.” Tiffany shook her head. “And I realize this might send you completely over the edge, but I think this is one of those rare circumstances that just might be outside your control.”

  Unacceptable. Tessa clenched her hands on her hips. “Well, what do you propose? We can’t quit! We can’t break the contract!”

  “I know, I know.” Tiffany stared at her desk, palms together, bumping her fingertips against her lips. She looked up from under her brows. “You’re positive Dibs would ask you to quit?”

  Tessa crossed her arms. “What would you do if Kevin got a job with his ex-fiancée who, by the way, ripped his heart out and ruined his life for three years?”

  “Freak out and tell him he couldn’t do it.”

  “Exactly.” She pressed a hand to her forehead and resumed pacing.

  Tiffany chewed her thumbnail. “Shit.”

  “Exactly.”

  She finally sighed and sat back from her desk. “Okay, we’ll do exactly what you suggested. I’ll run interference so you and Michael have as little contact as humanly possible.”

  “And we need Phoenix Rising’s schedule.” Tessa wagged a finger. “So we know when he’ll be at the facility. Maybe it won’t be as bad as we expect. Maybe we’ll be on opposite ends of the building.”

  “We don’t have that kind of luck.”

  “And we need to keep Dibs and Michael separated.” She slashed a hand through the air. “I do not want them accidentally running into each other at this thing. Michael should be behind a camera the entire time. And I can invent something to keep Dibs occupied.”

  Tiffany groaned, dropping her face into her hands. “This is never gonna work.”

  “Stop it!” Tessa halted her steps. “It has to work. We can do this. I can do this. It’s that important!”

  Tiffany peeked out from between her fingers. “Why do I suddenly feel like Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz?”

  Tessa’s jaw dropped. Tiffany clapped a hand over her mouth. A moment passed before they burst into frantic laughter.

  ****

  The afternoon passed much the same as the morning—Tessa stuck behind her desk, candidate after candidate droning on about their past work experience. She should have cancelled. No distraction was big enough to stop that scene in the restaurant from playing on a constant loop in her head, the slap to Michael’s cheek, the bright shock in his eyes.

  Her emotions jumped around on the Richter scale. At one point depression set in, the sadness and frustration building to a deafening roar until bloated tears swarmed her eyes. Then in the next, anger ruled the day, a jagged pickaxe digging in her chest. How was she ever going to pull this off? The next three months were bound to be a living, breathing nightmare…all while Michael lurked in the shadows, waiting for the other shoe to drop so he could gloat in her face.

  Fear clawed to the surface of her consciousness. Dibs was already suspicious. What if he took one glance at her and immediately guessed something catastrophic had happened? And what about during the event? She’d be walking on eggshells the entire time, fretting he was none the wiser about what she was hiding. And dear God, what if the Brenners discovered her connection to Michael?

  By the end of the day, she was a strung-out mess, and couldn’t seem to get a handle on any one thing. She longed for Dibs to arrive, needed the comfort of his arms, the soothing murmur of his voice in her ear. And at the same time, terror sizzled along her nerve endings each time she envisioned meeting his discerning gaze.

  But there was no stopping the clock, and when the doorbell rang at five forty-five and she lifted her chin, a sob lodged in her chest, the weight of her decisions almost too much to bear.

  Love shone like a ray of light on his face.

  She braced herself and stood, praying the entire mess wouldn’t tumble out all over the paperwork on her desk. But when he opened his arms, she simply couldn’t help it. She rounded her desk and threw herself into his embrace.

  “Hey.” He cradled her head against his shoulder. “What’s the matter?”

  “I’ve had a horrible day.” She clung to him, stealing a moment to bring her emotions under control.

  “Are you all right?”

  “I’m much better now that you’re here.” She buried her face in the gentle slope of his neck. “Will you do something for me? Take me home and help me forget this entire day ever existed.”

  “I can most certainly do that.” He patted her bottom. “Come on, let’s go. And leave your briefcase here.”

  The short ride to his house was filled with an unsettling tension, but Dibs remained silent, and after they arrived, he removed her coat from her shoulders and led her upstairs to the master bath.

  “Why don’t you get in for a long soak and I’ll bring you a glass of wine.” He twisted the knobs on the whirlpool bath, tested the water temperature with his hand.

  “God, I love you.”

  He ran a hand down her arm and exited, leaving her alone with her reflection in the mirror. The strain of the day was obvious in the sunken shadows under her eyes, the defeated slash of her lips. She dropped her clothes and stepped into the swirling water.

  A moment later a fingertip grazed her arm. Dibs stood over her, two glasses of wine in hand. He balanced one on the side of the tub and leaned against the counter across from her, easing a hand into his pocket. “So, why don’t you start by telling me about this lunch meeting you had today?”

  Tessa froze, a gasp seized in her throat. How in the hell had he found out? She searched his face for an expla
nation, but the unreadable mask staring back at her revealed nothing. No hurt, no anger…not even mistrust.

  She quietly cleared her throat. “What do you mean?”

  Cold steel hardened his gaze, and with the next stuttering heartbeat, grim reality sharpened every facet of the room down to one abhorrent truth. She had just made her first mistake.

  He studied her for a long moment before lifting his wine for a deep drink. His focus remained on the glass as he lowered it from his lips. “Your luncheon interview, Tessa. You told me you had plans today, remember?”

  She shook her head, recalling her excuses from that morning. “Oh, yeah. It was fine.” The hot water reddened her toes when she flexed them under the streaming faucet.

  “Oh…my…God.” His voice was quiet, but a dark storm brewed just underneath.

  “What?” she whispered.

  He swept a hand across his forehead, placed his glass on the counter, and crossed his arms. “I’m going to ask you this question once. And I expect the truth in return.”

  She shrank back against the tub. Oh God, what had she done?

  “Are you seeing someone else?”

  A torrent of emotions flooded her chest. Relief he hadn’t discovered the truth. Sadness at his belief that she could ever betray him. Anger that he didn’t trust her, and finally love over the immeasurable pain in his eyes, how even the mention of her infidelity tore his heart out.

  Their relationship hung in the balance, so she carefully considered her next words before she spoke. “You are the love of my life, David Brenner. And the answer to your question is a very definite and emphatic no…never. How could I be so stupid as to screw up the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me? For your information, I happen to be head over heels in love with you.”

  The hard edge in his eyes diminished, but the tension in his jaw remained, as if he harbored grave doubts about her words.

  She sprang forward and grasped the edge of the tub. “Dibs, you can’t seriously be considering the idea that I’m cheating on you.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “I can’t? Stranger things have happened, Tessa.” He shoved away from the counter and left the bathroom.