Page 20 of Homebody (The Long Road Home #21)
Chapter Nineteen
T he fact his head brushed the roof of the insufficiently sized car didn’t bother Dean as much as usual this time as he sat, completely distracted in the driver’s seat behind the wheel of his mother’s hybrid vehicle.
His focus was still completely on Tessa, even now after she’d disappeared into the side door of the pink Victorian and into her apartment.
They’d had a moment. He was sure of it. It had felt like…something. One of those instances where the slightest move on either of their parts would have led to an entirely different outcome.
If only he’d leaned in, as he’d wanted to while he waited for her to make the move first. The look in her eyes as her gaze met his then dropped to his lips gave the impression she wanted more. As much as he did.
Or maybe he was completely off base because right after that supposed moment she’d sprinted away, fleeing, making her escape so fast he’d have thought the car was on fire.
Odd, perplexing for sure, but not enough to spoil what had otherwise been a near perfect day.
Seeing her joy over the good they’d done today had raised his spirits to a level he hadn’t felt in a long time.
Come to think of it, he’d been in a really good mood for the past couple of days and the only thing he could attribute that to was Tessa.
She wasn’t perfect, but it was her quirks and short-comings that made him like her even more.
He knew one thing for sure—the woman needed better living room furniture. Right now, that was the only complaint he could come up with about her. And that was something easily remedied.
In fact, he could take care of that minor problem.
He started the engine as he considered a possible plan. It involved borrowing a trailer and the old sofa in his parents’ basement that his mother had been complaining about needing to get rid of.
He could picture Tessa’s surprise when she saw it. Even if it wasn’t new, it wasn’t bad and it was a huge step up from the plastic chair she had now.
Dean paused with his hand on the gear shift to glance one more time at the house. His gaze settled on the covered porch that sheltered the door to her apartment.
The landlord—he doubted it was Tessa given her lack of interior furnishings—had added a small table and two chairs to that porch.
An image flashed through his mind. Seated in one chair was Tessa, her hair tousled from spending the night with him in her bed.
The warmth of the morning sun bouncing off the highlights in her hair.
The scent of the flowers planted nearby filling the air.
Him, seated opposite her with a mug of hot aromatic coffee in one hand.
Did she drink coffee or tea? He wasn’t sure, but he knew he wanted to know.
That image, on top of how tempting the idea of waking up next to Tessa would be, hit him hard. It cut sharply through the haze of his daydream imaginings until it was clear to him.
He couldn’t have her. Couldn’t be with her. Not like that.
A one or two-night stand was one thing. Sleepovers followed by breakfast and learning each other’s likes and habits was another thing altogether. That was a relationship.
He didn’t do relationships. Not with women near base. Definitely not with a woman hundreds of miles away in another state.
His ten days on leave was coming quickly to an end. And afterward? He knew the answer to that even if he didn’t like it.
Long distance didn’t work. Just like how getting serious had never worked for him. His long line of exes was proof of that.
So this was it then. He’d see her over the remaining days of his leave, as a friend, if she had the time for him. Then it would be good-bye.
Maybe he’d come home and spend Christmas visiting his parents. He could easily run into her then. She might even still be single…
That slight flicker of a ridiculous hope crept into his brain. Uninvited. Unwelcome. Like early morning light slipping past the edge of bedroom curtains, slicing through the calm, quiet darkness of sleep.
His cell ringing startled him out of his ill-advised fantasies.
He wrestled the phone out of his pocket and glanced hopefully at the display. The outside chance that it was Tessa calling him to come back and join her inside was dashed when Liam’s name appeared on the screen.
Denying the level of disappointment he felt that it wasn’t her calling Dean hit the button for speaker phone before slipping the cell into the hands-free holder installed on the car’s console.
“Well hello there, Doctor Walsh. How may I help you today?”
“Way too formal a greeting for the friend who carried you back to your tent after a few too many beers at the Cantina in Djibouti.”
Rolling his eyes, Dean threw the car into gear as he said, “ Carried is a bit of an exaggeration, don’t you think?”
“Supported heavily, then. All the way to the latrines where you puked your guts up before I tucked you safely into your rack.”
“All right. Enough of this trip down memory lane. Is there another purpose for this call. Besides reminiscing about our Camp Lemonnier days gone by?”
“In fact there is. Can you give me Tessa’s phone number?”
It took Dean a few seconds, during which he couldn’t think, could barely breathe, before he stuttered, “Uh, um, what?”
“I have money in my budget for an assistant at the lab. I haven’t really taken the time to look for one.
I figured the chance of finding someone both interested and qualified who lived locally would be impossible.
And bringing someone in for just a few days a week from the University at Albany or farther is untenable.
But then you introduced me to Tessa. I’d love to talk to her about the position. I think she’d be a perfect fit.”
Yeah, Dean bet Liam would like to talk to Tessa about this position because she’d be a perfect fit.
Okay, maybe his good old friend hadn’t meant any of what he’d said to sound sexual but it sure as hell did sound that way to Dean. Maybe that was because he couldn’t stop himself from thinking of her in that way and of all the many ways he wanted her.
That realization made his stomach churn.
Useless fantasies did nothing but lead to frustration and unhappiness. Knowing that truth didn’t change the facts. Dean was leaving in just days. But Liam lived and worked in Mudville permanently. Nice and close to Tessa.
And that was Dean’s fault.
Dammit. If only when Liam had called Dean a couple of years ago he’d just ignored the call.
Or said he couldn’t help him with his property search for a location in upstate New York for his new lab.
But no. Instead Dean had talked up Mudville.
Convincing Liam he couldn’t find a better town to settle in.
This was all his own fault. He’d inflicted this misery on himself. Insured that Liam would be there conveniently close to Tessa while Dean was hundreds of miles away, if not farther.
Liam and Tessa. Working together. Two attractive people talking about brains all day.
Bonding over medical stuff Dean couldn’t even pronounce, never mind understand.
Like a secret language between the two of them for a conversation he couldn’t even pretend to participate in if he were there, which he wouldn’t be. Not for much longer.
The decision to take a course of action he wasn’t proud of became clear. He knew what he had to do. He couldn’t have Tessa, but he’d be damned if Liam got her.
“Nope. Sorry, man. Can’t help you there,” Dean lied smoothly.
“What do you mean?” Liam asked.
“I don’t have her phone number.”
“You don’t… aren’t you two friends?”
“More like acquaintances, really. Not the kind that exchange numbers.”
“Um… all right. Do you know her last name? Or where she lives or works so I can get in touch with her?”
“Sorry. I really don’t know.”
Liam’s silence seemed to ooze doubt.
Dean decided he needed some truth sprinkled in with a few more lies to shore up his fib.
“I met her at the bar, man. We talked about the homeless community a bit. I told her about the church food donation then and we agreed to meet up for that. Otherwise, I wouldn’t know how to get in touch with her.
But if I run into her again before I fly out next week, I’ll be sure to tell her you’re looking for her. ”
After a slight pause, Liam said, “Yeah, you do that.”
Was that sarcasm? Skepticism? Dean didn’t hang around to find out. “Gotta go. Later, bud.”
He punched the screen to disconnect then gripped the wheel tightly in both hands.
Liam and Tessa. Dammit!
As jealousy ate a hole in his gut and was beginning to make his palms sweat, Dean realized something. He was definitely in trouble when it came to his feelings about Tessa.