I lifted my hand in a tiny wave that the last two quickly returned with good-natured smiles. Each man was hot enough to wreak havoc on any woman’s ovaries, but there was something about Bryce that made him stand out from the rest of them. He smoldered, and in our short acquaintance, his smile made me shaky in a very pleasurable way.
“You guys are military?”
“That we are. This trip is kind of a last hurrah before we ship out.”
“Ship out?”
“Afghanistan,” he explained.
My stomach did a little clench at the thought of this man heading to somewhere so dangerous. Ridiculous, Tessa, I scolded myself. You don’t even know this guy. “If this is your last hurrah, shouldn’t you be spending it with your friends?”
The grin he laid on me was pure seduction. “Sweetheart, I walk away from you, and those guys will beat my ass for bein’ the worlds biggest idiot. Besides, we’re about to be stuck together for six months in the middle of the desert. Trust me, they’ll understand.”
I was in a strange city, contemplating spending time with a man I didn’t know from Adam. A smarter woman probably would have turned him down, knowing the dangers that lurked behind every corner. But the romantic in me, cultivated by my parents for the first ten years of my life, came screaming to the surface.
I nodded reluctantly. “All right. I’m in.”
“Good.” His smile stretched even bigger. “And I know just where to start.”
* * *
“So? What’s the verdict?”
Bryce looked at me from across the table in the middle of a posh, five-star Japanese restaurant with a charming, boy-next-door grin on his face.
We’d parted ways after the pool but only long enough for me to get ready for what he called “an epic night on the town.” My little black dress and heels were another purchase made to take me out of my comfort zone. But when Bryce had shown up at my room earlier in a slate gray button-down and black slacks, looking the picture of temptation, I was glad I’d taken the leap. Especially when I caught the way his eyes darkened with hunger as he looked me over.
We were currently ticking off number six on my list; try sushi and Saki for the first time ever. And the reviews were mixed.
“It only took me twenty-three years to summon the courage to try it, but I actually like sushi.”
“And the Saki?”
My face pinched up as I recalled the one and only sip I’d ever have. “It tasted like hot rubbing alcohol, sweetened with Splenda.”
He laughed as he lifted the beer bottle to his lips and took a drink. “Yeah, it’s definitely an acquired taste.”
Leaning forward, I rested my arms on the table, fiddling with the big, chunky watch I always wore on me left wrist. Lowering my voice, I said, “Thank you for doing this with me. I’ve had a great time tonight.”
It had been one of the most enjoyable evenings I’d had in a long time. Bryce was . . . something else, that was for sure. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d laughed so much. His dry, clever sense of humor kept me in stitches, and as the minutes ticked by, I was dreading the impending end of our night. “I would have done as much of that list as possible, but I have to admit, it’s a whole lot more fun with someone else.”
He mimicked my position, leaning in and bringing us even closer together, the light from the small candle in the center of the table making that spearmint green dance. “My pleasure, beauty. But we’re just gettin’ started.” Pulling the napkin from his lap, he tossed it onto his plate. “Time for the next task on your list.”
Excitement began coursing through my veins, growing stronger with each beat of my heart. “Oh? Which task is that?”
He smoldered as he leaned closer. “Number ten.”
Be someone else for a day.
My brows rose as I asked, “And how do you plan on pulling that one off.”
“Easy,” he answered with a shrug. “This place was booked up a month in advance, so in order to get a table, I told the guy on the phone I planned on proposing to my girlfriend of two years tonight. Turns out he was a bit of a romantic, so he fit us right in.”
“You didn’t!” I cried, laughter bubbling up from my throat.
“I did.” He gave me a wink before pushing his chair back. He slowly rounded the table, coming to a stop at my side. “Better get into character,” he murmured under his breath before dropping to one knee.
The move seemed to catch the attention of everyone around us, and they all turned to stare.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, trying not to burst into laughter. “Are you really doing this?”
“Oh yeah. And it’s gonna be so good it knocks you on your ass, sweetheart. So get ready.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring that looked like it came from one of those old grocery store machines where you paid a quarter, turned the dial, and got a toy that came in a small, plastic bubble.
“Agatha Snoot”—he winked when I snorted at the ridiculous name he’d christened me with—“I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember. Even before you had that crazy snaggletooth fixed . . . even before that horse kicked you in the head and straightened out your weird, wonky eye . . . you were still the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on. I know you’ve been married five times, and I know you’re pregnant with another man’s baby, but I don’t care. I’ll raise this child, and the other seven, as my own. Make me the happiest man in the world and say you’ll marry me.”
I covered my snort behind my hand, needing a few seconds to collect myself after that insane backstory. “Yes!” I cried, reaching down to cup his cheeks. “I don’t care what my daddy says. Just because you can’t get a job, have no money, and have been to rehab twice . . . it does not make you a loser. Besides, everyone knows the third time’s the charm. I love you too, Buford, and I would be honored to make you husband number six.”
Bryce slipped the ugly ring on my finger and pulled me out of my chair, spinning me around in a circle as the patrons around us clapped hesitantly and offered awkward congratulations.
When he finally put me back on my feet and smiled down at me, I was giggling uncontrollably. “So what do you say, beauty? You ready for our next adventure?”
* * *
That night had been the start of the most incredible week of my life. Bryce and I had spent every waking hour together, a bond unlike any I’d had before growing between us.
By the end of that week, we’d crossed off every item on my bucket list, and with each passing day I’d found myself experiencing feelings for this man I’d never felt before.
There had been something about Bryce that drew me to him like a magnet. After those seven days, I’d no longer felt like he was a stranger, but someone special, an integral part of me. As crazy as it sounded, he’d become important to me.
I couldn’t put into words how he made me feel. The best way I could describe it was: this man I’d only just met made me feel safe. A voice in the back of my head had told me I could trust him. I couldn’t help but think back to what my father had told me about the first time he’d ever laid eyes on my mom.
“Love at first sight is real, sweet pea. It’s pure magic. I’m living proof. I looked across the street and saw your mom for the very first time, and just like that, I knew, she was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”
I truly believed connections like that existed, because what my parents had was very, very real. Up until the night they’d died, they’d been insanely in love. I’d never experienced anything close to what they’d had . . . until him.
It hadn’t started as love at first sight, but by the end of my trip, I couldn’t deny it any longer. I’d given him everything, all my secrets, my past, my pain. I’d laid myself bare to him, wanting him to know the real me, because what I’d felt was something so intense it couldn’t be ignored. I’d been fascinated by him, enthralled, drawn to him in a way I’d never been drawn to anyone before.
And it
had been the same for him. Or at least that was what he’d told me.
Like I said, it had been a whirlwind fairy tale. Only, I didn’t get the happily ever after that was supposed to come with it. Instead, I got a broken heart that never properly healed.
There hadn’t been a day that had passed where I didn’t think of Bryce, no matter how hard I tried to purge him from my mind.
I’d been a stupid, naïve girl back then, and I’d spent the next ten years building a fortress around my heart and emotions, only allowing a very few in who’d proved worthy of my loyalty. I’d made connections, but most of them were only surface, and I’d never let another man as close as I had let Bryce.
The girl I’d wanted to be after years and years of heartache, the one I thought I’d become for that week in Vegas, was long gone.
I was content with the life I’d built for myself. I didn’t need another connection like the one I’d felt with him.
I told myself he’d done me a favor, that I was better off without the likes of Bryce Dixon, and I had no desire to ever lay eyes on him.
So imagine my surprise when we crossed paths in the most unlikely place.
Chapter One
Tessa
Moving to this new small town from Houston, Texas, where I’d lived all my life, was a complete culture shock. I was so used to the hustle and bustle, to flat landscapes and tons of concrete, that the kind of beauty here stole my breath.
You could stand anywhere, turn in a full circle, and see trees and mountains and blue skies in every direction. Tucked into all of that sat a picture perfect town called Hope Valley. A place that looked like it belonged on every single postcard ever printed.
The name was fitting, considering that was what I felt the first time I drove through. Hope. Hope that I could finally start making a difference. Hope that I could shake off the shackles of the down-trodden, jaded woman I’d become.
All I’d ever wanted to do was help children who’d grown up like me. When I’d finally completed my master’s degree in social work, I’d been naïve and idealistic. I’d thought I could save everyone. But bureaucracy and red tape tied my hands behind my back over and over again, and I’d started to feel like a failure.
I saw how the system failed the innocents who needed it the most, and as the years passed, my heart broke into pieces.
However, things were changing. By either pure happenstance or fate intervening, I was grateful for whatever had caused this new position to be dropped in my lap. After two phone interviews with the founders, I was offered a position as director of Hope House, a group home for children set up by a big-hearted couple who wanted the same thing I did: to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves.
Taking the job had been a no-brainer, and within two weeks I’d packed up my entire life and made the trek from Texas to Virginia without a single regret.
Today I was meeting with a woman named Rory Paulson, and I was excited to start this next chapter.
There was only one problem. My meeting was in less than ten minutes, and I didn’t have a clue where I was.
When I’d looked up directions to a bar called The Tap Room, the GPS on my phone said it was only a short walk from Valley Inn where I was staying. I’d decided to kill two birds with one stone and get in a little cardio while taking in a few of the sites in my new town, but somewhere along the way, I’d taken a wrong turn and was lost.
A frigid wind had kicked up, making my cheeks feel like they were being pricked with a thousand tiny needles. I wasn’t used to weather like this. Where I’d come from, there were only two seasons: hot and slightly cold, and the cold only lasted a handful of days.
It was only September, but I was already chilled to the bone.
Stopping in the middle of the quiet sidewalk, I looked down at the map on my phone. “Damn it,” I cursed into the wind. “Where the hell am I?”
The sound of a door opening, followed by quick footsteps beating against the sidewalk, came from behind me. Before I had a chance to turn to make sure I wasn’t in someone’s way, a hand wrapped around my arm and whipped me around so fast my hair went flying.
“Tessa?”
I was suddenly thrust into the past. As the voice penetrated my senses, that familiar smoky tenor, I slowly tipped my head back and looked up into pale, wintery green eyes. Eyes I hadn’t seen in more than ten years. No. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. I’d worked my whole life to be a good person. Sure, there were times I fell short of the mark, just like everyone else, but karma couldn’t possibly be this cruel.
Right?
“Christ. It’s really you. I can’t believe it.”
I felt my eyes bulge out. My stomach sank to my feet, and I was sure I’d gone white as a ghost. It wasn’t possible. I blinked over and over, but every time I opened my eyes again, he was still standing there, looking even more gorgeous than he did in my memories.
Bryce took two steps, bringing him dangerously close, and his scent, something I could still recall from that one week we had together, mixed with the chilly air. A woodsy, citrus smell. That was enough to send my heart into a full gallop.
“Jesus, beauty.” Those eyes that had haunted me for so damn long looked me over from head to toe. “I can’t believe you’re standin’ in front of me right now. Are you here for me?”
That one question was all it took to snap me out of the fog that had flooded my brain. Of all the self-centered, thoughtless things to say, he’d chosen that.
Wrenching my arm from his hold, I narrowed my eyes until they threw fire. “Are you kidding me? Of course I’m not here for you.”
“Honey, I—”
“What the hell kind of question is that, anyway? You really think, after what you did, I’d actually try to track you down all these years later? Man!” I let out a bark of caustic laughter. “You really are full of yourself.”
His eyes shone bright with remorse, but all that did was fuel my rage. “I don’t know what you’re doing here, Bryce, or why you’re suddenly standing in front of me, but as far as I’m concerned, it’s just a very unlucky coincidence. One I hope to never repeat again.”
“Tessa, please. If you’ll just give me five minutes . . . I want to explain—”
“The time to explain passed a long time ago. Too little, ten years too late. Now it’s my turn to walk away from you.” With that, I spun around, my five-inch heels clacking against the ground as I picked up my pace.
It was only by the grace of God—because I certainly was too discombobulated to be paying attention—that I rounded the corner of the long building and spotted the large letters that spelled out The Tap Room across the street.
My hands shook, my breathing was choppy, and my mind felt like it had short-circuited, but as I stepped into the crosswalk, I gave myself a mental shake and a mumbled pep talk. “Shake it off, Tessa. So you just saw the man you stupidly fell in love with after more than a decade, so what? It’s just another day.”
Only, it wasn’t. There was no way this could possibly be like any other day. This was a freaking nightmare, and no matter how many times I pinched myself, I couldn’t seem to wake up.
I still felt that churning dread in my stomach as I pushed through the doors into the surprisingly large and welcoming bar. My tan heels, fitted ivory pencil skirt, and stylish camel-colored sweater were the perfect attire for a work meeting, but none of it—including the trench coat I had cinched closed against the chill—was suitable for the temperatures of my new home, so the warmth from the spacious building was more than welcome.
The bar wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t dead by any stretch of the imagination. From the number of people sitting at tables and on barstools, either this stunning town harbored a lot of day drinkers—which I didn’t believe to be the case—or they offered a decent lunch menu. Smart.
“Hi. You must be Tessa.”
My head swiveled toward the feminine voice, and I spotted a beautiful woman with a mass of long black hair
and a big smile moving from behind the bar toward me.
I returned her welcoming grin and closed the distance between us, meeting her halfway. “I am. I take it you’re Rory?”
She gave my hand a nice, firm shake. “The one and only. It’s so good to finally meet you in person. I can’t tell you how excited we are for you to join us at Hope House.” She waved to a table a few feet away, and I followed, taking a seat across from her. “Sorry about the location. I was hoping to meet up with you at the home today, but one of my waitresses called in sick, so I had to work her shift.”
“That’s quite all right.” I looked around the open space. “So this place is yours?”
“Yeah.” She lifted a hand to sweep her hair back from her shoulders, revealing a shirt that read Tapping Out is for Quitters. “The Tap Room’s been in my family for a really long time. I took it over from my parents a while back so they could retire, but when my husband and I decided to open Hope House, they came back to help take some of the load off my shoulders. It’s been a little crazy lately, what with the bar, the foundation, Hope House, and making sure our son doesn’t try to take over the world.”
“I can’t imagine,” I said with a chuckle. “I didn’t realize you and your husband had a son.”
Her face lit up. “Yeah, his name is Zach. The adoption was finalized last year, but we’ve thought of him as ours since the moment he came into our lives. It’s because of him we wanted to start Hope House. The foster home he was in was a complete nightmare.” The happiness on her face fell into a deep frown. “We found him one night eating out of the dumpster out back because his foster parents had been starving him as a form of punishment.”
My heart clenched and my sinuses began to burn. It took to the count of three to get my emotions under control, but even then, my voice sounded raw. “I wish I could say foster parents like that were a rarity. Unfortunately, there’s as much bad out there as there is good.”
The Second Time Around: a Hope Valley novel Page 2
