Ryan and Tessa finally headed home in his truck after what felt like an incredibly long night.
He couldn’t remember the last time he and Tessa had danced together or laughed as much as they had that evening. But that was before James and Alexis had asked them to go on an actual date. Since then, things felt...different.
First, they’d politely endured the awkward interview with that reporter, Greg Halstead. Then they’d gone about the rest of the evening dancing and mingling with fellow club members and their guests. But there was a strange vibe between them. Obviously, Tessa felt it, too.
Why else would she be rambling on, as she often did when she was nervous.
Then again, lost in his own thoughts, he hadn’t been very good company. Ryan drummed his fingers on the steering wheel during an awkward moment of silence.
“This date...it isn’t going to make things weird between us, is it?” Tess asked finally, as if she’d been inside his head all along.
One of the hazards of a friendship with someone who knew him too well.
He forced a chuckle. “C’mon, Tess. We’ve been best buds too long to let a fake date shake us.” His eyes searched hers briefly before returning to the road. “Our friendship could withstand anything.”
Anything except getting romantically involved. Which is why they hadn’t and wouldn’t.
“Promise?” She seemed desperate for reassurance on the matter. Not surprising. A part of him needed it, too.
“On my life.” This time, there was no hesitation. There were a lot of things in this world he could do without. Tessa Noble’s friendship wasn’t one of them.
Tessa nodded, releasing an audible sigh of relief. She turned to look out the window at the beautiful ranches that marked the road home.
His emphatic statement seemed to alleviate the anxiety they’d both been feeling. Still, his thoughts kept returning to their date the following weekend. The contemplative look on Tess’s face, indicated that hers did, too.
He changed the subject, eager to talk about anything else. “What’s up with your girl bidding a hundred K she didn’t have?”
“I don’t know.” Tess seemed genuinely baffled by Gail’s behavior.
Tessa and Gail certainly weren’t as close as he and Tess were. But lately, at her mother’s urging, Tessa had tried to build stronger friendships with other women in town.
She and Gail had met when Tessa had used the woman’s fledgling grocery delivery business. They’d hit it off and started hanging out occasionally.
He understood why Tess liked Gail. She was bold and a little irreverent. All of the things that Tess was not. But Ryan hadn’t cared much for her. There was something about that woman he didn’t quite trust. But now wasn’t the time for I told you so’s. Tessa obviously felt badly enough about being the person who’d invited Gail to the charity auction.
“I knew she had a lightweight crush on Lloyd Richardson,” Tessa continued. “Who doesn’t? But I certainly didn’t think her capable of doing something this crazy and impulsive.”
“Seems there was a lot of that going around,” Ryan muttered under his breath.
“Speaking of that impulsiveness that seemed to be going around...” Tessa laughed, and Ryan chuckled, too.
He’d obviously uttered the words more to himself than to her. Still, she’d heard them, and they provided the perfect opening for what she’d been struggling to say all night.
“Thank you again for doing this, Rye. You made a very generous donation. And though you did the complete opposite of what I asked you to do—” they both laughed again “—I was a little...no, I was a lot nervous about going out with either Clem or Bo in such a high pressure situation, so thank you.”
“Anything for you, Tess Noble.” His voice was deep and warm. The emotion behind his words genuine. Something she knew from their history, not just as theory.
When they were in college, Ryan had climbed into his battered truck, and driven nearly two thousand miles to her campus in Sacramento after a particularly bad breakup with a guy who’d been an all-around dick. He’d dumped her for someone else a few days before Valentine’s Day, so Ryan made a point of taking her to the Valentine’s Day party. Then he kissed her in front of everyone—including her ex.
The kiss had taken her breath away. And left her wanting another taste ever since.
Tessa shook off the memory and focused on the here and now. Ryan had been uncharacteristically quiet during the ride home. He’d let her chatter on, offering a grunt of agreement or dissension here or there. Otherwise, he seemed deep in thought.
“And you’re sure I can’t pay you back at least some of what you bid on me?” Tessa asked as he slowed down before turning into the driveway of the Noble Spur, her family’s ranch. “Especially since you’re commandeering the planning of our date.”
“Oh, we’re still gonna use those tickets on the fifty-yard line, for sure,” he clarified. “And there’s no way I’m leaving Dallas without my favorite steak dinner. I’m just going to add some flourishes here and there. Nothing too fancy. But you’ll enjoy the night. I promise.” He winked.
Why did that small gesture send waves of electricity down her spine and make her acutely aware of her nipples prickling with heat beneath the jacket she’d put on to ward against the chilly night air?
“Well, thank you again,” she said as he shifted his tricked out Ford Super Duty F-350 Platinum into Park. Ryan was a simple guy who didn’t sweat the details—except when it came to his truck.
“You’re welcome.” Ryan lightly gripped her elbow when she reached for the door. “Allow me. Wouldn’t want you to ruin that fancy outfit of yours.”
He hopped out of the truck and came around to her side. He opened the door and took her hand.
It wasn’t the first time Ryan had helped her out of his vehicle. But something about this time felt different. There was something in his intense green eyes. Something he wouldn’t allow himself to say. Rare for a man who normally said just about anything that popped into his head.
When she stepped down onto the truck’s side rail, Ryan released her hand. He gripped her waist and lifted her to the ground in a single deft move.
Tessa gasped in surprise, bracing her hands on his strong shoulders. His eyes scanned her once more. As if he still couldn’t believe it was really her in the sexiest, most feminine item of clothing she’d ever owned.
Heat radiated off his large body, shielding her from the chilliness of the night air and making her aware of how little space there was between them.
For a moment, the vision of Ryan’s lips crashing down on hers as he pinned her body against the truck flashed through her brain. It wasn’t an unfamiliar image. But, given their positions and the way he was looking at her right now, it felt a little too real.
Tessa took short, shallow breaths, her chest heaving. She needed to get away from Ryan Bateman before she did something stupid. Like lift on to her toes and press a hot, wet kiss to those sensual lips.
She needed to get inside and go to her room. The proper place to have ridiculously inappropriate thoughts about her best friend. With her battery-operated boyfriend buried in the nightstand drawer on standby, just in case she needed to take the edge off.
But walking away was a difficult thing to do when his mouth was mere inches from hers. And she trembled with the desire to touch him. To taste his mouth again. To trace the ridge behind the fly of his black dress pants.
“Good night.” She tossed the words over her shoulder as she turned and headed toward the house as quickly as her feet would carry her in those high-heeled silver sandals.
“Tessa.” His unusually gruff voice stopped her dead in her tracks.
She didn’t turn back to look at him. Instead, she glanced just over her shoulder. A sign that he had her full attention, even if her eyes didn’t meet his. “Yes?”
“I’m calling an audible on our date this weekend.” Ryan invoked one of his favorite football terms.
“A last-minute change?” Tessa turned slightly, her curiosity piqued.
She’d planned the perfect weekend for Ryan Bateman. What could she possibly have missed?
“I’ll pick you up on Friday afternoon, around 3:00 p.m. Pack a bag for the weekend. And don’t forget that jumpsuit.”
“We’re spending the entire weekend in Dallas?” She turned to face him fully, stunned by the hungry look on his face. When he nodded his confirmation, Tessa focused on slowing her breath as she watched the cloud her warm breath made in the air. “Why? And since when do you care what I wear?”
“Because I promised Alexis I’d make this date a big, grand gesture that would keep the reporter preoccupied and off the topic of our missing bachelor and his hundred-thousand-dollar bidder.” His words were matter of fact, signaling none of the raw, primal heat she’d seen in his eyes a moment ago.
He shut the passenger door and walked around to the driver’s side. “It doesn’t have to be that same outfit. It’s just that you looked mighty pretty tonight. Neither of us gets much of a chance to dress up. Thought it’d be nice if we took advantage of this weekend to do that.” He shrugged, as if it were the most normal request in the world.
This coming from a man who’d once stripped out of his tuxedo in the car on the way home from a mutual friend’s out-of-town wedding. He’d insisted he couldn’t stand to be in that tuxedo a moment longer.
“Fine.” Tessa shrugged, too. If it was no big deal to Ryan, then it was no big deal to her either. “I’ll pack a couple of dresses and skirts. Maybe I’ll wear the dress I’d originally picked out for tonight. Before I volunteered to be in the auction.”
After all that waxing, she should show her baby smooth legs off every chance she got. Who knew when she’d put herself through that kind of torture again?
“Sounds like you got some packing to do.” A restrained smirk lit Ryan’s eyes. He nodded toward the house. “Better get inside before you freeze out here.”
“’Night, Ryan.” Tessa turned up the path to the house, without waiting for his response, and let herself in, closing the door behind her. The slam of the heavy truck door, followed by the crunch of gravel, indicated that Ryan was turning his vehicle around in the drive and heading home to the Bateman Ranch next door.
Tessa released a long sigh, her back pressed to the door.
She’d just agreed to spend the weekend in Dallas with her best friend. Seventy-two hours of pretending she didn’t secretly lust after Ryan Bateman. Several of which would be documented by a reporter known for going after gossip.
Piece of cake. Piece of pie.