Tessa noticed the empty space that had been cleared in the far corner of the room and got out her phone to tweet a reminder about the band who’d be playing tonight.
Normally, she’d hang around to help out or just enjoy the music, but tonight she’d be otherwise occupied. Occupied good and hard, if she had any say in it.
“What the hell are you blogging now?” Jam
ie snapped.
“It’s called tweeting. And it’s nothing to do with you.”
“Liar. So tell me how you supposedly saved my ass.” Tessa beamed up at him, which seemed to make Jamie nervous. “Tessa. What did you do?”
“I salvaged the deal.”
“What deal?”
“What deal do you think?”
His eyes widened by slow degrees. His jaw dropped.
“Exactly,” she drawled.
“There’s no way. Kendall wouldn’t even… No.”
Tessa shrugged with ill-concealed pride. “A two-year exclusive fulfillment deal just like we wanted. You can call me a miracle worker if you want. I won’t object.”
Instead of calling her anything at all, Jamie put his arms around her and lifted her off the ground.
She squealed and squirmed, trying to get her arms free so she could hug him back. But when he twirled her around, she just gave in and laughed.
“How the hell did you do it?” he asked when he finally set her down.
“I talked to Monica. I talked to Kendall. Gave him a little time to calm down.”
“And what about Eric?”
“Oh, I don’t think Roland Kendall’s going to say anything, do you?”
Jamie pulled a white towel off his shoulder and twisted it around one hand. Not a good sign. “It’s still not right, Tessa. Everybody else knows about this.”
“No,” she said flatly. “I did not do all this just so you could give your confession and get it off your chest. How is it going to help Eric to know about you and Monica? How will that help anyone? He’ll be pissed at you and Monica, number one. And he’ll be pissed at me and Kendall, too. Leave it alone.”
He wound the towel tighter.
“I’m serious!”
His eyes rose to meet hers, and Tessa was shocked at the hardness in them. “So am I.”
“No, Jamie. Not this time. Please. If you want to own up to your mistakes and make some sort of confession, do it the next time you screw up. Not this time.”
“The next time, huh?”
He was ruining the good news, and Tessa grew impatient. “Or don’t mess up again. Whatever you want. But this is not the time for getting it off your chest.”
“We’re not kids anymore, Tessa. And Eric isn’t our dad.”
She waved him off. “I don’t want to have this conversation right now. It’s over. Be happy.”
He held her gaze for what seemed like an eternity, stubbornness written all over his jaw, but finally he relented with a nod. “Fine. You’re a miracle worker. We’ll leave it at that.”