Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 104820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 524(@200wpm)___ 419(@250wpm)___ 349(@300wpm)
* * *
Forty-five minutes later, as Tessa stood nervously at the door of Howard and Betsy Davenport’s home, she recalled how different she’d felt the last time she was here. Then, she’d been Margaret’s caregiver and painting in secret. Now, she’d just had mind-blowing sex with the man of her dreams and shown him her paintings. He hadn’t belittled her or criticized her work. Quite the opposite—he’d been supportive and encouraging.
Everything was different now.
Arch smiled and squeezed her hand. “It’s going to be great,” he said, obviously sensing her trepidation. “My family already adore you. There’s nothing to worry about.”
He pushed open the door, and Tessa quickly dropped his hand and allowed herself to be welcomed in by Betsy. Buster pushed past her, tail wagging so hard that his entire body wagged along with it. He seemed as excited to see Tessa as he was to see Arch, rubbing his body against them and demanding as many pats and greetings as he could wrangle.
“Be careful, Buster,” Betsy admonished. “If you trip poor Arch and he breaks his other leg, you’ll really be in trouble.” But the dog gave a single woof, as if to say, I would never trip my human brother, and went back to being blissed out as Arch rubbed his head.
“So good to see you again, Tessa,” Betsy said warmly, and Tessa could feel that she really meant her kind words.
She marveled at how effortlessly glamorous Betsy looked in a blue linen shirt and jeans and was thankful that she had put together her own outfit carefully. It was thrifted, of course, but she knew that her shirt with the crocheted edges was a particularly rare find and worked well with an A-line cotton skirt she’d had for years.
“Everyone is in the kitchen,” Betsy said. “You’re the last to arrive as usual,” she said playfully, hugging Arch. “And you can’t even blame your crutches anymore.”
Arch grinned and said, “It’s Tessa’s fault this time, not mine. She put me through my paces with exercise this morning.”
Tessa froze. Didn’t he realize that his voice was laden with flirtatious undertones?
If his mom noticed, she didn’t let on. Tessa prayed that Betsy had no clue that they were anything but client and caregiver. But something told her his mom was way smarter than that…
“That’s her job,” Betsy said, then turned to Tessa. “And clearly you’re very good at it if Arch is already out of his cast.”
“Thank you for the compliment, but Arch is exactly the kind of client a caregiver dreams of.” Belatedly realizing how that might have sounded, she quickly added, “He always does his physical therapy exercises without complaining.”
With a smile, Betsy excused herself to fetch eggs from the pantry, and before they entered the noisy kitchen, Tessa pulled Arch aside. “You agreed to keep us private,” she whispered.
He frowned. “What did I do?”
“When you talked about me putting you through your paces this morning? You made it sound so… sexy.”
Arch grinned. “If that’s the case, then I’m not the only one, with you calling me the kind of client a caregiver dreams of.” Then he added, “Don’t worry, Mom didn’t cotton to our little sexercise.”
Tessa frowned this time. “I’m serious, Arch. Please respect my wishes to come across to your family as nothing more than your professional caregiver. It’s all I’m asking of you. Is it really too much?”
At that, Arch’s whole demeanour changed from teasing to serious, and he apologized immediately. “I won’t do that again. I promise. I am, after all, an actor. For example, I can pretend I don’t want to rip your pretty shirt open right now and taste your skin.” With that, he leaned in and gave her a quick kiss that sent her heart and body spinning like crazy, just like the night before. “Last kiss until we get back to my house after breakfast. Scout’s honor.”
With that, he opened the kitchen door, and they walked into the boisterous hubbub of a family gathering, where everyone was talking at once. Erin stopped slicing a melon and came to hug Tessa hello, and Mila waved as she paused in her job of making coffee.
Finn was frying bacon, and Nick was squeezing oranges. Both greeted her as though she were one of them.
Then Arch took her to meet Damien.
The Davenport men were all gorgeous, but Damien had a brooding sex appeal that probably sold as many albums as his husky voice. He was even better looking in person, in ripped Levi’s and a black concert T-shirt. But despite the rock star’s sexy good looks, Arch was the only man who could ever make Tessa feel weak at the knees—or make her heart beat wildly from nothing more than a smile.
“Dad put me on toast duty,” Damien said, pointing at a gigantic eight-slice toaster and rolling his eyes. “Last week, I played Wembley Stadium. This week, I’m buttering whole wheat toast for this motley crew.” He looked at Tessa. “I also have sunflower spread if you’re vegan.”