"I know what Tanner said was a shock but-"
"A shock?" She paced the room. "Then it's true? You slept with her?"
"Yes."
At least he wasn't going to deny it. "While we were together?"
"God, no." He came toward her, but stopped when she held up her hand. "Audra and I were long over before you and I got together. There's only you. You should know that."
"Why didn't you tell me? Why would you hide that?"
"I didn't think it was necessary."
"You didn't think it was necessary to tell me about your past? You didn't think I would want to know you fucked your attorney? The one you work with every day. The one who calls and texts all hours of the night. The one you attend dinners and meetings with? The one you spend most of your day with?"
"Tessa," he said. "Whatever you're manifesting in your mind isn't true."
"Fuck you!" She stormed out of the family room and to the back staircase. She heard his shoes hit the hardwood floor as he gained on her. "Leave me alone."
"We need to talk about this."
"Now you want to talk about it? Because you got caught?"
"I didn't get caught doing anything." He followed her up the steps. "Please listen to me." He caught up with her in the hallway and reached for her arm to make her face him. "You know I would never do anything to hurt you."
"You did hurt me. You lied to me."
"I never lied."
"Don't play with me. You didn't tell me the truth. Everyone at your office knew about the two of you, didn't they? You made me look like a fool."
"No one sees you that way."
"I do." What could possibly have made him think it was okay to keep this from her? "Do you still have feelings for her? Is that why?"
"Of course not." He pulled her into his embrace. "You are everything to me. No other woman could mean as much to me as you do. You have to know that."
"I pushed myself on you," she said. "Every chance I got. How do I know you weren't going to work things out with Audra? Maybe I'm the rebound girl."
"I'm telling you the truth. You're it for me."
"I want to believe that but something is wrong." Her instincts were screaming there was more to this story. "What aren't you telling me?"
"Don't make this more than it is." He kissed her. "Please."
It would be so easy for her to get lost in his lips... his touch... his love. He was everything to her.
"Tell me what's wrong." She sensed his apprehension. "You're holding back on me and I need to know why."
"You're too perceptive for your own good." He shook his head. "I don't want you to worry."
"I will worry and I'll just torture you until you tell me everything I need to know." She waited for him to respond. "I'm furious right now and the more you try to hide it from me the more pissed off I'll be."
"Tessa." He sighed. "Audra is one of my biggest mistakes."
"Then why does she still work with you?"
"Another mistake I made." He tried to kiss her again but she pressed her palm against his chest. "She isn't stable. I thought she was okay but I was wrong."
"She's nuts?"
"After we broke up she had a nervous breakdown. She went away for a few months to get herself together. After she got home she seemed better. She came back to work for me. She even started seeing someone, but things began to change when I expressed interest in you."
"Why didn't you just tell me?" She would have trusted him if he had told her about the relationship. "Keeping things from me doesn't sit well with me."
"I didn't think it was important. I thought she'd back off, but she's getting more aggressive. Sending Tanner here was the last straw. She needs help. I'll arrange that for her. Maybe she needs to go away again. I can't dismiss her irrational behavior anymore."
"Did she key my car?"
"I think so."
"Then why would you keep her around?"
"I couldn't prove it. I thought it was best to keep her where I could see her."
"This is too much." It was as if everything she had trusted was crashing down around her.
"What does that mean?"
"All your talk about other men. How you wanted to kill anyone that looked at me the wrong way. What about all those times you said I was yours and no one else could ever touch me?"
"I meant that. When I saw Tanner's hands on you I lost it."
"Why was it okay for you to work with Audra and not tell me about your past?"
"It was a professional relationship."
"You had sex with her and you didn't tell me." Bile rose in her throat when she thought about the two of them in bed.
"I never asked you about your past relationships. I just thought we were starting a life together and the past didn't matter."
"This is different. You work with her every day. She still has feelings for you. You should have told me, especially after my car was keyed. I deserved to know who did it."
"I didn't want to worry you."
"You hurt me. Again."
"Do you know how much I regret that?" He stroked her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her, but she turned her head. "Tessa, don't do this. Stop trying to shut me out."
"I need some time to think."
"About what?"
"I'm angry."
"Let me fix this." He focused on her lips. "Let me make it right."
"Not tonight." She wiggled out of his hold. "I want to be alone."
"Sweetheart?"
"I'll sleep in my old room."
"Fine," he said so low she almost missed it. "I fucked up. I realize that. I'll give you your space but if you change your mind you know where to find me."
"I just need tonight, okay?" She wasn't trying to hurt him. After what had happened with Tanner, finding out about Audra had really thrown her. She wanted to be alone, take a hot bath and crawl into bed and not think about anything else.
"Good night," he mumbled as he walked down the hall.
Chapter Twenty-four
Chase stopped atNefis Café in the lobby for coffee. He set the steaming cup on his desk and turned on his computer. He hadn't slept most of the night. He'd gotten out of bed and walked down the hall to Tessa's room three times, but each time he stopped himself before knocking. He had promised her some space. After about four hours of a restless night, he decided to get up and work. He worked out some changes for his professional life. He'd put steps in place so this morning would go according to plan. Audra wouldn't like what he had done, but she had crossed a line the night before. He wasn't going to tolerate it any longer.
He'd been wrong. He should have told Tessa about Audra. It was an awkward situation – one he thought had been resolved. He should have known she wouldn't go away quietly. When he started noticing her erratic behavior he figured he'd just keep an eye on her. He should have cut her lose then.
When he reached for a pen he knocked over his coffee. "Shit!" He picked it up, but not before it soaked a stack of papers on his desk. He threw the empty cup across the room.
"Rough night?" Audra stood in the doorway of his office, dressed in an incredibly tight skirt. She hadn't bothered to button the first four buttons of her blouse and her heels were higher than her usual office shoes. She had on more makeup than normal and her hair was blown out straight and shiny.
What is she up to? "Good, you're here." He wiped up the coffee with a handful of tissues, tossing the sopping mess into the trash can when he was finished. "We might as well get this over with."
"Trouble at home?" She stepped into the office, shutting the door behind her. "Tanner told me what happened."
"You mean what you put him up to?" He was furious at his clueless intern but he would deal with him later.
"You didn't buy his story, did you? He's been jacking off to Tessa's image ever since he met her. I had nothing to do with that."
"Don't talk about her that way." He had to control the urge to grab her and literally toss her out of his building. "You filled his head with false hope. Tessa was never going to reciprocate."
"Just because she didn't cheat on you last night doesn't mean she won't or that she hasn't already."
"You don't know anything about her."
"And obviously she didn't know anything about us. According to Tanner she was shocked to learn you and I had been intimate." She laughed. "How did that work out for you?"