Close to Perfect

by Tina Donahue

  Tess regarded the girl’s snug pink capris and even snugger top. And what about those three-inch heels? Tess figured Josh would have loved those if he could have seen them. Suddenly, she was grateful for those blinds.

  “You look busy,” Tess said to the young woman, just as she had to Libby that first day at the estate.

  This girl wasn’t as snotty. Without so much as a backwards glance, she took off in those spike heels, not once losing her balance.

  “That was easy,” Tess mumbled to herself, knowing that tonight certainly wouldn’t be.

  It was decided that Josh would be driven to the game by Vic, since they had planned this stupid event, and since Tess needed to arrive first to prepare the food that everyone would bitch about.

  “Is that really necessary?” Peg asked.

  Tess didn’t think it was, but then she knew Peg wasn’t talking about that bitching. She leveled her gaze on the older woman. “What do you mean?”

  When Peg didn’t answer, Tess next glared at Sammie and Hank, who were also in the reception area. Had they already said something nasty about her cooking?

  Sammie wasn’t fessing up, while Hank was too busy eating a candy bar to talk. Once he had swallowed his bite, he glanced at the wall clock. “Better leave now,” he said. “That way if your stuff doesn’t come out, we’ll still have time to order a pizza or something.”

  “Is that really necessary?” Peg asked again.

  Tess swung her head back to the woman. “What do you mean?”

  “Maybe Josh would know,” Peg mumbled.

  “Know what?” Tess asked.

  Peg looked at her and smiled. “Nothing, hon, just trying to participate in the conversation.”

  By being cryptic and insulting her? Tess shoved her purse under her arm and went to Hank. “If you don’t like my food, you don’t have to come.”

  “I wouldn’t miss this for the world,” he said.

  “Me, either,” Sammie said.

  On that happy note, Tess left the office. Tonight was going to be brutal.

  The truth of that was in the way her father came out to the Mercedes even though Tess had parked it down the street, rather than in the front of the house.

  “You’re not coming in?” he asked.

  Tess was still thinking about it. “Sure.”

  “When?” he next asked. “You’ve been sitting out here for five minutes.”

  No kidding? It seemed longer. “Just checking to see if I’ve been followed.”

  He quickly straightened; his head swiveled on his shoulders as he searched the narrow street. “By who?”

  Babes, paparazzi, needy clients, young guys who looked like gigolos—anyone who might stop the coming events.

  “Just kidding,” Tess said, then hauled her ass and the groceries inside.

  When her father looked inside the bags he had been carrying, he made a face. “Oh, shit.”

  Ignoring that, Tess started to unpack her bag.

  “Teressa,” he said, “we need to talk.”

  “Sorry, Pop, but I’m not going to stop making the no-fat dogs. You and the others don’t need grease clogging your arteries and giving you high blood pressure. Once the other stuff ’s on them, you won’t notice the diff—”

  “Are you in love with Wyatt?”

  Tess so quickly turned to her father, she dropped the can of sodium-free sauerkraut, then watched it roll across the floor into the utility room.

  When she started to follow, Freddy blocked her. “Leave it.”

  “Can’t,” she said, trying to get around him. “That stuff ’s expensive. I’m not going to waste my money or yours by letting it go to—”

  “Teressa, I’m serious, are you in love with Wyatt?”

  She looked from where that can had stopped to her father. No way could she get past his bulk, that expression, or his question.

  Of course, she was in love with Josh. Wasn’t it obvious? Hell, everyone but Josh seemed to know it or want confirmation of it. “I can take care of myself.”

  “To hell with that, you’re a woman.”

  Tess stepped back. She frowned. “Excuse me?”

  “I didn’t mean that in a bad way and you know it.”

  “I don’t think I do.”

  “You’re changing the subject,” he said.

  “About my being incapable of taking care of myself, because I’m a woman?”

  “No, about me worrying myself into a stroke, because you’re my little girl.”

  Oh, Papa. “I know I’ll always be your little girl, and I know you worry, but if you stick to a no-fat, no-salt diet you won’t get a stroke, I swear.”

  He didn’t appreciate her levity. “Just tell me one thing and I’ll leave you alone.”

  Tess didn’t want to tell him anything, not if it concerned Josh, but knew she had no choice. “Sure. What?”

  “Tell me that even if you’ve fallen for that guy you’re not going to do anything that will break your heart.”

  “Okay.”

  Freddy lowered his head. “Oh, my God, you are.”

  He made it sound as if she had a terminal disease. Of course, loving a man who didn’t feel the same, a man who only wanted to sleep with her was pretty damned terminal. Not that Tess wanted to give her father any more stuff to worry about. “I’m no fool, Pop, okay? The last time I believed in a happy ending with Prince Charming was when you and Mama got me that Cinderella tape when I was five.”

  He lifted his head. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I know there’s not a chance in a billion of having a future with Josh. He’s very rich and great-looking and—”

  “What is that supposed to mean? Are you saying you’re not good enough for him? That bum would be lucky if you let him get down on his knees each and every day of his life so that he could kiss your feet!”

  Tess wondered if she should tell her father about that morning at the golf course when Josh did just that.

  What a sweet moment that had been. How very hopeful. She smiled.

  “Glad to see you agree,” Freddy said. “Glad to see you want that from a man.”

  She wanted it from Josh. Not that she was about to admit that to him or her dad. “I’m a realist, Pop, and so is Josh. He’s in his world and I’m in mine—we’re not about to forget that.”

  “And what is that supposed to mean? Did he say you’re not good enough for—”

  “He hasn’t said anything, Pop, except to praise your company and to get you new jobs, which you should thank him for when he gets here.”

  He swore in Spanish, just as her mother used to do.

  Tess rolled her eyes. “Pop, I know what you’re saying.”

  His face turned a bright pink.

  “No need to apologize,” she said. “I am a big girl.”

  “You’re my little girl and jobs or no jobs you shouldn’t be staying at his place. I ought’a cancel the contract, I ought’a—”

  “What you ought to do is calm down,” she quickly said in a lowered voice. Someone had just come in the front door, and Tess was afraid it might be Josh. “Please. And no more talk about canceling the contract. That’s your future—it’s my future since I work for you. So be nice, okay?”

  He growled, “I’ll do my best.”

  Josh Wyatt, you are a dead man.

  “Yo, Freddy, you here?” Hank called out.

  “Of course, he’s here,” Sammie said. “He lives here.”

  A very dead man. Tess mumbled, “Wait till he gets stuck in this small space with Bonnie and Clyde.”

  Freddy looked at her. “What?”

  Tess shook her head. “Nothing.” Planting her hands on his shoulders, she turned him around, then gently pushed him toward the living room. “Go on, greet your guests.”

  Freddy stopped in the doorway and looked over his shoulder at her. “Them, I will. Him, I’ll—”

  “Pop.”

  “Let me finish,” he said. “I might be busy eating when he com
es in. I might be in the can. I might be—”

  “I don’t care if you’re on Mars. You’ll go to wherever he is, shake his hand and thank him for the contract and everything else he’s done for your business. Please.”

  Freddy shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what she was asking, then left the room.

  Hank immediately greeted him with, “Hey, Freddy, where’s loverboy?”

  “Hopefully buying some clothes.”

  On that happy note, Tess went to the refrigerator and rested her forehead against it.

  “He is cute,” Sammie said.

  “Not cute enough or good enough for my daughter.”

  Sammie quickly agreed. “No way.”

  “He’s okay for a regular girl,” Hank said. “You know, like the one who used to work in records.”

  “Wanda,” Sammie offered.

  Tess rolled her forehead against that cool surface. No matter how many years had passed, each time this group got together they always talked about Wanda, who was probably in her sixties by now, but in her day had made a lot of cops rock hard.

  “Wonder what Wanda’s doing now?” Hank asked.

  “Wonder who she’s doing now?” Sammie asked.

  They all laughed.

  At just that moment, the doorbell rang.

  “Vic forget how to open a door?” Hank asked.

  “Probably can’t get to it,” Freddy said, “not if he’s got naked guy in a choke hold.”

  Tess pushed away from the refrigerator thinking if Vic were foolish enough to do that, Josh could just flick the old guy off like a pesky mosquito. Unless, of course, Vic pulled out his gun.

  Tess got into the modest living room just as Hank opened the door.

  “Well, hi, there; do I have the right house?” Peg asked.

  Tess’s gaze zipped over the woman. As always, Peg was dressed in beaded vintage wear that sparkled wildly, only this wasn’t what she had been wearing at the office. Tonight’s outfit was a low-cut coral blouse and silky pants that matched the color of her hair.

  “Oh, Tess, hi,” Peg said. “I am at the right place. Good.”

  Tess exchanged a glance with Sammie, who also seemed surprised, then looked at her dad. The poor man must have been getting dizzy, his eyeballs were zipping up and down Peg so much.

  Tess finally lifted her hand in greeting. “Peg.” She frowned. “What are you doing here?”

  “Looks like she brought us some supplies,” Sammie said, then broke with all formality. “I’ll take that.” She grabbed the twelve-pack of beer Peg had in one hand and the plate of munchies she had in the other.

  Tess arched one brow and thought back to when she and the others had been discussing the crappy food she would be making tonight.

  Is that really necessary? Peg kept asking.

  Apparently not.

  “There’s more in my car,” Peg offered.

  “Sammie’ll get it,” Hank said as he continued setting up the poker table.

  Freddy nodded in agreement as he remained rooted to the spot, staring at Peg.

  “Wow, it is hot tonight, isn’t it?” she asked, delicately touching her neck with a lacy, vintage handkerchief.

  Freddy slowly nodded, his gaze following the ends of that handkerchief as it fluttered above Peg’s low-cut top.

  When she spritzed herself with perfume, Tess rolled her eyes. There might as well have been drugs in that perfume or the aroma of a thick sirloin, given the goofy expression on her father’s face. “Pop.”

  He looked at her, then right back to Peg.

  Tess was about to frown because of how foolish he was behaving, when she told herself to lighten up. It had been a long time since her dad had looked this interested in a woman; too damned long.

  The man deserved some happiness. Josh probably thought so, too, since having Peg come here, in that outfit, had certainly been his idea. “Pop, you haven’t met—”

  “Fred Franklin,” he said before Tess could finish, then went to Peg and offered his hand. “Mrs....”

  “Mulrooney,” Peg offered, “but it’s Miss, and has been Miss going on six years now.” She slipped her bejeweled hand into his and smiled. “But since I like you, I’m going to let you call me Peg.”

  He grinned. “In that case, you can call me Freddy.”

  “Give me your number and I’ll call whenever you like.”

  They both laughed.

  Uh-huh. Although Tess wanted her father to be happy, she didn’t want to have to watch it.

  She had just turned to go back to the kitchen, when her father asked, “So, how do you know my little Tessie?”

  Tess looked over her shoulder at Peg. The woman’s gaze was briefly on her, before she easily said, “I work for Josh.”

  Tess turned around, waiting for the fallout.

  To her surprise, her father actually seemed intrigued, rather than pissed. “So, you’re protecting him from the babes, too?”

  Peg nodded. “I also take care of the guys, if they get to be a problem.”

  Freddy’s smile faded. “Guys are after him now?”

  “Of course not,” Tess said, before this got completely out of hand. “Peg’s not talking about the kind of protection we’re providing; she’s his executive secretary. She makes his appointments, takes care of his schedule, and keeps people out of his office when he doesn’t have time to see them.”

  “That’s right,” she said to Freddy. “Did you think I was a bodyguard, too?”

  He shrugged as if embarrassed. “You sure don’t look like a secretary.”

  She gave him a sexy smile. “You sure look like a cop.”

  “Ex-cop,” Hank said, as he continued setting up the table.

  Freddy looked from him back to Peg. “That guy good to you?”

  Her smile faded. “What guy?”

  Here it comes. Tess wondered what Peg would do when her father called Josh the naked guy or the bum. Given how tight those two were, Tess figured Peg would come to Josh’s defense, and her father was definitely not going to like that.

  At last, he said, “Your employer.”

  Tess arched one brow.

  Her father ignored that as he continued to speak to Peg. “He good to you?”

  “He better be.” She winked.

  They were both laughing, again.

  “Will you look at this?” Sammie asked as she came back inside holding several trays. “We got enough here to last clear through to tomorrow.”

  “Oh, goodie,” Tess mumbled.

  “Any of it look normal?” Hank asked. “It’s not that diet crap that Tessie makes, is it?”

  She turned completely around so she could glare at him.

  “Nope,” Sammie said. “This is the real deal.”

  “Josh only prepares the best,” Peg said.

  Freddy looked surprised. “You mean he made all that? He can actually cook?”

  “Boy’s a whiz in the kitchen,” Hank said.

  Sammie nodded. “Makes a mean breakfast.”

  Freddy’s eyes continued to widen, then quickly narrowed as he looked at Tess. “Why didn’t you tell me that?”

  “Why should I? Did you want him to make you breakfast, too?”

  “Quit changing the subject. Why didn’t you tell me the boy likes to cook and likes to do stuff in the kitchen?”

  “Ah, Freddy,” Peg said, before Tess could answer, “Josh cooks, sure, but he is just a regular guy. Real regular. Believe me, he likes the ladies. Don’t you, Josh?”

  Tess’s heart caught, her belly fluttered as she looked over her shoulder and saw him in the front doorway.

  He was such a tall man, he made this already-cramped house appear far too snug.

  And yet, he seemed to fit here as much as she did. Gone was his business attire. Instead, he wore battered jeans, mocs, and a black T-shirt that hugged his powerful chest.

  He was also blushing badly. Even the tips of his ears were pink as he stared at Peg.

  “He does like wo
men,” she answered for him, before she spoke to Freddy. “I’ve even met some of his old girlfriends. Haven’t I, Josh?”

  He wasn’t about to answer that question, either.

  Why was Peg taking this moment to convince everyone of his sexual preference, especially Freddy? The man should have already known where Josh’s mind, heart, and body were, given that tabloid picture of him kissing Tess. Of course, maybe that’s why Freddy wanted to be convinced otherwise.

  Josh wasn’t about to help him out on that one as he looked past Peg and finally saw Tess.

  The screen door made a loud whack as Josh came inside. His gaze swept Tess’s thick, dark hair, that soft gaze, those plush lips. They were slightly parted, the same as his as he continued to regard her with wonder. Since leaving the office Tess had changed into cutoffs and a gray T-shirt that bore the emblem of her old police force. Her feet were bare; she was curling her toes.

  Josh liked that. He sensed she would do that when he was finally within her, his cock giving pleasure.

  His gaze lifted. “Hi.”

  Tess moistened her lips. “Hi.”

  “Yeah, hi from me, too,” Freddy said, then moved in front of Josh, blocking his view of Tess. “I’m Fred Franklin, Teressa’s father.”

  Teressa? Josh liked that, too, but kept his face expressionless as he met the man’s gaze. Thank God Tess looked like her mother. Freddy’s face was nothing but hard angles interrupted by that nasty scar on his chin.

  “Sir,” Josh said, offering his hand, “Josh Wyatt. Nice to finally meet you.”

  Freddy looked down at Josh’s offered hand, then over his shoulder at Tess.

  She narrowed her eyes.

  Freddy rolled his, turned back to Josh, then finally took his hand and squeezed, just like Sammie and Hank had. “Likewise, I guess. You don’t look so bad with clothes on. You should plan on doing that all the time.”

  Tess lowered her head, while Sammie and Peg snickered.

  Josh shot Peg a look. He didn’t ask her here to be a part of the problem. “Yes, sir,” he said to Freddy, then finally squeezed back, showing this man his strength, that he was no pushover, that he couldn’t be scared away from Tess.