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God forbid you ask her out on a real date.”
    “I don’t date,” Drake snapped.
“And when the hell did you get so interested in my love life?”
    “Since you’ve never really had a
love life before, I guess my answer would be now. Whether you like it or not,
you’re dating Tessa, despite your efforts to mask it as some sort of work
thing. It’s like you’re secretly dating and everyone sees it but the two of
you...it’s weird, but coming from you, I shouldn’t be surprised.” Gus paused
for a moment, looking thoughtful. “Tessa isn’t like your other women.”
    “No,” Drake agreed softly. “She’s
unique.”
    “Yeah, she actually has a soul
and doesn’t give a shit about your money. Look, all I’m saying is—if you want
her—you need to make a move, brother. Stop playing games with her. She’s not
the type to know the rules. If you want to be with her, you have to say it,
loud and clear. I think she could make you happy...if you let her.”
    “Unfortunately, it’s not just
about what I want.”
    “And isn’t that just a bitch?” Gus
turned around and put the car into drive. “I like her. Maybe this is good for
you. She’s making you work for it, and that’s why you haven’t lost interested
yet. My Kelcie was like that.”
    “I still don’t know what your
wife sees in you.”
    Gus laughed. “Neither do I. Oh,
and one more piece of advice. Stop being such an asshole to everyone. At least
in front of her...if you can help it. I know it’ll be hard, but try.”
    “Fuck you, Gus.”
    “Not even on a bet.”
    Drake couldn’t help but grin at
Gus’s cheerful reply. Still, he couldn’t let his friend get away with ribbing him
without some sort of response. “I should fire you.”
    Gus snorted, not the least bit
worried. “It’s been a few days since the last time you did.”
     

 
    ***
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Tessa felt like she was dying.
    She’d only been in the office for
half a day on Thursday before she realized that pushing through her illness
just wasn’t possible. Fortunately for her, the last few days she had gotten a
lot of work done and was ahead of the schedule she’d made for herself.
    The invitations to the gala had
been sent out. Working with Mrs. Potts had been easy. Drake’s intimidating office
guardian had actually turned out to be a sweet, gentle woman—one who Tessa
liked very much. They had spoken on the phone for hours throughout the past few
days, going over the list and starting the initial planning of the seating
arrangements.
    The day after they had reserved
their location for the gala, Tessa had received an email from Drake that had
made her frown. She’d reserved a large portion of the invites for his personal
guests, but his list had only included a handful of names...male names. After a
quick Google search, she’d discovered that Travis, Christian and Colin Baer
owned a large construction company that had worked on a few of Drake’s
properties, including his downtown office. Another person on his list had been
Ryder Prince, a renowned surgeon. Since Drake’s company made medical tech and
equipment, it made sense he would be acquainted with several well-known medical
professionals.
    She hadn’t been surprised to see
the names of a few business men, including Lucas Forrester, a negotiator with
his own dubious reputation. There was also the owner of a security company and
a few of his associates, none of which Tessa could find any information about.
Drake had also included invites to a Detective Philip Wade and a few other
police officers and firefighters, but what had shocked her was seeing Turner
McCord’s name, the owner of a toy store.
    Toys...really?
    Shoving the file she’d put
together for the gala into her bag to take home with her, she got up and had to
brace a hand on her desk for a moment to make sure she didn’t fall over. She
managed to walk a few steps, then she erased a few of the items that were written
on the white board she had