“Not the moneymaker,” Logan complained, glancing into the entryway mirror and gingerly fingering a small gash.
“I’ll be right back.” Tess grabbed the ice bucket and slipped out the door before he could protest.
When she returned, they made an ice pack from a sandwich-sized Ziplock bag she’d packed her tiny shampoo in. She whipped out a first aid kit, applied a butterfly bandage to the cut, and pressed the ice pack to his face.
“You always carry a first aid kit?” he joked.
“Of course I do.” Her tone indicatedhewas the dum-dum fornotcarrying one. “What kind of prepper would I be if I didn’t?”
“Touché.”
“Does it hurt?” she asked.
“Nah.” It did, but not enough to complain about it. “I’m just mad I let him get the jump on me.”
“It’s definitely been an eventful night,” she said, sitting beside him on the bed.
“You’re amazing,” he blurted. He’d seen so many sides of her tonight—joyfully singing along with the crowd, inhibition-free dancing in front of thousands, effortlessly saving the band member, fearlessly jumping on the drunk guy’s back, and tenderly giving him first aid. Add to all that, she was beautiful, smart, and funny. Amazing didn’t begin to cover the many attributes of Tess Walker, but it was what came out.
“Thank you,” she said. “You’re not too bad yourself. Thanks for sticking up for me. I love swift justice, and you knocking the wind out of that idiot was very satisfying.”
He kissed her then. Soft and slow. She laid a hand on his knee, and he thrust his fingers into her hair.
The ice pack fell to the floor. Followed quickly by their clothes and inhibitions.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Tess
Monday morning, Tess sat in her office with her employee, Jasper. He had returned home the day before from the Weekend Warrior campout, and they were doing a debrief.
“And then hecried,” Jasper said incredulously.
“I warned you they might,” Tess said. “You gotta understand, for these rich guys, going without their personal chef, luxury transportation, and a foam-topped Stearns & Foster, is a big adjustment.”
“Anyway.” Jasper waved it off. “Other than that, no issues. Got ’em all back safe and sound.”
“I’m glad,” Tess said. “Recruiting you to help me with these was one of my better ideas.”
“Well, I love ’em, and can use the extra cash. So I’ll take whatever you got.”
Tess knew she should be saving money in case things with her job didn’t work out. But she had to admit, it was a huge relief to pass off some of the summer campouts. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have been able to go to Manchester with Logan this weekend.
Not that she was rearranging her life around him. But the date had been pretty spectacular. She kept having to remind herself that it was temporary and that he would leave. She’d keep things from getting too “deep,” but would also eke out every bit of fun before he went home.
About an hour later, Faith popped her head in. “Wanna get a coffee?”
“I shouldn’t,” Tess said, standing. “I barely got any work done last week. But yeah, let’s go. The caffeine will help.”
They walked the half-block to the Rise and Grind.
“Heard one of your employees has been camping at the store,” Faith said. “That’s hilarious.”
“Not really,” Tess said. “He had a dog with him, and it shed all over the place. I made him vacuum the entire store. Twice.”
“Hey, guys,” Hope greeted. “The usuals?”
Faith and Tess nodded.
