Tessa's Temptation(41)

"So, you are seeing her?"

"No." He answered kind of fast. "Would it matter?"

"To who?"

"You." He tucked her hair behind her ear. "Would you care?"

"Umm, no. I'm with Chase. You know that." She scooted to the edge of the couch. "He should be here in a few."

"I'm not really here to see him."

"Yeah, no kidding." She stood and walked to the window. "I think you  need to go." If Chase got home and found Tanner, he'd freak. She didn't  think it would bother him if Tanner came to see him; but now that she  knew the truth she had to get him out of there.

"Tess, I can't stop thinking about you." Suddenly he was right behind  her and his hand landed on her shoulder. "Ever since that night in the  backyard you've been in my head."

"Tanner." She turned to face him. "You need to forget about me. I'm sorry if I-"                       
       
           



       

Before she could finish her sentence his lips were on hers.

"Whoa." She pushed him away from her. "That's enough. You need to get out of here before Chase gets home."

"Come on." He grabbed her hand. "Are you really that committed to him?  You're too young to be in such a serious relationship. You should be  having fun."

"I am having fun." She headed for the foyer. "You need to go. I'm not interested in you."

"How do you know unless you give us a shot?" He hurried ahead of her and  blocked her from leaving the room. "God, you're beautiful." He leaned  down and tried to kiss her again. She turned her head before he could  connect with her lips.

"Get off!" She pushed at his chest. "I said no. What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Give me a chance to change your mind." He took her arm and pulled her to him. "Please."

"You heard her." Tess looked over Tanner's shoulder just as Chase  grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him off her and slamming  him into the wall. "What the hell is your problem?" Chase pinned him to  the wall with his forearm lodged into Tanner's neck. Tess watched as  Tanner struggled to breathe. "I told you to stay away from her."

"Chase, I didn't mean to-" His voice was strained behind Chase's arm.

"Don't lie to me." He increased the pressure on Tanner's throat.

"Chase," Tess pleaded as she touched his back.

"Did this piece of shit hurt you?" he growled through clenched teeth. "Because if he did..."

"No, he just thought it was okay to jam his tongue down my throat." She was furious that Tanner would do something like that.

Chase pulled his arm back and punched Tanner square in the jaw, sending him crashing to the floor.

"Chase!" As angry as Tess was at the jerk, she couldn't let Chase kill him. "Stop it! He's not worth it."

"He put his hands on you. He touched you." He glared at his intern. "I'm going to kill you."

When Chase lunged for Tanner, Tess screamed but it was Tanner who stopped the bigger man from hitting him again.

"Wait!" He put his hands over his face in an attempt to block the next punch. "I can explain."

"You don't deserve a chance to explain." Chase clenched his fists. "You  tried to force yourself on my girl. Do you know how lucky you are that I  haven't killed you already?"

"I wouldn't have done anything she didn't want me to. I really thought she would give me a chance."

"You're not helping yourself. I'm going to rip your tongue out and shove it down your throat."

"No! Wait!" Tanner pleaded.

Tess let out the breath she'd been holding when Chase finally let go of  him. Now maybe he would listen to reason. She was flattered that he  wanted to defend her honor, but nothing was worth murder. She'd never  seen him filled with so much rage.

"You said you wanted to explain," Chase said. "Talk fast."

As Tanner got up from the floor, Tess took Chase's hand. She wanted to  be close to him and try to stop him from attacking the idiot while he  was babbling out excuses.

"Tess, first I need to say I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to come off as forced."

"When a girl says no, you kind of have to listen." She shook her head  because she never would have pegged Tanner for such an asshole. "He  could have really hurt you."

"I haven't yet decided that I'm not going to really hurt him," Chase said. "It's still open at this point."

"I didn't expect you to put up a fight." Tanner shrugged.

"You son of a bitch..." Chase tightened his hold on Tess's hand.

"If you don't want to get hit again, you better leave," Tess said. "It  doesn't matter what you have to say anyway. I'm with Chase and that's  all you need to know."

"You have to know why I did what I did," Tanner said. "I haven't felt right about any of this for a while."

"You have five seconds to spit it out," Chase said. "That's about all the patience I have left for you."

"Audra made me do it," Tanner admitted. "It was a stupid idea but she said Tess wouldn't turn me down."

"Why would she say that?" Tess asked. "She doesn't know anything about me. Why would she put you up to this?"

"She thinks you like me. She said she saw us that night at the picnic.  She said you were flirting with me so you must be interested in me."                       
       
           



       

"Tanner, I'm sorry." Tess felt bad about using him to get to Chase, but  she never thought Tanner was interested in her. "I did that to provoke  Chase. It was wrong, but I thought we were cool after that night we had  pizza together. You said you were okay with being friends."

"I told Audra that but she insisted that you would be easily swayed."

"I've heard enough," Chase said. "I want you to clear out your things at the office tomorrow morning."

"That's not necessary." Tess pleaded because she didn't want to see the  guy lose his job over something she had inadvertently set in motion. "He  made a mistake."

"One he was warned not to make the night of the picnic when I told him  you were off limits," Chase said. "I know you remember that. You also  remember when I told you not to come back here."

"But he thought that I-"

"Tessa." Chase's voice was stern. "This doesn't concern you."

"I think it does." She stood her ground before her man had a chance to get all alpha. "Audra needs to be held accountable too."

"Trust me," Chase said. "She'll be dealt with."

"Why would she put Tanner up to this?" Tess wondered out loud. Audra had  been his attorney for years. They had been friends and colleagues long  before Tess had come into his life. Why would she care if they were  together? Had she suddenly developed feelings for him? Or were there all  along?

"Audra has been off lately," Tanner said. "At first I just thought it  was just jealousy, but Chase, she's on a mission to get you back into  her personal life and she's not going to stop. She's obsessed with you."

Tess's stomach flipped and not in a good way. Why wouldn't Chase have  told her he'd had anything other than a professional relationship with  Audra? "Get you back? What does that mean?"

"I thought she was over you," Tanner continued. "All she talks about is  how good the two of you were together. How this time you'll get it  right. She showed me the albums of the two of you and all the things she  collected over the course of your relationship. It seemed a bit creepy,  but I figured she really liked you."

"What albums?" Chase asked.

"What relationship?" Tess let go of Chase's hand. "What am I missing?"

"Sweetheart." His voice was softer and his eyes held sorrow. "It was a brief fling. One I regret."

"A fling?" Tanner said. "That's not the way Audra sees it. She thinks you two were on your way to the alter."

"Get out!" Chase yelled.

"I haven't finished explaining," he said. "I think there are things you need to know."

"Now!" Chase pointed to the foyer.

"Okay." Tanner headed for the hallway. "Tess, I really am sorry. I shouldn't have listened to Audra. It was stupid."

His words didn't sink in. She was too stunned by Chase's confession  about Audra. A fling? A relationship? What the hell? It was hard to get a  full breath. Her insides were rolling, like she'd been hit in the gut.

"Are you okay?" Chase reached for her, but she pulled out of his hold.

"Don't touch me." She backed away from him. "Don't you dare."