HARDIN.

"She's going to be at the house at four," I say for the tenth time in the last hour. Landon looks over at me, raises an eyebrow and says something under his breath.

"Less whining, more wrapping." I tell him. He's supposed to be helping me wrap the gifts I got for Tessa's birthday, but so far, he's just been eating his way through the perfectly decorated table of food I had arranged for her, and adding in his unwanted commentary about my supposed stress level today.

I'm not stressed.

Really, I'm not.

I'm perfectly fucking calm.

I just want this day to go okay, and for Tessa to have a good birthday. I'm using her birthday to show her how life will be with me, for the rest of her birthday's, for the rest of her life. I've missed the last two birthdays and this one can't go wrong. It simply can't.

"It's only one now. She won't be here for a few hours. We have plenty of time. What did you get her?" Landon asks me from across the kitchen. Of course, he has a damn cupcake in his hand.

"The trip to Vegas, I told you this already."

Landon nods and I take a breath, going over the list of shit I have to do today before Tessa will be back from her class. She's the only person I know who graduated from college and immediately signed up for more schooling. This time her class is at a community college, less expensive and straight to the point, but still. I wanted her to take time off from school and spend more time with me. We have a lot of time to make up for.

"What's left to be done?" Landon asks.

"Carol and David land at two, I'm picking them up from the airport, then have to drive back here and make sure Tess-"

"I can pick them up and drive them back here," Landon's wife offers. She's been pretty helpful lately, despite how insane she drives me. I like her. Sort of. Mostly because of how happy she makes Landon, but her attitude can be really, really, annoying and since I'm the resident expert on attitudes, my opinion matters.

Not to Landon, clearly, but to someone. Somewhere.

I thank her and check my phone. Two missed calls from my publicist. Great.

Instead of calling her back, I turn my phone off and shove it into the front pocket of my jeans. Whatever she wants from me can wait, I'm sure of it. The last time Patri blew up my phone, she only wanted a quote from me for some magazine. It's Tessa's birthday, I don't give a shit about media today. Well, I don't give a shit about media any day, but definitely not today.

"What else needs to be done?" Landon asks, being his usual helpful self.

I stare around the apartment, at the Happy Birthday banner hanging above the fireplace and the counter covered with food. Cupcakes, cookies, some kind of orange dip that Landon's wife made. I look at the chairs, with the cloths covering them. I even had the Gibson's put bows on all the chairs. The house looks like it's decorated for a wedding. There are flowers everywhere.

Fuck, this looks ridiculous. It's way too much.

"Take the shit off the chairs," I run my fingers through my hair. I should wash my hair.

"What?" Gibson #2 asks, scooping her hair into a ponytail. "Why?"

"Because it's too much. Look at this," I pull at one of the bows on the chair and pull it off.

"You said you wanted it to be extravagant." Gibson #1 says.

These two are even more annoying when they are together than one on one.

"I changed my mind. She's going to hate all of this," I tell them, grabbing a bouquet of flowers off of the counter. This apartment is so small and it looks like something out of a wedding catalog, aka, my worst nightmare and since Tessa refuses to marry me, it will be her worst nightmare too.

Both of the Gibson's shake their head. "No she won't. She will love it." The two of them say at the exact same time.

Am I overthinking this?

There's a strong possibility that I may be.

Either way, it doesn't do much to calm me. "I'm getting rid of the flowers," I tell them.

Twenty minutes later, ninety percent of the decorations have been shoved into the closet in Tessa's room. I'll get them out later, when she's asleep, and throw them away.

I lay back on Tessa's bed for a minute, wishing time would move a little faster today, so Tessa would be home and I could stop worrying about flowers and cupcakes and banners and shit.

There's a knock at the door and Landon's voice calls out. "We're going to pick Carol and David from the airport!"

"Take some of those decorations with you!" I shout back, knowing they won't.

When I go to take a shower, the handle sticks, and I can't recall how many times I told Landon to fix the damn thing. They have had someone out at least four times to fix it, but it never works. I wish Tessa would move out of this small apartment and live with me at my place. But, of course, she won't. She would rather live with Landon, the newlywed, and listen to the Gibson's fucking in the next room and have a bedroom the size of a closet.

I wrap a towel around my waist and walk to Tessa's room with my clothes in my arms. I'm dressing up today, for Tessa, for her birthday... by dressing up, I mean, I'm wearing a black button up shirt with my black jeans, instead of t-shirt.

The door opens behind me and I turn around, holding the towel at my waist.

Tessa is standing in the doorway, her arms full of books.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask her.

She's not supposed to be here for two hours!

She cocks her head to the side, her long blond hair falls over one shoulder. "Excuse me?" She sits her books down on her dresser and lays her phone on top of the stack. She could have called or text, or something?

I remember that I turned my phone off. She probably did call. Way to go, Scott.

"Your class was supposed to go until four," I remind her.

I had envisioned this much differently. Tessa was supposed to walk through the door after four and we were all going to shout "surprise!" and she was supposed to cry from happiness and hug me and have the best twenty-second birthday that anyone has ever had. 

But, here she is, standing in her bedroom two hours too early. She takes a step toward me, her eyes on the cloth around my waist. She's wearing a gray sweater with a flower print shirt underneath and more makeup than usual. "You look beautiful," I say without thinking.

"So do you," she says when she's in front of me. Her fingers touch the tips of my wet hair and I lean into her. "You're the one who told me that I should skip class on my birthday," she says, her voice low.

"Yes, but I didn't think you would actually listen to me," I tell her. When does she ever listen to me? "Of course you would choose today out of all days to listen to me," I huff. She tugs gently at my hair and wraps a strand around her finger. Her fingers trail down my neck and her eyes follow.

"No one goes to class on their birthday, just skip," she says, clearly trying to mock my accent, but failing so fucking hard.

I try not to laugh. "What was that?"

"Your voice," she smiles and it lights up the room. "They won't even know you're gone," she continues.

I pull her to me and she wraps her arms around my shoulders. "I'm not Jamaican, baby. That was fucking awful," I tease her. Truly, it was awful.

She scrunches her nose up and shakes her head at me. Drops of water fall from my hair onto my chest and Tessa catches the drops with the tips of her fingers just before they slide down my chest.

"Where is everyone?" Tessa asks, bringing me back to the real world where it's her birthday and she's home two hours too early. "And what's with the flowers and balloons?"

I scramble for an answer. Great, she's already seen the outrageous decorations that have taken over the living room of her apartment. My cheeks flush with embarrassment.

"You aren't supposed to be here yet. Landon's out getting some last minute stuff."

Tessa's eyes meet mine and she looks apprehensive. "My mom's flight confirmation came to my email," she says. I unwrap her arms from me and move around the room.

Are you fucking kidding me?

"What? Really?" God damn it, nothing is going right today.

Tessa follows me toward the bed. "It's fine, I-"

I interrupt her. "It's not fine. You're home early, you know about your mum coming in, and-" Tessa's finger presses my lips.

"Thank you," she says, pressing harder. "Thank you for all of this, it's incredible."

"It was supposed to be a surprise," I mumble through her finger covering my mouth.

"Surprises are overrated," she says, lying through her damn teeth. She loves surprises.

I reach up and move her finger from her mouth. She leans into me and I hold onto the towel sliding down my waist.

"Sit down," she says.

I listen to her and sit down on the edge of her bed. She sits next to me and takes my hand in hers. It's warm and soft and fuck, I missed her so much.

"I missed you today," I tell her. My fingers have a mind of their own, rubbing circles on her soft skin.

"I was only gone for three hours," she smiles, tucking her hair behind her ear.

Is that all? Why did it feel so long?

Every second that I'm not with her feels like an hour. I've spent the last two years living in a different state than her and it was the worst two years of my life. I've had some pretty shitty years in this life of mine, so that's saying a lot.

"Three hours too fucking long," I lean over and kiss her. She's smiling when I pull away, but she doesn't say anything. Her gray eyes are on me, searching for something that I can't seem to help her find.

"What?" I ask her after a few more moments of silence pass.

She shakes her head.

"Tess,"

"Don't Tess me," she says in a soft voice. In one quick movement, I take her hands in mine and push her back on the bed. I'm hovering over her now, dressed in only a towel. She shrieks and I pin her hands to the bed. Looking down at her face, I ask her again.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask her, purposely rubbing myself between her thighs. Heat rises to her cheeks and her exposed chest and I love this shirt she's wearing, but she could unbutton just one more...

"Nothing," she says, laughter breaking through her denial. I feel her raise her hips to me and I lift myself up just before she can reach me.

"No, no," I tell her and lower only my face to her.

"Hardin," she whines, trying again.

"Tell me what you were thinking about and I'l give you what you want." I know damn well I'll give this woman anything she wants either way, but I may as well put up a little fight.

She groans, and I lower my hips to hers, pressing our bodies together. She's fully clothed, shoes and all, and I want to strip her down to nothing. It's been hours since I felt her under me, over me. With my body heavy on hers, she spreads her thighs for me. My cock is already hard when I rub against her, and I love the way she moans from only a few seconds of friction. She has that look on her face, I know that look.

I stop abruptly and she whines again.

"Tell me," I use my chin to tilt her head to the side. "Tell me, baby," I breath warm air against her neck and she shivers, just like I knew she would.

Finally, she gives in. "I was thinking about my birthday last year," she says as I press my lips to her neck. Her skin is hot under my tongue and her hands thread through my wet hair, tugging.

"Let's not talk about your birthday last year," I complain and reach up to grab her hands again. I take the hand with the smiley face tattoo and bring it to my mouth. I sit up a little and my towel is no longer covering me.

"This little thing happened on your birthday last year," I gently bite at her tiny, little tattoo. "And I'm sure I don't have to remind you who wasn't there when you got this," I watch her eyes as I take her finger into my mouth and suck on the tip of it. Her mouth opens in surprise.

"Hardin," she says, her hands softly trail up and down the bottom of my naked back. She moves to the front of me, tracing over the branches inked across my stomach.

"This birthday was supposed to be better, Tess. You were supposed to come home at four, and your mom and Dav-"

"Shh, don't talk about my mom right now, please," she pushes her finger back into my mouth and her other hand travels lower down my body and she grips my cock in her hand.

She's distracting me. "Not so fast," I say, and grab both of her hands again. "Why were you thinking about your birthday last year?"

"I was just thinking about how different this year is. Last year, I was so-" she takes a deep breath. "So, in a different place. You were living in Chicago and now here you are, filling tables with cakes and balloons."

"You ruined your whole surprise by skipping class," I hide my face in her neck so she won't be able to read my expression. She's too good at that.

"Hmm," she mumbles, "it was your idea." she says again. Fucking stubborn woman.

"Yeah, yeah."

"So, is this my gift? You in a towel on top of me?" Tessa asks, moving her body under mine.

"Woah, woah, Ms. Young. You've gotten quite brash in your old age," I kiss her neck again, sliding my hand down her chest, unbuttoning the lowest button on her sweater and undershirt. Her breast is heaving in my palm as I knead her, flooding her mind with only thoughts of me, of now. Her nipple hardens under my touch and I'm so hard I can barely keep this charade going. I need her.

Tessa wiggles her hands free and begins to pump me in her hand. "How much time do we have?" she asks and gently squeezes my cock. Fuck.

"As much time as we need," I tell her, my lips press against hers and I can taste coffee on her lips.

"So, two minutes?" She teases and I tug on her hardened nipple and cover her body with mine.

"I'll show you two minutes," I warn her and slide down her body. My towel falls to the side and my mouth covers her chest, kissing and sucking and licking. When my fingers graze over her, I can feel her wetness through the thin material of her leggings. Fuck.

Her breath is harsh as I rub circles over her and I feel her legs tighten, letting me know she's almost there.

"Hardin?" Carol's voice shocks both of us and Tessa scrambles up, adjusting her shirt, trying to catch her breath.

"Shit," I whisper, grabbing the towel. I cover my body with it and Tessa buttons her shirt back. Damn it, Carol.

I yell back to Tessa's mum before she opens the door. "Just a second!"

I rush to get dressed, pulling my black jeans up my legs and Tessa watches me with too much intensity. Times like this, I swear I can read her mind.

"I can't go out there with a hard cock, Tess. So stop looking at me like that."

Tessa giggles, reaching for me. I back away.

Evil, she is.

"Stop that," I growl at her and she mumbles something about two minutes. I choose to ignore her, or we will never leave this bedroom.

Tessa continues to watch me from the bed as I get dressed, and she compliments my shirt as I button it. She offers to assist with the buttons, but I know she's going to try to tease me, so I swat her hand away and do it myself.

When I'm dressed, I run my fingers through my hair and reach for Tessa. "Let's go, birthday girl," I reach for her hand and pull her off of the bed.

Carol and Landon's wife are in the kitchen when we emerge from the hallway. "I thought you weren't going to be home until later?" Carol asks, pulling her daughter into a tight hug.

I roll my eyes and Tessa grabs my hand and squeezes it. "Hardin told me to skip class," she laughs.

"I didn't think she would listen to me!" I tell them.

"Thank you for coming all the way here, I know it's so close to Christmas," Tessa clings to her mom. I'm going to wait to tell her that her mom and David are both staying the entire week. David's daughter is flying in tomorrow to stay through the New Year and I know Tess will be so happy when she hears that. I'm keeping one surprise a surprise.

"We're staying for Christmas!" Carol tells her. Tessa squeals in excitement and I shoot daggers at her mum's back.

Fucking Carol. Both of the Young women are ruining all my surprises for the day.

"Tessa, you have no idea how insane he was today. He was barking out orders, trying on three different shirts, making us put bows on the chairs-" Landon's wife begins.

"I was not," I lie, rubbing my hand over the back of my neck. Landon's got to get a new wife with a smaller mouth.

"Yes he was, he even-"

"That's enough from you," I lead Tessa out of the kitchen and the three women all laugh at my expense.

When we find David and Landon in the living room, they are watching football. Go figure.

"Can you get your wife please? She's being... well, herself." I tell Landon. He takes a drink from a coffee mug, trying to hide his smile.

"There's nothing I can do about that," he says and David stands to shake my hand.

"How's it going? Carol said you have a new book out next week? I see your books everywhere, it's pretty cool." David tells me. The sides of his hair have started to gray in the short time I've known him. The women in this family will do that to a man.

"Even the woman across from us on the plane was reading your book," he tells me. There's a hint of pride in his voice that makes me really uncomfortable. Tessa must sense it because she jumps right in, hugging David, and changes the subject.

Tessa spends the next hour opening gifts and I stay by her side, watching her expression as she opens each gift. A trip to the spa from Landon's wife, a new laptop case from Landon, a book from her mom. Finally, she gets to mine and just as she's about to rip the paper open, there's a knock at the door.

Who the hell could that even be? My mind flashes to Robert, the friend that Tessa still has, despite my opinion on the guy. He spent her birthday with her last year and the more I think about it, the angrier it makes me. Not at him, really, but at myself for taking so long to get my shit together. I mailed her a card last year, along with my usual box that she refused to open. I'll never be able to thank Landon enough for keeping those boxes for her, even when she tried to throw them all way.

Carol stands up and walks to the door as a hand starts pounding on the wood. Patri is standing in the doorway when the door opens, and she walks inside the apartment.

"I've been calling you for hours!" She says to me as soon as she spots me on the couch.

"Hello to you too, Patri," I say with a flat tone.

"Hi, hello, where's your phone?" she asks. Tessa tenses beside me. Carol is staring at Patri's chest, the deep plunging neckline is slightly distracting. Tessa always comments on the lack of clothing Patri wears, and usually I think she's overreacting, but this dress is showing nearly every inch of her body and it's fucking December. Who wears such little clothing in the freezing New York winter?

I point to my pocket. "In my pocket. I turned it off," I tell my publicist.

She crosses the room, swatting balloons out of her way as she goes. "I've got the New York Times wanting to speak to you," she waves her Blackberry in the air. Honestly, who even uses a Blackberry anymore?

Parti stands over me, towering in her heels. "They're going to cover your release and give you an entire spread in next week's Art section." She seems proud of herself, and I suppose she should be. The New York Times is a pretty big deal, I suppose.

"Can this wait until tomorrow? We're clearly in the middle of something," I wave to the group of people smushed into the tiny living room, the balloons, the gifts at Tessa's feet.

"No. It can't. They are the New York Times, they don't wait," Patri says as if I'm insane for asking. "They want to talk to you today, in person. And take some pictures," Patri looks me up and down. "And look how dressed up you are already, it's perfect."

Tessa tenses again and I reach for her hand. Parti's eyes follow our hands into Tessa's lap.

"I'm not going anywhere today. Sorry," I tell her, even though I'm not sorry at all.

"Hardin," she tries to use her professional voice on me, as if I give a fuck. "This is important, it's a guarantee that your book will list in the first week. Don't you want to sell books and make the list?"

I look up at her. Could my publisher have given me a more annoying woman to work with? I don't think so.

"No, not really. I've sold plenty already and I've told you a million times, I don't give a shit about their list," I shrug and Landon's wife covers her mouth, but I can still hear her laughter.

Patri waves her arms in the air. "Come on, Hardin. It will take two hours, tops."

"No."

"Hardin," Tessa says, squeezing my hands. "Maybe you should go," she suggests.

Who's side is she on?

"No fucking way."

I look at Carol. "Sorry, Carol." I tell her. I've been trying to curse less around her, but it's fucking hard.

She smiles, forgiving me, and David wraps his arm around her shoulder. It's still weird to see Carol so happy, so... calm.

"Come on, listen to Theresa. He should come, right? This will be huge for his career!" Patri touches Tessa's shoulder and Tessa flinches. I brush her hand off of Tessa and she continues to beg Tessa to get me to come.

"It's your birthday, I'm not going." I stand my ground.

"It's fine, Hardin. We have time. It's only two hours," Tessa says.

"No."

"Yes, Hardin." Tessa says, finishing me. I can't fight with her in front of our family. Well, I could, but Dr. Tran would be disappointed if I did. "It's only two hours," Tessa says again and Patri claps her hands in victory.

It wasn't just two hours, it was five and a half and Tessa is asleep, still dressed, when I get home to her. The closet is open and the flowers are scattered across the floor. I ruined yet another birthday of hers. Sometimes it feels like the harder I try, the more I fuck up. I should have stayed here and let her open her gifts, eat her cakes, and fall asleep with me on her birthday. But, I chose work. This would be the first of many times that work and Patri would be the source of strain in our relationship. I should have fired her the first time Tessa told me to.