Bound by Their Kisses(34)

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back, wishing he could go back to that morning and change the way things had progressed. What would he do without her? If she left them, it would hurt and he’d have a hell of a time dealing with it. But how could he stand it if she left Perkins City. Just disappeared. It was a real possibility.

Hell. I don’t deserve her. She needs someone more like Zander as the other man in her life. I should just tell Zander that I’m moving out and let him take care of her. Zander would treat her right and wouldn’t fuck things up like Tag had. Then she’d stick around town and he’d know she was safe and happy. It wouldn’t be ideal, but it was better than never seeing her again.

Tag spent the next hour completely taking apart the pile of junk, discarding what wasn’t salvageable while labeling and cleaning the parts he could use off the junker. The longer he worked, the less tense he grew and the more certain he felt that walking away was the best thing he could do for all of them. The hard part was convincing his heart to let go and his mouth to say the words.

She’d felt so good in his arms. Everything just seemed to fall into place with her. He could see building a family around her and growing old with her between them. He’d never felt that way about another person in his life. Hell, he’d never even wanted just to shack up with a woman before. They were too much trouble, but he didn’t feel that way about Tessa. She could do no wrong. He, on the other hand, could do plenty wrong and had. That was why he was sitting on his ass in the middle of a pile of junk instead of holding Tessa in his arms.

What was he going to do? Leave or stay? Tag wished he knew. Right then, he didn’t have the answer. His heart said stay. His head said go before he ran her clear out of the state. He’d never thought of himself as a weak man, but when it came to doing the right thing, Tag was weaker than a brand new foal trying to stand on its feet. He guessed he wouldn’t know what he was going to do until he stood face-to-face with her and it came out of his mouth. After all, that was what had gotten him in this mess in the first place, his uncensored mouth.





Chapter Nine




It was nearly nine when Tessa heard the rumble of a motorcycle outside the house. Tag had finally come back. She’d been so scared he wouldn’t. He still had his apartment over the shop that he hadn’t completely moved out of yet. Everything had happened so fast. That was the entire problem. They’d rushed into the relationship instead of going slow. While she’d been avoiding them and trying to keep her mind off of how sexy they were, they’d been actively pursuing her, trying to break through her defenses. To them, she’d been theirs for nearly a year. That was how things had gone to hell so fast. They were ready for the next step when she hadn’t even taken the first one yet.

Tessa looked over where Zander sat on the couch. They’d talked some, but both of them felt like Tag needed to be there before they talked more. First, though, she needed to apologize to Tag and get things between them straight. She stood up from the couch and looked down at Zander.

“It’s late. Let’s talk more tomorrow. I’ve got to go to work in the morning and so do you two. Let me talk to Tag for a few minutes and then we’ll come to bed, okay?” She hoped he’d understand and not feel left out. Damn she didn’t know how to handle this.

Zander smiled and stood up. Pulling her into his arms, he kissed her then released her. His smile eased the worry inside her chest that he’d be upset.

“Everything is going to be fine, Tessa. You and Tag clear things up and then come to bed. I’ll be waiting on you,” he said.

“Thanks, Zander.”

“For what?” He frowned.

“For understanding that Tag and I needed to do this. For taking care of me earlier,” she said.

He ran one finger down the side of her face. “Kitten. I’ll always take care of you and there’s nothing to understand about Tag. We’re all going to have issues at times and need separate times to make up. I’m fine. Now go see about the big guy.”

She smiled and walked toward the kitchen just as she heard the back door open then close. When she walked in, Tag was just coming through the doorway from the laundry room. He stopped when he saw her, quickly focusing on some point over her head. Tessa could almost feel the tension pour off of him in waves. She’d done this to him. She’d upset him and made him feel uncomfortable with her. That she had that much power of someone like him, big, alpha, and normally so self-confident amazed her. It frightened her a bit, too.

“I was worried about you. I’m glad you’re home,” she said as a greeting.