Page 6 of One Last Kiss
Her words cut straight to the bone.A good husband was supposed to be a provider. He’d provided well for Abby. He gave her the house she always wanted. He even helped make her dream of owning her own restaurant come true.He’d done everything for her. His whole life had been about making her happy. And yet, he’d failed.
“Yeah,” he said, his voice a little hoarse. He needed some water, but there didn’t appear to be any down here. That was another reason he needed to get them both out of this basement sooner than later.
Needing to do something,he stood and looked around the dimly lit room again. He knew the layout. The only ways out of this basement were through the door, which was currently stuck, or through the small window which was designed only to let in a little light. It wasn’t designed for giants like him. “Is there a ladder down here?” he asked, turning to Abby.
“No. And I don’t think standing on the chair will get us high enough to reach the window.”
He gave her a half smile. “Maybe not for a little bit like you,” he joked. Abby wasn’t short, but compared to him, she was. She used to like it when he’d teased her about being small. He guessed she’d never been labeled as such in her entire life. She’d told him that she was taller than all the boys in her class until her senior year of high school when they’d met. She’d just moved here with her dad and had gotten Sam’s attention from day one. She was the girl he was meant to marry. And now she was the girl he was meant to divorce.
Abby had to pee.At least that was one thing taking her mind off her claustrophobia and Sam. Why hadn’t they designed the basement with a bathroom? If she was going to be in here all weekend, she was going to need a way to relieve herself.
She crossed her legs for the twentieth time in the last half hour.
“Something wrong?” Sam asked, looking over his shoulder at her. For the last twenty minutes, he’d been trying to figure out a way to get up to the window.And so far, he’d been unsuccessful.
“It's just, well, I have to use the bathroom, if you must know.” She and Sam had sex once upon a time. Telling him that she had to pee wasn’t that intimate in comparison.
Sam turned and blinked at her. He scratched his chin. “Well, that is a dilemma,” he finally said. Then, being the typical man, he went in search of a solution to fix her problem. A moment later, he stood in front of her holding a bucket.
“Are you serious? You expect me to pee in a bucket?”
“You have any better ideas?”
She didn’t. The only better idea would be opening the door and going upstairs to the actual bathroom. Since that wasn’t an option, she yanked the bucket from his hand and stood.
“What? Nothank you?”
She glared. “I’m going behind that wall of shelves over there. Don’t you dare watch.”
As she was walking away, Sam called back to her, “You actually think I want to watch you pee in a bucket? We were kinky back in the day, but not that kinky.”
She didn’t even respond to that remark. His mention of them being kinky conjured up all kinds of memories that she would rather not entertain right now though.
Abby set the bucket on the floor and stared at it for a moment. She really didn’t like this idea at all, but her bladder was about to explode. If she peed her pants, Sam would have a field day with that for the rest of their uncivil days.
With a huff, and one last check to make sure he wasn’t spying on her, Abby did her business in the bucket. She did not want to be doing this all weekend long. At least she had a travel-size hand sanitizer in her pocket. She’d kept it handy because she was supposed to be cleaning all weekend. Instead, she was dodging her ex and using a bucket as a toilet.
“How’d it go back there?” Sam asked with a grin as she made her way back.
She scowled. “Just fine. Have you come up with another way to get us out of here?”
He shook his head. “I’m supposed to be on the boat with Dad tomorrow morning. When I don’t show, he’ll call Jack or Noah, and they’ll come looking for me. My truck is parked out back. I’m sure someone will rescue us.”
Abby crossed her arms over her chest,hugging herself tightly. “So what you’re saying is that we’re going to be here overnight?”
Sam grinned. He seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. “That’s right. You and I are spending the night together.”
For the next two hours,Abby didn’t say one word. She was doing her best to pretend that her estranged husband wasn’t even in the room with her. Claustrophobia or not, she would have preferred to be locked in this basement alone. Then again, no one would come looking for her this weekend if that was the case. She’d made a point of telling her staff not to even think about coming to the restaurant until Monday.
She’d wanted some alone time. She had just sent divorce papers, and she was finally giving up on the man she thought she’d be with forever. That warranted privacy. Instead, she was locked in a basement with said man. If Sam wasn’t here, however, she’d be trapped until Monday morning for sure. If he was right, somebody would find them by the morning.
I can do this.
It was like camping, she told herself, then broke free of her thoughts when Sam cleared his throat. He’d done this at least twenty times in the last hour. It was a bad habit of his. A tell that he was nervous. It used to drive her batty when they were together. The same way the little moan he did when he was eating made her insane. It’d been cute when they were dating, but day after day, meal after meal, it’d started to bother her.
Sam cleared his throat again.
“Will you stop?” she finally snapped, breaking her vow of silence.
