Page 68 of V is for Valentine
“We’ll get out. And for the record, I don’t think you told anyone about the Fork Horn lease.” He needed to tell her that while he had the chance. Once they were free of this room, he might not get another chance. Felicity was making a career of keeping her distance.
“Found the culprit?” she said in a dark voice without bothering to look his way.
“Not a clue who it is. But I shouldn’t have made the accusation without talking to you.”
“But you did,” she reminded him, finally looking at him.
“Tactical error.”
“One of many,” she said grimly.
He wanted to touch her. To reach out and tip up her chin and look into those defiant blue eyes, but he wisely kept his hands in his pockets. “Are you game to be boosted to the window and take a look at the situation there?”
“Sure.”
He went to the wall beneath the window and Felicity followed. She put a hand on the wall and looked up at the sill above her, then at him. “This has disaster written all over it.”
“I won’t let you fall.”
“I might bring you down with me.”
He met her gaze. “Then we’ll pick ourselves up and dust off and try again.”
Her lips parted, then she closed her mouth again and swallowed. “Right.”
He made a stirrup, and Felicity put her foot on his clasped hands, then set a hand on his shoulder and the other on the wall as he boosted her. She let go of his shoulder as he lifted her, walking her hands up the wall for balance. When her foot was at chest height, he held and could hear her fumbling with the window latch.
She started to sway. “I’m putting you down.”
He didn’t have a chance. Her foot slipped free and she slid down the front of him. He caught her under the arms as her knees buckled and pulled her upright, against his chest.
For a moment their gazes met and held, and then Felix stepped back, brushing her hands down the front of her.
“Not only is the latch stuck, there’s a cage built over the exterior.” Her mouth tightened ruefully. “And I don’t think I’d fit even if we broke the glass and wrestled the cage free.”
“You’re saying we’re here until someone realizes we’re missing.”
“I’d say so.”
“Well, we have water.” He pointed to the washroom. “Reading material. One chair.”
“Speaking of reading material…” Felicity opened the first locker and pulled out the book she’d noticed the first time she’d been locked in. She’d been meaning to take a closer look at it.
“Die Deadly Diva?” Danny cocked an eyebrow.
“My associate at work collects vintage crime novels. She incorporates the covers into artwork. This one is classic.”
“I’ll say.”
Felicity tucked the book into her work apron pocket, then put her back to the wall and slid down until her backside hit concrete. “Guess we’re here for a while.”
“There are worse places to be,” Danny said as he came to sit beside her, leaving a good foot of space between them. She turned her head toward him, raising her eyebrows in silent question. “The tool shed, for one.”
“I didn’t leave you in there for that long.”
“Long enough,” he said, staring straight ahead. “I learned my lesson about tampering with your bike. Your sisters were the ones who let me out.”
“They were tired of hearing you yelling.”
