Need You Tonight (11 page)

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“Didn’t your lawyer tell you that anything that made you appear settled and stable
would help your case?”

Kade crossed his arms, wary. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“Tessa is attractive.” He raised one finger as if counting off something. “And she
is in charge of a charity for kids. Why did she get divorced?”

“Doug cheated.”

Gib pointed at him as if he’d gotten an answer right on a game show. “Ha! Perfect.
A victim on top of all of that. And you who rarely publicly dates anyone anymore already
has them chomping at the bit. You couldn’t paint it better. The media would . . .
Eat. That. Shit. Up. The Time Share Bachelor reconnects with his old love. Golden.”

“Gib . . .” Kade warned, the threads of what Gib was spewing starting to weave together
in a recognizable pattern. The PR person in Gibson was at full throttle and zooming
down a dangerous road.

“What? I’m serious. You want more than clandestine sex with Tessa. Don’t fucking pretend
you don’t. I know you. So why not use that while you can? What better way to convince
the court and your ex than to have proof in the damn newspaper? Then after the case,
whatever happens, happens.”

He gave his brother a look that he hoped conveyed the level of his contempt for the
idea. “Are you serious right now? You want me to use Tessa to
fake
a fucking relationship to win in court?”

“No,” he said, excitement still buoying his voice. “Don’t fake it. Have it. You want
to anyway. Just don’t do it in your normal behind closed doors style. Of course, keep
the kinky stuff out of the press if y’all go there, but bring her out to places, parade
her around a bit. They won’t be able to tie her to anything sordid. You can say you
left all that alternative lifestyle stuff in your past.”

“You’re insane.” But the crazy idea was sneaking into the crevices of Kade’s mind
and infiltrating his thoughts. Yes, he wanted Tessa. Long-term? He had no idea. He
didn’t know if she would even be open to his lifestyle. Plus, his track record with
long-term since his marriage sucked. Gib hadn’t been off base on what he’d said about
Kade’s history. He could think a woman was the best thing in the world, believe that
he wanted something more with her. But the minute she said she loved him or wanted
something serious, it was like all his interest deflated. He’d feel smothered and
trapped and would already be fast-forwarding through the familiar life cycle in his
mind: marriage, kids, disillusionment, hate, divorce. Just the thought of going through
that again would send him into panic mode. He’d shut the relationship down before
the girl knew what had happened.

But regardless of his pattern, he knew he needed Tessa for longer than a few nights.
And there was
nothing
in life he wanted more than to be able to see his daughter again for more than a
few supervised hours a month. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do to make that happen.
And Gibson was right about the press. Tessa was built to be a media darling. Beautiful,
charitable, a survivor of an awful childhood and recovering from a bad marriage. Plus,
it wouldn’t look rushed because they’d known each other as teens.

Gibson nodded while he watched Kade. “See,
see
, I’m starting to make sense, right?”

“I would never admit to that. But even if you were, you’re railroading way ahead.
I barely got Tessa to agree to see me a second time. She doesn’t want anything to
do with a relationship. And when she finds out who I really am . . . I don’t know
how she’s going to react to that.”

Gib gave him a
come-on-now
look. “Dude, you’re Kade-fucking-Vandergriff now, not that kid she used to know.
Women at The Ranch fall over themselves trying to get you to look their way. Change
her mind. Woo her.”

“Did you seriously just advise me to
woo
? Is that your professional PR opinion or your brotherly one?”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Kade groaned and ran a hand over his face. “I can’t do that. I don’t want to hurt
her, man. She’s been through enough. I know I’m interested in her right now, but I
can’t give any guarantees. You know how I am.”

Gibson shrugged. “She let you fall in love with her all those years ago and bailed.
Turnabout’s fair play as far as I see it. And unless she never plans to date again,
it’s not like she’s going to be safe from heartbreak. It’s part of the deal. You’re
going in with good intentions. That’s all anyone can ask.”

“Look, I appreciate your concern, but I’m not looking for relationship
or
legal advice. All I came here for was to ask you to treat Tessa well as an employee
and not to bring the past into it.”

Gibson lifted his hands palms out, determination still hovering at the edges of his
expression. “You know I’m here for whatever you need. And of course I’ll treat her
professionally. Well, unless at any point you ask me not to.”

Kade bristled. His brother knew he had a penchant for threesomes, and he could imagine
Tessa going out of her mind under the overwhelming attention of two determined men.
But he’d promised Tess the personal stuff wouldn’t muddy the work stuff. She needed
to know her boss was only her boss. His protective instincts rose up like a beast
inside him. “Don’t go there. Don’t even flirt.”

Gibson grinned wide, making him look like the incorrigible teenager he used to be.
“Oh, you’ve got it bad. Fine. I’ll look and not touch. You’re the worst boss ever,
by the way. But don’t shoot down my idea about the public relationship yet. Give it
some thought. If you’re going to try to be with her anyway, what’s the harm?”

Kade let out a frustrated breath. His brother could annoy the shit out of him and
this idea was nutso, but he knew Gib was well-intentioned. He knew how heartbreaking
it was for Kade to be reduced to cameo appearances in his daughter’s life. He grabbed
his keys. “Fine, I’ll think about it, but right now I need to go. You gonna be in
the office on Monday?”

“Yep, I’ll be there with bells on. Apparently, I’ve got a new employee to train.”

Training.
Yes, that was on Kade’s agenda, too. Just not quite the same kind.

Hopefully, Tessa would be open to both of their lessons.

Because Kade was definitely ready to teach.

But first he was going to have to come clean and tell her who he was and hope to hell
she didn’t run in the opposite direction.

Kaden Fowler, come on down.

TEN

Tessa had no idea what to wear on her date when she had no idea what said date involved.
What if she wore jeans and he showed up in a suit or she wore a dress and he wanted
to go hiking or something? But before she could deliberate much more, her cell buzzed.
She grabbed it from her dresser and read the text message.

Will be there in half an hour. Wear a casual dress or skirt and bring a sweater or
jacket. See you soon. -K

The message was simple and to the point, but her skin tingled with heat as if he’d
told her to show up naked. God, it wasn’t even fair how easily he affected her. It
was as if all her teenage hormones were reappearing after a decade-long nap. She wasn’t
the type to get swoony and fluttery over guys. Tessa had never had that sensation
around Doug. She’d cared for him and had enjoyed the attention he’d given her, but
he hadn’t made her stomach twist and dip.

But Kade could inspire that with one stupid text message. What had gotten into her?
She used to hate when Doug told her what to wear. Why was this any different? Maybe
her silly reaction was just the result of a lethal combination of Kade’s good looks
and a practiced charm that could melt the panties off any woman in a ten-mile radius.
He was
that
guy. The guy who could get any woman in his bed, but who never really showed anyone
what lay beneath all that flash and urbanity.

Normally, it’d be the guy she’d steer farthest away from, the heartbreaker. But in
this case, that type of man may be exactly what she needed. The perfect one-night
stand—or two-night stand as the case may be. She needed fun in her life, an adventure.
Like she’d told him that night at the restaurant. She wanted to use him and be used.
Maybe it wasn’t ladylike or proper to want that, but she was nothing if not intensely
practical. They both had needs the other could fill tonight.

As long as she kept that in perspective, she needn’t worry about the rest of it. She
slipped into a casual flowered dress and tossed a white cardigan over it, then went
into the bathroom to finish her makeup. After she was done, she locked up her little
rental house and sat on the porch swing to wait. The evening had a touch of coolness
to it but the breeze soothed her still feverish skin. Maybe by the time Kade arrived
she wouldn’t look like some blushing virgin waiting to go to the sock hop.

Her phone rang, lighting up the inner pocket of her purse. She pulled it out and groaned
when she saw the name blinking on the screen. The last thing she wanted to do was
answer, but she knew if she didn’t, he’d call all night and interrupt her date. She
lifted the phone to her ear. “Hello.”

“Where did you store my grandfather’s gold watch?” Doug barked, not bothering with
a greeting. “You didn’t take it, did you?”

She took a breath, forcing her teeth to unclench. “Hello, Doug, how are you? Yes,
this is a bad time actually. Thanks for asking.”

“Don’t be smart, Tessa. Just tell me where it is.”

“I have no idea. You never gave it to me. You showed it to me and then I didn’t see
it again.” She stood, the swing squeaking from her hasty dismount, and started to
pace the length of the porch. How had she tolerated this man for all those years?
How had she not seen how cruel and hateful he’d become? She didn’t want to think about
what that said about her.

“That’s crap. I know I gave it to you to put in storage,” Doug said, breaking her
from her morose thoughts.

“Doug,” she said, trying to keep her tone even as she continued to pace the warped,
wooden boards creaking beneath her feet. “I can’t deal with this right now. I have
a date and am about to walk out. Maybe check the lockbox in the guest bedroom downstairs.”

“I already—” But he didn’t finish the initial thought. “You have a
date
?”

She almost laughed at the incredulity in his voice. Half of her wanted to say—
Yes, with a ridiculously sexy man who made me come more times in one night than you
did for most of our marriage
. “Yes, last I checked, I was no longer married and free to do that.”

He sniffed. “Already on the prowl, huh? How much money does he have? Because I know
you’re not spreading your legs for some guy who can’t afford your Prada habit.”

“Go to hell.”

He cursed back at her, his voice getting louder as he gained steam, and now she could
hear the slight slur of alcohol lacing it. Fun. She’d learned early with Doug that
his asshole gene amplified when under the influence of his evening scotch. “Come on,
tell me. Millionaire? Billionaire? I know that’s what gets you wet. Not big cocks,
but big bank accounts.”

The ugly words made her want to gag. “You’re disgusting. Don’t you dare talk—”

But before she could finish her threat, the phone was plucked from her hand. She spun
around to find Kade. Anger shimmered off him like heat waves rising off the road.

“Kade, I—”

Kade held up a hand to halt her and put the phone to his ear, a murderous look in
his eyes. “Hello, Doug.”

Tessa could hear her ex-husband’s booming voice come through the phone with crystal
clarity in the quiet evening. “Who the fuck is this?”

She closed her eyes, dying of humiliation. The last thing she needed was for Kade
to get pulled into her ugly divorce shit. “Kade, please, don’t.”

But Kade gave her a stern I’ve-got-this look. “Doug, this is the guy who isn’t going
to allow you to disrespect Tessa. Do not call this number or bother her again. Talk
to her through her lawyer. And if you ever dare speak to her again the way you just
did or attempt to bully her, I will personally fly to wherever you are and shove your
tongue down your throat. Do we have an understanding?”

His tone was calm as water on a windless day, but the icy ferocity behind the words
rocked Tessa back on her heels. She braced herself for the explosion from Doug. No
one talked to him that way.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Doug shouted into the phone. “She’s my goddamned
wife.”

“No, she’s your
ex
-wife,” Kade reminded him, the utter stoicism in his voice probably driving Doug to
the brink.

“Oh, so you’re the date, huh?” Doug challenged, his snide tone obvious. “Hope your
bank account is big, friend, because that bitch only has one reason to
date
anyone.”

Tessa tried to reach for the phone, mortified at the exchange, but Kade stepped back.
Cold fury had settled in those blue eyes. “This conversation is over. Your communication
with Tessa is over. Contact her again, and you and I will have a problem.”

He laughed. “You think I’m afraid of you?”

Kade’s grim smile sent a chill through her. “You should be.”

With that, Kade ended the call and handed back her phone. She took it, trying to keep
hot tears at bay. Embarrassment was like a living, breathing entity holding her in
its claws. “Kade . . .”

“Get rid of this phone and number. I’ll get you a corporate-issued one tomorrow. You
don’t need him having access to you like that.” The words were clipped, the residual
anger from the call still clear in the tight set of his jaw and shoulders.

She stared down at the phone like it was a rattlesnake that had bitten her. “I’m so
sorry you had to hear that, that he—”

“Hey,” he said, closing the distance between them and sliding warm palms to her upper
arms. The hard edges of his expression softened and melted away as he looked down
at her. From ruthless to kind and considerate in two seconds flat. “No apologies for
things that aren’t your fault. I heard what he said to you. He’s an abusive asshole
who gets off by tearing you down. Don’t give him his thrills anymore. Cut him off.”

“He’s not going to stop calling. He’ll get the new number.”

“And you charge him with harassment if he does. He has no right to abuse you like
that.”

She blew out a breath. “It’s not really abuse. It’s just how he is. He’s angry about
what happened with the divorce. He thought I’d—”

“Tessa,” he said, cutting her off with that firm voice of his. “It’s
abuse
. He hits and cuts you with words for his own enjoyment. He tears you down and makes
you feel worthless. That can be more damaging than a punch. Believe me, I know.”

She stared up at him, seeing a flicker of old pain in his eyes. But she couldn’t quite
wrap her mind around the idea of Doug being abusive. She’d seen abuse. Before her
mom had disappeared for good, Tessa had watched her mom’s boyfriend knock her around.
She’d sworn she’d never let a man do that to her. She would not become her mother.
But here she was, feeling like shit over what some guy had said to her even when she
knew the accusations weren’t true.

“This is definitely not how I wanted our evening to start,” she said finally. “Now
you know why I wanted to keep things to one night. My life is messy.”

His hands coasted up her arms to cup her shoulders, his gaze capturing hers and holding
it. “You think I care about your asshole ex-husband?”

She looked away. “You don’t understand. Doug can cause lots of trouble when he wants
to. I’m glad you didn’t tell him your name. Finding ways to humiliate people who he
thinks have wronged him is a favorite pastime of his.”

Kade’s expression darkened for a moment, but as quickly as the shift was there, it
was gone. “Baby, I’m about as scared of him as I am of a yapping puppy.”

She pressed her lips together. He didn’t get it. She’d learned early to not cross
Doug. The man was like a dog with a bone when he perceived a slight by someone. He’d
do everything he could to take that person down a notch.

“Tell me what’s going through that head of yours.”

The gentleness in his voice and the heat of his palms against her face nearly unraveled
her. She swallowed back the emotion that wanted to show itself. “I came here to get
a fresh start. But every time I feel like I’m catching my stride, my past rears up
and bites me. God, those things he was saying on the phone . . . I can’t even imagine
what you think.”

Hope you have a big bank account.
Doug’s words to Kade rang in her head, and she wanted to fold in on herself. Kade
probably had gold diggers fawning after him all the time. Now she’d look like another
trying to cash in.

Kade didn’t say anything for a long time. But when she looked up, expecting to find
judgment on his face, she found determination there instead. “I
chose
to get involved. And what I think is that your ex is a piece of shit and a bully.”

“I’m not what he says I am,” she whispered, her throat tightening with the embarrassment
of it all—memory and a little guilt. Because part of her knew those gold-digging claims
weren’t entirely baseless. Sure, when she’d married Doug, she’d cared for him, maybe
even thought she loved him at some point. But when things started to go bad, she hadn’t
tried to leave. She’d put up with his jibes and coldness because it was too scary
to consider being on her own. She’d ignored the signs of deception—the way he never
wanted her in his home office, the late night calls, the password locked computer
and cell phone. If she had really looked, the clues that he was hiding something were
there.

But the routine of her life, the posh luxury of her days had blinded her. Seeing him
for what he was would’ve meant losing the only security she’d ever had, would’ve taken
her admitting that she was there for the money, that her life, her friends, and the
love she’d thought she’d found were a bedazzled pile of bullshit. So she’d refused
to see it. Convinced herself she was content. She’d drowned herself in her shallow
lifestyle. If she hadn’t caught him cheating, she’d probably still be wasting away
her days shopping and lunching with women who were fucking her husband behind her
back.

Thinking of that version of herself made her stomach roll and pitch.

“Baby, I know you’re not what he says you are. I’m the one chasing
you
down for another date, remember?” He smirked. “If you were a gold digger, you’d be
the worst one
ever
.”

She laughed, quickly swiping at her eyes. “Maybe I’m just an evil genius at playing
hard to get.”

“The truth comes out!”

She peered up at him. “So you still want to do this tonight?”

He hooked an arm around her waist and gathered her against him. “I’ve thought of little
else since last Friday night. Now I have a nice, warm car waiting for us. Are you
going to stop dawdling and get in with me, or am I going to have to throw you over
my shoulder, Neanderthal style?”

She lifted a brow and scanned over his perfectly pressed charcoal slacks and pale
pink shirt. Every inch of him screamed money and urbanity. “I’m not sure you could
pull off Neanderthal.”

“Mmm, that’s where you’re wrong, beautiful,” he said, cupping the back of her neck
and running his thumb along the hollow of her throat. “Don’t let the wrapping paper
fool you. My thoughts when I’m around you are about as caveman as it gets. In fact,
it’s taking everything I have not to strip you down right here and take you against
your front door until that wrinkle of worry in your forehead disappears and you can’t
even remember that phone call.”

A little gasp passed her lips, and her body went on high alert.

“So are you going to get in the car or do you need me to carry you?”

Her gaze darted to the darkened street and yellow porch lights. “Let’s not give the
neighbors anything to talk about.”

He slowly backed her into her door anyway. Her shoulders hit the wood and a shiver
radiated outward, tightening her nipples and awakening things much lower. He kissed
the curve of her neck, shielding her from the street with his body, and his hands
crept down over her backside, gathering her skirt in his fingers.

“Kade,” she whispered, teetering on the edge of letting him do whatever he wanted
even though anyone could step outside and see them.

“Shh, Tess. You wanted me to take control tonight. Let me.” He hiked her dress up
higher in the back, teasing the bottom edge of her panties with his fingertips. “Take
these off. You won’t need them.”