Balancing Act Read online

  Tessa shook her head. “I just need a few minutes to do something with my hair.”

  “Right.” Seth stood and rubbed a hand across his cheek. “I’ll shave and put on a fresh shirt.”

  Even as he said the words, he loosened his tie and pulled his shirt free of his suit pants. It was an intimate gesture from a man who always seemed so formal. Tessa averted her gaze as she got up to leave.

  “I’ll be ready in a few minutes, sir.”

  “Tessa,” he called.

  “Yes, Mr. Barrett?” She turned back to see him clad in a sleeveless undershirt. The muscles of his arms were large and defined, as was his chest she noticed. Heat rushed to her cheeks again, which flustered her more. The atmosphere was far too intimate.

  “Call me Seth. I’m supposed to be bringing a date.”

  “Yes, Seth.”

  Tessa hurried from his office and down the hall to the women’s restroom. She leaned against the door after it closed and took a deep breath. Seth was disturbing enough in his dark, formal suits. Seeing him in an undershirt had thrown her and made her far too aware of him as an attractive, single male. His chest had been sprinkled with golden hair. For some reason she had always pictured blond men as smooth, but she should have guessed from the thick mane of hair on his head that he would be different. His beard was heavy enough that by the end of the day, he always looked in need of a shave.

  Tessa walked over to the mirror and went to work. She loosened the sleek chignon she had worn during the day and instead piled her hair higher but more loosely on her head. After pulling a couple of tendrils loose at her temples where they curled, she redid her makeup and added a touch of perfume between her breasts. Lastly, she removed the bolero jacket to reveal the form-fitting top of the dress. It outlined her full breasts, while still leaving the delicate bones of her shoulders bare. Maybe she’d been psychic when she’d donned it that morning.

  She returned to Seth’s office, knocking before entering.

  “Come on in, Tessa,” Seth said and turned from where he was standing at the window. His eyes widened as he took in her appearance. “You look lovely.”

  Tessa stared at a point over his shoulder, determined to keep things businesslike. “Thank you.” She still couldn’t quite get his name out, but she would work on it.

  He crossed the room and took her arm. “Come on, let’s go. There’re drinks at my parents’ home before we go to the country club. You okay with that?”

  Was there no end to his last minute addendums to this dinner? Tessa glared at him. “Do I have a choice?”

  Seth paused to stare at her for a moment, his eyes shuttered. “No,” he said and walked on.

  When they passed the door to the stairwell, Tessa frowned at Seth’s back.

  “Mr.…Seth… The stairs.”

  Seth turned a cool look on her. “We’re going to use my father’s private elevator.”

  “But…”

  “Trust me.”

  Seth inserted the key at the side of the gold double doors at the end of the hall. Tessa stood next to him. Her heartbeat had already accelerated. She closed her eyes as she heard the doors slide open.

  “Open your eyes, Tessa,” Seth prompted. Was there just a trace of humor in his tone?

  “Oh.”

  Alexander Barlow-Barrett’s elevator was built into the outside wall of the building. The far wall looked right outside.

  “Try it.” Seth urged. “If it works, I’ll give you my key.”

  She stepped inside, fighting the slight unease as the doors shut. She kept her gaze fixed on the view beyond the glass wall. While her heart beat a little faster, her breathing stayed normal and she didn’t feel as though she was about to pass out.

  “How was that?” Seth asked as they reached the bottom.

  “Much better. Thank you.” She didn’t think she could handle it if Barrett were a high-rise, but such a quick ride might be okay.

  They were both quiet as he headed out of the district into Fairfax. The roads narrowed and emptied. The passing scenery switched from offices and strip malls to rolling fields and trees, until Seth turned down a long, oak-lined drive. It opened up to reveal a sprawling three-story house sitting atop a grass-covered hill.

  “This is it,” Seth said in a tone that did nothing to express any real pleasure. “The house where I grew up.”

  “It’s beautiful,” Tessa said.

  “Hmph.” Seth was back to grunting. “I should warn you, my mother can be more of a dragon sometimes than my father.”

  Tessa swallowed. Great. Seth was carnivorous enough without facing an entire family of meat eaters. The vision of his father and a no doubt equally intimidating matriarch picking their teeth with her bones was not in the least humorous, at least not at the moment.

  He helped her out of the SUV and then held her elbow as if he feared she might run. A uniformed butler opened the door as they approached. Tessa’s eyes widened slightly. A butler? Who on earth still had a butler? Good Lord, even her father’s family wasn’t that snobbish.

  “Tessa.” Seth growled the warning under his breath, somehow aware of her reaction and the likelihood she might voice it out loud, along with a pronouncement on how pretentious it was.

  “Mr. Seth,” the butler intoned in a crisp British accent. “How good to see you. Shall I announce you and the young lady?”

  Seth grimaced. “No, Forbes. I’ll take care of it.”

  As they walked down the hallway, Tessa whispered, “A butler?”

  Seth looked around to make sure they were alone before he stopped and turned her to face him. “What else did you expect, Tessa? You’ve met my father and Tallmadge. Did you think it would be any less stuffy at his home?”

  Tessa looked up at him. She’d always thought he resembled a dangerous, caged animal, but what she saw in those eyes at Barrett Newspapers was nothing compared to what she saw now. At the moment, he looked more hunted than caged.

  She remembered that feeling. It had been years since she’d experienced it, but she still vividly recalled it. Without thinking, she raised her hand to touch his chest. “I’m sorry.”

  Seth covered her slender fingers with his big hand and squeezed. Some of the hunted look left his expression.

  “It’s okay.” He leaned closer to her. “Look, my mother is trying to match me up with some horse-faced debutante from the club. I know it’s asking a lot, Tessa, but if you could make it seem…” He trailed off in what appeared to be embarrassment.

  “Like we’re romantically involved?” Tessa supplied, gaining confidence even as he seemed to lose it.

  Seth ran a finger around his collar. “Well, yes.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “That’s what I said.” As she heard someone approach the doorway they were standing outside, she stepped closer to Seth and slid her hand around his neck to pull his head down to her. She meant only to brush his lips with hers, but the difference in their heights, even with her heels, threw her off balance. Her body rested against his, her breasts crushed to his chest. As if by instinct, Seth brought his hands to her waist, but instead of just balancing her, he pulled her closer and slanted his firm mouth across hers. A delicate cough sent the two of them apart. Seth still maintained a casual arm around Tessa’s waist.

  “Good evening, Mother.” He greeted her as if they hadn’t been caught in the act of exchanging a heated kiss. “Allow me to present Miss Tessa Edwards.”

  Plucked brows arched with an inbred haughtiness, his mother eyed Tessa, who heard his soft groan. She realized the woman was about to pull out all the blueblood stops. No doubt she would try to freeze her to death with politeness.

  “Are you from the Loudoun Edwards family?” his mother asked with a tone that seemed to imply the utter impossibility of such a thing.

  Tessa smiled, deciding she was going to enjoy this. “Yes, ma’am, I am.” She ignored the warning squeeze she felt from Seth’s hand at her waist. It was obvious to Tess
a that Mrs. Barlow-Barrett wanted a pedigree, so she would give her one. “My daddy was Robert Edwards of Mont Clair Park.”

  From the corner of her eyes, Tessa saw Seth’s open-mouthed amazement. Even better, she watched as his mother thawed completely and smiled, speculation now replacing the haughtiness. “Welcome, dear. You must call me Tricia.”

  “And I’m Tessa.”

  * * * *

  Seth watched in complete awe as Tessa worked everyone in the room. Gone was the ice queen of the office. In her place was a sparkling debutante to rival anything ever dangled in front of him before. Seth wasn’t sure what to think. The thought even crossed his mind that Tessa had gotten the job as his assistant through some nefarious plot on the part of his parents. As they drove to the country club, he glanced at her in confusion.

  “Did you make all that up back there?” he asked at last.

  Tessa looked at him. “Make what up?”

  “That bit about Robert Edwards?”

  Tessa stared at him. “No. He was my father. He died of cancer when I was five. I don’t remember him all that well.”

  “Hmph.”

  “Stop grunting, Seth.”

  “Do you have any other surprises for me?” he growled as they pulled into the club parking lot.

  Tessa brushed a speck of lint from her skirt. “Not that I know of.”

  He watched her through dinner. She charmed everyone, from Habitat do-gooders to the dilettantes who always seemed to be hanging around somewhere. Seth stayed close to her side, because he realized it wasn’t just the women she affected. He’d never given it much thought while they worked, but Tessa Edwards was a beautiful, intelligent woman who possessed a natural magnetism that drew people of both sexes to her.

  As they waited for the valet to bring up his SUV, Seth studied her. She was beginning to droop.

  “If you come from the Loudoun Edwards, why do you need to work to support Zach?”

  Tessa looked at him, her eyes shuttered. “My father had a pedigree, not money. It was something he had a hard time dealing with, according to my mother. I don’t care about either one. I want to earn a decent living until I can get Zach situated.”

  “Then what do you want?” Seth probed.

  For the first time, he saw some of the same feelings reflected in her eyes that he’d experienced. That feeling of being caged.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t had the chance to figure that out. I hadn’t imagined being responsible for a child before I was twenty-five.”

  He helped her into the car and then strode around to get in on his side. They didn’t speak again for a while. She was a surprise. More than that, Tessa Edwards was an enigma, and for the first time in a long while, Seth discovered he was intrigued enough to want to know more.

  * * * *

  “Tessa.” Seth’s voice came from a distance. “Tessa, wake up.” Closer now. In fact, very near her ear. “Come on, Tess, wake up.”

  Tessa smiled. She was having the loveliest dream of the ocean complete with the feel of salt spray in her face. She and Zach were laughing.

  “Tessa,” Seth prompted again. “You’re home.”

  There was laughter in his voice and his breath was a whisper against her cheeks. She turned her head at the same time she opened her eyes.

  “You’re home,” Seth said again. Silence stretched as they continued to stare at one another. Seth’s gaze drifted to her mouth, and Tessa self-consciously licked her lips. Their eyes met again.

  “I should go in,” she whispered, but she made no move to leave.

  Seth’s large hand came up and he brushed the backs of his fingers against her cheek.

  “Thank you, Tessa.”

  “For what?” she asked in confusion, staring at his wide, firm mouth.

  “For agreeing to go with me tonight. For giving up some of your own time.” Seth quit talking for a moment. “I am about to make a very big mistake.” He slid his hand behind her head and leaned closer. “Tell me to stop,” he whispered as his mouth brushed hers.

  “Seth.” His name came out on a breath as her heart thudded in her chest. The saner part of her agreed with him. It was a mistake. Sanity prevailed. She leaned back. As soon as she pressed against his hand, he released her and sat back.

  “I’m sorry,” he said in his usual gruff voice. “That should never have happened.”

  He opened his door and came around the gleaming black SUV to open the door for her. Tessa met his golden eyes again before taking his outstretched hand.

  “Tessa.” He seemed to want to say something else, but stopped. “Thanks again. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

  She nodded and hurried up the walk to the big, old house. She knew Seth stood there watching until she was inside. Only then did she hear the sound of the engine as the Cadillac pulled away from the curb.

  Chapter 4

  Seth sat in his office the next morning staring out the windows. He didn’t really see what was outside. The beauty of the sunrise over the DC skyline had no impact on him. Without giving it much thought, he snapped one pencil in two, then another and another.

  Tessa.

  He hadn’t been able to get her off his mind. There were so many layers to the woman, he wasn’t even sure what was real. Educated at Smith. From a Virginia family with blood bluer than his own. Working as his secretary? The pieces didn’t fit. Any way he turned them, they just did not fit. The logical part of his mind searched for some ulterior motive, some reason beyond needing a job for why she was working at Barrett Newspapers. He couldn’t buy into the hare-brained thought that she was there at his parents’ instigation.

  And what about his feelings? She fascinated him. The way she protected her little brother, stepping in as a surrogate parent when she wasn’t much more than a kid herself. He looked forward to her arrival every morning. He had spent so many years feeling caged in this office, doing the duty expected of him, he sometimes wondered if he’d ever done anything else. Tessa brought a vibrancy that broke through the bars of his cage despite the obvious restraints she put on herself. He remembered her as she had looked last night, laughing and animated.

  She stirred him at so many levels, he couldn’t even begin to describe it. But she was so young. His logical mind intruded even here, bringing him back to earth with a thud. What would she want with him? Cool, calm Tessa. Even last night, she had been the realist. Not him. And that was the biggest reason to tread with care. Underneath it all, he was too idealistic for his own good.

  “Good morning, Mr. Barrett.” She greeted him with a small smile as she set his coffee on the desk.

  He glared back at her. As much as his fingers itched to loosen that fiery red hair and feel it slide through his fingers as it fell around her shoulders, he would keep this on a business footing. He was not some kid fresh out of school.

  “Bring the laptop and your coffee in here, Tessa. I want to work on more details on the Midwest Papers acquisition, and then you need to make arrangements for me to return to Chicago tomorrow.” He paused. “Is there any way you can go along? I know it’s short notice, but I have the feeling I could use another set of eyes and ears on the negotiations. We need to leave tomorrow morning, with a return Friday afternoon. I’m hoping this will clinch the deal.”

  Her lack of an instant response showed he’d caught her off-guard. Yet she must have known travel might be a part of the job.

  “It’s not a problem.” She recovered quickly. “I can have a neighbor watch Zach. She’s retired and stays at home most often. Do you want to take a commercial flight or use the corporate jet?”

  “The jet,” Seth replied. “Brandon’s back, so it’s available. Pack something dressy for Thursday night. I believe we’ll be celebrating.”

  She nodded.

  He was relieved it had been that easy. He was also relieved when they settled down to work. Tessa was so fast at following his train of thought, it made finalizing the acquisition details a snap. She excused herself mid-morning to
type up the final copies and finish arrangements for the trip.

  Seth watched her go. She was back to being the ice queen again, with a vengeance. He missed the softer, befuddled Tessa who had fallen asleep in his SUV. Perhaps that was for the best. He sighed and snapped yet another pencil in two. Before she left in the afternoon, Seth made arrangements to pick her up the following morning.

  * * * *

  Tessa was already waiting for him, her laptop and oversized purse in one hand, a hanging bag in the other, when he pulled up to the curb in the darkness of the following morning. He strode up the sidewalk, suit coat open and tie askew, and took the bags from her, stowing them in the back of the SUV before opening the door for her.

  “Coffee?” he asked, pointing to a cup from Starbucks.

  Tessa glanced at the cup holder with curiosity. Did the entire world revolve around getting Seth Barrett coffee? Even to the point of Starbucks opening at this hour?

  “Thanks,” she murmured, surprised when the coffee was prepared the way she liked it–plenty of cream and no sugar. She would never have guessed he even noticed how someone else preferred their caffeine. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he showed her some new aspect to his character. The problem, of course, was that what he revealed just made him more appealing.

  On the long list of things Tessa had never done, riding in a private jet was definitely one of the entries, so she was amazed when Seth drove right onto the tarmac and up to the waiting aircraft. The pilot was there to help them load their belongings, and a waiting ground crew employee from the private aviation service hopped into the SUV to park it.

  The jet looked like a long, narrow metal tube, and sudden trepidation filled her. Even the windows didn’t reassure her. Her palms started to sweat and her pulse increased. What if it was like being in an elevator? As she sucked in a deep breath, Seth turned, his foot on the bottom stair.

  “Tessa, you have flown before, haven’t you?”

  “Once or twice,” she replied in a tight voice.

  He arched one thick brow and gazed steadily from those leonine eyes. “How was it?”