Not Second Best

by Christa Maurice

Tessa cocked an eyebrow at him. “And she just ran off with you.”

  “When we were on tour, I got to know her, and I happened to be right there when she needed to leave.” Brett hoped the heat on his face was sun and not embarrassment.

  “You wanted to get next to her.”

  “Fuck yes, I did.” Blushing. Definitely. “With a nickname like Randy Mirandy and a hot bod like hers, who wouldn’t?”

  “Indeed.” Tessa stepped into the infinity pool and settled where she could stare out over the desert.

  Brett clambered into the water next to her. This place was his refuge. After he’d come here with Suzi, it had also been his place to regret. He’d spent hours soaking in this pool, wondering what kind of moron he’d been to let Suzi get away and if there had been anything he could have done to stop it. “What about you? You knew Brian since he was a kid. He was married before. Why’s it a crisis now?”

  Tessa lifted one leg, put it down, and lifted the other, pointing her toe at the sky before lowering it into the water. “Brian had a huge crush on me when he was a kid. Well, up until he was about twenty-two, but I wasn’t interested.”

  “So now you want what some other chick has?”

  “No,” Tessa snapped, glaring at him. “It’s just an ego blow that he’s not going to be following me around anymore.”

  “Right. Because he was before.”

  “Fuck you.”

  “In a little bit. I’m comfortable now.”

  Tessa slouched in the corner. “I just can’t believe all those guys got married like that. Bear and Maureen. Jason and Cassie. Marc and Alex. Now Brian and Suzi. Another one bites the dust. I’ve known all those guys since we were kids.”

  “Ty’s not hitched up yet.”

  “He’s probably meeting his one true love as we speak. I’ll be running background checks on her tomorrow. My mother is dating a guy from Cassie’s hometown. Connie’s even dating.”

  “Who’s Connie?”

  “My sister.”

  “Everybody’s married but you.”

  “I don’t want to be married,” she growled.

  Brett held up his hands. “Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not looking for a wife here, either.” He eased into the water. “I love this place.”

  “It’s nice. Very relaxing. What made you bring Suzi here?”

  “I knew a shitload of people would be hunting for her, and she needed some time away. Nobody would look for her here.”

  “This where she had her miscarriage?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That must have been rough.”

  “I took care of her.” Brett shrugged. He’d stood outside the bathroom door, fretting about what to do. She hadn’t wanted him to call a doctor, but she’d been in so much pain. And then she’d cried all night. Holding her and not being able to do a damn thing to help her had sucked, but it had been better than standing outside a door.

  “She’s one of those women who doesn’t have babies easily. Brian’s already got the two, so he doesn’t care,” Tessa said.

  “Do we have to talk about Brian all the time?”

  “I thought that’s why we were here. Because we both came in second.”

  “Then maybe we should call Logan. He came in second, too.”

  Tessa shrugged. “Go ahead if you want to, but I’m over my orgy phase. You two have fun. You can sit around and talk about how perfect Suzi is.”

  “Suzi’s really nice.” Brett scowled. Suzi was nice. Really friendly and approachable. Every time she’d joined them on the road when his band was touring with her ex’s band, she’d found time to sit and talk, even though Logan had wanted her chained to his wrist whenever he was offstage. Tessa could be as bitchy as she wanted, but she’d better not start talking shit about Suzi.

  “I know. She’s a great girl. Always has been. Did you know she tried to patch up Brian and Bonnie’s marriage? I could have told her it was a waste of time.”

  Brett couldn’t decide which was worse. Talking about Brian or talking about Suzi. “I’m hungry. I’m going to order some dinner. You want anything?”

  Tessa frowned at the desert. “Rum and Coke. Steak, well done. Baked potato, butter, no sour cream. Steamed summer squash. And chocolate frosting.”

  “Frosting without the cake?”

  She smiled at him. “It’s for later.”

  Brett grinned back. At least if she was going to torture him by talking about Brian and Suzi, she would make up for it.

  Chapter 2

  Tessa opened her eyes and stretched. Brett had kept her up and humming until early morning, but her body clock was set to go off at seven and would be delayed for only so long. She rolled onto her side and propped her head on her hand.

  Sprawled out across most of the bed, Brett lay on his stomach, one hand and one foot hanging off the side, the other leg tangled through hers, his arm crooked under his head. Not quite innocent in sleep, but still pretty cute. If she were ten years younger, she’d seriously consider going after him for something a little more long-term.

  Last year when he’d been the one to get Suzi out of that party, she’d run a check on him in an attempt to figure out where he’d gone. His backup singer mom had been happy to use her child support money for drugs until it had killed her. His dad had been a lighting tech for a bunch of big name bands through the eighties and nineties, had even worked for Touchstone on one of the early tours until Brett had ended up in his lap. Then he’d settled down and started doing lighting for sitcoms and the occasional concert. His dad had been unsurprised that Brett had rescued a girl, though he’d been more hooked on the idea that Brett had gotten a hot chick than that he’d done a good deed. It wasn’t until she talked to another guy in his band who had told her Brett was always taking in strays that she’d started to think the rescue was more kindness than skirt chasing, making Brett something of a unicorn. A hot, young rock star with a heart of gold.

  Tessa brushed her fingers through his hair and let them trail down his fine, strong back. He was in touring shape. Tight, toned, and ready to jump on stage and act like a loon for an hour. BroRide would only get an hour as the opening act. If they didn’t have a couple of big hits off their next album, the party would be over. They might be able to scrape along and earn a living. Hell, if Enuff Z’Nuff and Stryper were still touring and putting out records, anything was possible. Giving him a boost would be really easy. A short trip though her contacts, and she could set him and his band up with all the behind the scenes talent they would need to make it big. Not that she owed him anything, but he was a nice guy.

  Brett half opened one eye and smacked his lips. “You’re awake.”

  “It’s morning.”

  He stretched and reached for her. “Am I going to have to rock you back to sleep?”

  Tessa let him draw her under him. His mouth covered hers with slow, lazy heat, and she ran her hands down his back. Not yet solidly a man, he still had a lean boy’s body.

  But plenty to play with.

  He left off with her mouth and started sucking on her neck.

  “If you give me a hickey, I’m going to kill you,” she said.

  He laughed, but stopped working at her neck and drifted down her body instead, heating her skin. Tessa relaxed, letting him do his thing. He was good. Very practiced and knew how to play with her nipples just long enough to wire her up without leaving the rest of her ignored. As he kissed down her leg, he picked up one of her feet.

  Tessa jerked away from him. “What are you doing?”

  “Trust me.” He caught her foot again and brought it to his lips. His eyes held hers as he took each of her toes between his lips.

  Tessa gasped through her open mouth. His hot tongue brushing the sensitive skin between her toes arced through every nerve and set her on fire. No one touched her toes. No one. She only touched them to wash them or put on socks. The sensation threatened to undo her. “My other foot is jealous.”
<
br />   “I’ll have to take care of that.” He turned to her other foot and started over.

  Tessa clutched the sheets, arching. “That’s good.”

  Brett made a noise, and the vibration overlaid the rest of the tactile interference. Tessa shuddered. “Get up here.”

  He set aside her foot. “You’re bossy.”

  “I thought you liked that.” Tessa grabbed a condom off the bedside table and ripped it open.

  “I’m changing my mind.”

  “Sucks to be you.” She slipped the condom over his length, admiring the weight in her hand as she guided him into her. He was a very fine specimen.

  Brett nuzzled her neck, filling her slowly. She urged him to go faster but he ignored her, setting a steady rhythm. Whimpering, she clutched him, wanting that fast, electric release.

  “Hush,” Brett whispered. “Sometimes you gotta let go and enjoy the ride.”

  Tessa moaned and tried to relax, but it felt like what she really wanted was just out of reach. “Please.”

  “Roll with me, baby.” He took her earlobe between his lips and sucked at the same gentle pace.

  Tension built in her hips and down the backs of her legs. She twisted her arms around his back, desperate to hold onto him. Her core swelled, trapping him until he was grunting with the effort of thrusting into her.

  “Tessa,” he murmured, his hot mouth pressed to her ear.

  The tension broke in a long, wide wave. She held Brett, shuddering, and felt him break apart, too.

  When he rolled off, she was suddenly aware of the air conditioning blowing on her, so she turned onto her side and rested her head on his sweaty chest. Her hair stuck to her face, and she kinda needed another shower, but she kinda didn’t want to move.

  “Whoa,” Brett said. “Nice. You think you can sleep for a little while now?” He brushed along her shoulder with the tips of his fingers.

  “I think so.” She snuggled closer and decided that if she could lie here, listening to his heartbeat, she could sleep for a week.

  * * * *

  “Where were you all weekend?” Helen stepped out her door, intercepting Tessa before she could reach the safety of her office.

  “I didn’t feel good so I just stayed in and didn’t answer the phone.”

  “You have a cold? You look a little tired.”

  “I don’t know what it was. Why? Was somebody trying to reach me?” Tessa shifted her briefcase to the other hand. Eight years of schooling to read contracts and run background checks. Her legs hurt, and she wanted to go sit behind her desk.

  “We just wondered where you got to. You vanished in the middle of the reception. We all thought you’d be there until the wee hours.”

  Tessa shrugged. “We’ve had a few of these weddings lately. It’s not like it’s going to be the last one.”

  Helen’s expression clouded, reminding Tessa how odd some of the stuff coming out of her mouth was. “Well, we just wondered,” Helen said.

  Tessa continued down the hall to her office. Once she’d hung up her jacket, she settled behind her desk and started sifting through her email. She and Brett hadn’t come back to town until late last night. They’d spent the whole time in the room having sex, eating, soaking in the pool, or watching TV. Brett was good in bed. Creative and generous. When he’d dropped her off last night, he’d leaned over to give her a kiss goodbye and she’d blown him off. The moment she’d stepped inside her house, guilt over that had weighed on her. For all his cocky rock star bullshit, he was a pretty nice guy. A very nice guy.

  Tessa sucked a deep breath through her nose. She needed to stop thinking about Brett.

  “Good morning, Tessa. How was your weekend?” Sandy asked, walking into her office. He sat in the chair on the other side of her desk. That didn’t bode well. For normal business, he emailed her from down the hall. For extraordinary business, he called her to his office. For him to come to her, it must be some sort of disaster.

  “Fine, and yours?”

  “Quite nice after the reception. We were surprised to see that you left before the end.”

  Disaster had a lot of definitions, didn’t it? Tessa glanced at her email. One from her mom, each of her sisters, Jason, Cassie, Marc, Bear, Maureen, the whole cavalry. Great. Sneak out of one wedding reception, and the whole world thought she was having a breakdown. “I just didn’t feel like hanging out all night.”

  “You left before dinner.”

  She scrolled down. There was even one from Ty. “I guess I wasn’t hungry.” Oh wait, the one from Ty needed her to check somebody out. Ironic since she had told Brett this would happen. He would die laughing when she told him.

  Which would involve calling Brett. That had the appeal of digging into a bag of Hershey Kisses, yummy but regrettable.

  “It just seemed a little odd. Are you sure everything is alright?”

  She gave him a double thumbs-up. “Positive.”

  “All right.” He stood up. “Ty brought a woman to the reception, and he thinks he’s madly in love again. Can you take care of it?”

  “You Brett.”

  “Did you just say you Brett?”

  “No, I said you bet.” Tessa clenched her teeth to keep her poker face in place. You Brett? What the hell? “You must have misheard.”

  Sandy frowned at her. She had to stop saying odd stuff. It was tipping people off.

  As soon as Sandy left, she opened the email from Ty. He had indeed found the love of his life again and Sandy had gently encouraged Ty to send along the woman’s information so she could check her out. The last love of Ty’s life had been wanted by the FBI for memorabilia fraud and money laundering.

  If she’d hung around the party long enough, she might have been able to check out his latest find in person.

  Before she went hunting for the current Miss Right’s wrongs, she composed a mass email to the cavalry, telling them she’d just been tired Saturday and had gone home early. No big deal, just a rough week at work. Okay? Nothing to see here. These were not the droids they were looking for. Move along, move along. Then she went online looking for pictures of Brian and Suzi.

  Suzi’s Facebook page was crowded with congratulations. Some kind soul had posted a link to a photo of the happy couple headed to the airport with Brian’s kids after the reception. They looked blissful. Really, truly content. Suzi loved him so much, Tessa couldn’t find it in her heart to hate her. A few of Brian’s fans didn’t have that compunction. A thread on the band’s forum raged about how stupid, ugly, ungraceful, and untalented she was. And it looked like the same four women.

  Tessa picked up the phone and dialed the moderator. “Hi Jack. It’s Tessa.”

  “Morning, Tessa. How come you skipped out of the reception early?”

  Had every single person at the wedding kept tabs on her? You’d think they might have been watching Brian and Suzi. “I was tired. Have you checked the forum lately?”

  “Not yet this morning. What are they doing now?”

  “Suzi-bashing.”

  “Oh. Them again. I told them I was going to ban their ISPs if they kept it up.”

  “You need a letter?”

  “Are you representing Suzi now?” Jack snickered.

  “She’s married to Brian. I represent her by default.” Tessa picked up her letter opener and contemplated stabbing herself in the face with it. If the Suzi bashers really loved Brian the way they claimed they did, they’d be thrilled for him. She started hunting for the BroRide website.

  “I’ll keep that in mind, but all I have to do is snip their thread and ban the ISPs. They’re just going to move to another forum, though. You’re fighting a battle you can’t win. Trolls are trolls.”

  The official BroRide website had pages of pictures. The unofficial ones had more. “Well, if you can get it off the website, it’ll have to be enough. We don’t need to lend them any credence,” Tessa said.

  “Done and done. So you h
ave a cold or something?”

  “No, just a long week last week. Thanks, Jack. Bye.” She hung up the phone before she had to explain to him, too. Might be easier to tell the truth. Gee everyone, with all the weddings going around, I just wanted to go out and screw somebody blind. Who better than Brett Cherney? That would go over well. Brett was not a good relationship prospect and not the kind of person she should have in her life. Cute, sweet, and fun in bed were all good, but he wanted something. He had to. Everybody in this business used everybody else. Brett might be a unicorn, but he couldn’t be that different. Tessa wasn’t that lucky.

  Taking a deep breath, she tore herself away from the BroRide sites and started looking into Ty’s most recent paramour. Leticia Blue popped up immediately on MySpace with a couple of weedy-sounding originals and professionally shot publicity pictures showing her curled around her acoustic guitar and perched on a stool. How darling. Little Miss Right wanted to be a singer. She hadn’t managed to get into the Disney machine so she thought she’d hook a little nepotism from Touchstone. Great. Ty needed to start Googling his own girls instead of making her do it. She’d gone to law school for Christ’s sake. Passed the bar. And they had her doing searches on bimbos.

  Tessa snatched up the phone again and hit the button for Ty’s house. It rang four times before the machine picked it up. “Ty, your latest sweetie is trying to work you for a music career. Do me a favor and try to eliminate the real bad bets before I have to do it for you. I’m fucking sick of being your watchdog.” She slammed down the phone and bit her tongue.

  That had been a bad move. A really bad move. Ty shouldn’t pay for her mood. She called his cell.

  “Hello?” Ty muttered.

  “Hi, it’s Tessa. Did I wake you?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m sorry. Look, I’m having kind of a bad day, and I left a message on your voice mail that I’m regretting. Can you just not listen to it?”

  “My voice mail? What?” Ty sounded like he didn’t have his eyes open and wouldn’t for at least three cups of coffee.

  “Your voice mail.”

  “Yeah.”

  “I left a message on it.”