A Winter Sabbatical (Books We Love holiday romance) (3 page)

The wooden love seat had an oblong coffee
table nearby, and a big fluffy white rug that lay in front of the open fire.

A big fluffy rug where she could easily see herself curling up with
Travis by her side.

Damn it!
Why do her thoughts keep wandering where they have no right to go?

Marissa jumped up from the table. “I’ll
rinse off the plates,” she said, heading for the sink.

Travis caught her by the wrist. His touch
was gentle but
firm,
and warmth spread throughout her
entire body.

“Leave those, I’ll fix them later. Let’s
relax a little. You grab the wine and glasses, and I’ll light the fire.”

This
was not good,
she decided,
slowly placing the dirty plates on the table. What if—
.?
No, she wouldn’t go there!

Travis was already in the lounge room and
crouched down at the hearth, Jonah right beside him on the rug.

As he leaned forward into the cavity of the
fireplace his muscles contracted under his shirt. Until now, she hadn’t noticed
the width of his shoulders.
Hadn’t noticed his muscles.
Apparently hadn’t noticed much at all.

As she watched him stacking wood in the
grate, getting it just so, she could almost feel his strength. She drew in a
breath.

Why
did this man, this Travis Johnston affect her so much?

Jonah rubbed himself against Travis, trying
to get attention as Travis ran his fingers roughly through his hair, then
curled up satisfied with the warmth from the burning logs.

The seemingly insignificant action touched
Marissa somewhere deep inside.
She
wanted to touch him, to run
her
fingers through his hair.

He grinned at her, almost as though he read
her thoughts. He had a beautiful smile; it warmed her, and made her feel
wanted.
He
made her feel wanted, made
her feel safe, protected.

Hell, he made her feel, period.

“Come in front of the fire. Get some of
this warmth.”

“I don’t think Jonah will be too pleased if
I push
him off
his
rug,”
Marissa said, eyeing the sleeping cat.

“Come on, sit down with me,” Travis said,
patting the rug beside him. “Okay Jonah, shove off! You can have the sofa
tonight.”

“Reeeeeeooooooooow!”
Jonah protested as he was pushed off the rug.

 
“Poor Jonah,” Marissa said, walking toward
Jonah and the rug.

As she slid down toward the rug, Marissa
still wasn’t convinced she should do this. It was inviting trouble, and right
now she didn’t need her life to be more complicated than it already was.

But the flames from the fire were inviting,
comforting, and she lapped up the heat. They made her feel sleepy, and she lay
down.

Travis lay beside her, and his nearness
sent shivers down her spine. The warmth of the fire was nothing compared to his
body heat.

What
was she doing? Surely she shouldn’t be here, so close to Travis, feeling so
darned happy?

The memory of Jeremy invaded her mind
again, and she tried to force it away.

She felt Travis move beside her, his
fingers playing down her arm.

“Okay?” he asked, worry etched on his face.

“Yeah, sure.
Just thinking.”
And she was. She was
thinking about the way his touch ignited a fire inside her, and the way her
whole body reacted to his very being. She had an inbuilt need for his presence
that she couldn’t fathom.

She didn’t want this, and sure as heck
didn’t need it right now.

But it was nice, real nice.

She snuggled closer, wanting to lap up this
feeling, even if it was only temporary. She’d be gone again too soon.

But then again, what right did she have to
be happy? How could she be happy? This wasn’t right, couldn’t be right.

The memories of happy days with Jeremy
invaded her thoughts. She tightly squeezed her eyes closed, tried to block out
the memories, but they wouldn’t leave her alone. Would never leave her alone!

She
felt his hands skimming along her arms, caressing her lovingly. She rubbed her
face against his, enjoying the moment. She kissed him, and he kissed her back,
and they began to cross the road.

She
heard the scream of the brakes, felt herself hit something, or something hit
her. But more than anything, she heard Jeremy’s voice.
The
voice of terror.

Her heartbeat quickened.

***

Travis lay next to the roaring fire with
Marissa in his arms.

He hadn’t been this happy in ages. Marissa
was special, really special. She was so soft and gentle, her hair spread over
her shoulder, her perfume wafting into his nostrils.

Travis sipped his wine. It was sweet and
mellow, just like Marissa.

He’d have to remember to thank Daniel when
he came back home.
 

He gently nuzzled her neck, and at first
she responded, but suddenly Marissa tensed beneath his hands. He heard her
indrawn breath.

“Marissa?” He rolled her toward him, and as
he did so, Travis noticed her eyes were tightly closed. Her face was tensed,
and her forehead furrowed with worry.

“Marissa?” As he looked down upon her face,
his heart was breaking. This woman, this virtual stranger who he’d become so
fond of in such a short space of time, was breaking his heart, making it ache. He
felt helpless and forlorn. She’d been hurt, that was obvious, but helping her
heal was something she wouldn’t let him do.

She opened her eyes and looked up at him.
Pain was etched all over her face. And she was blinking now.
Hard.
Trying desperately to fight back tears.

Travis watched helplessly as tears rolled
down Marissa’s face.

“Don’t cry,” he said, gently wiping the
tears away.

He pulled her against his chest. She was
tense, so tense. He stroked her hair in an effort to comfort her, to calm and
soothe her.
To try and ease her pain.

But all he managed to do was alert his
hormones to her nearness.

“Talk to me, Marissa. Please?” He spoke
quietly, gently, surprising even himself.

“I’m not crying.” Marissa dried her wet
cheeks with her fingers. “I’m
not
crying! Leave me alone, please? I have no right to be here, or to be happy.”

Travis rubbed small circles across her
back. He was trying to comfort her, but for what reason he had no idea. Why
wouldn’t she let him in? “Sshhh,” he said against her sobs. “Let me help you
through this.”

She looked up at him, her tear-drenched
face red and puffy.
Her eyes red and swollen.

“No one can help me,” she said between
sobs, as she pulled away from him.

Her words tore at his heart, broke it into
pieces. If only she would let him inside her mind, tell him what was eating her
up. Maybe then he could fix whatever was doing this to her.

He felt
an emptiness
like he’d never experienced before.
Deep down in his belly.
In his whole being.
Like he was
being ripped apart, bit by bit.
Moment by moment.
Heartbeat by heartbeat.

“What the—?”
He watched dumbfounded as Marissa suddenly pulled herself away from
him, and into a sitting position. Then she was standing. Damn she was quick!

He shook himself, trying to make sense of
the situation. Was it something he did, or was there more to it?

Okay,
that was stupid. Of course there was more to it. There was so much more to
Marissa Temple than it appeared.

He pulled himself up to her level.

She stood in front of him, acting as though
nothing had happened. With a smile on her face!

“I have to go home now. Please. I have to
set up my office tomorrow, so I can start working. No work, no money.” She
shrugged her shoulders, as though it was an inconvenience that she had to
abide.

He was incredulous! What the hell was she
hiding? What was it that made her life a misery? That was eating her up inside?

He looked at her, stared her in the face.
Watched her fight her emotions and pull
herself
together.

She might fool herself, but she sure wasn’t
fooling him.

“That’s a cop-out and we both know it.” Travis
reached out and took both her hands in his. He lowered his voice and leaned in
closer. “Why won’t you talk about it? Get it out of your system. You’ll feel
better, I know you will.” As he lifted her hands and kissed them lightly, a
tiny shiver wracked his body. He
had
to make her feel better, rid her of this curse.
The thing
that made her so incredibly unhappy.

Marissa shook her head and Travis knew it
was fruitless to push her further.

“Okay, come on then. I’ll drive you home.”
He reached for his car keys. “If you really want to get your office set up,
I’ll come over tomorrow and help you.” She didn’t answer, so he continued. “I
should have done that today. Why didn’t you ask me?”

She simply stared at him, as though she
didn’t know what to say.

When she shrugged her shoulders, then
studied the floor, Travis decided to make a joke of it. “Oh, I know, you wanted
an excuse to get me to come back, right?”
 

Marissa punched him lightly on the arm.
“You big lug!” she said as she wrapped her arms around him. “Thanks, Travis.”

“For what?”

She looked up into his face.
“For just being here.”

***

Marissa was silent during the drive home. Travis
glanced across and noticed the quiver of her bottom lip. He could see unshed
tears glistening in the limited light, but made no comment. Instead, he held
her hand, and gently squeezed it.

Marissa glanced at him, but still said
nothing. He watched as she brushed at her cheeks with the back of her hand.

In his mind, he went over and over the
events of the day; their traumatic meeting, working side-by-side in a
companionable silence, and later, snuggled up together by the fire. That was by
far the best part, until...

For the first time in his life, Travis had
found someone he cared about.
Really cared about.

It wasn’t about lust, or even togetherness.
Even after one day he knew this was a person he could come to love. Maybe even
spend the rest of his life with.

But this thing, whatever it was eating her
up, could destroy their relationship before it began.

He had no intention of losing her now that
fate had finally thrown them together.

This was going to take some time; probably
a lot of time, and plenty of patience.

He could do that. He
would
do that. He wasn’t prepared to lose Marissa.
Had no intention of losing her.
He would be there for the
long haul.

Travis silently pulled into her driveway.

Chapter Two

Marissa opened the front door with a sense
of trepidation as Travis approached. She was feeling embarrassed about her
behavior the night before. Travis leaned forward and brushed a light kiss on
her lips, taking her by surprise.

“Would you like some coffee?” Marissa tried
to ignore his actions.

Travis shrugged his shoulders and chuckled.
“Coffee would be wonderful.” He followed her into the kitchen and helped
prepare the coffee. “So what’s on the agenda? Just the
office,
or do you have some little surprises planned?”

Marissa smiled at him.
“No,
just the office.
I really appreciate your help, Travis. I was going to
ring someone to come out. Are you sure you can spare the time? I don’t mind
really, if you can’t.”

Travis frowned. “Of course I don’t mind, I
wouldn’t have offered if I couldn’t. Anyway, you planned it this way, so I’d
come back, remember?”
Another chuckle, a broad smile.

“Oh yes, I forgot. Silly me!” laughed
Marissa, as she began to pour the coffee.

Cup in hand, Travis followed her into the
office, and they stood in the doorway surveying the layout.

“You’ve got a lot more computer stuff than
Daniel had, but I think it should still fit all right.”
 
The movers had placed Marissa’s desk in
position, but all her other equipment was spread over the floor. “I think we
should start with the computer, and work from there.” He glanced across at
Marissa, as though looking for her approval.
 

“Sure, it’s your show. I have no idea about
these things, except how to use them.”

Travis’s raised his eyebrows.

“Why do you think I was going to pay
someone, silly? I’m not a computer technician. It would be a sorry state if I
were! Anyway, you’ll need to leave enough room beside the computer for the
modem because I have to connect to the Internet.”

She moved into the room, pointing at things
as she discussed them. “The phone and printer needs to be fairly nearby, but
the scanner and fax can go anywhere they can fit. There should be enough
connections for everything. Daniel had pretty much the same set-up, I believe.”
She stopped for a breather.

Travis let out a loud chuckle.
“Finished yet bossy boots?
That’s exactly what I had in
mind.”
 

It was Marissa’s turn to laugh. “Sure you
did! Oh, and I’ve got a few reference books I need to fit in somewhere, but
that’s not important now. I’d like to put that extra easy chair that’s clogging
up the lounge, in here too. I’ve got a small side table to go next to it.”

“I thought this was your working room? You
gonna loaf off?” He chuckled again – every time he did that, Marissa found
herself endeared to him more and more.

“Right, that’s it you big lug! It’s my
thinking chair – cut the cheek and get to work! Maybe, just maybe, there’ll be
a reward at the end of the day.” With that, she turned and walked out of the
room, leaving a smiling Travis to stare after her.

Travis emerged from the office just over an
hour later. “
Marissa.
Marissa, where
are you? Hey, something sure smells good!” He found her in the kitchen,
stacking the last of the mixing bowls in the dishwasher.

“Hi! I hope you like scones, Travis. That’s
your reward. Oh, you have finished, haven’t you? You don’t get to collect until
you have, you know!”

A mock frown covered his face. “Scones are
my reward? I thought
you
were my
reward. But hey, scones will do for starters!”

“Sit down. Please? I’m sorry, but I don’t
have any jam and cream, just butter.”
 

Travis helped himself to a scone. “Wow, you
can
cook! This would be really hard
to get used to, I must say. What else can you cook? Let’s see, can you cook
Pavlova? And I love apple pie, or maybe—”

Laughing, Marissa interrupted him.
 
“Hey you, slow down. I’m here to work,
remember. You’d have me cooking for you all day long by the sounds of things. Just
eat your scones and be grateful.”

She put a cup of coffee in front of him and
sat in the chair opposite, looking down into her own cup. “I want to apologize
about yesterday. I’m not usually a helpless, weeping female. I really can stand
on my own two feet. I guess the move has, well, stirred up a lot of emotions.
I’m really sorry.”

Travis reached over and touched her cheek. “No
need to apologize. Besides, I love helpless, weeping females.”
Laughing now.
“That means I get to kiss them better. Hey,
don’t punch me up. I didn’t mean it!”

***

“Well, Marissa, I think the place is
pretty
much ship-shape. You can start working anytime you
want now. Is there anything else you’d like me to do? Move furniture, make
pancakes,
kiss
you?”

Marissa tried to conceal her amusement at
Travis’s suggestion of a kiss in his normal conversation, and wagged a finger
at him. “I do need something, but I hate to ask.”

“Ask away.”
 

Marissa hated relying on other people, but
right now, she had no choice. “I only brought the basic essentials with me, so
I need some supplies. Groceries, that is. You probably didn’t notice, but I
don’t have a car. I didn’t need one in the
city,
I
don’t even have a license.”
 

Travis looked down at her, shocked. “No, I
didn’t notice. You’ll never survive out here without a car. But, you can always
ring me. Ah-ha! I’ve worked it out. It was just another excuse for inviting me
over!
 
Marissa, get your coat, we’re
going shopping.”

“Travis, this place is just full of
surprises. Who would have guessed – an old-fashioned grocery store? I should
have made this move years ago.”

Travis put his arm around Marissa, and drew
her close. “I couldn’t agree more. Do you want to go home now, or would you
like to look around the town?”
 

Marissa’s eyes lit up. “Can we go to the
Pet Shop, so I can see the kittens? Please?”

“Sure, why not? You really do love cats,
don’t you?” Travis’s laughter told Marissa this question needed no reply. He
packed the groceries into the boot of the car, and they strolled down the road
to the Pet Shop.

“Oh, Travis, they’re just gorgeous.
Especially that little tortoise-shell one, she’s just beautiful.
Do you think they’ll let me hold her?”

“What makes you think it’s a she? It might
be a boy-cat.” Marissa just loved it when Travis teased her.

“You don’t know your cats too well, do
you?” Now it was her turn to tease. “Tortoise-shells are only ever female. There
are no boy-cats in tortoise shell.”

The assistant was walking towards them, a
look of surprise on her face. “Well, well. Most people don’t know that fact.
You
certainly know your cats. Would you
like to hold her for a minute, Miss?”

Travis laughed loudly. “Hello, Lisa. I think
it would make her day if she could – she’s drooling over that little bundle of
fur. Lisa, this is Marissa. She’s moved into Daniel’s place for a few months.”

Lisa acknowledged Marissa, then reached
into the enclosure and passed the kitten over to her.

“How’s your Mum and Dad, Travis? I haven’t
seen them lately."

“They’ve been on holidays.”
 

"Say ‘Hi’ from me when you see them.”
 

As Marissa held the kitten, patting it, her
thoughts ran away with her. She felt oddly attracted to Travis. She’d never fallen
for anyone like this.
Well, why not?
she
asked herself.
He’s
witty, he’s fun, patient and most of all, nice to be around
. And she felt
comfortable with him.

Then
again
, she told herself,
why should you worry? You don’t want a relationship with anyone, let
alone this near stranger.
 

She busied herself with the tiny creature
cuddled up in her arms. “Travis, feel how soft her fur is.” Marissa rubbed her
cheek along the little bundle’s head, and felt duly rewarded with its little
pink tongue washing her fingers. “Guess I’d better give her back now, before I
get too attached.” She sighed as she handed the kitten back to the assistance.
 

“Don’t worry
Marissa,
you can hold Jonah any time you like.”
 
Travis
gave her shoulders a squeeze. “Come on. I know just the thing to cheer you up. Let’s
go for a drive. I’ll show you some of the local sights.”
 

They walked back to the car in silence, and
then Travis drove to a spot just out of Maldon.

When they arrived, Travis suggested a short
walk, and wanting to see a little of the local area, Marissa agreed.

Travis climbed the incline into the shadowy
trees dragging Marissa beside him.

Marissa enjoyed being there with Travis, as
much as she told herself she shouldn’t. She enjoyed the adventure of this new
place, but mostly, she decided, she just enjoyed being with him. She really
liked Travis, and felt protected and safe out there with him.

They walked for some time, before they came
to a standstill in a small, protected area; it was almost what Marissa would
call an alcove. The whole area was covered with creeping vines, which formed a
kind of canopy.

She looked around; it was dark, dreary in a
way. “Don’t you think we should be heading back now, Travis?” The sun was
reclining over the skyline, and soon darkness would surround them. It would be
pitch black in this little spot.

“Don’t worry, I’ll look after you.”

“I know you will.” Did he think she didn’t
trust him?

“I just wanted to show you this place. I
come here when I need to think; it’s a kind of retreat, I guess.” He gestured
to the area surrounding them, and Marissa thought this would be a great place
to sit and write.

“And you need to think now?” He looked very
serious, but was he?

Travis shrugged and his expression suddenly
changed. Now he was smiling. “It’s cozy here, very romantic.” He was joking
again – she’d let him have his fun. “Let’s stay a little longer.” He moved
closer and put his arm around Marissa’s shoulders and she shivered.

As Travis looked down into her face, their
eyes met. His voice dropped almost to a whisper. “They must be the deepest
brown eyes I’ve ever seen.” His fingers played along her jaw, and when they
slid to her lips, Marissa thought she would just die if he didn’t kiss her.

She opened her mouth slightly, and her
tongue touched his fingers. They were soft, gentle, but at the same time,
powerful. Marissa shuddered.

She reached down and took his hand. Their
fingers entwined. Marissa’s other hand slid up into his hair. Travis pulled his
fingers away from her mouth, as though they were burned. She licked her lips.
Travis’ eyes followed her every move.

He leaned into her, and Marissa was sure he
was about to kiss her, wanted him to kiss her. He suddenly pulled back, and a
sense of loss overcame her.

“Come
on,
let’s go
– before I change my mind.” His fingers again played along her lips, as though
drawn there, and Marissa wanted more, desperately wanted more, but knew she
would regret it the very moment their lips met.

She hugged Travis, briefly, but sincerely –
a kind of silent ‘thanks’ – and then they made their way back to the car.

Would she ever be truly happy again?

***

Travis sat at the kitchen table, watching
relentlessly as Marissa unpacked the groceries; his gaze almost burning her.

“You want to stay for dinner?” she asked,
at a loss of what else to say. The air between them seemed a little tense. She
could force him to talk about their rendezvous, but perhaps it was better left
unsaid.

“Thanks, but no thanks. I’d better get
home.
It’s
past Jonah’s feeding time.
 
Besides, if I stay, who knows what might
happen.” He grinned at her. “On second thought—”

Travis pushed back his chair, noisily
scraping it across the floor. Grin plastered across his face, he started toward
Marissa, arms outstretched.

“Take that grin off your face, and just
behave yourself!” Marissa was laughing – he was such a card at times.

Her heart skipped a beat; she didn’t really
want him to leave. “I think you’re right, you’d better go now. Thanks for
everything.”

“Just like that?
You’d send me away, just like that?” He was joking again. He was
just what she needed, Marissa reflected; some laughter and frivolity in her
life.
 

Putting on pretense of rejection, Travis
opened the front door.
 
“See you
tomorrow?” He leaned forward and lightly kissed her cheek. Marissa’s skin felt
like it was burning.