Read Online Defender for Hire by Shirlee McCoy - Free Book Online Page B

they’d be a perfect pair.
    “I thought you said you weren’t coming tonight,” she said as she hurried across the room. “If I’d known you were going to be here, I’d have saved a spot at our table.”
    “I had a last-minute change of plans. Right, Tessa?” He smiled at Tessa, hoping Peggy Sue would finally get the hint and decide to pursue someone else.
    “Well,” Peggy Sue murmured, a tiny frown line appearing between her brows as she gave Tessa a thorough once-over. “That worked out well, then, didn’t it? Let’s go find a table where we can all sit.”
    “We wouldn’t want to tear you away from your friends, Peggy Sue.” Tessa cut into the conversation, her arm sliding around Seth’s waist. “Would we, Seth?”
    “It’s no problem. My friends will understand.” Peggy Sue’s frown line deepened.
    “I’m sure they would, but we’ll be fine on our own,” Tessa replied, flashing the quick smile that showed off her dimple. “Seth, we’d better put these meatballs with the other food. It was nice meeting you, Peggy Sue.”
    She started walking, her arm still hooked around Seth’s waist, her shoulder pressed to his side. She stayed there all the way to the food-laden tables that stretched across the back wall of the fellowship hall.
    Seth couldn’t say he minded.
    Tessa felt right. It wasn’t something that he could explain, but he didn’t plan to question it, either.
    He handed the dish to one of the women setting up the buffet, and did what he’d been thinking about from the moment Tessa’s arm slid around his waist. He returned the gesture, his fingers curving against her warm side.
    “I don’t think she’s watching any longer, Seth,” she mumbled, tensing but not pulling away. “So, I guess I don’t need to be glued to your side.”
    “Peggy Sue is persistent. It might be a good idea for us to stick together for a while longer,” he responded, only half joking.
    “How long is a while?”
    “Just long enough to find a seat and get settled. There’s a table in the corner.” He led Tessa across the room, pulling out a chair for her.
    She sat quickly, her cheeks tinged with pink, her gaze lowered. She seemed embarrassed, maybe a little uncomfortable. Neither had been his intention.
    He took the seat beside her, touching her wrist, ignoring the quick leap of his pulse. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Tessa.”
    “You didn’t.” She offered a half smile. “Much.”
    “I’d rather not have at all.”
    “I’m the one who started the whole thing. Remember?”
    He couldn’t forget. Not the feel of her arm around his waist. Not the warmth of her fingers on his side. “I think we were both willing participants.”
    “Poor Peggy Sue,” Tessa said, glancing over at the table where Peggy Sue sat with her friends. “She seems so...desperate.”
    “She’s a nice lady. I’m sure she’ll find someone.”
    “Just not you?” Tessa brushed a thick strand of hair from her cheek, her hand smooth, her fingers long and slender.
    “No. Not me.”
    “You’re not into dating?”
    “I haven’t been,” he responded. Though he was beginning to think that the right woman might change his mind. “How about you?”
    “No.” She shifted uncomfortably.
    “But you do eat, right?”
    “Does snow fall in the mountains?” she replied.
    He laughed, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. “We’d better get in line, then. People around here know how to pack away food. We wait too long, and it’ll all be gone.”
    He didn’t release her hand, and she didn’t pull away. Not when they walked across the room. Not when they were standing in the long line.
    It felt...nice to be there with her, to listen to her talk about her day, about the clients she’d worked with and the satisfaction she’d felt when they progressed.
    When they finally reached the table, she grabbed a plate and piled it so high she’d have given a hungry trucker a run for his money.
    She must