Teresa Southwick - An Unexpected Partnership

Tears stung her eyes but she managed, just barely, to hold them back. “I’m fine.”

He moved closer, stopping right in front of her. The man was like a mountain. Hence his nickname, “The Wall.”

“Are you really?”

“I have to be.” She looked up and met his gaze, trying to pretend her heart wasn’t pounding too hard, and if it was, that it had nothing whatsoever to do with him standing so near. “Okay, thanks for coming. You can go now.”

She turned her back on him and resolutely walked to the door and opened it. “Goodbye, Leo.”

He hesitated a moment, then nodded and joined her at the exit. “Good night. I know how much you’ll miss him. I’m very sorry for your loss.”

His voice was so gentle, soft and sincere, yet somehow it popped the bubble of strength around her. She just couldn’t keep it up any longer. Moisture blurred her eyes, and big, fat tears rolled down her face. Then the sobbing started, deep, wrenching cries that broke loose from inside her. She covered her face with her hands. If there was anyone she didn’t want to see her like this, it was Leo Wallace.

“Tess?”

She couldn’t answer, not even to tell him to go away and leave her alone. A moment later she heard the door close and the dead bolt click. Then she felt strong arms come around her and she was folded against his body. He made shushing noises, patted her back and mumbled nonsense about everything being okay.

Tess would never be sure when the closeness stopped being about comfort and turned into awareness . There was a reason women were drawn to him and right this moment Tess didn’t have the reserves of strength to pretend she was different. No matter how ill-advised it might be.

The good news was that she had stopped crying. The bad was that she looked at him and their gazes locked, and suddenly it was hard to breathe. One moment they were staring at each other, the next he was kissing her. And she was kissing him back!

She opened her mouth and he didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation. Their tongues dueled and breathing escalated. He threaded his fingers into her hair as their bodies strained even closer. She could feel that he wanted her and she wanted him, too.

“Leo...” There was no mistaking the pleading in her voice.

“Are you sure?” His eyes darkened with intensity as he searched her gaze. “Maybe this isn’t—”

“Don’t say it.”

Right this second she didn’t feel sad or lonely and holding on to that bubble of painlessness was vital. For as long as it lasted, she wanted passion to cancel out the grief. She didn’t want to think about anything but this. She tugged him closer to the booth and her butt bumped up against the table. Leo lifted her onto it but there was still a question in his eyes.

“Yes,” was the single word she said.

That was all he wanted to hear. As she leaned back onto the table, he slid the hem of her black dress up and hooked his fingers in the waistband of her panties. Quickly he slipped them down her thighs, over her knees, letting them fall down her legs until she kicked them off.

And then he was inside of her, filling her completely. There was no room for thinking; all she could do was feel and take what he offered. He moved slowly, thrusting in and out until she wrapped her legs around his hips to draw him in deeper. One more push and the knot of tension in her belly dissolved as pleasure roared through her. When her shuddering stopped, he thrust one more time and then went still, groaning with the power of his own release.

Tess lay there with her eyes closed. She could feel Leo standing between her legs, palms flat on the table. The only sound in the room was their mingled breathing slowly returning to normal. She didn’t want to move. She didn’t want to talk. She just wanted to hold on to the haze of pleasure and forgetfulness he’d given her.

“Tess?”

And the glow was gone. She opened her eyes and let him take her hands to help her sit up. He smoothed her dress over her thighs and bent to pick up her panties from the wooden floor.

He held them out. “I don’t know what to say.”

It was the first time she’d ever seen him less than cocky and self-assured. That was a surprise. “Just don’t say you’re sorry.”

“Should I be?”

“No.”

“Are you?” he asked. “Sorry about it?”

“It never happened.” She so didn’t want to talk about this. “You were never here. I don’t want to hear about it. We will never speak of this again. And I don’t want to ever hear anyone else talk about it. Is that clear?”

“With women nothing is ever clear,” he said.

“Then let me point out that I’m not crying anymore.” A vision of what she must look like flashed through her mind because she had ugly-cried. Snot and tears and sobs, oh my. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”

“At least you weren’t alone.”

“It would have been so much better if I was.” Oh, dear God, what had she done?

“So you do regret it.” His mouth pulled tight for a moment.

“No. It never happened .”

“Or do you regret that it was me?”

She didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Although he didn’t seem to extend that courtesy to the plethora of women he took up with and threw away like used tissues. Still, he’d been considerate enough to pay his respects to her grandfather. Pat had always told her to be nice to Leo. He’s not a bad guy. Tess could pull it together just this once. After all, there was nothing like hot, unexpected sex to take your mind off grief.

“Leo, it’s just that you and I are like oil and water.”

“A minute ago we mixed just fine,” he said, the cockiness back in all its glory.

“Nothing happened,” she reminded him. But heat crept into her cheeks and if there was a God in heaven, Leo couldn’t see it in the dim light. Suddenly she was exhausted and her eyes felt puffy and sore from crying. “If it’s all the same to you, I’d like to be alone.”

“Whatever you want.” For a second it looked as if he would say more, but then didn’t. He straightened his clothes and went to the front door, steps away. After opening it he said, “See you, Tess.”

“When hell freezes over,” she whispered, locking the dead bolt behind him.

* * *

Six weeks later Leo was surprised when Tess called and asked him to stop by the bar. Where “it” had never happened. He was on his way there now and very curious about what was on her mind. After the night of Pat’s funeral, he’d avoided The Pub, respecting Tess’s wishes. But he missed the place, missed the older man who’d been more like a father to him than his own.

She wouldn’t talk about whatever it was on the phone but he figured she wanted to discuss investing in her business. Not long before he died, Pat had told him it was in trouble and the best hope of saving it for Tess was to take on a partner. He’d heard what she said when he left after the memorial and figured hell must have frozen over. Her call came out of the blue and the only reason she would speak to him was finances.

He pulled his car into the nearly empty lot outside The Pub. The only other vehicle was a small, fuel-efficient one that had a few years on it. Probably Tess’s. Anticipation hummed through him and adrenaline started to flow. Not unlike the way he used to feel before a hockey game.

After parking, he turned off the car and exited. “Let’s see what the lady has to say.”

He walked to the door, where the Closed sign was displayed. Peeking inside, he saw Tess behind the old-fashioned wooden bar with a brass foot rail. She was wiping everything down.

Leo would have to be a moron to miss the fact that she didn’t like him very much. Other than his ex-wife, who was a lying bitch, Tess was the only woman who’d given him the cold shoulder. Maybe he couldn’t get her off his mind because she was a challenge. Without hockey to consume his competitive nature, he was channeling it to her.