Free Picture Perfect by Ella Fox Page A

her. 
    My grandmother asked her a million questions about what her dreams were for her photography, and Tessa answered them all with a smile.  The two of them were going to be thick as thieves, I could tell that already.
    It was a relief that they were so taken with her. My family is very protective of me , and I have to admit that I’ve always been spoiled by their love and attention.  My grandmother almost died giving birth to my father, so he’s an only child.  I’m an only child because my mother passed away before she and my father could have any more children.  They’d actually been trying for at least a year or so before my mother was diagnosed with cancer, but it never worked out.  That meant that my grandparents and my father doted on me and were very protective.  They had never made any secret of the fact that the rock star life was not what they ultimately wanted for me, and I could see that introducing them to Tessa had made them very happy. 
    Clearly my grandparents were in the know about her, which meant that my dad had already started spreading the news.  It occurred to me that with anyone else I’d be panicking, but because it was Tessa, I liked it.  That was an interesting turn of events in and of itself.  I was even happy that my family had immediately dispensed with the formalities and had insisted that Tess, Ian and Devon call my father Todd, my grandfather Mason and my grandmother Sylvia.  The Hayes’ had also instructed that they wanted to be called by their first names, Janice & Steve.  It was all very comfortable, and it felt right. 
    I noticed that Cole was beaming, and that made me happy for him.  Cole had taken a lot of shit for his sexuality, but I just wanted him to be happy. Contrary to popular belief, the fact that he liked both sexes didn’t make him a whore.  It just meant that he needed something different.
    The meet ing and the conference were over and I had no excuse to keep Tessa with me, but I was reluctant to let her go.  Our dinner date wasn’t happening until tomorrow night but that wasn’t working for me. I decided to finagle my way into an evening with her and I figured I’d help make Cole’s life a bit easier too.
    “Hey, how about all of us meet for dinner? Everyone standing here is invited.  It’ll be great.”
    I could see that Tessa, Ian and Devon were worried about accepting the invitation, probably because they thought they might be intruding.  My dad and Cole’s parents saw that too, and they jumped right in and insisted that everyone go.  It was agreed that Cole and I would pick Tessa, Devon and Ian up in two hours and that we would meet the rest of our family at a local Mexican restaurant. 
    “Dress casual. By casual, I mean real casual. This is not some fancy wannabe Mexican food place.  This is a down home authentic Mexican restaurant.  We’re all going to eat far more than we should but trust me, it’s going to be well worth it” my dad said with a laugh.
    I had to laugh along with him because that was certainly true.  Over the years we’d been known to spend hours at the restaurant.  Their food was out of this world delicious and the margaritas were top notch.
    It pained me to let her go even just for a few hours, but I had no choice.  I’d never wanted someone so badly, and it shocked me. 
    Everyone went his or her separate way and I drove home with a smile on my face.  I’d be spending another night getting to know Tess, and that pleased me to no end.  If luck were on my side I’d be getting to kiss that incredible mouth again.  I knew not to push her too far too fast, but kissing didn’t seem to be off limits. 
    When I got home I found that I’d gotten a text message from my dad and I spent a few minutes texting him.
    Dad: I see why you like her.  She’s lovely, inside and out.
    Me: She really is, isn’t she? Did Gram and Pop like her?
    Dad: Are you kidding? Gram’s already told us that you and Tessa would