Playing for Kicks (Play Makers Book 5) (51 page)

“Oh, no!” Tess grabbed her hand and squeezed
it. “Don’t say that. I’ll get it together, I promise. You’re such a
drama queen,” she accused, trying for a laugh. Then she
straightened in her seat and assured her, “It’ll all work out. And
I’ll buy the blue dress either way, because a girl can’t have
enough Barbie outfits, right?”

“I still want to pay for it—”

“No, just go home. I can afford it. And I’ll
probably give it to Jill afterwards. It’s more her style anyway.”
She bit back a sigh. “Promise me you won’t tell Sean any of
this?”

“I promise.”

“And please don’t tell Johnny either. I know
I shouldn’t ask, but he’s Sean’s QB. God knows what he’d do.”

“I won’t tell him. I promise.”

“Thanks, Erica. You’re the best friend I ever
had.” She hugged her tight, assured her, “I’ll let you know, okay?”
and left the car before they both started crying again.

• • •

Determined to get it together, she returned
to the shop to find Madelaine hovering by the door.

“Are you okay?” the saleswoman asked as the
little bell tinkled overhead.

“Yes, thanks. Did you hold the dress?”

Madelaine nodded. “Shall I put it on your
card? Or should we wait for Mrs. Spurling?”

“You mean: Ms. McCall? She had to run. And
yes, it goes on
my
card. Here.”

“I’d much rather deal with you,” the
saleswoman confided as they walked to the back of the shop. “She
was a bit snippy.”

“Actually, I thought
you
were snippy.
But I still want the dress. Oh, and I want that flapper dress from
the hall display, too,” she added at the last moment. “For
Halloween.”

“Are you referring to the beaded sheath?”

“Is that what it’s called?” Tess sighed.
Kerrie would have known that, wouldn’t she? Wasn’t that the real
difference between them?

“I’ll see if we have it in your size. And Ms.
Colby?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t feel bad. It
does
look like a
flapper dress. And you’ll look so cute at the Halloween party.”

Tess sighed, knowing that if even Cruella de
Ville felt sorry for her, she really
had
hit rock
bottom.

• • •

She was just entering the junior suite when
her phone played a haunting snippet from the Eagles
song—
their
song—so she draped both dresses on the sofa and
tried for a cheerful tone. “Sean?”

“Hey, babe. I’m just leaving practice. Are
you at my house? Or the hotel?”

“Oh, Sean,” she said with a sigh. “I need a
huge favor.”

“Sure, anything. I mean . . .” His tone
grew guarded. “You’re in Portland, aren’t you?”

“I’m at the hotel. But I have a new
hairstyle, and I don’t want you to see it until I’m all dressed
up.”

“Huh?”

“Tomorrow night. For the fundraiser. I want
you to see me at my best.”

He chuckled. “I’ll wear a blindfold.”

“It’s not just my hair, though. I soaked in
mud for hours to make my skin super soft. And I got a mani-pedi. So
it’s the whole package.”

“In other words, you’re stressed about this
fundraiser?” he demanded. “Let’s ditch it, babe. I never wanted to
go in the first place.”

“I’m not stressed,” she shot back, then she
added quickly, “Sorry. I guess maybe I am. But I still want to go.
And I don’t want you to see me tonight.”

He was quiet for a moment. Then he asked,
“What’s going on, Tess?”

She almost blurted out the truth, but how
would that help? He would insist on coming over, which would be a
disaster. Because he already sounded so good on the phone.

In person he would be irresistible. She
knew
that. He would turn on the charm. Reassure her she was
his all-time favorite girlfriend. And she would fall for it because
she so desperately
wanted
to fall for it.

Which was the reason she needed to figure
this out alone. Because yes, they needed to talk. But not until she
was ready for him.

“Hey, Tess?”

“Sorry, I know I’m not making sense. I’ve
just put so much effort into this new look. And if you see me
tonight, it’s all for nothing.”

He was silent again. Then he asked hopefully,
“Did you go shopping with Erica? In person, I mean?”

“Yes. She’s such an amazing friend, Sean. And
the dress is amazing, so mission accomplished.”

“Okay, then. I’ll chain myself in the
basement for the night.”

“What?”

“So I won’t bust down your door. Remember
that werewolf dude?”

Laughter bubbled up as she caught the
reference to a movie from one of their buffer dates. “Oh, my God,
Sean. You actually felt
sorry
for him, remember?”

“All he needed was a good shave, poor
guy.”

She giggled happily. They had had so much fun
that night. They
always
had fun when they were together.

She wanted him to drive right over. Make her
laugh. Tease her. Make love to her. Remind her how crazy they were
about each other.

Except she already knew that. This Kerrie
madness was something else, and if she didn’t deal with it, it
would erupt again when she least expected it.

So deal with it,
she told herself
harshly.

To Sean she said, “I know I’m being silly,
but I’ll be better tomorrow. So just pretend it’s normal,
okay?”

“You’re not normal, you’re awesome,” he
assured her. “Just remember what I said about the fundraiser. It’s
not worth stressing over.”

“I’ll remember,” she promised. “Good night,
Romeo. See you tomorrow night.”

• • •

Erica retreated to the master bedroom early
on the pretense of reading, but her e-reader was just a prop as she
pondered Tess’s heartbreaking situation. They had chatted briefly
by phone after dinner, mostly so Tess could try to make
her
feel better.

It hadn’t worked. For one thing, Tess had
reportedly asked Sean to stay away until Saturday night, so
he
was probably going crazy, too. Erica was actually
surprised he hadn’t called or come over to their house, but she was
also grateful, since she had promised not to discuss this with him.
If he showed up in person, and looked half as miserable as she
suspected, she would have been tempted to give in, especially if
Johnny started grilling her too. She wanted to be a great best
friend to Tess. To make up for selfishly pushing her into Sean’s
arms. But she loved Sean too, and had never seen him so happy.

Tess said he took it well,
she
reminded herself.
He even made some joke about it, right? So
maybe he bought her excuse: that she didn’t want him to see her
hair ahead of time.

Tess had assured Erica she was feeling
better. Working things through with her system of notes and
doodles. Confident all would be well by morning.

Was that even possible? Erica would never
forget the sight of her breezy friend reduced to a sobbing mass of
insecurities and confusion. Not to mention self-loathing. Her heart
ached for the carefree journalist who had sauntered into her office
just eight weeks ago. That girl had been light and confident. Not a
jealous or competitive bone in her body. Laughing happily when Sean
praised Rachel’s superior beauty, Darcie’s ample breasts, Erica’s
fragrance—natural or Chanel. It had all been a joke to Tess because
she had heard the chatter about Sean. That he fell in love with
every girl he met. And thanks to Sean’s charm and Erica’s meddling,
Tess had dared to believe he was just treading water, waiting for
the girl who was waiting for him. His Juliet.

Then the cosmos had delivered its smack-down.
Or actually,
two
smack-downs. The first when Bam labeled
Tess “the last piece of the puzzle.” He meant it with love, but the
last piece? The one that had no intrinsic value other than to
complete the picture? Make the important pieces look even better?
And yes, Tess could have absorbed that offhand remark, since she
honestly didn’t care about being special to the entire world. Or
even to her circle of friends.

She just wanted to be special to Sean. To be
the great romantic love of his life.

Too bad he had squandered
that
honor
on obnoxious Kerrie Cosner.

AKA cosmic smack-down number two.

“Erica?”

Looking up from her phone, she smiled
tearfully at her big, strong husband.

Her
Romeo.

He strode to the bed and set down a tray of
hot chocolate and cookies. “Mind if I join you?”

Scooting over, she lifted a steaming mug to
her nose, anticipating the aroma of orange peel grated into foamy
cocoa—a tribute to their first fateful meeting. “Yummy.”

He wrapped a powerful arm around her
shoulders. “Long day? Or is it something else?”

“Just a long day. The baby’s fine,” she added
quickly.

“Good. So I have a proposition. Let’s blow
off the literacy bash. You’ve been on your feet too much
already.”

She curled up closer. “Can we play it by ear?
If Tess goes, I want to be there. But if she and Sean skip it, then
yes. Let’s stay home.”

“Tess
has
to go,” he countered
cheerfully. “Bam and I have a bet. He thinks she can make Riga
laugh. But I figure if Bam can’t do it, no one can. Right?”

“You guys are as bad as I am,” she murmured.
“We’re so busy enjoying her, we forget there’s a person underneath
all the jokes. We think of Sean as the romantic one, but it’s
really Tess. She’s soooo romantic, Johnny. I never really saw it
until today.”

“Huh?”

She forced herself to laugh. “Ignore me, I’m
terminally hormonal thanks to your overachieving sperm.”

“Is Tess upset? Does Deck know?”

“She’s
definitely
not upset
.
I’m the one who’s a mess. Because she’s such a great friend and I
don’t want to take her for granted.”

He chuckled fondly. “Your maternal instincts
are scary, babe.”

“It’s been this way all day,” she assured
him. “The poor thing had to run for the hills to save herself.”

“I’ll give Deck a heads-up anyway. Just in
case your instincts are right.”

“No, no. Tess isn’t the problem. It’s all me.
So please don’t say anything?”

He hesitated. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Struggling for a smile, she
took another sip of orange-laced cocoa. “I’m so lucky to have a
husband like you.”

“Damn straight,” he agreed. “Do you want
another cookie?”

“Yes, please.” She gave him a grateful kiss,
then admitted with a sigh, “You’d better bring the whole box.”

• • •

When Tess woke up on Saturday morning, her
first thought was of Sean’s werewolf joke. Chaining himself in the
basement so he wouldn’t rush over to the Ashton and bust down her
door.

So funny. So sexy.

So Sean.

To her surprise, she didn’t immediately
plummet into Kerrie envy. Instead, she thought about Erica and the
baby. It was unfair to upset her in her condition, especially since
she was overworked and probably exhausted.

The best thing Tess could do was make a
decision about the Rorsch jobs so Erica could relax and enjoy the
pregnancy. They had been so obsessed with Tess’s problems
yesterday, they had barely mentioned Baby Aaron or Abby. How insane
was that?

Will you even be around for the baby?
she wondered.
If you and Sean fall apart . . .

It was unimaginable. He was such a romantic,
it would kill him to realize he had hurt her. She didn’t even know
how she could possibly put it into words.

Something like:
I love you, and I know you
love me. But there’s a vicious hole of jealousy in the pit of my
heart that can never be filled. So good luck falling in love for
the umpteenth time. And wish
me
luck, because I want to be
someone’s Juliet more than I want you—the great love of my
life.

It made no sense, probably because she could
never give him up. She just needed to get over herself, and quickly
since the gala was less than ten hours away.

Without thinking she wandered into the shower
and let the pulsating jets chase away the nostalgic mood. It helped
for the moment, but when she stepped out and looked in the mirror,
a new problem arose.

Her beautiful hairstyle—gone.

Eek!

Laughing at herself, she toweled it dry, then
tentatively employed the hotel’s blow dryer. But she had never been
good at this, which was one reason she had always kept her hair at
an even length.

“You’re hopeless,” she assured herself.

She could call the hotel’s salon to see if
they had an appointment or could recommend someplace close by. But
first, she needed to call Erica, since there were already two new
voice messages on her cell.

The first had a fake cheery tone: “Hey, Tess,
rise and shine. And give me a call. I’ve been thinking about this,
and it’s crazy. He might have loved Kerrie for a nano-second, but
it was nothing compared to how he feels about you. So just talk to
him. But talk to
me
first. I’ll be here. So please call.
Please?”

The second virtually dripped with hormonal
residue: “Oh, God, Tess, this is
all my fault
. You kept
telling me and telling me you’d get hurt, but I still threw you at
him. Now your heart is broken. And Sean will be so horribly
devastated. Call me, please? I’ll come over as soon as I hear from
you. I’m so sorry, Tess. So, so sorry.”

Tess sighed and gave her a call.

“Oh, my God, thank God! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, poor baby,” she assured her. “Take
a breath, please? You’re in worse shape than I am.”

“You sound good,” Erica admitted. “Does this
mean—oh, God, I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”

Tess had to laugh, mostly in confusion. “I
woke up more in love than ever. So hang in there. The Vatican’s
sending an exorcist. Hopefully he’ll get here before seven.”