Close to Perfect

by Tina Donahue

  Josh would have hauled her into his arms and apologized for this mess he created, if not for Peg frowning at him to get lost before Tess noticed that he was eavesdropping.

  After that, everything went downhill fast, which brought Josh to this moment with Hank. “Why are you driving me? Where’s Tess?”

  “She’s got stuff to do.”

  “Sounds important. How long will this stuff take?”

  Hank’s expression hardened. “Let’s just say there’s no need for you to wait up for her.”

  “No need at all,” Sammie said as she came into his office.

  By ten P.M. Josh started to believe that. He could only imagine what had happened at the Franklin house. It wasn’t every day that a father learned that his daughter was romantically involved with a client she had met less than forty-eight hours before and had announced that at a press conference. Of course, Tess surely told her dad that the romance was just pretend, and that she had willingly lied about it to the press.

  Josh guessed Freddy Franklin wasn’t exactly doing backflips, and had probably explained how she was hurting herself, him, and the business with press that could turn ugly, fast. Could be Tess had finally listened to cold, hard logic, which explained why she wasn’t here now; and might not be here tomorrow or any other day, for that matter.

  He had to fix this, and not only because he wanted her back in his life. He had to tell her dad that what happened today was his fault, not hers.

  After twisting the arm of a phone company exec, Josh finally got Freddy’s unlisted number, punched in the first few digits, then hung up.

  What if Tess had already gotten the situation under control and was on her way here, now? Getting her father worked up all over again, and at this late hour, wasn’t going to help matters.

  He should wait to call. If she wasn’t back here by one, he would bite the bullet, wake Freddy, and have a man-to-man.

  After all, he was still the client—unless Freddy had already torn up the contract.

  Don’t let him do that, Tess. Come back.

  By eleven she still had not.

  Josh finally went into his office to lose himself in work. An hour later, he was deep into construction costs for another project, and had just finished calling an overseas client, when the phone rang.

  Tess? “Yeah?” he said, answering the call.

  There was a momentary pause, before the caller asked, “Is Tess there?”

  Josh frowned to the question and that voice. It was male and young, possibly a teenager. “Who is this?”

  “Is Tess there?”

  Josh’s voice hardened. “Who wants to know?”

  “I’m a friend of hers.”

  Was that right? So, how come all of the other people in her life seemed to be hard-assed ex-cops? Given this kid’s lightweight voice, he wouldn’t have made it as a hall monitor. “That’s your name?”

  “She knows who I am.”

  Uh-huh. “I don’t. So, you better tell me, buddy, if you want to speak to her.”

  “So, she does live with you.”

  Josh pushed out of his chair. “Who is this?”

  The boy’s voice got smug. “Just tell Tess we’re looking forward to seeing her pictures everywhere, even on the Net. She is so hot.”

  “Who are you?”

  The kid had already hung up.

  Josh sank to his chair. He recalled that man taking pictures at today’s press conference. Surely those photos wouldn’t be considered hot. So, was the kid talking about the ones the paparazzo took while Josh had been kissing her, or had someone pirated images of Tess walking around in her PJs—or even less—from the dumb security cameras Hank had set up around the pool and possibly in the rest of this place?

  Was something like that even possible?

  Oh, hell. Josh’s heart continued to race as he pulled up Google, keyed in Tess’s name and came up with fifteen hits.

  He rubbed his temple as he quickly scanned the first, then the next, then the rest.

  He lowered his hand. This stuff was press from her police days, not any of that other junk.

  After taking a moment to calm down, Josh pulled up the first article and started reading about the act of bravery that had gotten Tess a commendation.

  It was nothing, she had said. Just a domestic dispute. He didn’t have a gun.

  According to this report, the guy did have a ten-inch butcher’s knife, which in Tess’s world was considered little, not a machete. Josh rolled his eyes, then read that the man had used his wife as a hostage to make the cops back off.

  Tess hadn’t. She talked the guy into letting her be his hostage, even offering him money and safe passage, if he’d just let his wife go.

  The man finally did, taking Tess instead, until she worked her magic.

  At least, that’s the way this article made it sound. They downplayed the fact that Tess had been banged up pretty badly as she wrestled the weapon away from that guy.

  Josh shook his head. No way was he going to let her do stuff like that again. Having her pictures in tabloids and on the Net was bad enough. If he had to cuff her to his bed to make certain she was safe and was behaving herself, then he damned well—

  The sound of a car approaching, then its headlights bleeding into this room, interrupted his thoughts.

  Josh glanced at the time—half past twelve. He turned off the computer and moved through the darkened office to the window.

  His Mercedes was pulling up. He hoped it was being driven by Tess, and not being returned by one of her dad’s very devoted friends.

  An eternity seemed to pass before Tess finally got out of the car.

  She didn’t look sad, but then, she didn’t look like she wanted any company, either; especially his.

  Before she came inside, Josh left his office and went up to his bedroom. It was only then that he realized Tess might have returned for her things.

  When he heard her come up the stairs, then go to her room and close the door, Josh knew she was staying, at least for a little while longer.

  But if things got worse than today?

  Uh-uh. He wasn’t going to allow that. No matter what it took, he was going to protect her from the paparazzi and everyone else. He was going to keep her here.

  It wasn’t a matter of choice, anymore, but something that his heart simply demanded.

  The following morning, Tess made no mention of the press conference, nor did Josh. Instead, he kept bringing up the work he had done last night while she had been out, then waited for her to say what she had done.

  Not a chance.

  Tess sensed they had come to a crossroads in all of this, and that Josh might be questioning the wisdom of their contract. Having to fight for it at her father’s weekly poker game with Sammie, Hank, and Vic, another retired cop, in attendance was not one of Tess’s better memories.

  The moment she had walked into the house, Sammie yelled, “Freddy, she’s here!”

  “Gee, thanks,” Tess muttered.

  “You got some explaining to do,” her father said as he came out of the kitchen.

  “Okay,” Tess said.

  He frowned. “That’s it? Okay?”

  “Maybe you should tell her what this is about,” Sammie said.

  “She already knows what this is about,” Freddy said, then spoke to Tess. “You actually like that guy enough to lie for him in front of all those reporters?”

  “Of course she likes him,” Sammie said, then looked surprised when Tess gave her a hard stare. “I don’t blame you,” Sammie quickly added. “He is very cute. I’d lie for him, too.”

  Tess moved past them to the kitchen.

  Her dad followed with Sammie and Vic bringing up the rear. “Are you gonna answer me or not?” her dad asked. “Do you like this man?”

  If she allowed herself, Tess knew she’d be falling in love with Josh, and not getting over it any time soon. Not that she was about to hold a press conference on that. “He’s a nice guy, Pop.” She dro
pped her purse on the counter. “It would be hard not to like him. Didn’t Sammie tell you what he did for your business? All that free publicity? All these new jobs setting up the security for his other properties? You should be thanking me. You should be thanking him.”

  “I’d be serving a life term if I thanked him the way I want. No, you listen to me,” Freddy said, interrupting her. “After knowing this guy for two minutes, you agree to move in with him? After knowing him for five minutes, you agree to start lying for him at press conferences? What’s gonna happen after you know him for ten minutes?”

  Tess figured that wasn’t something she would ever discuss with her father. “I never said I was a saint, Pop. Besides, telling those reporters that I was his girlfriend was my idea.”

  “Have you lost your mind?”

  Apparently, given the fallout here and from the press. “So now I’m a nun? I can’t date men anymore?”

  “You just met him! You don’t know him!”

  “The reporters don’t know that and they won’t know that. He was in trouble and I just had to help.”

  “She just had to help,” Freddy mumbled, grinding the heel of his hand into his forehead. “If the guy wanted you to rob a bank to help him out, would you do that, too?”

  “Better not,” Hank said, as he came in the back door, “not with me around.”

  Tess arched one brow. “Did you get Josh to his house without incident?”

  “You see any bloodstains?”

  “Hank, did you threaten him?”

  “I’m leaving that up to your dad.”

  Tess cried, “What is the matter with you people? Josh is paying big bucks for this contract.” She turned to her father. “I know I should have told you about pretending to be his girlfriend in public, but,” she interrupted him, “it just never came up until the press conference. And it’s only to help him out with those women who are after him.”

  “Guy’s got a real problem fighting off the babes,” Hank said to Vic, bringing him up to speed.

  “He is very cute,” Sammie added.

  Tess swung her head to them both, then turned back to her father. “I’m not giving up this job, Pop, just in case you were thinking of asking. I got it for the company and I’m seeing it through. That’s my right.”

  “What about mine?”

  Aw, Papa. “I swear I won’t do anything really bad.”

  “How about moderately bad?” Vic asked.

  Tess looked at the man. He was older than the rest, in his mid-sixties, wrinkled and gray, and wearing dark-rimmed glasses with trifocal lenses.

  “We don’t do anything bad, period,” Tess said. “So all of you, please back off.”

  Didn’t happen.

  In the following days, Hank and Sammie always seemed to be around, not that that was entirely necessary as Josh had already severely curtailed any contact with the public and with her.

  Tess endured his hands-off approach until she couldn’t stand it any longer. She missed the possibility that they might have to kiss or hug to keep the babes away. It was grasping at straws, sure, but it was all that she had. Their private moments were still off-limits, and would be, because of the contract. No way did Tess think she could honor it if their relationship turned sexual, then tanked.

  At last, she cornered Josh in his office. “What’s up?”

  He followed her gaze to his groin. “Huh?”

  Tess lifted her gaze. “Why do you keep canceling all of your business functions? No, don’t tell me,” she said before he could answer, “you’re afraid I’m going to hold another press conference, right?”

  A smile played at the corners of his sensuous mouth. “I don’t blame you for that.”

  “You didn’t thank me for that, either.”

  Josh came around his desk, but stopped well short of her. “Thanks. I appreciate how you came to my—”

  “Did Hank threaten you?” Tess went to him, then paused when he stepped back. “Is that why you’re not going to any of these functions and why you keep backing away from me?”

  “Hank has nothing to do with this.” Josh continued to move around his desk. “You and I just need to cool it.”

  Tess’s heart fell so fast she could barely breathe. Even so, she kept her voice casual, professional. “Sure.” She turned to leave his office.

  “Tess, wait,” Josh said, then quickly added, “I didn’t want to have to tell you about this.”

  About what? Oh, God. Was he seeing someone? Did he hook up with an old girlfriend while Tess had been defending him to her dad and his friends at that weekly poker game? Was he going to use that old girlfriend to run interference for him now, rather than—

  “Tess?”

  She warned herself not to lose her cool, something she kept forgetting around this man. Well, no more. “Then don’t tell me,” she said, turning to face him.

  Josh’s expression changed. “Don’t tell you?” He frowned. “I have to. It’s for your own good.”

  Now, she frowned. “My good? I know you’re popular, Josh, but bragging about that would be for your benefit, not—”

  “What are you talking about?”

  Tess wasn’t certain anymore. He looked as confused as she felt. “What are you?”

  “Keeping your picture and your personal life out of the tabloids and off the Net, what else?”

  Tess wasn’t about to answer that. He wanted to cool it because he wanted to protect her? Was that sweet, or what? Tess was about to smile, when she considered something else. She looked past him to the dock. “Did you see another paparazzo out—”

  “A kid called the night you were out—doing whatever it was you were doing. Anyway,” Josh said to her expression, “he asked to speak to you, and somehow in the conversation I confirmed that you’re living with me.”

  Her brows lifted. “Were you bragging?”

  “Of course I wasn’t bragging. It just came out. And he said you were hot and that your pictures are going to be all over the Net.”

  Her brows lowered. She frowned. “What pictures are those?”

  “I don’t know.” Josh shoved his fingers through his hair. “Could be ones from the conference. I just hope to God they’re not ones from the security cameras.” He dropped his hand and went to her. “There aren’t any cameras in your bathroom, are there?”

  “Are you kidding?”

  “Maybe you should wear a robe around the house.”

  “In this heat?”

  “You want your pictures on the Net?”

  “I don’t care. I was fully dressed at that conference when I was shouting at those reporters. I have nothing to be ashamed of, unless I made an obscene gesture. I didn’t, did I?”

  “I didn’t notice. What about our kiss?”

  Tess touched his arm. “Which one?”

  Josh looked down at her hand, then curled his fingers around her wrist. “The one the paparazzo took pictures of that first day you were in this office. The one that might be circulated on the Net.”

  “I was fully clothed then, too. Weren’t you?”

  Josh gently tightened his fingers around her wrist, then used that to ease her closer. “You’re playing with me, again.”

  Not as much as Tess would have liked, given that Hank and Sammie had just come into the outer office and were looking this way.

  Josh swore under his breath and released her wrist.

  “We can’t avoid them or the public forever,” Tess said. “No matter how many kids call and tell you I’m hot.”

  He looked at her. “Public appearances and displays of affection could make this worse.”

  Not to Tess’s way of thinking. “But that was the plan, to drive all those other women away.”

  “It doesn’t seem to be working. Eight called this morning.”

  “Then we’ll just have to try harder.” Tess lowered her gaze to his cock—that lovely bulge was definitely blossoming—then looked back up. “Unless you’ve changed your mind.”

&n
bsp; Josh’s eyes grew hooded. “You could come with me tonight.”

  “To protect you?”

  “And pretend you’re my girlfriend.”

  God, she was loving this. “Where?”

  “Grocery shopping.”

  Tess’s smile paused. She curled her upper lip.

  “It won’t be so bad,” he said.

  “It’s grocery shopping, Josh.”

  “With me.”

  Okay, so Tess was on board and Josh knew it, because he took care of too damned much business before he was finally ready to go.

  Tess lifted her head from the desk and forced her eyes to open. “We’re going now? It’s after midnight.”

  “It’s an all-night market. This way we could avoid the crowds.”

  They were back to that? “What about vampires? Don’t they go shopping in the dark?”

  “Hank and Sammie don’t.”

  Josh saw Tess’s mind running around that concept, the same as his had earlier. It was so late, the place was so public, they could essentially hide in plain sight, just like a normal couple.

  “Come on.” Josh took her hand and played with her fingers, pleased that he didn’t have to keep his distance any longer. Besides, she was right; those photos from the conference couldn’t be bad. “I’ll get you something good.”

  “Oh, yeah? Like what?”

  For starters, one of those scooters that really old people used to zip around the store because their legs were bad.

  Tess took to that little sucker right away, driving it to the right, the left, forwards, and backwards. She giggled. “Cool. Buy me some candy on the way out and I might just go home with you.”

  Josh quickly backed up before she ran over his foot, then looked at an older woman frowning at them. “Kids,” he said to her. “Give them a permit to drive and see what happens?”

  Tess laughed so hard she was soon hanging over the left side of that thing.

  The older woman shook her head and left the aisle.

  “Will you behave?” Josh asked in a lowered voice.

  Tess’s laughter turned to giggles, then a lusty sigh as she stretched. “Sure you want that?”