“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.
That was as good an explanation as any because she wasn’t his type. She was pretty enough, but not the kind of woman who gave men whiplash turning to stare. But there was something fresh and appealing about her brown hair and eyes, something friendly and inviting. For everyone but him. Until that night he’d never made a move on her. Why waste time on a woman who showed no sign of ever warming up when an abundance of ladies lined up to be photographed on his arm?
Except she did warm up to him that night. She could pretend it never happened, but he had the scorch marks to prove her wrong.
Time to get his head on straight and talk business. He tried the door and found it was unlocked. Tess looked up but her expression didn’t signal that she was happy to see him.
“Hey,” he said, closing the door behind him.
“Leo.” She stopped wiping the bar and watched him walk over and sit on one of the stools in front of her.
He could almost feel the tension radiating from her. Maybe he could put her at ease. “I want you to know that I respect what you said that night—”
She held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t.”
“Understood.” He met her gaze. “So, why did you ask me to come over and talk?”
“It’s about The Pub—” Her lips trembled for a moment as grief slid into her eyes. She blew out a breath and continued, “I’m aware that Granddad came to you with a proposition to invest.”
“That’s right. I talked with him a lot when I suddenly couldn’t play hockey anymore. About what I was going to do.” That had been a personal low. He was dealing with an injury that forced him to retire prematurely from the sport that defined him at the same time his wife admitted she’d been cheating with a former lover. She announced she was leaving and taking their child with her. Leo had spent a lot of time at The Pub, drinking and spilling his guts to Patrick. “Your grandfather told me I needed an act two and I had a good head for business. He was right about both.”
“He told me you bought the local ice rink and it was finally turning a profit.”
“Yes. Among other ventures.” All of them had been going down when he took over. Now every one of them was prospering.
“Before I make my pitch, you should know that The Pub was doing fine until Granddad got sick. The medical bills after he was diagnosed were substantial. Even then things were okay. But recently—”
“So you’re letting me know you’re a good manager.”
“Yes. And the good news is that there’s been an uptick in business.”
“Yet you’re approaching me, I assume for help, even though you fought Pat tooth and nail when he suggested I put up money and lend my name to improve declining revenue.” At her surprised look he added, “Yeah, he told me you weren’t in favor of partnering with me. So why now, Tess?”
“I had to let a full-time employee go and cut hours for others. That’s enough to keep the doors open but not to grow.” She didn’t exactly answer the question of what had changed.
“Okay.”
“This place has been my home since I was six and came to live with Granddad. I grew