Marci gave a tight nod as Monty stood to full height behind Tessa’s chair, her expression and posture indecisive as she stared across the room.
She’d seen that particular look once before. In her very own bedroom. While Ashley had scrambled to cover her naked flesh.
But not Monty. She’d simply watched Marci. Waited. Almost expecting a specific outcome.
Thinking back, had she wanted Marci to have that reaction? Had she wanted a bloodshed conclusion? Had she wanted Marci to charge at her?
It was a question Marci wasn’t ready to ask. Might not ever be ready to ask. That night had been the end of her marriage. The end to the life as she had known it for so many years. Simply put, that night had been the end. And Monty was a part of that.
So no. She wasn’t ready to fist-bump or shake hands or even be her friend. But one fact remained. To be in Tessa’s life, if she would give Marci an undeserved second chance, Monty would be part of that world as well, and Marci was willing to figure out where they went from here.
Tessa adored her little sister. Loved her unconditionally. No matter her faults, no matter how her actions drove Tessa insane, she would always be blood bonded.
And Marci would have to accept that. Was ready to accept that.
Tessa turned to look up at her sister, but Monty never took her eyes off of Marci.
No doubt, Marci had left her no choice but to jump to the defense, to be on guard. She’d been a complete ass to Monty and Tessa. A ridiculous, non-trusting ass.
So much for first time impressions with her family.
She definitely had some amends to make.
But right now, Monty wasn’t her concern. Tessa was.
Her amends had to start there.
Tessa slowly turned and locked Marci in her gaze. A smile threatened her lips and her eyes softened. Marci’s breath hung in her chest while Tessa slowly pushed away from the table and stood. She was so beautiful with her tear-streaked face. Her eyes seemed greener than the last time she’d seen her.
Raw images flashed through her mind. On her knees in the pond house, working for Tessa’s forgiveness. Their time behind the waterfall. In her bed. Her insides clenched tight while the Rolodex of images spun faster.
And then Tessa’s expression morphed as if she suddenly remembered that she was mad at Marci. As if she finally recalled the fact that Marci had lost her mind and gone postal on her and her sister.
Yes. She’d done that. The embarrassment might forever haunt her.
Tessa’s lips thinned into an angry line, and she said something to Monty before she started across the room.
Marci wanted to lift her chin in confidence. Fact was, she wasn’t confident of anything anymore. She didn’t deserve to lift her chin. If anything, she should hang her head for being such a complete idiot. For being so bruised. For taking it out on Tessa. For not trusting a woman who had never given Marci a reason not to.
Instead, Marci stood her ground, kept her eyes focused on Tessa, determined to take the tongue-lashing. To take whatever Tessa dished out. And then to beg her, if needed.
Tessa came to a stop directly in front of her. “What do you want, Marci?”
“Can we talk?”
“Talk?” Tessa shoved her hands on her hips and tilted her head back. “Don’t you think it’s a little too late for that?”
It was all Marci could do not to pull Tessa forward and clamp their lips together. This little feisty woman had shown her that there was life on the other side of death. That her bright days could carry on no matter how dark they had been. That she wasn’t broken after all.
Now she felt whole again with all of her baggage left in Arizona. All she wanted was another chance to begin again. With Tessa.
“Is it?”
“Don’t you dare deflect. You don’t get to do that,” Tessa spat through clenched teeth. “You walked away like a coward.”
“I know.”
Being so close to Marci was too much when all Tessa really wanted to do was kiss her. She wanted to circle her arms around her neck and lock her legs around that waist, then ride her until an orgasm made her forget that Marci had been a complete immature asshole.
How could she want anything to do with Marci right now?
She’d hurt her, as hard as that was to admit. In only eight weeks, Marci had managed to get to her. To that soft part of her. To her heart. And then she’d walked away as if Tessa didn’t mean a damn thing to her.
Maybe because Tessa hadn’t voiced that fact. That she felt anything at all.
But she did feel something. Oh, how she’d felt. Too much, in fact. So why hadn’t she told Marci? Why hadn’t she been brave enough to just say she was having fun, that she liked her, maybe more than liked, and that she’d like to keep doing just that. If only that.
And now she was pissed. And angry. And she would be damned if Marci got to deflect from the root of this malfunction.
Marci stepped into her. “Tessa, I’m so sorry.”
Tessa angled her head. “Sorry for what, exactly?”
Marci tugged Tessa’s hands off her hips. “I’m sorry that I acted like a jerk. That I blamed your sister. That I left without saying good-bye.”
Tessa wanted to jerk her hands free of that soft embrace. No. That was a lie. She wanted that soft embrace all over her naked flesh. Inside her. Coaxing her to an orgasm. Oh, so bad.
Marci stepped even closer. “I’m sorry that it took me so long to find my closure. I’m sorry that the sight of your sister made me lose my cool. I’m sorry that I hurt you. More than everything, I’m sorry for that. I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.”
Tessa looked away. She hadn’t expected Marci’s apology to grab her heartstrings. She also hadn’t expected to believe every word she was saying. She was too mad for her words to reach that deep. But dammit, they did. They were reaching all the way down to that hard center and melting her reserve.
Fuck. She didn’t want to cave. Marci didn’t deserve that just yet.
She needed Marci to work a little harder. From her knees would be a perfect position to earn forgiveness.
Marci let go of one of her hands and tucked a finger beneath Tessa’s chin. She tilted Tessa’s face up.
“Is it too late, Tessa?”
Tessa studied those beautiful brown eyes. She wanted so badly to lie right now. She desperately wanted to tell Marci that it was all over. Whatever it had been, that it had been shut down.
Truth was, she was more desperate to see what the next phase of this life held for her. And she wanted to do that with Marci. By her side. In her world.
God, she wanted that more than she wanted this win. More than she wanted that future.
More than anything, she just wanted Marci.
“No.”
“Before I kiss you, I’ve been instructed to send you outside where Wendy and a gaggle of reporters and photographers and only God knows who else, are waiting for you.”
Tessa could only nod, wanting nothing more than that kiss.
Marci bent down and pressed their lips together.
Cheers erupted behind them.
Time seemed to stand still while Tessa snuggled into Marci’s arms.
Right. Marci just felt right. Like Tessa fit only in her grasp.
Excitement rolled through her as Marci tightened her grip and deepened the kiss, while everyone clapped behind her. This was her new beginning. And she couldn’t wait to see what this new life had to offer.
Marci pulled back and Tessa immediately missed the pressure of those lips. Butterflies erupted in her stomach. Love. She was so in love that it made her emotional.
And she could see that love reflecting in Marci’s eyes.
Dear Lord, she couldn’t wait to see where this love carried them. She couldn’t wait to explore this newfound thing. This thing that had such a hold on her that it frightened her as much as it excited her.
She just couldn’t wait to take that next step.
“Marci!” Seth yelled from the table. “It was you! It all completely makes sense now!”
Curious, Tessa turned around to find Sally and Danny huddled around Seth’s phone. Monty, however, was still standing in the same spot Tessa had left her, her expression blank, yet her shoulders were no longer stiff.
Who could blame her? She’d been the person who helped break up a marriage. Even if the fault didn’t rest with her, her part in the drama had been played.
That part Tessa couldn’t fix. What she could do was love them both until they figured out how to make up and move on.
“I’ll make things right with your sister,” Marci whispered and took Tessa’s hand. “Soon. I promise.”
Tessa looked up at her. “I’d like that. But not today. Let her worry for a minute longer. She deserves that much.”
Marci grinned.
“Holy mother of all things perfect, we get to stay!” Seth said.
“What is he rambling about?” Marci asked as she squeezed Tessa’s hand.
“We all get to stay!” Seth looked away from his phone and stabbed Tessa with wide, excited eyes. “Oh my God! We all got hired by the resort!” He started jumping up and down and was quickly joined by Sally and Danny. “We get to stay! We get to stay! We get to stay!”
Tessa pulled Marci with her and joined the trio. “Whatever are you talking about?”
Seth shoved his phone at her. “Hit the play button.”
Tessa did as instructed. Wendy appeared on the screen. Her hair was drifting around her head with the breeze, and the sun was shining bright. Cars passed her by and Tessa recognized that she was outside the restaurant. A reporter was standing beside her, microphone in hand.
“So, Miss Highland, tell me where this winning crew goes from here.”
“They go nowhere. They all stay right here, at this resort, which is what the contest was all about from the beginning. We needed to find a solid, proven crew that could handle the fundamentals of catering to an elite group of clients.”
“And when you say elite, who or what are you referring to?” the reporter asked.
“The rich and famous. Stars. Celebrities. Clients who simply want their privacy. Who don’t want the hassles of planning their vacations, who want someone to scale down the details and make their wishes reality, and are willing to pay a professional to handle everything and keep their identity secret.”
“Did you have such clients for this contest?” the reporter continued.
“No. These clients were just ordinary, everyday vacationers who signed up via the resort website to be part of this contest. Free of charge. From the party animals, to brides, we encouraged everyone to apply with a video of what kind of vacation they were looking for. My brother and I went through every video and picked out each client based on easy to plan, to hard to handle. These contestants had a complete mix of good and bad, and it was up to each crew to give the clients what they wanted. We were looking for someone who wasn’t afraid to go the extra mile.”
The reporter moved the mic back. “Because you were looking for a crew you could trust with the real agenda? The elite clients, as you called them.”
“That’s exactly what I was looking for. And I found them.”
Marci held her breath. Holy shit. That was her dream. Her plans. Her desire. The very one she’d tossed aside to be with Ashley. The very one Wendy had been hinting about this whole time. Asking her time and time again had she seen it yet.
How had she missed that? How had she not seen that everything happening around her, the crews, the clients, was parallel to the dream she had shared with Wendy? Right down to the nitty-gritty details. She was the only person Marci had ever shared the detailed information with before she got whisked away into fantasy land.
How the hell had she been so blind?
“And your resort is where this will all take place?”
“Absolutely. We’ve already escalated our building plans on the east side of the resort to include five brand new lodges. All private, non-connecting properties, all equipped with everything a mountain vacation should include, and each client will have their very own crew to see to their every need.”
“Sounds intriguing. Is there a possibility that a star, say a star like Lady Gaga, Ellen DeGeneres, or Angelina Jolie could be one of your elite clients vacationing at this resort in the near future?”
Wendy gave a shy grin and a shrug. “Who knows. Could be. But I’ll never tell.”
The reporter laughed. “Can you at least give me a hint?”
“I’ll just say that since the contest began, my inbox has grown with clients eager to get on that list. And now we have a top notch crew to put that company into motion and train more crews.”
“How are you going to take care of this amazing resort as well as a private company with so many clients?”
“Oh, it won’t be my burden to bear. That job, that new company, belongs to Marci Jones.”
Shocked, Tessa looked up at Marci and found an expression of pure disbelief.
“Marci gave us full control to select the clients and the contestants, and in return we got to piggyback off her dream with free advertisement. Win-win for everyone involved. All we had to do was use the resort as home base to find the perfect crew. And we gave them some really hard clients. Some very tough. And as you see, only the strong survived them all.”
“Tessa Dalton’s team?” the reporter asked.
Tessa threw her free hand over her mouth and Marci gave her a squeeze.
“Yes. Tessa’s team proved themselves weekly. And their finale was a phenomenal, miles outside the box, brilliant performance. What she did for her bride and groom took her to another level of planning. It was incredible, actually. We knew she and her team were the ones for the job when we saw what they had put together.” Wendy looked directly at the camera, and Marci knew that look was for her.
It said, “Do you see it now? Do you see what I’ve been doing for you?”
She had the best friend in the whole wide world. God knew she didn’t deserve her.
Marci mentally choked back her tears. Wendy had done that for her. She’d taken her notes, her detailed notes, and turned them all into reality, all while Marci moped and bitched and fell deeper into her own despair.
How ever was she going to repay such a carefree act of love?