by Katie Knight
Tess got busy unpacking, putting away her clothes first, then moved on to her toiletries before finally pulling out the few knickknacks she’d brought along from her apartment. The rest had been sent to storage since she’d decided to sublet her place to make some extra cash while she was working here. There were a few photos of her in the bookstore, smiling with some of the local authors she’d brought in for book signings. A couple pictures from her college days and her graduation, and one of her receiving her Speech Therapy certification. With a sigh, she pulled out the last photo, her heart pinching with bitter-sweetness. It was a picture of her and Theo, taken several weeks before his death. Both of them were smiling and happy, arms around each other, no indication of the tragedy to come.
She squinted at Theo’s face, searching for some clue, some sign that he’d been suffering, that he’d been desperate enough to take his own life, but there was none. Just as the brief investigation the police had done into his death had turned up nothing. It was just one of those things, they’d said. One of those heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, life-altering things. She sniffled and set the photo on the nightstand beside the bed.
“W-why are you s-sad?” a small voice asked, jarring Tess from her grief.
She turned slightly to see Nala watching her from the doorway and smiled. “Someone very close to me died and I miss him.”
“W-was he your h-husband?” the little girl asked, venturing a step farther into the room.
“No.” Tess gave a small, sad smile. “We weren’t married. Just very much in love.”
Nala nodded, staring down at her shoes. “I’m s-sorry.”
“It’s okay, sweetie. Thank you.” When the girl didn’t leave, Tess figured she might as well use this as an opportunity to get to know her better. “Want to help me put the rest of this stuff away?”
“Oh, uh, s-sure,” Nala said, wandering over to stand beside Tess near the bed. “Y-you’ve got lots of b-books.”
“Occupational hazard.” Tess snorted. “I used to own a book shop, so it helped feed my obsession. What else do you like to read, besides Harry Potter?”
“I l-like mysteries and some f-fantasy stuff.” Nala shuffled through the books in the box on the bed as she spoke, her stutter becoming less and less apparent as she relaxed. “I just finished The Golden Compass and The Hobbit, and I’m re-reading P-rincess Acad-demy now.”
“What about Little Women?” Tess asked, pulling one of her all-time favorite books out of the box. “Have you read that one yet?”
Nala shook her head. “W-what’s it about?”
“Oh, it’s a classic. It’s about four sisters growing up during the Civil War, their lives and loves and joys and sorrows, and it’s absolutely fabulous. Jo’s my favorite sister, of course, but everyone finds their own person to identify with.” She hugged the book close before holding it out to Nala. “I’ll lend you my copy, if you want. We can use it as part of your reading comprehension tutoring. Sound good?”
Nala took the book and studied the back-cover blurb. “W-what’s headstrong mean?”
Tess chuckled. “It means not afraid to speak your mind, stubborn, having your own ideas of how something should be and making sure it gets done that way.”
“K-kind of s-sounds like Jed,” Nala said, then giggled.
“Hmm.” Tess watched the little girl flipping through the pages of the book, thinking there was a lot more to this eleven-year-old than met the eye. She’d been a bit apprehensive about spending so much time with her, given how tempting she knew it would be to use her speech therapy skills to coach the girl through her stutter. Studies had shown many kids went through a phase of stuttering and outgrew it quite well, with proper techniques. Add in the trauma of her parents’ deaths and it was no wonder the poor kid had trouble expressing herself these days. Heck, Tess was an adult, and she still had an awful time processing all her emotions surrounding Theo’s suicide. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for an eleven-year-old girl to have her family ripped away so suddenly. At least Nala had Jed to take care of her now, even if he was a bit intimidating. Tess wasn’t ready to get back into speech therapy again, but she was more than ready to make a new friend in Nala, if the girl wanted. “Well, I’ve got a few more boxes down in my car. Want to help me bring them up and get them unpacked? Then I can make us some lunch. Sound good?”
“S-sounds great.” Nala grinned, the first one Tess had seen from her since she’d arrived, and it warmed her heart. The little girl held the book to her chest like it was a precious treasure. “I’ll take good c-care of this, I p-promise.”
“I know you will, sweetie. And don’t worry. Before we’re done, you’ll know and love the March sisters as much as I do.” Tess stroked one of her pigtails before pushing off the bed. “Now, c’mon. Let’s get this moving in business done. I don’t know about you, but I’m getting hungry.”
5
“Sorry. Excuse me,” Jed said as he squeezed past Tess on the stairs. She’d been living here for four days now and much as he tried to ignore the new woman residing in his home, they seemed to run into each other at least four times a day, even more today since he was working from home.
He continued on downstairs to his office and shut the door, doing his best not to think about the first time he’d run into her earlier that day—literally. Or the fact that her scent—light and floral and sparkling like sunshine—seemed stuck in his senses no matter what he did.
With a sigh, Jed sank into the chair behind his desk and tried to focus on the new security plans his client had faxed over. Landing the Nathan Steenman account had been a win of epic proportions. The guy was a billionaire tech guru who’d recently expanded his facilities due to contracts he’d signed with the Defense Department to code the software for their “smart” bombs. Guarding said software and protecting the warehouses where Steenman’s team worked was priority one for Jed these days and despite his unwanted intrigue over the new nanny he’d hired, Jed was glad to have Tess onboard to help with Nala while he settled into his new position.
Shifting in his seat, he picked up the schematics for the new warehouse Steenman had renovated for his purposes near Union Avenue in Baltimore. It was a plain enough building from the outside—red brick, built in 1945, forty-two thousand square feet spread over two floors and one city block. There was even a large spray-painted dragon on one side—graffiti art that Steenman had apparently decided to keep to up his street cred with the trendy local neighbors. Inside, however, there was nothing ordinary or rough about the place. Every inch had been renovated and polished and sterilized to house the top-of-the-line computers and equipment Steenman and his crew used to create the electronic brains behind their weapons of mass destruction.
Very expensive weapons of mass destruction—thus the very healthy paycheck coming Jed’s way for keeping it all safe. He really needed this money now, especially with Nala living under his roof, along with Tessa.
Tessa.
Despite his wishes, images of her from earlier that morning cluttered his head and ruined his concentration. The day had started out so normally too. He’d gotten up early and done his daily run. Come back and hopped in the shower for a quick scrub down then padded out into the hallway to grab his spare can of shaving cream from the hall closet. Used to being the only person up before the crack of dawn—old habit from his SEAL days—he’d opened the door clad only in a damp towel slung low around his hips and promptly collided with Tess, who it seemed was an early riser herself.
Living under the same roof, things like that were bound to happen sooner or later, so Jed shouldn’t have been that surprised or upset. What did surprise him, however, was his reaction to Tess. He’d been around the block more than a time or two and considered himself a pretty worldly guy when it came to sexual attraction, but the sparks of awareness that had sizzled through his system following that brief contact with Tess had left him stunned—and annoyed.
The last thing he wanted right now was to get invo
lved with anyone. First off, he didn’t have the time. Not with a new job to prepare for and Nala to think about. He was her sole guardian at the moment, and if she had any hopes of being permanently adopted by a wonderful new family in the future, it was his responsibility to help her heal from the trauma of losing her parents. And yeah, he planned to let Nala go because really, no matter how much he loved her, he wasn’t fit to raise a kid. His lifestyle wasn’t conducive to child-rearing, not with the constant demands of private security, the travel involved, or the danger. Then there was the fact that he had no clue how to deal with any of this. His own childhood had been less than ideal, considering his beyond-strict upbringing and the way that his mother and father’s idea of discipline included locking ten-year-old Jed in the attic for a week with no human contact other than the delivery of his meals because he’d talked back to them. With that as the only example he had of parenting, he knew Nala deserved better than what he had to offer. He had no business raising an eleven-year-old girl on his own, plain and simple, no matter how much he cared about Nala.
In fact, his love for Nala was exactly the reason he needed to find her a new home as soon as possible. He’d still visit her, of course. He was far too loyal to the people he cared about not to. They’d still go to the movies together, hang out, eat her favorite pineapple and ham pizza at the place on the corner. She’d just go home to a different place at the end of the night, a place that was safe and secure where she’d be raised by parents filled with all the knowledge Jed lacked about how to raise a healthy, productive, happy kid.
His chest pinched painfully at the thought of Nala leaving, and he rubbed the area over his heart.
He’d expected to feel better about the decision he’d made to put her up for adoption than he did.
The sound of feminine giggles drifted through his closed office door from the living room beyond, and his gut ached with unwanted yearning. This was ridiculous. Frustrated with himself, he exhaled slowly and forced himself to get back to studying the layout of the warehouse.
“You work through those math problems on page five while I run upstairs to get your notebook,” Tess said, her lilting voice passing his office followed by the slight pound of her footsteps on the stairs.
And damn if that wasn’t all it took to distract Jed again. Cursing under his breath, he scrubbed his hand over his face and squinted down at the blueprints in front of him, marked here and there with red x’s to show his team where to install the new security cameras on Monday when he went into the warehouse for the first time.
The images blurred into his memory of that morning in the hallway upstairs, the feel of Tess’s warm curves pressed to the front of his body, the brush of her soft cotton sleep shirt against his bare skin. Her slight gasp as he held her upper arms to keep her steady, the rise and fall of her breasts, the flush staining her cheeks. The unmistakable twitch of his traitorous cock beneath the towel, and his inability to look anywhere but at her full, parted, pink lips.
God help him.
It had been too long since he’d taken a woman to bed. That had to be it. Tess wasn’t his type at all. She was too quiet, too sweet, too innocent. He hooked up with women who knew the score, women who didn’t expect anything more than a pleasant evening between the sheets because that’s all he could give them. Tess had marriage, commitment and forever written all over her. He could practically see the hearts and rainbows bursting from her like some crazy rom-com cartoon.
He shouldn’t want her. He shouldn’t be aware of her as a woman at all.
He shouldn’t get involved with an employee, let alone Nala’s nanny.
Now, if someone would just inform his stupid libido of that, he’d be all set.
Ugh. He shook his head and sat back, praying for patience and willpower. If he were smart, he’d avoid seeing her altogether and go down to the bar around the corner to find company for the night. Except he had too much work to do here, and too much depended on him getting everything right. He needed to clear his head and get back on track again.
The sound of her returning footsteps creaked on the stairs and he sighed.
Maybe hiring Tess had been a mistake after all. It was just that when he’d walked into the kitchen and saw her connecting with poor Nala in a way he hadn’t been able to—in a way he’d feared might never happen again after her parents’ death—he’d been eager to keep that going. But he knew better than to act on an emotional response. That’s what got people into trouble. That’s what ruined relationships and reputations. That’s what got you locked in an attic for a week.
Still, Tess and Nala seemed to be getting on like a house afire, and for the first time since the funeral, Jed had heard the little girl laugh again. That alone was worth any annoyance or unwanted attraction he felt toward Tess.
Now, if he could just keep out of Tess’s way and keep his thoughts and his hands from drifting to her at every available moment, he’d be all set. It would get better once he was working at the warehouse, right? He’d be out of the house most days, giving things a chance to cool off between them so life could fall back into some sort of rhythm again.
Yeah, an easy, regular, satisfying rhythm….
Jed slammed his hand down on the desk and swiveled his chair to face the windows across the room. God, he must be hornier than he thought if every little thing had him thinking about sex.
Determined to get back on track and his mind out of the gutter, Jed gathered his papers and tucked them under his arm before digging his keys out of his desk drawer. He glanced up to see the picture of him and Nala and her parents taken on the National Mall in Washington, DC, just days before the accident. That was the reason he was doing this.
That was the reason he couldn’t afford to let things get any deeper with Tess.
Running away wasn’t his style. Just the opposite, truth be told. But he’d been a solider long enough to know that sometimes the best way to win the battle was to retreat and regroup.
After a deep breath, he headed for the rear door in his office that led into the backyard, then walked over to the gate and out into the driveway. He’d work at the bar this afternoon. It shouldn’t be that crowded on a Thursday, and it would get him away from Tess and this house and all the things that refused to leave his head and his heart in peace.
6
A week later, things had settled into a friendly, if somewhat tense civility in Jed’s household—thank goodness. He’d gotten started at the warehouse too, touring the facilities and meeting with his team, directing them to implement the systems he’d designed. Most of the people there were former-military, like him—Nathan Steenman was known for hiring veterans whenever possible. The boss seemed like a decent man. He was confident and dynamic, just as you’d expect from someone in his position, but Jed saw the sadness he carried due to the death of his son a few years earlier—he’d been a SEAL too, though Jed hadn’t really known the guy.
At home, Tess and Nala appeared to be getting along great for which Jed gave additional thanks. Nala was beginning to open up a bit and smile more often, and Jed’s heart warmed with gratitude. And if he sometimes still had a few naughty thoughts about Tess, he put it down to exhaustion or the fact they’d been around each other so much those first few days. That’s the excuse he was going with anyway.
Things were moving along well at last.
Perhaps too well.
Wednesday night, they were in the kitchen at home. Tess was finishing up a math lesson with Nala while Jed was busy making dinner—spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and a salad. It was his specialty and Nala’s favorite. He stirred the pans on the stove while Tess and Nala worked through several division problems and all seemed right with his little corner of the world for once. He’d never really considered having a family of his own, given his job and his past, but quiet nights like this were persuasive. It felt comfy. It felt cozy. It felt easy and right and good. Really, really good.
He’d just opened the box of spaghetti an
d was ready to dump the contents into a pot of boiling water when the phone rang. Turning, he set the pasta box aside and wiped his hands on a dishtowel which he then slung over his shoulder. “I’ve got it.”
Both ladies nodded and continued with their math.
Jed grabbed the cordless receiver from its charger and punched the Call button without checking the caller ID. “Hello?”
“Mr. Tremayne?” an official sounding voice said.
“Yes.” Jed’s heart went into a fleeting freefall. The last time he’d heard a tone like that had been the night they’d called to tell him about the car accident that had killed Nala’s parents. He waited until he was around the corner in deserted hallway before responding. “This is Jed Tremayne.”
“This the Baltimore Police Department, Mr. Tremayne. We had a note on the Jackson accident file to call you if we had any questions.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jed said, a knot tightening in his gut. So much for a relaxing evening at home. He moved a bit farther down the hallway to be sure he was out of earshot from the kitchen. It had just gotten to the point where he could kind of breathe again, where the sorrow over losing his friends and the stress of temporarily caring for their only child had eased to the point where he didn’t feel like a complete loser all the time. From the preliminary information the police had told him, the investigation into the accident would be cut and dried. Speed, along with driver distraction being the suspected culprits. And while he’d never known Martin, Nala’s father, to be anything but laser-focused—especially while driving—Jed had been too upset to argue with the conclusion at the time. Martin and Ayesha had been seen arguing at the restaurant they’d dined at prior to the accident, so the whole distraction thing seemed plausible.
