Treasured (Masters and Mercenaries #22.5) - Lexi Blake Page 0,72
it, and I’m enthused at the thought so you’ll do it.”
Eddie had gotten upset at the thought of him not working on the treasure hunt. Which seemed so odd unless he was missing the obvious. “Do you think he needs the money? He mentioned something about his father should have left him cash.”
She nodded. “Something like that. We’ll have to figure that out later. The key tonight is to play things cool. Don’t even give them a hint that we’re leaving tomorrow. I’ll talk about the fact that I’ve never been on a treasure hunt before and I’m excited about it. You say something about how Luis made you think about how it can help you sell the book. Smooth things over. We spend the rest of the night like we’d been planning to before this afternoon. We have dinner and drinks and talk and then we go to bed. We get up tomorrow, have breakfast, and before you settle in for a long day of research, we go for a walk and don’t come back.”
He wanted to make sure he understood. “We do everything we were planning on doing?”
She looked back to him and seemed to understand what he meant. “Yes, Professor. Everything.”
She was giving him one more night, and he intended to make the most of it.
* * * *
Tessa stepped inside their suite, letting the door close behind her and prayed she was doing the right thing. She’d gone over and over this for hours, and he was correct. It would be dangerous to try to make the passage during a storm without the right boat, and she didn’t want to make them spend a miserable night in the jungle if they didn’t have to.
“Dinner seemed to go well,” David said, moving to the desk.
“I think we said all the right things.” She took off the shawl she was wearing and settled it over the chair to her left. She couldn’t help but notice they’d left the bedroom door open.
How long would it take before she couldn’t feel his hands on her? Was she really going to walk away at the end of this?
She shook off the thoughts because she wanted this night with him. One more night with her professor.
Tessa watched him empty his pockets, putting things onto the desk he’d been using when he wasn’t in the library. The domesticity of it all was starting to get to her. Earlier they’d gotten ready for dinner together, talking easily and sharing the space. She’d straightened his collar, and he’d zipped her dress up. She could imagine him walking into their little apartment or house and putting his briefcase to the side. He would give her a kiss and they would decide what they wanted for dinner and spend the rest of the night cuddled up together.
“Should I head into the bedroom?” The minute they’d left the dining room, her heart had thudded because she’d known they wouldn’t go to sleep. They both knew this might be their last night, and they wouldn’t waste it.
“I think the bedroom will do nicely,” David said.
She entered the bedroom and put a hand on one of the big four posts, her body already humming because she remembered what it felt like for him to fuck her against it.
He glanced at her over his shoulder, and without looking he reached into his open briefcase on the desk. He pulled out a single sheet of paper. A familiar-looking sheet that was rumpled and creased because they’d landed on it when he had them on the bed after the post fucking.
Post post-fucking.
“You’re smiling,” David said.
She was sure he expected her to be all nervous and tight because of what had happened earlier in the day. “You’re right, I am, Professor. You’ll find when I get in this head space I can let go of a lot. We’ve decided on a course of action. I’m going to stop worrying about it until I have to.”
“So we’re playing?” He stared at her across the space that separated them. “I want to, but I also need you to know that if you think it’s a bad idea, we don’t have to. But I can’t think of any other way I would want to spend the rest of the evening.”
They’d done everything they could to ensure their safety. She would rather be on a plane…
No, she wouldn’t. She wanted to be right here with him. “I think I’d like to give up control for a while.”