Following the directions on my map app, I drove through a very upscale neighborhood. “What kind of place did you get?”
“Someplace where we wouldn’t be bothered.” He grinned as the voice on my phone instructed me to turn into a driveway. “And I wanted it to be worth closing your shop. I’ll hide out, and you can enjoy a mini vacation.”
The driveway wound through trees before circling in front of a massive two-story house. Just before the house, the driveway branched off toward a garage.
I stopped and gazed up at the house through the windshield. “Garrett, this is huge.”
“It looks nice.”
“Wow. Yeah. Nice. We’ll go with that. I’ll get you unloaded here, then park in the garage, I guess.” After unbuckling my seat belt, I leaned over and clicked the button on his. “This definitely qualifies as a getaway.”
He climbed out of the car on his own as I yanked bags out of the backseat. “Sorry I can’t help you with those. I feel like a heel, letting you do all the work.”
“Not a big deal. They aren’t heavy.”
“I ordered some stuff earlier. It should be delivered sometime in the next hour.” Garrett stepped onto the porch, then dictated the code for me to punch into the key box.
I unlocked the door and pushed it open. Momentarily forgetting the bags, I walked inside in awe. On the other side of a large living room was a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows and a set of double doors that led out to a huge deck. I stepped outside. The house had been built onto a hill, and the view from here was breathtaking. Lights twinkled on the horizon. Down the hill and to the left and right, windows of large houses glowed. But even the view of those houses was obscured by trees. How could a house in the city feel so private?
Further down the deck was another set of double doors and close to them was a hot tub. Lounge chairs dotted the deck near there and on the other side was a table with a fire pit in the middle. Beside it was an outdoor sofa and chairs.
I whipped around and planted my hands on Garrett’s chest, which thankfully now had a shirt covering it. “Sorry. I didn’t realize you were behind me.”
“Do you like it, Tessa?”
Nodding, I smiled up at him. “I do. And if it didn’t cause you excruciating pain, I’d hug you.”
“Can I get a raincheck on that too?”
“Sure.” I followed him back inside. “Oh my stars! Look at the kitchen!” I loved to cook and bake, and this kitchen was a dream. “I’m definitely cooking this week.”
“Whatever you want. We can order more groceries tomorrow if needed.”
“I brought some with me. Speaking of which, I need to bring our stuff inside.” I rubbed his back. “This place is amazing.”
I rushed out to get the stuff, thinking about how fun it would be to call Delaney and gush about this place, but how would I explain being here? I needed to figure something out because as soon as Ava talked to Delaney, it wouldn’t be a secret that I was here with Garrett.
“Okay. I want to explore the rest of the house, but I really need to call Delaney. She’s probably worried, and then she’ll get Eli worried. That would be bad. I’m just going to tell them I’m with you.”
“I like the sound of that.” One side of his mouth twitched up.
“One week. It’s not like I’m pretending we’re a couple or anything. We—I mean you—rented this amazing house, and we are staying here for a few days.” I buried my face in my hands. “It totally sounds like we’re dating.”
“Not to me.” He eased himself down to the couch. “Go call Delaney.”
I pressed her name in my contacts as I stepped out to the porch.
Delaney answered after one ring. “Tessa! Hey. Let’s switch to video. I want to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Look where I am. It’s incredible.” I switched to video and showed her the view from the deck. “This is where I’m vacationing. Garrett rented a place on the edge of San Antonio, and I’m staying with him here.” I kept talking even though her jaw hung open. “I haven’t even walked through the entire house yet. There are like five bedrooms and a to-die-for kitchen. Did I mention the hot tub?”
“You and Garrett? Beau’s son?”
“Yeah. He’s a nice guy.” I kept the camera pointed out toward the view.
Delaney huffed. “I want to see your face.”
I switched the camera. “What?”
“You’re telling the truth. Why did I not know you were dating Garrett?” She sounded almost hurt.
“No one said anything about dating. We’re just spending a week together.”
She stared at me. “There is something you aren’t telling me. You have told me multiple times that you don’t date. And now you are spending a week with Garrett?”
“It’s just a week. I’m not dating him.” Just a week was going to be my new mantra.
“Put Garrett on the phone. I want to talk to him.”
“No!” I glanced back toward the house, making sure he was out of view. “You know Garrett?”
“Yes. He and Eli are friends.” She said it so matter-of-factly.
“Eli mentioned that. Not that you’d met Garrett. Just that they were friends.” I sat down on the outdoor sofa and pulled my jacket closed.
Delaney rolled her eyes. “I tried to get him to set you up with Garrett. But Eli said that ever since Mosquito Boy—”
“Skeeter.”
Her nose crinkled. “Was that his real name?”
“No, but I liked that better than Cornelius.” Seven years seemed like a lifetime ago.
“Anyway, Eli said you haven’t dated since that jerk cheated on you and called off the wedding. And for the record, Eli called him Mosquito Boy.”
“Yeah. Eli wasn’t a fan. And he was right. And, just so you know, Eli offered to set me up with Garrett if I changed my mind about dating.” I covered a yawn. “I should go. Garrett’s waiting on me.”
Eli just hadn’t used Garrett’s name. He offered to set me up with the guy from the doughnut shop, and the fact that I instantly knew who he’d meant only fueled Eli’s matchmaking attempt.
“I know you’re keeping secrets.” Delaney’s words sliced through my thoughts.
I chewed my lip, trying to figure out how to respond. “Please don’t ask me any questions. I’m okay, and I’ll be home in a week.”
Delaney stared at the screen, then after a couple of heartbeats, she nodded. “Keep in touch, please. And I’m so glad you finally took a vacation. You work too much.”
“All right. Bye.” I ended the call before she changed her mind about grilling me.
Why did she have to bring up Skeeter? Now I’d be comparing Garrett to the toad all week, and I knew how that scorecard would look. Even all beat up, Garrett was better looking. But I’d also be remembering what Skeeter said. Maybe remembering wasn’t such a bad thing.
I trudged back inside. “Want to tour the rest of the house?”
“Yeah. At least this floor.” He glanced at the stairs. “I might save the stairs for tomorrow.”
We walked into the master bedroom, the room with doors that opened to the patio and hot tub. I’d never seen a bed as large as the one dominating this room. “What kind of bed is that? It’s huge.”
“The write-up mentioned that one master had an Alaskan King, and the other master on this floor had a Texas King. I guess those are bigger than regular king-sized beds.” He walked into the bathroom. “It has a walk-in shower. That’s good.”
“The other master must be over here across the hall.” I stepped into the other room, which was equally as large and had a balcony on the side of the house. I sat on the bed, bouncing a little. This place was nicer than any place I’d ever stayed.
Garrett poked his head into the room. “Someone knocked. They’ll need to see your ID because I ordered wine.”
I hurried to the door, digging my ID out of my bag. “Hi.”
The delivery guy held up an armload of bags. “Should I put these on the counter?”
“Please.” I moved out of the way as he carried in the haul.
After putting the bags down, he checked my ID. “Thank you, Miss Best. I hope you and your boyfriend have a nice night.”
I whipped around to see Garrett leaning against the far wall in the living room. “He’s not my boyfriend.”
“If you say so.” The delivery guy looked from me to Garrett, then shrugged before slipping out the door.
It closed with a bang.
“What did you order? And there is no way I’m letting you have wine. It doesn’t mix well with pain meds.” I unloaded the bags and breathed in deep when I felt Garrett walk up behind me.
“The wine was for you. I hope you like what I bought. And I’m sorry, Tessa. You’ll probably never see him again. It doesn’t matter what he thinks.” Garrett leaned around to look me in the face. “I know we aren’t dating, and you know we aren’t dating. That’s all that matters.”
“Right.” I went back to unloading. “I’ll get dinner started. Then we can figure out something to do.”
“We could make use of that huge television in the master bedroom and watch a movie.”
“Sounds good.”
Birds chirped, and I kept my eyes closed, content with my dream. Snuggled against a faceless person, I relaxed as his heart repeated a ker-thump. The warmth felt so real that I almost kicked off my blanket.
I needed to wake up. Garrett would need breakfast and more pain meds.
Before giving up my dream, I sighed, and my dream man responded by hugging me closer.
But when I opened my eyes, the heartbeat and the warmth didn’t go away.
“You fell asleep before the movie ended.” Garrett’s voice was soft and tender.
I sat up and rubbed sleep out of my eyes. “Sorry. After they stole that car, I just . . .” Then I glanced at the other side of the bed, where an entire four feet or more appeared untouched.
He chuckled. “That’s what they did through the whole movie—they stole cars.”
“I didn’t mean to cuddle you. I hope I didn’t hurt you.” I crawled to the far edge of the bed. “You must be hungry.”
“Tessa.” Concern added an edge to his voice.
Shaking my head, I walked out to the living room. I could put distance between us, but I couldn’t forget how good it felt to be snuggled against him. It wasn’t his tall, muscly build or those amazing blue eyes that had me thinking about him all the time. It was the way he said my name, the tender gestures from a man who tried to be strong even when he wasn’t, and his vulnerability.
But that vulnerability would go away when he’d healed and was no longer dependent on me for food and clean clothes. Even if it didn’t go away, there was no way I could be vulnerable in return.