Harvest Moon (Jordan-Alexander Family 2)

“Then protect me,” Tessa replied logically.

“I can’t,” David said. He moved toward his desk. He needed distance. He needed to put something substantial between them. “I didn’t protect you last night. It may already be too late. And I’m not going to take another chance.”

“David…”

David stopped, alerted by the husky quality in Tessa’s tone of voice.

“Look at me.”

He turned.

She had to try just one more time to see if he would love her. “What’s wrong with stealing a few hours of happiness? In a week or two, I may be in prison for the rest of my life.” Tessa dropped the clothes on a chair and unbuttoned another of the buttons on the shirt she wore.

“Tessa…” David managed a strangled croak, watching as she slipped another button through the buttonhole.

“I want you to love me.” Tessa approached him, running her finger down the middle of his chest to the arrow of coarse, dark hair that disappeared into the waistband of his trousers.

It took an almost Herculean effort, but David forced the words around his tongue. “Not while you’re in my custody.” He watched her. “Dammit, Tessa, help me. Give me something to go on.”

Tessa undid the last button, then shrugged her shoulders letting the shirt fall down her arms. “Here.” She studied the strained look on David’s face, his impassive stance, and knew he was battling himself as much as her. “You’ll need this to get started.” She handed him his shirt, then turned, gathered her undergarments, and walked naked into her bedroom.

David stood frozen in place, watching her exit. The lock on her bedroom door clicked into place.

Walking to his desk, David grabbed the handle of the top drawer. Locked. “Damn.” He paced the confines of the office, searching the floor for the key to his scotch drawer.

Chapter Sixteen

The atmosphere in the office of David Alexander, attorney-at-law, grew increasingly colder as the day wore on. Tessa emerged from her bedroom about midmorning, wearing the bright yellow wool dress he’d bought her and set to work straightening the office and cleaning away the remains of breakfast. David looked up from the books and briefs scattered across his desk as Tessa prepared a lunch neither one of them wanted to eat.

He joined her at the table. She didn’t speak. She placed a plate of food on the table for each of them, then sat down across from him. She didn’t eat, David noticed, but poked at the vegetables on her plate, rearranging but not tasting them.

David thought about the lively meals he’d shared with Tessa and Coalie in the past few days. He hated this quiet. It reminded him of all the solitary meals he’d eaten since coming to Peaceable. He put down his fork. “Thank you,” he said, finishing his lunch and pushing back from the table.

“You’re welcome,” came the mechanical reply.

“You don’t have to go to all this trouble for me,” David said. “I can eat at one of the restaurants.”

“I don’t mind.” Tessa stared down at the boiled potato on her plate. She had always enjoyed cooking, and since leaving Chicago, she’d had little opportunity. David needed someone to take care of him, to see that he ate properly and got enough sleep at night. She enjoyed taking care of him.

“Still,” he protested, “you don’t have to do it. I can afford to have meals cooked and brought in.”

“It gives me something to do with my time.” She looked up and found his dark gaze studying her. “I’m used to being busy.”

He was thoughtful for a minute. “I can probably spare some time to start your reading and writing lessons tonight after dinner.”

“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Tessa told him, forcing herself to sound uninterested.

“Why not?” He asked the question out of curiosity; he wanted to know what she was thinking.

“Because I can’t be close to you anymore without wanting to touch you,” she answered honestly.

David felt as if she’d punched him in the gut.

Unable to tolerate the tension any longer, Tessa left the table and went back to her bedroom. She came out a few minutes later with an envelope. She handed it to David. “This might help you prepare for the hearing.”

David looked up at her. “Tessa, you hardly know me. You shouldn’t be so trusting where I’m concerned.”

“Why not?” Tessa asked. “You’ve been telling me to trust you for days.”