My One And Only (Very Irresistible Bachelors 5)

“Oh, that’s right.” Grinning, she tugged at my sweater. “Just saying, it’s not that much of a cover. I can still see all these gorgeous muscles through the fabric.”

I ran my hand through her hair, enjoying how smooth it felt between my fingers. I was lost in thought, wanting us to talk about the issue at hand.

“You’re frowning. Let’s talk about the elephant in the room,” she suggested. “But wait, I want to cover up first.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know, just feels like I should be covered.” She looked over her shoulder, then pressed herself up on her knees. “You bad man. What did you do with my clothes?”

I lifted her off me, putting her on the mattress before getting out of bed and hunting for the dress. I found it on the floor at the foot of the bed. Tess held her hands out, but I swatted them away. Leaning with a knee on the mattress, I pulled the sweater over her head.

“Oooh, you want to put my clothes on. That’s a first.”

Five seconds later, it became clear I was much better at taking them off. I got her arms tangled in the fabric, but between the two of us, we sorted it out.

She looked adorable with her hair plastered to her face, blowing it out of her eyes.

Sitting next to her on the bed, I cupped her cheeks. “Tess, I promised you I’ll try to be more open about everything, so let’s sort out a few things. I don’t want you to borrow money from your family.”

“And I don’t want you to risk your business.”

She put a finger over my mouth, scooting away from the mattress. “I know I told you before that I don’t feel good about getting family finances involved beca

use it makes me feel dependent. But...I don’t know how it happened, but my perspective about that has changed, and although it still wouldn’t be my first choice, I don’t think trusting those I love with all things, including financial, is a bad thing. I’d always been wary of that, ever since Dad left us, I guess, because it was just so devastating. But if you can’t trust family, who can you trust? Am I making any sense?”

“Yes, you are. I’m proud of you, babe. Your family deserves you to trust them in all things.”

“I know. I told them that. You’re a big reason behind my change of heart, you know.”

I grinned. “Can you mention it to Ryker and Cole? They were saying something about giving me the talk.”

Tess laughed. “I’m on it.”

I toned down my grin, because what I was about to say was serious. “But I still don’t want you to do that, because we won’t freeze the investment. I’m not giving that asshole what he wants. He doesn’t deserve it. I have a plan, and I want you to trust me on it.”

“Okay, so what’s the plan?”

“Something I never considered until you. I’m going to make it public that we caught him trying to embezzle years ago.”

Tess gasped. “But you always said that wouldn’t bode well in the industry. That it might look poorly on Harrington & Co. too.”

“Yes, that is the concern, but I don’t care about that anymore.”

“What do Becca and David have to say about this?”

“They’re both on board. I spoke to them this morning. Between that and him showing up at your store making threats, we have enough to push him out of the company with very little money. We even have eyewitnesses in your shop, so he can’t fight that claim. There’s a clause about foul play. It’s not enough to put him away, but he’ll be ruined for good, and I don’t think he’ll fight it. This may be the more discreet way to shut him down. He’ll accept the smaller buyout. And after he does...after his ties with Harrington & Co. are severed, we’ll give him to the justice system.”

“Well, well. There’s karma, and there’s you,” she said.

“I don’t mess around when someone wants to hurt those I love.”

“You certainly don’t.”

She climbed in my lap again, wrapping her arms around my shoulders. She tilted her head from one side to the other.

“Your neck is stiff.” I immediately pressed my fingers at the side of her neck. She sighed, closing her eyes. “I wanted to do this last night too.”

“You can make up for that now.” She smiled, lying down on the mattress and moving her hair to bare her neck.