Close to Perfect

by Tina Donahue

  This couldn’t be her dad. If it was, Josh figured he’d be dead by now. He glared back. “Not in my own home where you haven’t been invited.” He looked at Tess. “You know this guy?”

  She lifted her gaze from his chest. “Yup.”

  “Yup?” he asked when she added nothing more.

  Tess lifted one finger, asking for a moment, as she finished chewing her food. After swallowing, she moved her finger between him and the old guy. “Hank Rogan, Josh Wyatt. Josh Wyatt, Hank Rogan.”

  Josh looked at the man. Despite his fifty or so years he was a freaking tank with a barrel chest, fists as big as grapefruits, dyed black hair, a full mustache, and a broken nose.

  “Josh,” Tess said, “where are your manners?”

  He looked at her. “What?”

  She mouthed, Shake Hank’s hand.

  Josh frowned. “You expect me to shake his hand?”

  Hank leaned over to Josh and said in a normal voice, “I don’t think she wants you to give me a kiss.” He straightened and looked at her, “Right, Tessie?”

  Tessie?

  She lifted her shoulders in a who-cares? shrug. “Up to him. Josh?”

  He pressed his fingers to his forehead. “Who in the—” He abruptly paused before he swore, inhaled deeply, then dropped his hand as he turned to Hank. “Who exactly are you?”

  “Hank’s a retired cop and a friend of my dad,” Tess said.

  “A really devoted friend to both Freddy and Tessie,” the man added.

  Figures. Josh put out his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

  Hank muttered, “Uh-huh,” which sounded more like drop dead, then took Josh’s hand and really squeezed.

  Fuck that. Josh squeezed right back.

  “Ah, guys,” Tess finally said, “play nice.”

  Hank grunted out his words. “Don’t you worry. I won’t break his fingers.”

  Josh clenched his jaw as he tightened his grip.

  “I’m not worried about his fingers,” Tess said. “Josh used to work in construction. He’s very strong.”

  He looked at her. Her gaze was on that tattoo between his shoulders, before moving to his ass. Her delicate nostrils flared as she took a very deep breath.

  Josh figured if she kept doing that with Hank in the room, she’d get him killed for turning her on.

  At last, Josh loosened his grip and yanked back his hand.

  Hank’s chest continued to pump as if he was in real pain, though he kept that out of his voice. “Didn’t hurt you, did I?”

  “If we don’t count your alarm puncturing my eardrums, then no.”

  “Alarms are supposed to be loud.” Hank rolled his eyes as if Josh was a moron. “That’s what makes them alarms.”

  Tess giggled.

  Josh looked at her, then back at Hank. “Did you install a new alarm system in my house?”

  “You needed a better one,” Tess said, then continued when Josh frowned. “Hank came out here very early just to upgrade it. You should thank him.”

  “For roaming around my house and changing everything while I was out cold?”

  “Tessie put you in your place last night, huh?” Hank asked.

  Josh swung his head to him.

  “He was a perfect gentleman,” Tess said.

  Josh turned to her. His expression said it all—she sure as hell better not get used to his being a perfect gentleman, not when she looked so fucking luscious. He wasn’t that good of a man.

  She knew. Her cheeks flushed pink.

  Josh was pleased, but hardly finished. His gaze traveled her silky throat and chest to that unbelievably sexy camisole. It was a delicate green, there were tiny bows on each of the thin straps, and best of all, she wasn’t wearing a bra.

  Her nipples were as hard as his cock as they pressed against that stretchy fabric.

  Josh smiled, then frowned as Hank punched his arm.

  “Don’t hit me again,” Josh growled.

  “Then pay attention,” Hank growled.

  Josh flicked his gaze at Tess, before addressing Hank. “To what?”

  “Your new code.” He jabbed his thumb towards the keypad, then punched in the numbers five, four, three, two, one. “There. Got it?”

  “You might have to write it down.”

  “We could put it on your chest,” Tess said.

  Josh turned his head to her.

  “So you don’t forget it,” she added in a strangled voice as her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

  Josh arched one brow at her making fun of him, but couldn’t have been more pleased. That suppressed laughter was causing her breasts to quiver very nicely.

  He looked lower, and immediately approved of her silky boxers that were also a delicate green.

  Her arms and legs were bare, her skin moist with the morning heat and desire. Josh saw that in her eyes as her laughter finally wound down and her gaze became slightly glazed.

  Hank punched him in the biceps again.

  Damn. Josh glared at the man. “What?”

  Hank worked his jaw as if to say—What else? Keep your damn eyes off of her. At last, he opened his left hand and held it out to Josh, palm up.

  Josh looked down and saw a black piece of plastic, no bigger than a key chain alarm.

  “Take it,” Hank ordered.

  Not a chance. “What is it?”

  “A panic button,” Hank said, his tone dry. “It transmits a panic alarm.”

  Josh looked at him.

  Hank arched one bushy black brow. “Just in case you need my help in fighting off the babes.”

  Tess made a strangled sound from behind.

  When Josh looked, he noticed her shoulders were really shaking as she tried not to laugh.

  Hmmmm. He turned back to Hank. “Why do I need that—or you—to fight off the babes? I have Tess for that. You should have been here last night. She did a great job when Libby—”

  Tess interrupted. “What?”

  Josh noticed she wasn’t laughing now. In fact, she seemed kind of stunned. Still, he gave her an innocent look. “Huh?”

  She frowned. “You heard?”

  “Libby?” he asked, then shrugged. “Well, yeah, that’s why I have an intercom out there.”

  “Really.” Tess’s brows continued to draw together. “You didn’t answer when I announced my arrival.”

  “Why not?” Hank asked.

  Josh ignored him so that he could play with her a little more as she was always playing with him. “Tess, you know why. I was busy scr—” He was about to say screwing, but thought better of it. “I was busy,” he repeated, then pointed to the ceiling fan, the screws he had put in. “Remember?”

  Tess took a sip of coffee as her gaze remained on him.

  Josh gave her a sweet smile, then turned to Hank. “I don’t think I’ll be needing you.”

  The man crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s for Freddy to decide.”

  “Aren’t I the customer here?”

  Ignoring him, Hank spoke to Tess. “About those intruder sensors in the lawn, I—”

  “Whoa,” Josh said. “You want to put sensors in my lawn?”

  Hank took a deep breath, then leveled his gaze on Josh. “You want to be safe, right?”

  “Safe, not paranoid. Sensors in my lawn seem a little extreme.”

  “Land mines are extreme,” Hank countered. “Traps are extreme, especially those with metal teeth that clamp down as soon as you—”

  “I get the picture.”

  Hank turned to Tess. “About his car.”

  “What about it?” Josh asked.

  Hank lifted his gaze to the ceiling as if his patience was really being tried. “We’re thinking about putting a safety release inside your trunk.” He looked at Tess. “Just in case one of those babes wants to kidnap him.”

  Tess lifted her brows.

  Josh frowned.

  Hank ignored him as he talked to Tess. “You want anti-passback for any of the employees?”


  She swallowed her sip of coffee, then shook her head. “No need. I’ve already checked out the maid service, and Josh doesn’t have a cook or a chauffeur or even a pool person, just an intercom he doesn’t answer.”

  He lowered his head and shook it.

  Hank continued, “I’ve set up five zones to make this easy.”

  Easy? Josh was getting dizzy as Hank went on and on about access controls, arming levels, video motion detection, and whatnot. The guy was making it sound like he was arming Fort Knox against an inva—

  “Whoa,” Josh said, interrupting Hank and his own thoughts. “Did you just say closed-circuit TV?”

  “That’s right. You want me to explain to you what that is?”

  Josh frowned. “No. I know what it is. You’ve got cameras in here?” His gaze darted around this room looking for those cameras that were probably being monitored at her father’s place to see if big, bad Josh was doing anything naughty to little Tessie, who knew Krav Maga and just about everything else to make him non-ambulatory so that he behaved.

  “On the outside,” Hank said. “Around your pool, where you seem to be having the most trouble with paparazzi, because you don’t swim dressed.”

  So much for his plans to someday go skinny-dipping with Tess. Holding back a sigh, Josh glanced at her.

  She was still regarding him as she sipped her coffee.

  “This place is as tight as a drum,” Hank said.

  “Or a prison,” Josh said.

  “It’s whatever you make of it.” Hank clamped Josh on the shoulder so damned hard his knees briefly bent. Satisfied with that, Hank strolled outside.

  Josh kneaded his shoulder and looked at Tess.

  Her gaze, this time, was on his cock, which was suddenly blossoming beneath his pajama bottoms because of her attention.

  Okay, so he was no longer pissed and neither was she. Taking that as an invitation to move closer, Josh started across the room, then stopped, waiting to be ambushed by another alarm. When it didn’t happen, he went around the counter.

  Tess continued to sip her coffee as she watched him move to her side. When he casually walked behind her, trying to determine where in the hell she was hiding her gun in that outfit, she asked, “What are you doing?”

  His gaze jumped up.

  Her cup was on the counter, her gaze on him, those lovely eyes narrowed.

  Josh talked fast. “I should’ve acknowledged you last night, when you said you were here.”

  She didn’t comment.

  He wiggled his brows. “I like the way you handled Libby.”

  Tess glanced to the side, then looked back at him, again.

  “You really did seem like my girlfriend.”

  She arched a brow.

  One tough nut to crack. Josh held back a sigh and finally asked, “So where is it?”

  That brow lowered. “Where’s what?”

  He looked down. “Your gun.” He met her gaze. “You said you always have one on.”

  “I do.”

  Uh-huh. He leaned to the side to get a better look at her back, though not for long. Tess turned around on the stool. Once she was facing him, with her left knee so close to his groin that Josh took a cautious step back, she reached behind herself, and after a moment pulled out a gun.

  It was smaller than Josh had imagined, with a short barrel, but it was an honest-to-God real gun.

  “Satisfied?” she asked.

  Actually, Josh was getting really turned on. Damn, but he liked the fact that she was an ex-cop, even if she evaded all of his questions. After clearing his throat, he asked, “Do you ever wear it in a garter?”

  Tess stared at him, then slipped the gun back to where it had come from. “Huh?”

  “In a garter.” Josh stepped closer to explain the concept, until her gaze stopped him. He retreated a step. “On your leg, actually your thigh,” he corrected. “You know, a garter, one of those frilly things women wear sometimes.”

  Her eyes kept getting wider and wider.

  Josh wasn’t certain if she was playing dumb or not, so he continued to explain. “I’ve seen it on TV—surely you’ve seen it on TV—where those TV cops, at least the female ones, have garters that hold guns and—are you laughing at me?”

  She was actually bent over the counter, her head resting on her arm she was laughing so hard.

  “What’s going on in here? Everything all right?”

  Josh looked up to see an older woman hurrying inside. She was about the same age as Hank, built like him, too, though much shorter, with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, and really bad frown marks.

  Was that Hank’s wife?

  “Hey, you okay?” the older woman asked Tess as she rubbed her back.

  “I’m fine, Sammie.” Tess looked at Josh. “Sorry.”

  Sammie gave him a hard stare. “What’s Tessie got to be sorry for?”

  “She keeps laughing at me.”

  “Not at you,” Tess corrected, “at what you said.” Her shoulders continued to shake with laughter.

  “Oh, yeah?” Sammie said, then shot Josh a nasty frown. “Whadya say?”

  “It wasn’t anything bad,” Tess explained. “He just wanted to know if I ever carry my gun in a garter.”

  “A garter? What kind of a garter?”

  “The kind women wear,” Josh said, then moved his hands to illustrate while he explained. “With lace and maybe some sparkly stuff, and—”

  This time Sammie’s laughter interrupted him. She asked Tess, “Why would you do that?”

  Josh sighed. “It’s done on TV all the time.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Sammie continued to laugh. “Everyone on TV is gorgeous and rich and miserable. How real is that?”

  “Well, you know,” Tess said to Sammie, “I bet you could carry a derringer in a garter.”

  “Don’t you carry a thirty-eight special?”

  “Well, yeah, but I’m just saying, a derringer might work.”

  “For what? It’s only got two rounds.”

  Tess nodded. “That’s true. It wouldn’t keep all the babes away, that’s for sure.”

  Josh rolled his eyes.

  Both women ignored that.

  “No matter what you’re carrying,” Sammie said, “think of how hard it would be to pull that sucker out of a garter if you needed it. You’d have to hike your skirt halfway up to your navel.”

  “I hear you,” Tess said. “And if you’re wearing panty hose, that’d be a real killer.”

  “Run city. Might as well kiss those babies good-bye.”

  “You got that right.”

  “Now, for me,” Sammie said, “I like an ankle holster. Easy to get to, no muss, no fuss. And what about those pocket holsters. Damn, those are nice.”

  Tess quickly nodded. Her eyes sparkled as if she was getting excited. “Have you seen those new ones they’re advertising on the Net?”

  “From Keep the Peace dotcom?”

  “No, that other dotcom, the one that just came online recently. They got stuff that would curl your hair.”

  “It’s already curled. So impress me.”

  Tess readjusted her butt on the stool and talked fast. “There’s this new purse holster that’s really outta sight—nice, slick leather, smooth as a baby’s bottom, with release features that make it always ready to go. And then there’s this holster that looks like a pair of briefs, for the guys I would imagine, but it—”

  Josh loudly cleared his throat.

  Tess paused and looked at him with an expression that said she had forgotten he was here.

  So did Sammie, until she suddenly noticed his naked chest and silky pajama bottoms, before she looked at his naked chest again.

  Josh’s brows were lifted as her gaze finally met his. “Hi. I’m Josh Wyatt.”

  “Yeah, I know. Sammie Tufts here.” She put out her hand.

  Josh took it and wasn’t a bit surprised that she squeezed his fingers nearly as hard as Hank had. He, on the other hand, restrained himself
. “So, I take it you’re not Hank’s wife.”

  Sammie looked confused. “Hank who?”

  “Rogan.”

  “Him?” Sammie laughed so hard, she started to wheeze.

  “Sammie’s a retired cop,” Tess said. “She’s also a friend of my dad.”

  “A devoted friend of him and Tessie,” Sammie added, just as Hank had.

  Josh nodded, not at all surprised, then sighed as Hank came back in.

  “Hey, Rogan,” Sammie said. “You show this boy how to use the new alarm?”

  Boy?

  Hank’s gaze slid to Josh’s chest, before returning to Sammie. “Yup.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Don’t know if he got it or not.”

  “Maybe we should write it down for him.”

  “Tessie already suggested that. She thought we should use his—”

  “That’s enough,” Tess finally interrupted. “Mr. Wyatt understands what he needs to do.” She looked at him. “Don’t you, Josh?”

  He arched one brow. If she was talking about hauling her into his arms and kissing her until they both were breathless, then, yeah—he knew exactly what to do, just as soon as he got rid of these guardian angels her pop had sent over. “I’m getting a fair idea.”

  She smiled.

  “Have a seat,” Josh said to Hank and Sammie. If he couldn’t beat them, then he was just going to have to join them. “I’ll make all of you breakfast.”

  Chapter Six

  Despite Josh’s best efforts, including changing into a T-shirt and jeans before he made everyone a huge breakfast, Tess knew the meal wasn’t going to be a walk on the beach, unless that beach was littered with nuclear warheads.

  When his comments were kind, Hank twisted their meaning so that Josh looked like a fool. When he said something neutral, Hank wanted to know why Josh didn’t have an opinion.

  The poor guy couldn’t win.

  Sammie didn’t make it any better. She saw to it that the boy, as she kept referring to him, didn’t get anywhere near Tess.

  It was awful. Oddly enough though, Josh didn’t fire the lot of them right then and there. He responded good-naturedly, even laughing at himself, when Tess knew she would have come out swinging.

  Could be he was just punch-drunk from all those insults, or raring to get started on their first day as employer and bodyguard, not to mention pretend lovers. They would kiss, touch, and hug in public, then come back here to sweat out another celibate evening, until the next day when there would be more of the same.