Close to Perfect

by Tina Donahue

  “Tessie cooks?” Josh asked.

  She shot him a look in the rearview mirror for the nickname and the comment, then gave Vic a hard stare.

  The old guy finally stopped laughing. “Let’s just say Tessie tries her best.”

  “Really.” Josh spoke to her. “And you actually go grocery shopping for that food? You’ve been holding out on me.”

  Vic muttered, “Not from what I saw on that golf course.”

  Tess looked from Josh to Vic, then decided to play it safe and keep her gaze on the road.

  Josh sank back in his seat and very nearly smiled, because the mystery was solved. While he had stayed home, alone, that night worrying about her, she had simply been at a poker game with her dad and all of his very devoted friends.

  Friends Josh really wanted to get off his ass and hers so that what happened today at the golf course wouldn’t be repeated.

  Josh knew he could simply ask them to back off, but figured they’d just give him some cop double-talk. Demanding that they leave him alone was probably what Freddy wanted most. The man could then say he was running this show or they weren’t doing it at all, then tear up the contract.

  But what if the unthinkable happened? What if they got to know him and started to trust and like him, especially Freddy?

  Even that guy had to have a soft spot, other than the one he reserved for Tessie. And Josh thought he just might know the way to reach the guy’s heart, give him something to think about, something to do, other than making life miserable for him, of course. Suppressing another smile, he asked, “Hey, Vic, at these weekly games of yours, you play for cash?”

  The man turned around as far as he could in his seat. “No, we play for passes to Disney World.” He made a face that gave him a dozen more wrinkles. “Hell, yes, we play for cash. Why? You gonna call a cop?”

  Tess mumbled, “I think Josh is kind of tired of cops.”

  “I’d like in on the game,” he said.

  Tess looked over her shoulder at him, then back to the traffic when someone honked.

  I’d like in on the game?

  Okay, that blindsided her. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Never been more serious in my life,” Josh said to her, then spoke to Vic. “You guys looking for some serious action?”

  Tess growled, “They’re retired.”

  “Retired,” Vic admitted, “but not dead.” He looked from her to Josh. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Depends on whether you guys play like girls or like men.”

  Tess stopped at a light that was only yellow and endured the honking of the car behind her as she turned in her seat and glared at Josh.

  He was oblivious. So was Vic.

  “Five card draw is for little girls?” the old guy asked. “Five card stud is what nuns play?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” Josh said. “I don’t play with nuns. Look, if you guys can’t keep up, then maybe I’m wasting my—”

  “Hold it right there,” Vic growled. “You think you know it all? Well, let’s see if you do. Impress me.”

  “Fine.” Josh leaned up in his seat. “You ever play variations like DogButt and Monkey Love?”

  Vic didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve heard of them. They don’t interest me.”

  “Really?” Josh arched one brow as if he just couldn’t believe it. “How about Don Juan?”

  Vic snorted. “I thought that was your game. Looks like you’ve been trying it a lot with our Tessie.”

  Oh, hell. She lowered her head and breathed hard.

  Josh wasn’t even fazed. “Trying, maybe, but hardly succeeding. Nobody gets anything past Tessie. Now you and the other guys? I think you’re gonna be real easy.”

  Tess tightened her fingers around the steering wheel as Vic said, “Oh, yeah? Well, prove it.”

  During the following minutes, Josh did, talking about poker games Tess was certain Vic had never heard of. She sure as hell hadn’t. Of course, she never participated in those weekly games. She just tried her best at cooking stuff for those goons to eat, then listened to them moan about it as they played regular poker. Nothing like Josh was talking about now. There was Pick a Partner, Caribbean Stud, Omaha Hold’Em, Golf, and Howdy Doody.

  As he ticked off the rules of each, Tess was certain he was making that stuff up.

  By the time he got to the particulars of a game called Bloody Sevens and one known as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, Tess was ready to drive the Mercedes into the ocean.

  Vic, on the other hand, was actually warming up. “That one sounds interesting. We ought’a try it.”

  “No way,” Tess said. “You know Pop likes his poker clean and neat, none of this fancy stuff.”

  “It’s not fancy,” Josh corrected, his voice patient as all get-out. “It’s challenging. That’s what guys need. Of course, there’s even a game you might like.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Vic said before she could. “Tessie doesn’t like to play. She usually just walks behind us, looking at our cards, with her face giving away our hands.”

  “I do not do that,” she muttered.

  “If you play with us, you won’t get a chance,” Josh said.

  Play with us? Already he was a part of the group, inviting her inside? “What’d you have in mind?”

  “Let me tell Vic first.”

  Tess came to another stop—at a red light this time—then looked in disbelief as Josh whispered to Vic, with that guy quickly laughing.

  “Don’t tell her,” Vic said. “She’ll kill you.”

  “In that case,” Tess said, “you should definitely tell me.”

  Josh gave her a patient smile. “No need to get upset. Remember, you are driving.”

  Not to mention tightening her jaw. “You going to tell me or not?”

  “It’s no big deal,” Josh said. “The game’s simply a variation of stud poker. High and low hands split the pot. You have a showdown after a round of betting.” He shrugged. “I could go on, but you have to be playing it to really know what I’m talking about.”

  “Tell her what it’s called,” Vic said, then snickered.

  “Oh, I don’t know,” Josh said. “Maybe I really shouldn’t tell—”

  Tess interrupted, “What’s it called?”

  “The Price Is Right.”

  So? “I don’t get it,” she said.

  “No kidding,” Vic said. “In poker circles it’s known as Grocery Shopping. You don’t get that, either.”

  The old guy howled and so did Josh.

  As those two goons had a good laugh at her expense, Tess pulled away from the light.

  When the laughter finally died down, Josh asked Vic, “Think I should apologize to her?”

  “Don’t know if it’d do any good. When Tessie gets mad, there ain’t much you can do about—”

  “I am still in this car,” Tess said. “I am still driving it. So, if you want to arrive safely, you better wait to discuss me after we get to where we are going.”

  “See?” Vic said to Josh.

  Tess rolled her eyes and got real. “Josh, you’re not going to that game. I won’t allow it.”

  “I’ll ask Freddy,” Vic said to Josh. “I’m sure he’ll say it’s all—”

  “This isn’t a good idea!” she cried.

  “Why not?” Josh asked. “You’re supposed to be protecting me, which means we should be in the same place at the same time, not me in my house, while you’re at your dad’s, during those weekly poker games. Actually, I think it’s perfect.”

  Vic looked at Tess. “He’s got a point, hon.”

  He’s got a screw loose. Why was he doing this? Tess looked at his reflection in the rearview mirror. “You really want to play poker with my father and all of his friends?”

  “I’m looking forward to it,” Josh said to her, then spoke to Vic. “Next game, Tessie and I will be there.”

  Uh-uh. No damned way. Not if she had anything to do about it.

  Once they returned to the offic
e, Tess was determined to get Josh alone to ask him why in the hell he was doing this. She was fully prepared to listen patiently, then no matter what he said, shake some sense into him, threaten him with her weapon if need be, or kiss him senseless so he’d see things her way.

  She never got the chance.

  Suddenly, Josh was a very busy man.

  He spent what remained of the morning, then the rest of the day, on the phone or in meetings, which he must have suddenly called, since he hadn’t planned on being at work at all today.

  The only time Tess saw him was when he was with Peg, or Alan, or a staff member.

  The only time Josh actually spoke to her was when another female fan slipped past all the security, because she was posing as a postal worker. Unfortunately, she wasn’t delivering any mail, only herself.

  Once Tess was finished escorting the young woman off the premises, did she get Josh’s gratitude? Did she get so much as a smile?

  Hell, no.

  When she returned to his office to tell him the matter had been resolved, Josh was already with yet another staff member, this one a young guy who eyed Tess as if he had seen her tabloid picture.

  Before Tess could think to give the guy one of her nasty cop stares, Josh said, “You should really pay better attention to these matters so what happened just now, with that young woman, won’t happen again.”

  Right. Tess wanted to slug him. Since she couldn’t, she decided to wait until she got him alone that night.

  Didn’t happen.

  At eleven P.M. Josh was still in a business meeting and Hank told Tess to go back to the estate, that he would see Josh safely home.

  “Give him hell,” she muttered, then gave up on seeing him alone that night.

  The following day was no better. They were never alone; he was always busy, and definitely avoiding her.

  Well, fine. Tess decided to take matters into her own hands. She called her dad.

  “Hey, Pop,” she said when he answered the call, then got straight to the point. “Vic talk to you about Josh yet?”

  “You mean naked guy?”

  Exactly. Before his love fest with Vic in the car, where those two goons had bonded, Tess would have vigorously defended Josh, calling him by his given name, or referring to him as the client, or even Mr. Wyatt. No more.

  “Yup, that’s who I mean.”

  “Yeah, Vic mentioned him. Why? Do I need to wear a disguise to the grocery store again this week? You two got more photos coming out on—”

  “Nope. That probably won’t happen again,” Tess said.

  “Probably?”

  Well, yeah. No way could she be more specific than that. Who knew what photos had been taken of her and Josh before he decided to ignore and avoid her.

  “I’m just trying to tell you that I’m behaving myself.”

  “About time.”

  Tess hesitated a moment, then asked, “Don’t you want to know if Josh is behaving himself?”

  “Sure. That’s why I get those daily reports from Hank, Sammie, and Vic.”

  Right. “Then you do know he wants to come to the weekly poker game.” Tess forced a laugh. “I told him he was crazy; that you’d never allow—”

  Freddy cut in. “What are you talking about? I can’t wait till naked guy is here. I’m really looking forward to meeting him, in the flesh, so to speak.”

  Tess covered her eyes with her hand. It was going to be a bloodbath. “Pop, please,” she said, using all the sincerity she could muster. “Just let it go. Tell him he can’t come. I swear, I’ll behave myself.”

  “Until I find out you haven’t, right?”

  He knew her too well. Tess figured she needed to be far more careful in her romantic adventures with Josh—if and when they happened again—not to mention more persuasive with her father.

  Despite all of her pleas, she didn’t come close to changing his mind. He wanted to be in the same room with naked guy.

  That left only one thing, sweating it out until the night of the game, and enduring Josh’s new attitude toward her. One of a boss to an employee.

  The day before the game, he suddenly announced, in Peg’s presence, that he was going to a business luncheon and that Tess was to accompany him.

  She glanced at her watch. It was already eleven-thirty and she had already devoured two candy bars as an early lunch. “When are we leaving?”

  “Now.”

  Tess met his gaze. “Thanks for giving me so much time to prepare.”

  Josh ran his gaze down her full length, lingering on her heels, before he looked up. “Your shoes look fine. Not as cute as the ones where your toes show, but not ugly by a long shot.”

  Tess gave him a sweet smile. “Maybe that’s because we’re not going to play golf. Or are we?”

  “As long as we avoid a press conference I’ll be happy.”

  Before Tess could respond, Josh said, “Let’s go,” and led the way to the car, where Alan was waiting.

  The moment the attorney saw her, he smiled. “Hey, Tess.”

  “You’re going, too?” she asked.

  His smile wilted to her tone. “Yeah. That’s okay, right?”

  “It’s fine,” Josh said, before Tess could answer. “Peg’s going, too.”

  She is? Tess looked over her shoulder, surprised that the woman had been following them.

  “Let’s go,” Josh said. He got in the backseat with Alan, while Peg got in on the passenger side.

  During the drive to the hotel, Josh and Alan discussed an upcoming contract, while Tess tried to figure out how Josh had gone from unrestrained passion to treating her like a neglected wife in two seconds flat.

  She glanced at Peg who was pulling a bottle of perfume from her beaded purse. “So, you looking forward to this?” Tess asked.

  Peg spritzed her right wrist with that perfume, then rubbed it against her left wrist before looking up. “You mean the game?”

  “Huh?”

  “Oh,” Peg said, her eyes widening as she finally got it. “You mean this luncheon?”

  Right now, Tess wanted to return to what the woman had said about the game. “What game are you talking about?”

  “Peg,” Josh suddenly said, “did you bring those stats on Trent Howard?”

  “You bet.” Peg pulled them out of her briefcase and handed them over to Josh.

  “This all of them?” he asked.

  “Let’s check,” Peg said, then ticked off every single solitary page.

  The moment that exchange was finally finished, Tess asked, “What did you mean when you said the game?”

  Peg gave her a blank stare. “I’m sorry, I’m not following.”

  Like hell. Josh had obviously discussed the game with her. Could be he had even bragged to her about going to the game where he was going to do... what? Win against her father and all the other old guys and take their money? Then what? Give them a new security contract so they could earn back the money he had won from them?

  This was nuts. Tess glared at his reflection in the rearview mirror.

  He ignored her.

  Once they got to the luncheon it wasn’t much better. There were more than two hundred businesspeople in attendance and Josh seemed to know them all. There were handshakes, smiles, slaps on the back, and his always generic, “This is Tess Franklin,” after which he moved quickly to the next person before the last could ask any hard questions.

  Like did he enjoy their kiss that that tabloid had captured? And did he thank her for defending him at the press conference? And did he love her and have plans to build a life with her?

  Josh seemed to want no part of that mess, and neither did she.

  At last, Tess sat alone at the table. Peg had already gone to the ladies’ room to fix some loose beading on her blouse, while Alan and Josh were still working the crowd.

  Let ’em. Tess told herself she wasn’t going to give Josh so much as a glance, and didn’t, until she heard young female laughter that sounded both pleased and aro
used.

  Turning in her chair, Tess scanned the crowd and immediately saw Josh. In that moment, she recalled what she had told him that first night at his estate—that he was impossible to find.

  What are you talking about? he had asked. I’m big as life.

  He was impressive enough to stand out among hundreds of other people. He was simply beautiful in his Sunday best—a pearl gray suit, pale blue shirt, and a striped blue-and-gray tie.

  Despite his male beauty, that female laughter hadn’t been for him. Josh and Alan were speaking to an older man, but the women were still watching.

  Tess saw those wistful gazes and interested smiles. She had to wonder if it had always been this way for him with women, with those tabloid pictures only making it worse.

  She had to wonder if it would always be this way for him with women, then called herself a fool. Didn’t matter how many women chased Josh after the contract was over. He was a big boy, and what he did with his life once she was out of it was up to him.

  The time for dreaming, the time for hope, was long gone. It had ended on that soggy golf course.

  Suppressing a sigh, Tess turned back in her chair to see two younger men lifting their water glasses to her in a kind of toast.

  When the one to the left winked, she frowned. When the one to the right grinned, Tess averted her gaze, figuring they had seen her tabloid photo, because she sure as hell didn’t look all that great today.

  “Keeping busy?”

  Tess looked up as Josh suddenly pulled back his chair and sat.

  “Just fighting off the guys,” she said.

  Alan sank into his chair. He looked worried. “Men are after Josh now, too?”

  “I think Tess is referring to herself,” Josh mumbled, then draped his napkin across his lap. “Because of that photo, right?”

  She slid her gaze to him. “Couldn’t be because I look so hot today, right?”

  Alan cleared his throat and looked like he wanted to run.

  Josh, on the other hand, started talking business with Peg, who had just returned to the table. He kept it up, too, throughout the meal, right to the speaker’s presentation.

  As that guy just went on and on about all the people who kept the Florida Keys afloat, Tess studied Josh’s broad shoulders, his firm jaw, the way his hair curled around his ears, and finally that female server who came to his side.