Page 93 of Whisking It All

She laughed, turning her head to capture his bottom lip between her teeth. “Take me home and find out.”

Chapter 30

As his car crossed the town line into Aster Bay, Jamie reluctantly extricated his hand from Tessa’s, placing it firmly on the steering wheel so he wouldn’t be tempted to touch her again. She’d come on his fingers twice since they’d begun driving home and it still wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

She sighed beside him, and he glanced her way, feeling the melancholy of that sigh in every part of himself. She wriggled in her seat, setting her skirt to rights as she asked, “When do you want to tell him?”

No need to ask who the ‘him’ in question was. Ethan. The specter of her father—his best friend—took shape between them like a physical presence.

“I’ll call him this afternoon. I just need to check in with Anabel first and see if she needs anything. I don’t want to rush this conversation.”

“Let me know when you’re ready. I’ll come over and we can call him together.”

“No, Tess. This is one phone call I need to make myself.”

“He’s my father. You don’t think I should—”

“No,” Jamie said firmly. “He’s going to be angry, and you don’t deserve any of that anger. Let him vent it on me.”

Tessa rolled her eyes, an adorable smirk lifting one corner of her lips. “It’s not like you did this on your own. I’m the one who started banging my dad’s best friend.”

“It’s not the same,” he said. He stared out the windshield, avoiding her eyes, as he admitted the part that weighed the heaviest on him. “I lied to him. I should have told him about us that first day when you showed up in my restaurant.”

She scoffed. “Yeah, because that would have gone over well.”

“I’ve had so many opportunities to tell him, and I never did. Every time he asked about you, I could have told him what was going on, and I didn’t. There’s nothing Ethan values more than honesty and I betrayed his trust.” He glanced at her. “I need to be the one to tell him. After everything he’s done for me, I owe him that much.”

Her hand landed on his thigh, squeezing lightly. “Okay. And you’ll come find me when you’re done.”

He nodded, swallowing down the lump in his throat and hating when she pulled her hand away, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. They were too close to the town center now, too close to where they could be seen. And the last thing he needed was for anyone to see them together before he had a chance to tell Ethan himself.

Jamie steered the car into the driveway at Ethan’s house—somewhere along the line he’d started thinking of it as Tessa’s house—and the gravel crunched under his tires. He turned off the engine and sent Tessa a soft smile. “Back to reality,” he said.

She sighed that melancholy sigh again and he vowed to never give her a reason to make that sound again.

He retrieved her bag from his trunk, Tessa leaning one hip against his car and watching him with an attentiveness that made him want to push her up against the car and kiss her right there in the driveway.

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that—” he warned.

“Is that a threat? Or a promise?” she laughed, turning towards the house. She paused, her posture stiffening. “Is that Ethan’s truck?” she asked, gesturing to the back of the pickup visible along the side of the house.

Just then, the front door of the house flew open. Ethan stood in the open doorway, arms crossed over his chest and jaw tight.

Fuck. What happened?

“You’re home early,” Tessa said moving towards her father.

Jamie approached his friend where he stood like a statue on the porch. “What happened? Is Henry alright? Louise?” He set Tessa’s bag down and scanned Ethan’s eyes for some clue as to what had happened, but Ethan’s gaze was firmly fixed on Tessa. “Talk to me, man.”

Ethan’s eyes snapped to Jamie’s, fire flashing in his gaze for a fraction of a second before his fist collided with Jamie’s jaw with a sickening thwack. Jamie stumbled back, clutching his face. Blood rushed in his ears, dulling the sound of Tessa’s startled shriek. He’d never been punched before, at least not like that. He’d had schoolyard scuffles like any kid growing up, but he’d never been clocked by a grown man who threw the punch like he intended for Jamie to go down and stay down.

“What are you doing?” Tessa screamed at her father, her hands pulling at Jamie until he turned towards her.

She took his face in her hands tenderly, examining the throbbing place where Ethan’s fist had made contact, but Jamie never took his eyes off of Ethan’s, barely feeling Tessa’s touch.

“You know,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Yeah, I fucking know,” Ethan barked. “The whole goddamn world knows.” He took a step like he intended to punch Jamie again, but then thought better of it as his eyes focused on Tessa, her fingers still pressing lightly against Jamie’s rapidly swelling jawline. “You were supposed to be mentoring her, not giving people another reason to gossip about her. Now when you Google her name, the first thing that comes up is you asking if she’s wearing any—”

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