Tessa's day had gone downhill after Josiah and the others had left. There had been one emergency after another, culminating in a literal explosion, and Tessa couldn't get to her house until slightly after the designated seven o'clock.

She had texted Josiah that there was a hold-up and that she would be there as soon as she could, but she hadn't expected the little domestic scene into which she arrived. Josiah and Amber were in the kitchen; Amber, wearing Tessa's apron, was chopping vegetables and laughing at something that Josiah was saying.

She looked lovely. Her hair was in a sleek ponytail, and her dress was a pristine white with heels that made her almost as tall as Josiah. Her legs looked like they went on forever. That was never an asset that Tessa could claim. 

Tessa, who was ragged around the edges, to say the least, could only stare as she stood in the middle of her living room looking at the happy little scene while corned beef dripped from her hair and her work clothes stuck to her in the most uncomfortable places.

Josiah stopped mid-sentence and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Amber did her best to hide a smirk at Tessa's lackluster appearance.

"I gather that it was a hard day at the office?" Josiah calmly asked, with a look of concern.

"Becky," Tessa said with a deep sigh.

"Oh no, no blood this time, I hope? Didn't she just return to work?"

"Yes, today was her first day back. No blood, but a hospital trip was required. However, due to the lack of blood, I could get someone to take her this time." Tessa looked at Amber who was almost laughing at that point.

"I'll go get changed," Tessa said, walking to her bedroom and shutting the door.

She stripped her clothes and threw them in the trash. Then, she wrapped herself in her robe and sat at her dressing table to try to remove the pins in her hair with as little pain as possible.

There was a soft knock at the door, and then Josiah entered without being told to come in and closed the door behind him.

"Sure, come on in," Tessa muttered as she winced. Somehow, the corned beef juice had turned into something similar to shellac.

"I had to come in without being invited. We're dating, remember? I most likely would have been in your bedroom before." Josiah studied her tired face. "Are you really alright?  I can send Amber back to the hotel." He sounded almost hopeful.

Tessa took a deep breath and continued to the next pin. "Yes, I'm fine, but remind me never to order the Chef's corned beef." She had burned her fingertips as well, which was making them super sensitive to the pressure needed to yank out the pins, and she couldn't help the hiss of pain or stilling of her hand.

"Is that what happened? A massive Corned Beef accident?" he asked, walking up behind her and watching what she was doing for a moment before he pushed her hands aside and started to take the pins out himself.

Tessa closed her eyes and enjoyed the feel of his hands in her hair.

"Yes. I had gone to talk to Chef when he was prepping dinner, not the best time, I know. Lesson learned. Anyway, as I entered the kitchen, he was asking Becky if she knew her way around a pressure cooker. Becky assured him she did."

"But she didn't," Josiah finished her story for her, and pulled the last pin, then gave her scalp a quick massage as he looked for more pins.

"No, she did not," Tessa agreed as she held up her red fingertips with a shaking hand. His hands in her hair made her feel like she was melting. She didn't know if he could see the goosebumps on her skin, but she could sure feel them.

"Ouch, do you need to go to the hospital?" He grabbed her hand and studied it, creating a new batch of sensations

"No, it's minor. I was stupid and picked some up off the floor while cleaning without thinking." She pushed away from the dresser and stood on shaky legs.

"Why were you cleaning?" Josiah asked with a frown.

"It was dinner rush, they were down two employees and they needed all the help they could get." Tessa looked longingly at her bed. A nap would be great.

Josiah dropped her hand. "No nap, now. Go grab a shower, but be quick, please. I want to get this over with. We can use your long day as a way to end dinner early."

"Are you sure you want me to rush? I hate to disrupt the cozy scene I walked into," Tessa shook her head, she sounded jealous and that wouldn't do. She might be jealous, but she couldn't sound jealous. She was partly teasing him but also testing to see if he was still as anti-Amber as he had been earlier in the day.

"You were only twenty minutes late, but it was a long twenty minutes." Josiah shook his head, lifting Tessa's spirits a bit. He had turned to leave but returned before opening the door. "Also, mum's the word about us owning the hotel." His voice was soft.

Tessa tilted her head. "Why?" Was it because he didn't want Amber to know that Tessa was his employee?

"Because she already thinks I'm a good catch, can you imagine what she would think if she knew I owned the hotel?" He rolled his eyes. He tried to joke about it, but she knew he was serious. He didn't want to sweeten the pot.

"Got it, we're trying to make a rich, handsome, Harvard man undesirable." Tessa nodded, hiding a smile.

"Not undesirable, less desirable." His ego forced him to correct her.

"I'll do my best." Tessa nodded again, trying not to laugh.

Josiah looked at her oddly for a moment, then left her.

Perhaps it was exhaustion and shock from the explosion that was making her find the situation so amusing all of the sudden. She should be worried about the fact that she was jealous and what that meant, but at the moment, she only wanted to survive dinner. She would think about the rest tomorrow.

Tessa was quick. She showered and then braided her wet hair before putting on a simple sundress she had bought in anticipation of summer. It showed more of her figure than she was used to, but it was one of the few pretty things she owned, and she needed to feel pretty.

When she entered the main living area, Josiah stood at the stove, listening to Amber talk about a person they both knew while she sipped on a glass of wine. When Josiah saw Tessa, he motioned for her to join him his eyes scanning her in a proprietary way.

Tessa reminded herself that it was all for show as she moved to stand beside him and looked at the food cooking in the pan. It was some kind of pasta dish.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, putting his free hand on her hip and pulling her close, and she couldn't help but lean into him and rest her head on his shoulder.

"Starved," she said with a yawn, then stilled when she felt him drop a kiss on the top of her head.

He was wearing what he had been wearing earlier, minus the jacket and tie, and he had rolled up his sleeves, showing off his strong forearms.

"I'll set the table," Tessa said, not pulling away from Josiah like she should have. She felt safe and warm in his arms. It should have been awkward since they barely knew each other, but it wasn't.

"Would you like some wine?" Amber asked from across the kitchen.

Tessa jumped; she had forgotten she was there. "No, thank you. I have some iced tea in the fridge." Tessa forced herself away from Josiah and shivered at losing his body heat.

"It smells good, Josiah." She complimented. "Better than corned beef at any rate."

"That was my first choice, but the store was sold out." Josiah looked at Tessa and winked, and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Anything but corned beef!" Tessa cried as she went up on tip toes to get the nice plates. She could barely reach and was struggling when she felt Josiah press his body against hers as he reached up and grabbed the plates for her.

Tessa paused and let him move away first. To be fair, she had stopped breathing and couldn't move. "Thank you," she smiled flirtatiously at him, trying not to tremble from his closeness when he finally stepped away. It couldn't have been more than a few seconds, but it had felt like minutes to Tessa.

As Tessa began to set the table, Amber picked up the conversation where she had left off, leaving Tessa to gather her wits together.

For the next few minutes, Tessa was totally excluded from the conversation. To be fair, Amber was the only one conversing; Josiah was silent, seemingly lost in thought. At one point, he looked up and met Tessa's gaze from across the room, and neither one could look away. Tessa felt as if she was falling.

"Is dinner ready?" Amber asked a little too loudly, and it ended the moment.

"Yes, actually it is," Josiah grinned his Joey grin and turned off the burners.

Tessa brushed past him as she moved to pour herself a glass of iced tea, since Amber hadn't bothered to pour her one.

"Could I have one of those, also?" Josiah asked.

"Sure," Tessa agreed, pouring him one and taking them both to the table.

Josiah held out a chair for Amber, who smiled at him. Then he moved and held out the chair next to him for Tessa. It was Josiah and Tessa on one side, and Amber on the other. Tessa didn't know why it made her so ridiculously happy, but it did.

Tessa looked across at Amber as she served herself, and the look Amber shot her was full of malice.

It was going to be a long meal.