You Were Meant For Me Page 12

  “I’ll have you know, I give killer foot massages. And back rubs. I’m going to take care of you, Tess.” Sincerity shone in his eyes.

  Her throat went thick. “I’m not great at being taken care of. But for you, I’ll work on it.”

  Mitch brushed a soft, reverent kiss over her lips, making her hum. As he stroked a hand down her leg, she felt the stirrings of fresh arousal. “You know, those ankles aren’t the size of an elephant’s now.”

  She slanted him a look. “No, they are not. Why?”

  “Because I’m thinking you could probably get them over my shoulders.” At her arched brow, he grinned. “You did say you wanted a reenactment.”

  “I did say that.” She gave a long, luxurious stretch, loving the way his hungry gaze drank in her body. “Well, in the name of taking advantage as long as I can…”

  Chapter 12

  “Well, look who decided to show up.” From his chair at the poker table set up on his screened in porch, Judd jerked a thumb toward the house. “There’s beer and pizza.”

  Mitch saluted him and the rest of the gathered players before heading inside. He deposited his own six-pack in the fridge and grabbed one of the cold long-necks before loading up a paper plate with pizza from Speakeasy and carrying it back outside. He took the chair between Liam and Reuben Blanchard, who wore the dealer’s hat.

  “The prodigal son returns!” Liam crowed. “We were beginning to think you’d abandoned us.”

  Mitch so wasn’t about to address the fact that he hadn’t actually been to poker night since before his trip to Europe, so he’d take the ribbing as his due. “Yeah, yeah. It’s good to see y’all, too.” He twisted off the top and took a pull on his beer. “Cam’s got a City Council meeting. Ethan coming?”

  “On babysitting duty,” Darius Greeley announced. “We picked up a speeder with a rap sheet the length of my arm. County’s coming to pick him up, but they couldn’t get here until tomorrow, so somebody had to stick around the station. Ethan drew the short straw.”

  “Looks like it’s just us tonight, then. Let’s get this party started.” Reuben began to shuffle. “Where you been, Campbell?”

  “Busy.” Understatement of the century.

  The ex-SEAL cut Mitch a glance. “That got something to do with your pretty new roommate?” He said roommate in a tone of air quotes.

  Irritation prickled, but Mitch knew he couldn’t rise to the bait. “That setup was Grammy’s idea. You know nobody says no to her.”

  Judd picked up the cards he’d been dealt and studied them. “Seems to be working out. You’ve been spending an awful lot of time at home.”

  He’d have been there tonight if not for the fact that Norah had sweet-talked Tess into teaching her how to make the agnolotti. But this was good. He needed to reconnect with his pals and get at least a few things back to the status quo.

  “We’re working on a project for her dad. Repurposing the old Heirloom Home Furnishings factory.” Mitch relaxed a bit as he told them about the project and studied the flop against his own hand. He discarded two cards and took two more. “Plus, I’ve been catching up on everything that got put on hold during my vacation.”

  “Speaking of, you finally gonna tell us about that trip?” Liam asked.

  Reuben added the turn. “Yeah, you were gone almost a month. Where all did you go?”

  Mitch didn’t see the harm in talking about it now. “It was a blast. Rhett and I were in Paris for the conference for a week. Then we worked our way through Italy, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria before heading over to the UK.”

  “Oh, how was that? My wife is pushing me for a British vacation next summer. She’s obsessed with The Great British Bake Off and wants to do some kind of food tour of the region.” Darius changed out three of his cards. “Raise.”

  Mitch met the bet and tossed in a couple more chips. “It was good. We toured London extensively, the Lake District, Cambridge. Headed down to Wales, and up into Scotland.”

  “Yeah? Did you make it up to the Highlands?” Judd raised the bet again.

  Reuben turned over the river.

  “Yeah. It’s gorgeous.” Mitch studied his hand. Queen high flush. He could work with that. He adjusted his final bet and added some more chips to the pot. “Bunch of distilleries to tour. Loch Ness and all that.”

  “Any sightings of Nessie?” Liam teased.

  “No, but lots of old castles. The fact that so many of them have survived is amazing. Some have been restored to fully functioning estates for the tourists, so you can see how they used to live way back when. And there are plenty of dudes in kilts to make the ladies happy.”

  Liam grimaced. “I don’t want to encourage that. Riley might make me wear one.”

  Judd leaned back in his chair, eyes narrowed in consideration. “I don’t know. Seems like there might be something to be said for easy access.”

  “You are not wrong. I tried one on while I was there, just for the hell of it. It was surprisingly comfortable.”

  Everybody laid down their cards. Mitch scanned the hands. Looked like Darius was raking in the pot. Damn him.

  “Tess couldn’t talk you into buying it?” Judd asked.

  Mitch snorted, remembering that whole negotiation. “Oh, she tried, but—” He cut himself off with a curse.

  Judd dropped his chair back to all four legs and pointed at Liam. “Called it. Pay up.”

  Liam tossed a twenty across the table. “So you knew her before she got here.”

  “That’s low man. Pulling out interrogation tactics during poker.” Mitch scowled. “How did you know?”

  “Deduction, my dear Campbell. Autumn was admiring Tess’s necklace at the cookout, and Tess mentioned how it was a gift from a recent trip to Scotland. Add to that the fact that since you got home, you’ve looked like you lost your best friend. Yet as soon as she got to town, you lit up like the Fourth of July. Neither of you could stop looking at each other that night. Seriously, don’t either of you commit a crime. You can’t lie worth a damn. You and Tess Peyton are not just roommates.”

  It seemed pointless to deny. “Who else knows?”

  Judd went brows up. “Far as I know, just the people at this table.”

  “Keep it that way. We don’t want the family to know yet.”

  “Why is it a big deal for y’all to be involved?” Reuben asked, dealing the next hand. “You’re both single, consenting adults.”

  “It’s complicated.” And while it felt good for someone to finally know about them, he wasn’t about to be revealing Tess’s pregnancy to his poker buddies before they told anybody else.

  “Is it complicated because it’s a fling with a woman connected to your family or is it complicated because it’s serious?” Liam asked.

  Darius laughed. “Since when does Mitch ever do serious?”

  Mitch tugged his wallet out of his back pocket and fished out the proof of his intention to lay on the table. “Since now.”

  The four of them stared at the diamond ring glittering against the green felt.

  “Well, holy shit,” Judd murmured. “I didn’t call that.”

  “How long have you known this woman?” Reuben asked.

  “Long enough.”

  Judd studied him with those detective’s eyes that saw too much. “You sure about this?”

  “As sure as I’ve ever been of anything in my life.”

  He nodded. “Well all right then. Congratulations.”

  “Hang on to that. She hasn’t said yes yet. I’m still trying to work my way around to the best way of asking her.” He’d flubbed it after she’d told him about the baby, so he knew it was essential he get this right.

  “Let me get this straight.” Liam abandoned his cards to lean on the table. “You two aren’t telling your family that you’re involved and plan to just spring it on them with a ‘Hey, we’re engaged!’?”

  To Mitch’s mind, that seemed way better than leading off with, “Hey, we’re pregnant!”

>   “I’ve got a reputation with women. Nobody seems to be able to grasp the idea that I could actually be serious about one, and I’d just as soon start off with that fact crystal clear. So, yeah, right now, that’s the plan.”

  “Okay then,” Reuben said, turning the river. “Let’s talk proposal strategy.”

  “Hey! Come on inside.” Norah opened the door with a sweeping, warm welcome.

  Tess couldn’t quite figure out how she’d ended up here tonight, except that when Norah had asked her for a lesson in how to make agnolotti, she couldn’t think of a reason to say no. And, in truth, aside from Mitch, she’d felt pretty isolated since she got to Wishful. She missed having girlfriends. Not that she was at all sure if she could be girlfriends with Norah, but that was definitely her issue. Her father’s golden girl had been nothing but open and friendly since she arrived.

  In the kitchen, she set down the bag of supplies she’d brought and noticed a deep blue leather planner on the counter. “Is that the Chic Sparrow Pemberley?”

  Norah’s eyes took on the familiar gleam of a fellow planner addict. “It is! I just got it this year. I needed something new after planning the wedding and thought I’d try a traveler’s notebook. Are you a Chic Sparrow fan?”

  “I’ve been lusting after the new Outlander collection. I just love the leather, but I haven’t been able to settle on what size I want.”

  They fell into animated discussion of size options and features as Tess unloaded and spread out ingredients, walking Norah through the making of the pasta dough. She found she really liked this woman. Who else had she met recently who had the same favorite Etsy suppliers for custom planner accessories? Norah got it. And that just felt a little weird given her relationship with Tess’s dad.

  Wrapping the dough in plastic wrap, Tess popped it into the fridge. “This needs to chill at least thirty minutes, so we’ll get started on the filling. You can stuff it with all kinds of things. My favorite is actually portabella mushrooms with ricotta and herbs, but the chicken and spinach is Dad’s favorite, so that’s what I went with for dinner and for tonight. We’re going to need a six-quart pot and a skillet.”

  Norah pulled the requested pieces out. “You know, I’m really envious of your relationship with your dad.”

  Tess stared at her. “You’re jealous of me?”

  “Yeah. Little bit. My dad’s nothing like yours. Trey is great at recognizing that everybody’s got their own interests and strengths and playing to that. My dad…” She shook her head. “I was raised with all this pressure that Burkes are meant to do great things. You get that. You’ve got a big family legacy, too.”

  Tess inclined her head in acknowledgment.

  “I absolutely took that edict to heart. But my dad’s expectations and the expectations I believed he had for me weren’t the same thing.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Dad had it in his head that I was going to follow in his footsteps and go to law school. The only acceptable deviation would have been med school to take after my mother. I did something entirely different that he’s never approved of. So I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to meet his expectations and failing.”

  “Then his expectations are bullshit. Look at what you’ve done here. You have absolutely proved yourself. You saved an entire freaking town.”

  “With a small army.”

  “Maybe so but my dad never talks about the army. Just you. Frankly, it feels like a lot to live up to.”

  Now Norah was the one staring. “Tess, do you think Trey’s comparing us?”

  The tone of absolute shock had Tess wishing she’d kept her mouth shut. She shrugged and braced herself, accepting that they were finally going to address the elephant in the room. “You cast a wide shadow, Wonder Woman.”

  Norah pressed her hands to the counter and seemed to work on gathering her thoughts. “Do you have any idea how much your dad talks about you? About how proud he is of all the things you’ve done? All the things you want to do? Do you have any idea what I’d give for my dad to just once acknowledge that I’m good at what I do and that he’s proud of me? Sure, Trey is impressed with what I’ve done, and I appreciate the hell out of that. But it’s not the same. There’s a part of me that’s still trying to live up to the family name. You’ve already lived up to yours.”

  Tess rocked back on her heels and absorbed that. She’d already lived up to the family name? If that were true, then exactly who was she trying to impress with all the backbreaking work? As she stood across from this woman she’d seen as a rival, she found she didn’t have an answer. She scooped a hand through her hair. “So I’m jealous of you, you’re jealous of me, and we’re both probably being ridiculous?”

  “It does rather look that way.”

  Tess couldn’t help but laugh at the absurdity of it. “Jesus. We really are a lot alike.”

  Norah grinned. “People do keep saying that. The fact is, Tess, we have a lot in common, and I’d really like to be friends.”

  Tess really, really wanted a friend. “I’d like that. Now give me that skillet.” Norah handed it over, and Tess added a pat of butter, setting it to melt. “So where is Cam tonight?”

  “He had a City Council meeting. Where’s Mitch?”

  “Poker night. I believe there was some discussion of handcuffs and hog-tying if he didn’t show up this week. Here, go ahead and clean off these mushrooms and give them a rough chop.”

  Norah peeled the plastic wrap off the package and began wiping down the mushrooms with a damp towel. “Judd and Liam take poker night very seriously. Cam only gets a pass because he’s got official city business.”

  Tess found herself curious about these guys Mitch was closest to. “They’ve been friends for a long time?”

  “Since grade school. They’re good guys.”

  “Judd is the detective, right? Married to Autumn? The pregnant one.”

  “Yeah, that’s them. There’s a love story for the ages.” Norah began chopping the mushrooms. “Those two were best friends from the time they were six. It took forever for them to get out of their own way and admit they were in love with each other, but once they got past that hurdle, they didn’t waste any time. Judd proposed and presented Autumn with a fully planned wedding on the same day.”

  “Seriously?” Tess added the diced onion to the skillet.

  “Seriously. As long as it took Cam and me to even set a date, I’ll admit to some jealousy there. I think Riley’s got some of that going on, too. She and Liam have been trying to plan their wedding around his brothers’ deployments.”

  She added the ground chicken to the pan with the onions. “What’s their story?”

  “Oh, that was fun to watch. As I understand it they were friends when they were younger. Riley’s best friends with Liam’s little sister, so I’m sure there was some kind of an off-limits vibe there. Anyway, when Liam got out of the Marines and came home and saw Riley for the first time in years, you’d have thought he got hit upside the head with a 2x4. Another little sister she was not.”

  Tess listened to the play-by-play, breaking up the chicken as it browned. Rock solid foundations that were years old. Both of them. This was what she and Mitch hadn’t had time to build.

  “Anyway, it all worked out all right in the end.”

  “Lucky them,” she murmured. “Pass the mushrooms.”

  “How are things going with you and Mitch?”

  Tess froze, the cutting board of mushrooms hovering over the skillet. “Why would you think anything’s going on between me and Mitch?”

  Norah’s mouth flexed as if she were trying to hold back a smile. “Well, I might have meant how are things going with you and Mitch and the project, but answering a question with a question to avoid answering makes me think there’s a you and Mitch and something else you might want to talk about.”

  Tess set the cutting board down before she dropped it, trying to fight back the panic. Everything was about to blow up in their faces. “Who
else knows?”

  “No one. I didn’t know. Not for sure until just now. You look like you’re about to keel over. Come sit down.” Norah nudged her onto a bar stool on the other side of the counter and brought over a glass of water. “I didn’t intend to upset you. You don’t have to talk about this if you don’t want to. It’s not my business or anyone else’s. But I’m here if you need an ear.”

  Would it be so bad to take Norah into her confidence? All the subterfuge was wearing thin. Tess knew Mitch wanted to tell people about them and was only staying silent in deference to her. The truth was going to come out sooner rather than later anyway, and her gut said she could trust her. Locking her fingers around the glass, she lifted her gaze to Norah’s. “We met before I ever came here.”

  Tess told her about Scotland. Between final instructions for the pasta, the whole story just spilled out, as if a dam had burst. The shock and elation at seeing him again. Worries about the complicated relationship between their families. She stopped shy of talking about the baby, but the rest was enough. By the end of it, she felt somehow lighter, as if she’d purged some of the stress she’d been carrying around.

  “Getting a second chance at things has been wonderful, but I haven’t had anybody to talk to about this.”

  Norah propped her chin in her hands. “So why not come clean about being involved?”

  “Seriously? You really think that’s going to go over well with the rest of the family?”

  “I get it. I really do. I was worried about what everyone would think about my being involved with Cam, so we kept it a secret for weeks, and when it came out, it was all this big non-issue.”

  Tess resisted an urge to press a hand to her belly. “Our situation isn’t the same.”

  “So what are y’all going to do? Keep living together as if you’re really just roommates until…what?” Norah asked.

  That wasn’t an option. Her pants were already starting to get a little tight in the waist. If she ever stopped throwing up and seriously put on weight, the baby bump would be a dead giveaway that things were not simply platonic between them.