Page 18 of Wait For You

Tessa’s hair was mussed, her cheeks still flushed, and her lips swollen. After we had untangled ourselves, she cursed because she forgot to bring a change of clothes. She was now wearing one of my sweatshirts, and I tried not to think about how much it gratified me to see her in something of mine.

I’d been hungry before I picked her up, and now I was downright ravenous. I finished chewing a bite of my curry.

“Tell me about your son.” I surprised myself with that, but my curiosity about her grew by leaps and bounds. I wanted to know all of the things about Tessa.

My prior lack of curiosity about her was shocking to me now. But maybe not. Maybe I just needed the right moment to bring my attention to her.

“His name is Eric.” Her eyes twinkled as she cast me a small smile. “Well, you probably knew that.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I did, but cut me some slack here. You know how it is when you’re younger. Four years was close to forever. I left for college and then went to Seattle before we moved our headquarters back to Alaska.”

Tessa shrugged. “We were. Just teasing. Eric is basically the center of my universe. He’s with me most of the time, except every other weekend.” I could see the shadows chasing through her gaze. “He’ll be with Rich until tomorrow.”

“What’s Eric like?” I prompted.

“He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s kind. He worries about me, and I wish he didn’t. There are days when I wish I had never gone on that first date with Rich. But then, as awful as things were with him and probably will be forever because we have a child together, I wouldn’t trade him for the world.”

Her words were solemn, spoken like a vow.

“Of course you wouldn’t.” I paused when she took a swallow of water. “I watch your weather forecast,” I blurted.

Her eyes lit up. “I love my job,” she said so fervently that it instantly curled my lips into a smile.

“You’re great at it. I’m sure the schools love your whole educational piece.”

She laughed softly. “That happened by accident when I attended job day at the elementary school in town where I used to teach. They had lots of questions, and we started answering them on air. It’s fun.” She cocked her head to the side. “I’m surprised you watch the weather.”

I held her gaze while heat fired inside. “I enjoy watching you do the weather report.”

“Are we seriously doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Asking each other about ourselves,” she clarified.

“Maybe we know each other already, but I want to know more about you.”

She eyed me, her gaze cautious but curious. “Okay. Tell me something about you that I wouldn’t already know.”

Chapter Eleven

Tessa

Adam sat across from me at his kitchen island, where he had just fucked me senseless. I was trying to ignore that hot little detail.

He was downright endearing in a way I didn’t expect. His hair was tousled, probably from me grabbing onto it when he gave me the first of two intense orgasms. He wore a faded T-shirt that clung lovingly to his broad shoulders and muscled chest. He took a swallow of water as he contemplated my request.

As he studied me, it struck me that, of course, I knew him. I’d been friends with McKenna since we were in elementary school. We’d both been born and raised here. Yet Adam’s observation was accurate. He’d been just far enough ahead of me in age that I didn’t know him beyond the surface. I knew the broad strokes of their family history and likely some extra details because of my close friendship with McKenna, but I didn’t know Adam. He was more like a friendly acquaintance.

“I love Steely Dan,” he offered.

“Oh, you do?”

“I love ’80s music in general,” he said somberly although there was a glint of humor in his gaze.

“Really?” I prompted.

“Really. Even before it got trendy again.”