Page 14 of Tempting Tessa

“Stop it.” Her tone was filled with rebuke. “We’re alive, and you’re not going on alone. We need your passport, and then we’re heading for Arizona.”

The microwave dinged, and he dunked a bag into the steaming liquid. “You’re going back to the tourist shop? Are you nuts?”

“Stop being dramatic. Vasile will do anything to get his money, including bringing the papers to me.”

He helped her into her jacket and added his own, like a blanket over her shoulders. She sighed. “You’re going to meet him in public?”

Accepting the tea, she sipped. “A dead drop. He’s done them for me before.”

“I thought you didn’t dospy shit,” he said, slipping a challenging note into his voice.

She made a rude gesture, and to his surprise, he laughed. It felt good, too.

He drew her to the couch with her cup and put an arm around her. She quirked a brow at him. “We need to warm you up to offset the shock.”

Placated, she snuggled against him. The scent of her shampoo filled his nose, and he kept his breathing even, ignoring the way his pulse skipped at her nearness.

She laid her head on his shoulder, and his intentions went out the door. He swallowed hard. Inhaled deeply. Rubbed her good arm with gentle, soothing strokes.

Color returned to her cheeks. Her rapid breathing slowed. She finished the tea. “I need to hit the restroom before we go,” she said.

Her voice sounded husky, sexy. He smiled to himself, realizing he was having the same effect on her as she was on him. “Of course,” he said, but neither of them moved.

She set the empty cup aside and pressed her hand against his chest. Her pretty eyes, framed by thick lashes, met his. “I appreciate the stitches.”

“Just returning the favor.”

The way she stared at him made his already jumpy pulse kick harder. “You’re a hero in my eyes, you know.”

He wasn’t sure what to say to that. “Why?”

“Uncovering this plot and going after those responsible is extremely brave.”

Brave or stupid? He didn’t care as long as she kept looking at him like that. “I’m not a hero, T.”

She ran a finger down his cheek. “In my book, you are. Better get used to it.”

Heroes ended up on pedestals. He wanted no part of that. “I’m just trying to do the right thing.”

Her gaze settled on his lips. She was so close, so…alive. “Me, too.” She ran a thumb over his bottom lip, and he couldn’t breathe. She touched her lips to his. “Thank you.”

That oxy was messing with her. With him. The drugs—and maybe the brush with death—had combined into this flirty cocktail.

All the blood had drained from his brain. “For what?”

“For reminding me who I am.”

He was about to ask who exactly that was, but she stood, shedding his jacket and collecting the bloody paper towels. She shoved them into an interior jacket pocket, grabbed the rest of the pills he’d stolen, and pocketed them, too.

Still stunned by the kiss, he sat there like an idiot, watching her pull out her phone and type a text before she flicked her gaze to him. “Are you just going to sit there?”

He gave her arm a pointed look. “You really think you’re up for this?” He needed to diffuse the live wire of attraction between them. “If you collapse, I’m not carrying you.”

That did the trick. She huffed a chuckle. “If I collapse, you get that passport and head to Arizona. I want your promise that you won’t let anything stop you from this mission.”

Such determination. Such conviction. It mirrored his own. “I promise.”

By the time they exited the library, the sun had dipped below the horizon. This section of the city was quiet; the street bathed in the yellow glow of street lights. Tessa seemed stable as they stepped into the night. He drove again, and she directed him to the dead drop site. On the way out of the library, she’d lifted a manila envelope and now tucked paper bills into it.

---