Page 21 of Homebody (The Long Road Home #21)

Chapter Twenty

“ S o? Tell me everything,” Ruby demanded when Tessa walked into the hair salon the next morning.

“There isn’t that much to tell.”

Well, there was. What Dean had done, from involving the Veterans’ Affairs people to coordinating the food donations for the unhoused, was amazing. Well worth mentioning. But Tessa knew Ruby well enough to know that wasn’t the kind of report she was looking for.

Ruby wanted to know about the romance. And as to that, Tessa didn’t have much to report. She opened her mouth to say that when Ruby held up her hand.

“Wait. Is it good? Do I need to get Red over here first to hear it too? Or Susan?”

Tessa let out a snort. “No. No need for that.”

Ruby screwed up her mouth. “So you’re saying there’s no hot sex to report?”

Tessa’s eyes widened. “No. There’s not.” And if she’d had hot sex with Dean, she wouldn’t report it to her boss or Dean’s mother. That was for certain.

“That’s too bad.”

“Wait. You don’t think Susan expects me to have sex with Dean, do you? I was hired to keep Juniper away from him.”

“Girl, you are the smartest clueless woman I’ve ever met. Do you really think Susan hired you just to keep Dean and Juniper away from each other for these ten days?”

“Yes. That’s what she said.”

Ruby shook her head. “She’s hoping Dean falls for you.”

“What?”

“You’re genuinely nice. You’re hardworking. You’re smart… Well, book smart, at least. People smart, not so much. But after all the bad apples he’s dated, of course she wants the two of you to get serious. Hell, you’re exactly the kind of woman she wants him to settle down with. For good.”

Tessa felt off-kilter by that realization. “I—I didn’t know.”

Unfortunately for Susan, Tessa knew something about Dean his mother didn’t know. Dean was only fake dating her to keep Juniper away. Not because he really liked her.

Tessa swallowed hard and tried to wrap her head around this new information. The knowledge didn’t help the growing attraction, both physical and emotional, that she felt. That she was trying to squelch.

Ruby, done with the conversation apparently, glanced at the front of the shop. “Where’s that damn girl I hired to answer the phones and handle appointments? We’ve been open for ten minutes already.”

“I can do that until she gets here,” Tessa offered.

“Thanks. I’m going to grab a cup of coffee quick. Watch the front?”

“Sure thing.” That she could do. Pretending she was a receptionist would be easy compared to playing a seductress.

Faced for the first time with the responsibility of the reservation book at the front desk, Tessa decided she’d better familiarize herself with the system.

Completely engrossed in the reading, which seemed to happen to her whether it was a reservation book or the latest Journal of the American Medical Association, she barely registered that the front door of the shop had opened and closed.

“Tessa. Hi.”

The sound of a male voice—not Dean’s voice—saying her name yanked Tessa out of her own head.

Her eyes widened when she recognized Dean’s friend from the day before.

She wasn’t great at remembering people’s names when she met them, but she was very good at remembering what she’d read. And this man’s study had been a big part of her thesis research.

“Doctor Walsh,” she said on a breath.

He treated her to a crooked smile. “Liam, please.”

Giving in to his request, she nodded. “Liam. What are you doing here?”

He glanced around the salon, empty since it was a weekday morning just ten minutes after opening. “I was hoping I’d get lucky and be able to get a quick haircut without there being a line out the door. Turns out I’m doubly lucky today, since I found you here.”

She drew back. “Me?”

“Yes, you. I have a proposition for you.”

What the hell was going on? She’d gone months living here in Mudville without even a single man looking twice in her direction and now Dean and his friend were both interested in her?

Was this a case of fake it until you make it?

Was her pretending to be a sexy bad girl actually turning her into one?

If that were true, the subject might make an extremely interesting psychological study…

“I called Dean yesterday to ask for your phone number...” Liam began.

“You did?” She felt her cheeks heat.

“I’m not sure if you’re interested or not, but I’m really hoping you are…”

Oh, no. Was he about to ask her out? Of course she couldn’t say yes. Liam was Dean’s friend. Dean, the man she had a crush on. The man she’d be having sexual fantasies about for probably the rest of her life.

The man who was leaving very soon…

A smart woman would say yes to this handsome brilliant doctor. Apparently, she was not a smart woman.

Tessa opened her mouth to say no. Let him down gently. What words she’d use to do that, she had no clue, so she stood there with her mouth open for a beat too long.

Liam continued, filling the silence, “It’s only part-time. But I do have a budget for a lab assistant so I can pay you.”

It was only her hesitation as she crafted how best to say no to a date with Liam that had saved her from extreme embarrassment. Liam wasn’t asking her out at all. He was offering her a job. Perhaps her dream position. Or at least a steppingstone toward one.

“Yes!”

“You don’t want to know more about the duties? Or your schedule and pay rate?” he asked.

“I don’t care,” she burst out, heart racing at the prospect of this opportunity.

His dark brows lifted at her outburst.

“I mean, of course I care, but whatever it is, is fine. I’ll figure it out. I can make it work.” To study by the side of this doctor, actually help with his research, have a front row seat to history in the making, she’d do whatever she had to.

Liam smiled. “All right then. Let me get this haircut quick then maybe we can set a time to meet and talk. You could come tour the lab.”

“Yes!” She realized how loudly enthusiastic that had come out when Ruby glanced up, one brow cocked high. Tempering her excitement, she said, “Please. Thank you. I’d love that.”

He let out a chuckle. “Great. I’m glad we could connect. After Dean said he had no way to contact you, I got a little worried. Although, actually, between my girlfriend Natalie and her friends Harper and Red, I probably could have tracked you down through the Mudville rumor mill.”

She frowned as she absorbed all the information Liam had just casually spilled.

He had a girlfriend so, thank goodness, she hadn’t blurted out, Sorry, I can’t date you.

Which she totally would have done, all because she had a pointless crush on the man she was fake dating who was leaving in just days.

That could have been her greatest humiliation yet.

Especially since Liam was, amazingly, unbelievably, going to be her new boss.

But more importantly than that, the part that confused and fascinated her most, was what Liam had to say about Dean.

Dean had told him he didn’t have any way to contact her. Dean, who was the most recent text in her phone. Dean, who not only knew where she lived but had been there more than once just in the past week.

What had made Dean lie to his friend?

Granted, Tessa wasn’t the best at reading people.

She wasn’t great at people-ing in any respect, even after graduating at the top of her class with an undergrad degree in psychology.

It turned out dealing with the real people she met in real life was very different than understanding the theories written about people she read in books.

But even so, even given her lack of people skills, there was only one reason she could think of why Dean would lie to Liam about contacting her.

One word flashed through her brain.

Jealousy.

She loved a good psych theory, but what she was going to do with this particular theory, she had no idea.