Page 41 of Actually Yours

I turn the phone and press the button for video call, instantly relieved when I see his face fill my screen. His handsome face,withhis glasses on.

“I need you to escape with me.”

His green eyes pierce through my iPhone screen and I wish I could read his mind. He must think these dating shenanigans are ridiculous. Because…they are.

“O-K...” He draws out the two letters, making them into an entire sentence. “But only on the condition that you stop going out with these losers.”

I turn the phone to where Hank is snoring in his green chair, a line of drool running out of his mouth.

“Deal.”

“Then let’s begin. What’s our mission?”

I’m laughing while I outline our current ‘situation’. The kidnapping of the Prime Minister and the first clue being in some sort of hieroglyphics.

“Show me,” he demands after I’ve described the ransom note to him.

I angle the camera on my phone so he can best read the clue and am astonished when he solves it in under three minutes.The man is a genius.

“The next clue is under the bed,” he declares while I stare at him in amazement.

“How do you know that?” I ask, kneeling down to look under the mattress.

“It was a simple code. Every number is a letter and the symbols are punctuation.”

I look at the note again, mentally rearranging the numbers for letters.Incredible.

“I’d have been stuck on that one all afternoon,” I mumble, putting the phone on the bed and pulling myself further under the mattress. “And the Prime Minister would never have been saved.”

“Have you got the next clue?” Jake asks this as I emerge triumphant…and slightly dishevelled.

“Bingo!”

I show him the next clue and wait for him to solve it. And sure enough, he does, guiding me from one room to the next, finding a new clue in each location.

“Have you been here before?” I ask, suspicious after he’d successfully directed me to the last clue. The one that should get me out of here. Freedom at last.

“Nope,” he answers. “But I love a good detective show. A good murder mystery. It turns out I’ve been training for this day for years now.”

The playful tone in his voice has my stomach clenching. His playfulness has me melting.

“So, are you ready for this?” I keep my tone dead serious. “Are you ready to complete the mission and save our fearless leader?”

Jake’s face lights with laughter and I only just refrain from taking a screenshot. To have for later. And forever.

“Let’s do it.”

Together we unjumbled the last clue and he watches as I enter the final code into the lock-pad next to the door. We both hold our breath as I press in the last two numbers, yelling with equal levels of excitement when the door turns green and opens.

“Congratulations,” an automated robotic voice comes over a loudspeaker. I jump at the sound of it. “You’ve rescued the Prime Minister and your mission is now complete.”

I keep a firm hold of the open door with one hand, scared it will accidentally shut and I’ll have to start all over again. “Thank you, Jake. I literally could not have done this without you.”

He grins back at me, flashing his dimple, making my knees tremble. “It was my pleasure. And look, it turns out we’re a great team.”

My smile slips from my face at these words. Not because they’re not true. But because they are.

“What are you going to do about Sleepy McSleeperson over there?” Jake’s voice is serious now, the mirth from a moment ago all but disappeared.

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