Free Disillusioned by Cari Moore Page A

body against hers, pinning her to the wall,
and he brought his lips within a breath of hers. Her whole body
shivered.
    Merritt laughed, a sudden mirth
lighting his face. “We can't afford to miss the plane,” he teased
in a whisper, “and though you obviously want to, we can't stay in
our bedroom the whole vacation.” He raised his eyebrows
suggestively. “Though I won't say the idea isn't
appealing.”
    Without even kissing her, he turned and
strode toward the door.
    Tessa threw a pillow at him, and much to her
delight, hit him squarely on the back of the head. “You wish!” she
snapped. “I have no desire to stay here!”
    Without warning, he had
reached her side once again and wrapped his arm entirely around her
waist. “Liar,” he leveled wickedly, then delivered the kiss with
which he had teased her only moments before. She hardly breathed,
wishing to prolong the contact as long as possibly, and Merritt
seemed in no hurry to turn away from her. As the heat of the kiss
faded, the corners of Tessa's mouth turned up in a smirk, finally
breaking the heat of the moment and softening the intensity of the
kiss. Her mind had suddenly become aware of something. I think I actually won this
time , she thought as her trapped breath
pressed against her lungs. When he finally pulled back, both he and
Tessa wore triumphant grins.
    He leaned to his right and
reached gingerly over her shoulder, retrieving his dopp kit from
the nightstand beside her before gliding away without ceremony.
Slowly, she inched herself away from the wall until she felt her
knees strengthen enough to continue her packing. Maybe he won just a little , she admitted to herself as she recognized her physical
weakness. Merritt knew exactly how to affect her.
    With Merritt, however, Tessa rarely
had control, so at least she had practice managing the vertigo.
Smiling ruefully, Tessa imagined how smug he must have felt. So few
people could ever unsettle Tessa that Merritt took great pleasure
in his abilities. As her emotions settled, Tessa began
to
    laugh at herself.
Mechanically, she packed turtlenecks and sweaters, corduroys, thick
socks. She broke into sporadic laughter whenever she thought of
Merritt. Next time, I'll make sure I
win, she mused.
    In an attempt to fully prepare herself for
the trip, Tessa packed enough clothes for three weeks, assuming
that Merritt's drive for action might result in several wardrobe
changes. She threw a few dresses into a garment bag, making sure to
include the backless dress she had bought several years ago but had
few opportunities to wear. Some tennies, her snow boots, her
lace-up stilettos to match the backless dress, and a couple of less
ostentatious pairs of dress shoes to wear on less formal
occasions.
    She stared at the backless dress, a wicked
grin returning to her face. Perhaps the low-cut front and open back
could secure the victory she sought against Merritt. Even if not,
she would enjoy torturing him a little. Beneath Tessa's amused
schemings ran a vein of relief, relief that life – at least, life
with Merritt – had returned to normal. She needed him, and he
needed her, and all was well with the world. With the relief came a
giddiness that fed itself with thoughts of her future. The turn
around from twelve hours before couldn't have felt more
distinct.
    Interrupting her thoughts,
Merritt returned to the room, smiling even wider than before, and
announced that the limo had arrived. Limo;
nice, thought Tessa. It seemed Merritt
shared her enthusiastic hope for this trip. Merritt brought her
luggage to the front door where the limo driver took over and
stowed the luggage into the storage compartment at the back of the
SUV. Tessa had foregone her comfy jeans in favor of a nicer,
straight-legged pair. She wore a short-sleeved, melon-colored,
cashmere sweater with a low scooping neck, and she had clipped her
long brown hair into a sloppy knot on the back of her
head.
    “Nice sweater,” Merritt quipped,