“Is that Erin’s voice I hear? I still can’t believe you haven’t fired her yet.”
“Tess, you know why I can’t fire her. I can’t very well just fire her because she cheated or tried to cheat on my best friend.”
“Cade, she didn’t just try to cheat on Rowan. She tried to seduce you in his home while he was passed out drunk on the couch the night before they were supposed to get married. I’m pretty sure you could go ahead and fire her.”
“Well, that had nothing whatsoever to do with work and was on a personal level, not anything she did here. Besides, she’s already threatened me with a lawsuit if I fire her. Something about how she will accuse me of letting her go because my best friend called off their relationship the day of their wedding. And honestly, I can’t afford a lawsuit, so I deal with it.”
“What a spiteful little bitch! You never told me she threatened you. I don’t like her being in the same vicinity as you, Cade. I don’t like it at all. And did you tell Rowan about this?”
She wanted to make it perfectly clear that she would never be okay with Erin still working for him, no matter what the reasoning was. Not after what she’d done to her brother and to Cade and her for that fact.
“No, I did not tell Rowan and I don’t want him to know, so that stays between me and you. I know you don’t like Erin being here or in our lives, Tess. I don’t like it either, but I really do not have a choice in the matter. I’m just waiting for the day she screws up around here so I can fire her immediately, but honestly she’s too damn good at what she does, medically speaking.”
He wanted to end this conversation centered on Erin. He didn’t want to waste the small amount of time he had to talk to her on someone that had almost wrecked his friendship with Rowan and Tess. He could talk to her for hours on end, but he was busier than normal and patients were waiting. Once again, Erin’s voice came over the pager.
“Look, it seems I’m needed, so I better go. I’ll call you later, okay.”
“Cade, just do whatever you can to avoid Erin. I know it’s almost impossible, you being her boss and all, but I really don’t like it.”
“I always do, Tess. I always do. And, I know you don’t like it, but give me some credit, will you.”
“I know. I just want you to know where I’m coming from.”
“I’ve known, since it happened, where you were coming from. Don’t you think that of the two of us, I am the one who had the most to lose? My friendship with Rowan was almost destroyed because of her. I have no desire, whatsoever, to have anything to do with someone so vindictive, but my hands are tied on this one. I’m sorry, Tess. It seems like I am really needed. I’ll give you a call when I get a break.”
“Okay, just make it much later. I plan on staying in bed for a long time. Don’t work too hard.” Tessa let out a sigh. “And, Cade?”
“Yeah.”
“Just so you know, you are always needed, at least here.”
“I wish I could be there in bed with you. Nothing sounds better than lying with you in that bed wrapped in my arms,” he said seductively. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Thanks again for this weekend, Tess. I really did have a good time.”
“I did too, Cade. I did too.”
Tessa ended the call and quickly shut her phone off. She had every intention of getting as much sleep as she possibly could. The problem now was that she couldn’t get the whole situation with Erin out of her mind.
Rowan met Erin at the hospital he works at and started dating her right away. They connected right off the bat and never seemed to slow down. They were together constantly. They both worked in the E.R., she was a charge nurse and usually worked the same shifts as Rowan, but when the hospital started laying people off she was one of the first ones to go, since she was one of the last ones hired. Rowan had actually talked Cade into giving Erin a job at his practice. Cade had needed someone to help the other girls and she needed employment, so it had worked out for everyone.
When Tessa first met Erin, they hit it off right away, which was really unusual because she didn’t normally have girl friends, but with Erin she felt really comfortable. She understood right away why Rowan was attracted to her. She was beautiful. The typical California girl, long blonde hair, perfect tanned skin, deep blue eyes and a body to die for with all the right curves in all the right places. And she was completely into Rowan. It seemed as if her whole world revolved around him. She fit the mold of the perfect doctor’s wife. Sometimes Tessa actually felt inadequate around her, although Erin never made her feel that way. She always made sure that Tessa and Rowan still had their weekly breakfasts and Rowan still called her regularly. They got along great. And Tessa had never seen Rowan so happy. His eyes lit up when Erin walked into the room and it was as if everyone else ceased to exist as far as he was concerned. When Rowan announced that they were going to get married after only six months of dating, Tessa and Cade were a little taken back. Rowan was not an impulsive person. He’d always planned everything out. Since he was a kid, he had known he was going to go to college, was going to be a doctor and knew he would work in an E.R., so for him to make that step of commitment in such a short time of knowing her, it was huge. Of course, she completely supported him and had even accepted Erin’s request for her to be her maid of honor. Unfortunately, things didn’t stay so wonderful.
Tessa remembered so vividly the first time she got an uneasy feeling about Erin. It was a week before the wedding and she had helped Erin move some of her things into Rowan’s place. After they got everything moved in, Erin made them a few margaritas. It’s amazing the things you find out about a person when they’ve had too much to drink. They sat on the living room floor drinking as they were unpacking one of her boxes.
“So, Cade is pretty hot, huh?” Erin blurted out from nowhere.
“What?”
“Cade. He’s pretty hot. I’d do him. I mean if I were going to have one last fling before Rowan and I got married, it would definitely be with Cade.”
“Erin, you shouldn’t even be thinking that way. You and Rowan are getting married next week and not only that, Cade is Rowan’s best friend.”
Erin gave an uncomfortable laugh. “I’m just kidding, Tess. Of course, I would never do anything like that to Rowan.”
Looking back now, Tessa knew she should have said something to Rowan and Cade, but she never in a million years would have thought that Erin would do something like that to her brother. Low and behold though, she did. Cade had taken Rowan out the night before the wedding with a bunch of their buddies to celebrate his last night of “freedom,” as Cade put it. Rowan had way too much to drink and had gotten totally shit faced, so much that Cade had to actually carry his ass inside when he brought him home. Erin wasn’t even upset by the fact that he was passed out on the couch the night before they were to be married. From what Cade relayed, she seemed happy. Of course, he found out quickly why she was so happy. Once Cade laid him down, Erin pounced, literally. She was all over Cade, kissing on him, trying to get his clothes off. Cade did the only thing he knew to do and left right away, but not before he explained to Erin that she was acting ridiculous. First thing in the morning he called Tessa to tell her what had happened. Once she let him know what Erin told her the week before, Cade asked her to go with him to tell Rowan. Neither of them had been looking forward to informing him that the woman he was about to marry had not only tried to get his best friend in bed, but tried it in his home while he was passed out on the couch.
Rowan was devastated. She’d never seen him so angry or upset. There were very few times in their life that she had ever seen her brother cry, this was one of those times. And, it was a time she never wanted to relive. Neither of them knew what to do to console him. It had taken him months before he was able to function as a normal person outside of his work. He, of course, called the wedding off right away. Erin didn’t hold back her anger towards her and Cade either. And, even though Rowan knew Cade had nothing to do with the situation, it was hard on their friendship during those months. Rowan told Cade he wanted him to fire Erin, but Cade wouldn’t. That made the stress between them even worse. Tessa hadn’t known until today that Erin had threatened to sue Cade, but it was the only explanation why he would keep her on at his office. His friendship with Rowan was entirely too important for him to not have a good reason to allow her anywhere near him. Tessa didn’t want to have anything to do with Erin and certainly didn’t want her anywhere near Cade. She not only betrayed and hurt her brother, but she betrayed the friendship that Tessa had shared with her. Now that she and Cade were together, she wanted more than anything for Erin to be as far from him as possible. The thought of her in the same room with him set her teeth on edge. As hard as it was for her to know that she was still working there, she knew it was harder on Cade for having to deal with her every day, so she would deal with it.
Chapter 17
The last two days were nothing but a blur for Tessa. She had a meeting with Dominick and Susan on Tuesday. They had spent hours going over the photos she had already completed and they began separating them into two piles of potentials for the calendar and photos they would absolutely not use. It seemed as though the pile for potentials was larger than the not using pile, which frustrated the hell out of her. It was very tiring and time consuming and Susan really wasn’t much help. She basically wanted to use any photo that showed their “happy trail,” whether it was a good shot or not. She really needed someone with an eye for detail and not the detail of the bulge beneath their pants.
Tessa was finding it hard to keep her mind on work. Instead, she found her thoughts constantly drifting to Cade. More times than once she was caught up in memories of their time spent together. When they finally stopped for lunch, she called his office hoping to at least get a few minutes of conversation in with him. He had been too busy with appointments to even come to the phone. She had really just wanted to hear his voice and as disappointed as she was, she’d told herself she had no right to get frustrated. He had told her he would be pretty busy. It didn’t change the fact the she was aching to see him and to feel him, to hear his voice and feel the way it caressed her to the very core. She wanted to just lie in his arms and take in his scent. Wanted to feel the security she always felt when she was with him. She had known she was falling for him, but at that moment, the reality of her need for him slammed into her chest and squeezed her heart.
After lunch, Susan and Tessa got right back to working on the photos, which ended up going late into the night. Although her entire day and night had been consumed with the tedious work, they had the photos they needed and were one step closer to getting this project completed. Choosing these pictures would definitely make it easier for them to hit their deadline, no thanks to Dominick. Susan let out a yawn and they both knew it was their cue to end the night.
“So, bright and early we hit the pavement running.” Susan was packing up her things when she turned to Tessa. “I totally forgot to email you the schedule so I printed out a copy for you.”
Susan handed Tessa the list.
“Thanks, Susan. You’ve really been a big help with this project.”
“It’s no problem. By the way, your Friday shoot said there is no way he can move it. I’m sure you won’t really mind though,” she said the last with a wink before walking out the office. When Cade had called her to reschedule his shoot, he had filled her in on his plans with Tessa. In true form for Susan she questioned Cade as if her job depended on it.. She didn’t get the job at the paper on her good looks. She grilled him on his relationship with Tessa once he told her they were dating. She’d been a little put off that she was hearing from Cade and not Tessa that she was in a relationship, especially a relationship with Cade McCarthy. He answered all her question and after an hour of grilling him she was satisfied enough to help him. She knew that if he wanted his plans with Tessa on Friday to go off without a hitch, he needed to get her in on it. She loved knowing what was going on, loved having Tessa in the dark. Anything for love, that was her motto.
Tessa quickly glanced at the white eight by ten page that announced the jackass who was ruining her Friday afternoon. She had really been looking forward to spending time with Cade since she wasn’t going to get the chance all week. Now even that was ruined by work. If it wasn’t his work, it was her work keeping them apart. She shouldn’t be sitting here worrying about when she was going to get to spend time with him. She should be focused on her work, not some man. But Cade wasn’t just some man. He was everything she dreamed of when she let herself dream of giving herself completely to someone. He made her want to be a better person just by being who he was. It was easy to see why she wanted to spend every waking hour in his presence and every moment of sleep wrapped in his arms. He crept into her soul and resided there. She was happy to give him a home there.