Need You Tonight

NINETEEN





“How’s she doing?” Kade asked, setting down the report he’d been looking at when his brother had strolled in and parked in the chair across from his desk. He’d called him in here earlier to get the report on how Tessa’s job training was going, but Gib had been tied up with another meeting.

Gibson hooked his ankle over his knee and leaned back, looking like a Kennedy descendant instead of a guy who’d grown up being called trailer trash. “Quick study. Motivated. Still a little insecure soliciting the donations but getting better. When James Alario went all cross-examination on her early on, asking her the financial stats of her organization and business plans and shit, she knew a lot but not enough for Alario, apparently. He didn’t donate. Busted her confidence and I thought she was going to throw in the towel, but later that day I saw her with the P&Ls for the charity. I asked if she wanted me to send Marcy in from accounting to help her decipher them, but she said she wanted to try to figure it out herself first.”


Kade nodded. “She’s taking business classes two nights a week. And numbers always came easier to her from what I remember, so I’m not surprised. How is the fundraiser looking?”

“She secured Third Sky for the musical headliner, so that’s been a huge help because they’re a hot ticket right now. Apparently, Billy, the guitarist, grew up in foster care here, too, and Tessa knew him from back then. She called in a personal favor.”

“Impressive.”

“Yeah, like I said, she’s motivated. And she hasn’t lost that Ms. Popularity thing she had in high school. She’s easy for people to like. So with that and the band’s name to throw around, she’s landed a few good donations over the last few weeks and has sold some booth spots. It’s a solid start. Though, I’m not sure it really matters.”

Kade lifted a brow. “What do you mean?”

“Come on. You may be fooling her, but you’re not fooling me. I know you’ll give her whatever money she needs if she comes up short. You can fix her charity with one quick check.”

“She doesn’t know I’m willing to do that, though. And doesn’t need to know. I want her to see that she’s capable of doing it on her own.”

“She’s working her ass off and pulling in any connections she can manage, so I can’t fault her on effort.” Gib did that little shrug like it hurt him to give her credit.

Kade rested his forearms on the desk, not liking Gib’s tone. “You faulting her for something else then, little brother?”

“Only for what’s going on between you two,” he said bluntly.

“That shouldn’t concern you.”

“Come on, you’re seeing her every night, man.”

“And that matters, why?”

He made a face like the answer should be obvious. “Because you’re sneaking around like teenagers and letting her do the same damn thing she did to you back then. Taking what she needs from a relationship with you without anyone else having to know. She’s dragging you into the pit again.”

Kade gave Gib a bemused smile, imagining some she-devil cartoon version of Tessa, digging talons into him and forcing him to have sex with her in her secret lair. “Come on, Gib. Dragging me into the pit? It’s not like I’m not getting something out of this deal. Last I checked, she’s submitting to me.”

“And you’re getting attached to her,” he countered.

Kade’s jaw tightened. “Weren’t you the one who wanted me to woo her?”

Gib leaned back in his chair with a groan. “Into a public relationship that could help you with the case. Not some clandestine affair that’s only going to get you burned when she goes AWOL again. Can’t you see this is just fun and fantasy for her? A way to soothe her tattered ego after getting cheated on by her ex. If this were something real for her, she wouldn’t care who knew.”

Kade frowned, Gibson only underlining the things Kade was already worried about. “I’m working on trying to get her to go public, but can’t rush her or it will blow up. I have to work her up to it. She was raked over the fire by the press back in Atlanta, so her concerns are valid. No one would want to be portrayed as a gold digger. And you know that angle would pop up. I’m sure Doug Barrett would be more than happy to provide some choice sound bites as well. Plus, with my past, rumors about is she/isn’t she into kink would surface. It’s a lot of scrutiny to invite for something she sees as a casual hookup.”

“But none of that’s going to kill her,” Gib said, frustration edging his words. “She’ll survive the gossip, and I can do spin control with my contacts, have them write stories focusing on her charity work and how you two knew each other from high school. You need to stop worrying about her feelings and focus on the custody case. Reid told you straight up that a stable relationship would improve your image with the court tenfold, especially one with a woman who has never been tied to the scene.”

“I’m aware of that,” Kade replied tersely. “But it’s not your place to decide how I handle it.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the one who lost my brother when she f*cked you over last time. And I’m also the one who dealt with you after the divorce and when you lost custody originally. I’m not in the mood to watch your self-destruct mode again. The company can’t afford that and neither can I.”

Kade pushed back from his desk and rose to walk toward the window. He put his back to his brother as he stared out at the buildings and afternoon sky. When he’d first lost custody of Rosalie, he’d been more angry and depressed than he’d ever been in his adult life. He’d reverted back to Kaden Fowler mode, becoming a version of that beat-down teenager filled with angst and rage at the world. All that grief had piled in with old trauma, forming one big, black mess inside his head. He’d drunk too much, plowed through women, and had shirked his responsibilities at work. And he wouldn’t let anyone near him to help pull him out of it. He’d almost alienated the very family he’d been so happy to find only a few years earlier and damaged the company he’d worked so hard to start.

Only Gibson had been able to get past all the daggers Kade had been throwing at everyone. He and Colby had come to Kade’s house and had taken him by threat of force for a weeklong bro-cation on the coast. No alcohol or women allowed. They’d cleaned him up, gotten his head clear, and had basically vowed to kick his ass if he didn’t get his shit together. But the thing that had put it over the top was Gibson telling Kade that he was on the way to becoming a worthless alcoholic like his stepdad. That had put the fear of God in him. He’d known he hadn’t gotten to that point yet. He could still put down the bottle, but he’d sensed the black hole wasn’t far in the distance.

Since that trip, he’d done a one-eighty and had put his energy into the business and into getting another custody hearing. He had Gib to thank for it, so he didn’t want to jump on his brother’s case. But Kade didn’t relish the idea of putting Tessa in a position that would cause her drama. It wasn’t her problem to fix.

But he also couldn’t deny that the desire to do anything and everything to get Rosalie back kept him awake at night.

He sighed and leaned his head against the glass. “It’s going to take more than a little cajoling to get Tessa confident enough to step into the spotlight with me. Especially when there’s no real benefit to her doing so.”

“Tell her about Rosalie then. Maybe she’ll understand why it’s so important.”

“No way. I’m not guilting her into it with some sob story about my kid. Plus, that’s asking for months of commitment, which will freak her the f*ck out. I still have to work to get her to agree to another night each time I see her. I need her to decide to be with me because she wants to try a relationship and doesn’t want to hide.”

“You need her to trust you.”

Kade frowned and turned to face his brother again. “I need more than that. Trust isn’t enough.”

Gib leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his jaw. “Well, you’re a pro at getting girls to fall for you. They don’t call you the Time Share Bachelor for nothing. You’ve even got the psycho ex-girlfriends to prove it. I’m assuming you heard the latest on the fire?”

“Yes,” he said with a groan. The cops had informed him that Rebecca, the same ex-girlfriend who’d given a statement to his ex-wife’s lawyer about his kinky side, was now being investigated for the fire at Barcelona. Brilliant.

“So clearly you can stir up passion in a woman. Dial up your game with Tessa, bro. Jet her off to Rome for the weekend or something. Make her feel like a princess.”

He scowled. “You make it sound like I have some playbook of how to make a girl love me. This isn’t a game. I feel like this could become something real, Gib. But I don’t want to f*ck it up by rushing things and scaring her off. She needs reassurance that this is just a fun fling, that I’m just happy to show her some fantasies.”

“And you’re lying about it being only that,” Gibson said quietly.

He turned and faced his brother, the truth like bags of gravel weighing down his shoulders. “Through my teeth. Fulfilling some dirty fantasies with Tessa is no hardship, believe me. But I want the real thing, have for a long time, and everything in me thinks she could be it. There’s always been something intense between us, even if we didn’t know how to label it.”

Gibson eyed him, unconvinced. “But is she really submissive or is she just experimenting with roles? What you want isn’t simply a little kink. It’s full surrender. The pool of people open to that kind of thing is small already.”

Kade tucked his hands in his pockets and leaned against the window. “My gut says she could be capable of it. But she’s working so hard to be one hundred percent independent, trying to prove to herself that she can do it all on her own, that I think she’d flip if she knew the depth of what I want in a relationship. She doesn’t even like me paying for dinner. I understand it, but it’s driving me crazy.”


“She realizes that she was bought by Doug. Can’t blame her for not wanting to fall into that again.”

He rubbed the back of his head. “I know. I get it. But I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to keep myself in check. The more we’re together, the more my instinct to take over completely gnaws at me.”

“So take over,” Gib said, as if it were the simplest decision in the world. “You’re a dom and a sadist. That’s not going to change. Colby said y’all got together the other night and that you were so gentle with Tessa, he didn’t even recognize you.”

“Colby should keep his mouth shut.”

“Come on, he didn’t give me details or anything. He’s just concerned like I am. He can tell things are getting heavy with this girl, and it’s going to lead nowhere good if you don’t show her who she’s really dealing with. If she’s truly submissive and open to your brand of dominance, she’ll respond if you dial things up. If she’s not, then at least you know before you get in too deep and get your guts handed to you.”

In too deep. As if he weren’t in it up to his eyeballs already.

“It’s not that easy.” The fact that he’d been playing the dominance aspect low key with Tessa had been a source of frustration for a while now. She’d been distant the next morning after the threesome, as if she couldn’t quite process what had happened, and had needed a few days before she was ready to see him again. So since then, every time he considered amping up the intensity, he’d backed off at the last minute, fearing that he’d scare her off. But he’d promised himself after his divorce that he would always be up front about the extent of his kinks with anyone he considered getting serious with—take it or leave it. And here he was breaking his number one rule by constantly diluting it for Tessa.

“Look, man, I get that she’s special to you, and you don’t want to mess it up again. But holding back and playing some half-assed version of yourself will screw it up, guaranteed. In high school you held back with her, played the game how she wanted you to play it. Don’t be that kid again. That kid got his ass kicked and lost the girl anyway.”

Kade looked over at his brother, the truth in the words slicing right through him. Gib was right. The moment Tess had stepped back into his life, his normal confidence had been shaken. Something about her always channeled that stuttering kid who wanted to jump through every hoop to be near her. And here he was doing it again. Plus, he was getting attached and developing that wicked bastard of an emotion called hope. The deeper he got, the more it’d suck when it blew up in his face.

“You’re right.”

“Of course I am.”

Kade raked his hand through his hair. “Maybe it’s time for a trip to The Ranch.”

Gibson nodded. “That will at least give your girl a real glimpse of what it could be like with you. And if you see she’s not into it, you can save yourself the trouble and end it now. Then I’ll set you up with a nice faux girlfriend for the press. I already have someone in mind.”

Kade’s lip curled. “Does she charge by the hour or day?”

Gibson gave him an offended look. “Hey, I wouldn’t do that to you. The high-end ones have weekly rates.”

Kade resisted rolling his eyes and sat in his chair again, his mind already drifting to The Ranch. Imagining Tessa in that environment, under his command, wearing his collar in front of his friends, being his—all of it had his blood heating. It’d be a risk to put her in that kind of environment this soon. But she’d enjoyed the boundaries he’d pushed so far, and even if it had shaken her foundation, she had still come back to him. And he was beginning to wonder if there really was any true way to ease someone into the kind of relationship dynamic he needed.

“I guess it’s time to lay it all out there,” he said, looking up at his brother.

Gibson smiled. “So it is.”

Kade drummed his fingers on the desktop. “You’re thinking she’s going to run scared.”

Gibson stood. “Doesn’t matter what I think. But I will say that, for your sake, I hope she proves me wrong.”

Kade started to reply, but Gibson was already slipping out the door. He waited until the lock clicked shut and pulled out his cell phone to find a number. He hit the name he was looking for.

The call was answered on the second ring. “Hey there, Vandergriff. Another call? Tell the truth. Are you hitting on me? Because I know you have a thing for the Austins.”

He smirked. “You’re never going to let me live that down, are you, Jace? For the last time, I didn’t know she was married or that she was your sister.”

And boy had he felt like an ass when he’d made a pass at Jace’s married sister.

Jace laughed. “Sure, whatever, home wrecker. What can I do for ya?”

“I’m going to need another order. And maybe a little help setting up something at The Ranch.”

“Is this for your lovely girl from the other night? Thanks for inviting us along by the way. The three of us don’t bring things out in the open very much except for an occasional weekend at The Ranch, so it was fun to push our own limits some.”

“No problem. I’m glad you had a good time.” Kade tilted back in his chair, rubbing the back of his head. “And yes, this is for her.”

“Yeah, dude, sure, whatever you need. And I know Wyatt and Kelsey are going to be out there this weekend, if you need any extra help putting something together. Kelsey’s good at organizing stuff.”

He smiled. “Always good to have a load of kinky friends one can call upon.”

“You know it,” Jace said with a chuckle.

He and Jace made quick plans and exchanged good-byes. After hanging up the phone, Kade ran his palms along the arms of his chair, the gears in his mind starting to turn. It was time to put it all out there, show Tess who he really was.

He just had to hope that by the end of all this, she wasn’t running for the nearest exit. Because the last time he’d taken a chance and revealed what he really wanted to Tessa, it had demolished everything.