Page 21 of Tempting Tessa

The admiration in her tone and her eyes made his chest swell. He tried not to show it.

“Smart, yes, but what’s he up to? Look, Dec and I are flying there later today.” Meg rattled off the flight details. “Pick us up at the airport at seven, okay?”

Tessa blanched and ran a finger along the edge of the phone. “I’m afraid I can’t do that.”

“Tessa, come on. We need you on the swans. You have to help us find Tommy.”

Again, Tessa hesitated. Tommy wasn’t sure if she was coming up with an excuse to avoid Meg and Declan, or if she was about to give him up.

“I wish I could,” she said. “I won’t be here when you arrive.”

He still didn’t dare to breathe. Meg made an exasperated sound in the back of her throat. “Where are you going? “

“To London and then Arizona.” Tommy winced at the fact she shared even that much. “Visiting friends.”

“You don’t have friends.”

Tessa stuck her tongue out at the phone. He wasn’t the only one stating facts this morning. “You’re welcome to use my place as your home base,” Tessa said, “but I won’t be there for a while.”

Declan came on the line. Meg must’ve had the conversation on speakerphone as well. “Tessa, I know you don’t want to be involved in this, but your country needs you,” he said. “We’re running out of time, and if we don’t find Tommy and figure out what all he uncovered about the EMP attacks, a lot of people will get hurt. Can’t you postpone your visit?”

“No, Dec, I can’t, and if Tommy knows what’s happening, I’m sure he’s working to stop it, just like you are.” Her intense eyes zeroed in on him. “The swans should quit worrying about his whereabouts and focus on stopping the attacks. Now, like I said, you’re welcome to stay at my place. It’s a mess, but better than nothing. Other than that, I can’t help you. Good luck.”

She punched the disconnect button and chewed her bottom lip again. “That was stupid.”

He was so thankful she hadn’t betrayed him, he didn’t understand. “What?”

“Offering them my place. They’ll realize I had company.”

“And that’s rare for you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Rare, but not unheard of. I happen to be good at ending up with the wrong guy in my bed on occasion. If they suspect I had a visitor, hopefully, they don’t realize it was you.”

Wrong guy in her bed. Was that how she saw him?

She stood. “Let’s go. The train leaves in two hours.”

“We’ve got plenty of time.”

“I need to make a stop first.”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

Again, she was unwilling to share more than a few details. It frustrated him, but what could he do? He’d agreed to let her be in charge.

They packed and were ready to leave in less than ten minutes. He paused at the back door, catching her arm gently. She tensed but didn’t pull away. “Thanks,” he said.

“For what?”

It was a flippant, automatic response.

“For all this, but particularly about sharing what happened to your family. To you.”

She blinked, then nodded once.

Then, shocking him, she rose on her toes and kissed his cheek. Her lips brush the corner of his mouth.

---