Tessa's Temptation

Tessa’s Temptation

Copyright © 2014, Ella Jade

Editor: Annabelle Crawford

Proofreader: Rebecca Wolfe

Beta Readers: Tamaria Soana and Shelly Small

Cover Art: N K Author Services

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication and use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

Tessa’s Temptation

Ella Jade

What happens when the siren becomes the tempted?

College student Tessa Burke is on the verge of eviction. Her life changed when her dad was in a bad car accident. He’s been in the hospital for months and making little progress. Desperation is setting in. They’re about to lose everything.

Successful architect Chase Carlisle has made a name for himself among the rich and famous. His work keeps him busy, leaving little time for a social life. When an old family friend contacts him and asks him to care for his vibrant, sassy daughter, Chase feels obligated to take her in
. Patrick Burke had helped him when he was a troubled teenager, heading down a path of destruction. If not for Pat, he would have never become the man he is today.

The wild child turns Chase’s world upside down, tempting him in ways he can’t resist. The sexy younger woman shows him what he’s been missing the past few years. Their attraction is obvious from the beginning despite Chase’s apprehension to getting involved with Pat’s daughter. Tess
a wears him down but gets caught in her own trap when she becomes the object of his deepest, darkest desires.

Contains adult content and graphic sexual situations

Chapter One

Tess Burke stared out her bedroom windows that overlooked the stream running through the backyard. She watched as the man stopped to stretch out his calf muscles from his long, early morning run. His tall, toned form appealed to her as he flexed his back. The faint line of sweat absorbed into his t-shirt, evidence of a hard, successful run along the trails of his massive property. He looked out at the flowing water, his cool blue eyes intense and lost in a distant thought. She often wondered what he thought about during his early morning meditation. Work? Family? Her?

With his earbuds still in, he sat down on the bench as he did every day to check his emails. This had become her favorite time of the day. As she watched him, she thought about all the possibilities the new day would bring.

All the ways she could tempt him...

One month earlier.

Tess paced the tiny hall outside her dad’s room. He’d been in the shabby rehab facility for almost a month. The car accident had shattered both his legs, cracked eight of his ribs, and broken his nose. The man was lucky to be alive. He had a long recovery ahead of him. It wasn’t likely he’d ever walk without the assistance of a cane. Right now he was still in a wheelchair, recovering from the extensive injuries he had sustained on that dark night coming home from work, when he’d swerved to miss a deer and ended up tumbling into a ditch.

“When have we ever screwed you out of rent?” She switched the phone to her other ear and tried to keep her voice down, but their landlord of eight years was about to toss them out. “I’ll get the money.”

That was a lie. She’d given him everything she had last month. She was tapped out and didn’t have any place to turn. All of her dad’s relatives were deadbeats. He and Tess lived paycheck to paycheck. There was no way she could come up with the rent.

“Tess, I’m sorry, but I’ve given you a break on the rent for the past year. Your father is late almost every month and now you’ve shorted me three hundred dollars in the past two months, not to mention you aren’t paying utilities which is in your lease.” There was genuine remorse in Billy’s voice. “I can’t cut you anymore slack. I’m drowning, myself.”

“I’m sorry, Billy, but you know we’re good tenants. I’ll figure something out.”

“I’m sorry, but you’ll need to be out by the end of next month. I wish I didn’t have to do this but your dad isn’t coming home for a while and you can’t afford the place.”

She watched as an attractive guy in a suit that probably cost more than her rent turned the hall and headed in her direction. He was blatantly out of place she thought as he checked his shiny silver watch. He pushed his designer sunglasses up on top of his head as he walked past her, smiling as he maneuvered the tight space they occupied and walked into her dad’s room. He smelled of spice. He was hot as hell too. No one that good looking ever came to a shithole like this.

What the hell. Would a bill collector come here?

“Tess, end of next month,” Billy said, interrupting her thoughts from the sexy guy who went in to see her dad. “Did you hear me?”

“You can’t throw me out. I know my rights.”

“Please don’t make this hard. When your dad got behind on rent last year – before the accident – we never signed a new lease. You’re month to month and all I have to do is give you sufficient time to get out. I’m within my rights. Sorry, kid.”

“Thanks for nothing.” She ended the call, took a deep breath and headed in to deal with the suit who was probably harassing her father.
Would anything go right today?
She stood in the doorway, listening to what he wanted so she’d know how to handle him.

“I’m so glad you could come.” Her dad smiled as his guest crossed the room. Smiled? She hadn’t seen him do that since before the accident. “It’s been such a long time.”

“Too long,” the hottie said as he sat and crossed one expensive shoe over the other. “I’m sorry to have lost touch with you. When I found out about your accident I had my assistant find out where you were so I could come and visit.”

“I was happy to hear from you. I’ve been following your success over the years. I knew you’d find your course. I’m very proud of you.”

“I owe so much of the way my life turned out to you.”

“Bull,” her father scoffed. “You always had it in you. You were determined even as a mouthy teenager.”

“If not for you, Pat, I could have gone in the wrong direction. The time I spent out at your cabin was the best thing that could have happened to me.”

Images of her childhood cabin flooded her mind. Fishing, roasting marshmallows and swimming in the lake were front and center. That place was filled with memories of a good life. The life she’d cherished before everything fell apart.

“Do you still go up there?” the stranger asked. “It’s such a beautiful bungalow. One I think of often.”

“No,” Tess said. “We lost it years ago.”

He looked in her direction and stood as she entered the room. His piercing blue eyes almost sparkled as his full lips curved into a polite smile. She couldn’t seem to drag her gaze away from his chiseled, stubble-covered jawline. She’d never seen such an attractive man before. He was nothing like the guys who hung out in her neighborhood. Everything about him – down to his manicured fingernails – screamed class, intelligence, and money.

Who the hell are you?

“There you are, Tessa,” her father said. “I was wondering where you disappeared to.”

“Tessa?” The man turned in her father’s direction. “This is your Tessa?”

“Isn’t she stunning?” Her father grinned from ear to ear. “All grown up and doing her best to take care of me. But I’m afraid it’s too much for her.”

“I can’t believe it.” The man’s gaze had already come back to devour the sight of her. “You couldn’t have been any more than five the last time I saw you.” He’d given up any façade of speaking to her dad.

“I’m sorry, but how do we know you?” He didn’t look that much older than her. How could he remember her from fifteen years ago and she have no recollection of him?

“Baby girl, this is Chase Carlisle,” her dad said. “I grew up with his mother. When you were three, Chase spent the summer at the cabin with us. How old were you that first summer? He spent two more with us after that year.”

“Fifteen.” He answered without any of his attention straying from her. “You’re all grown up now.”

“That’s what happens when they feed and water us.” She sat down on her dad’s bed not sure how she felt about him being there. “I just turned twenty last week.”

“Happy Birthday.”

“What brings you to see my dad, Mr. Carlisle?”

“Please, call me Chase.” He sat back down in the chair by the small window. “I heard about your dad’s accident. I reached out to him last week and he invited me to come and visit him.”

“It was like you knew we needed you,” her dad said. “It was a sign.”

“Dad?”

“I’m going to be here for a long time, well, maybe not i
n
thi
s
facility –with insurance the way it is, you never know how long you get to stay in a place. I may end in the VA hospital.”

“That’s not definite,” Tess reminded him. “I talked to a case worker. I don’t want you to go there. It’s too far for me to get to every day.”

“It is what it is, Tessa.” He looked at Chase. “My daughter is very independent. She’s been taking care of me for years. She goes to school, she cooks, she cleans, and she works. When her mom and I got divorced this kid stepped up and made sure we didn’t fall apart.”

“It sounds like you raised a great kid.” Chase smiled at her.

“I’m not a kid,” Tess said.

What her father said was all true. When her mother bailed on them ten years ago, he fell apart and Tess had to take care of him. A kid? That day she stopped being one of those.

“Of course not,” Chase said. “What do you need from me, Pat? I owe you a great deal. Is there something you need me to do with a different rehabilitation facility? I can have my attorney look into it. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”

“I need you to take Tessa,” her dad said with more certainty than she had heard him voice in months.

“What?” She turned and glared at her father. “What are you talking about?”

“I know we’re getting evicted,” he admitted.

“I can handle that,” she said. “I’ll figure something out.” Not that any plan had come to her yet. She was too busy trying to convince the landlord to let them stay. She was also scouring the classifieds for a job. She hadn’t had the heart to tell her father the deli had let her go, with all the hours she’d spent here with him, she’d taken too many days off. It was only a matter of time for them to find her replacement.

“No. How can you focus on school and your life when you’re constantly worrying about me and where your next meal is coming from? I can’t help you like this.”

“Forgive him, Chase,” she said. “He shouldn’t have asked you to come here. The medicine makes him a little crazy. You’re welcome to visit with him but he doesn’t know what he’s saying.”

“Chase, I know perfectly well what I’m saying. We can’t pay our rent. Tessa has managed to keep us going the last two months, probably borrowing from street thugs. I don’t think she’s eaten a full meal in weeks.”

“Stop it!” She didn’t need this stranger knowing all of their problems. The pity she found in his eyes was bad enough even before he knew their full story.

“I will not,” her father said. “She’s supposed to start school next month. I can’t give her money for books or transportation. She hasn’t had new clothes in almost a year. I couldn’t even get her a birthday present.” He moved as best as he could in the bed, but his grimace expressed his pain coupled with his agitation. “Do you know how much I’ve failed her?”

“Pat, you were in an accident. I’m sure Tessa understands the circumstances.” Chase shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with her dad’s confession. He probably couldn’t wait to bolt.

“I failed her long before this accident and I want to make it right,” he said. “I may never gain full use of my legs. I’ll never be able to work the way I did before this. Next month we’ll be homeless. At least I have a bed and three meals a day. My daughter doesn’t.”

She took a deep breath, trying to hold back her emotions. Never one to show her feelings, especially in front of strangers, she held back the tears. She hated hearing her father sound so defeated. It wasn’t necessary. She didn’t blame him for their circumstances. Life was a bitch sometimes. She’d learned to roll with the punches early on.

“I’ll get a full-time job. School can wait.” She stood from the bed. “I’m sorry about this. We’re not your problem. It was nice meeting you, but this is pointless.”

“Tessa, I won’t let this go,” her dad said. “Chase can help you. The way I helped him.”

“Dad, you have to stop this rambling. You sound like a lunatic.”

“No,” Chase said. “He’s right. I can help you. And I will.”

“I knew you would,” her dad said as he settled back on his pillow. “I knew you would.”

“This is ridiculous.” Tess put her fist on her hip. “You don’t even know us. Just because my dad let you hang out at his fishing cabin seventeen years ago makes you think you owe us something?”

“Tessa, your
dad was there for me for three years when I really needed a father figure. My father had passed away and I was giving my mother more problems than she needed. I’d gotten in with the wrong crowd. Your dad offered to take me that first summer. If he hadn’t, things would have gone very differently for me, I’m sure.”

“I’m glad you worked it out. You look like you’ve done well for yourself but I’m no charity case.”

“When was the last time you ate?” Chase asked.

She could feel the heat coming up in her cheeks. “Why does that matter?”

She’d found some change in a kitchen drawer that morning. Enough to get a soda and a granola bar out of the vending machine down the hall, and the deli would have her last paycheck ready tomorrow. She could eat then. Her father usually sweet talked the nurse into something for her – extra crackers and an apple juice, half of his salad. She’d make do.

“I could take you down to the cafeteria and get you dinner,” he offered. “We could talk.”

“No thank you.”

“Tessa, why not?” her dad asked. “It would be good for you to get to know Chase.”

“Listen to yourself,” she said. “This isn’t the eighteenth century. You can’t give me to some stranger.”

“That’s not what he’s doing
,” Chase said. “I see where he’s coming from. He’s worried about you.”

“This really is none of your business. I appreciate that you want to return some favor to my dad, but I’m just fine without you.”

“It doesn’t look that way from where I’m standing,” Chase said. “Perhaps I could talk to your landlord. I could cover your expenses for the next few months until you figure out what you’d like to do.”

“No,” her dad said. “I don’t want her there alone any longer.”

“Oh my God!” Tess couldn’t take any more of this nonsense.

“I don’t like you being there without me,” he said. “The neighborhood isn’t good. She takes two buses to get here and refuses to leave me until visiting hours are over. I worry about her going home in the dark. She’s still five blocks walking from the bus stop.”

“Dad, I’m okay.” The late night bus rides and walks through the neighborhood weren’t her favorite but what choice did she have?

“We’re not fine and Chase can help us.” He stared at the man who probably wished he’d never shown up there. “Please say that you’ll help my daughter.”

“What do you want me to do, Pat?” Chase asked gently.

“I think it would be best if she moved in with you. I know it’s a lot to ask, but if she’s with you I can focus on getting better. I’ll know she’s safe and she’ll have everything she needs.”

Her poor dad was delusional. It had to be the pain meds. When Mr. Hot, Rich, and Sexy turned him down, she could get him settled in and maybe catch a little nap herself. She had a long day ahead of her tomorrow. Not only did she have to find a job but she had to figure out
where she was going to store all of their stuff and find a place to crash.