Page 38 of Love Me Carefully
When he had her settled in the chair, he checked the back door. It was locked—one of those old locks that needed a key on both the inside and outside. Gritting his teeth, he moved to the window. It had a latch on it, and was about big enough for a ten-year-old child to slither through. He jiggled the latch from the inside, thinking that maybe he could pry it apart, but then figured it would only bring in the cold air. And if they were going to be stuck here for any length of time, that wouldn’t be such a good idea.
Abandoning the window for now, he went to the stairs, taking them two at a time until he reached the door that led into the house. Of course, that was locked and as he rammed his shoulder against it, he realized it was also bolted from the other side. He cursed under his breath. The longer they were in this basement, the more likely they were to starve or freeze to death. Maybe that was the plan. Maybe Donald didn’t want to personally kill them but didn’t object to them dying a slow and tortuous death. His heart rate accelerated at the thought. Then, as if he weren’t already on a roll, the possibility of someone who worked for Donald coming to finish them off arose. He was building himself up to a fine panic when he looked to the corner to check on Leah, surprised that she’d been quietandstill for this long.
Hands on his hips, he looked around the room, in search of what, he didn’t quite know. He refused to think of them as being trapped, refused to accept that there was nothing he could do.
Leah watched him from her spot in the chair. Outwardly, he appeared calm and determined, traits she’d already known he had, but hadn’t realized were so endearing. Refusing to sit idle any longer, she stood, slowly this time. In his mind, she was sure Terrell was thinking of an escape. She took a couple of steps towards him, then paused and turned to look around for something to break the window. They could yell for help she thought.
Terrell, who should’ve still been thinking of a way to get them out of this mess, watched the sway of her hips as she moved. Her bottom completely and tantalizingly filled out the jeans she wore. Licking his lips, he wondered if the drug Donald had given him was Viagra.
Here he was, trapped in somebody’s basement, and all he could think about was sleeping with Leah, who was sending him such mixed signals he had to concentrate with all his might to keep from losing his mind. First, she’d kissed him ardently in her office. Then tonight in the car she’d looked at him as if he were one step down from slime after their forced kiss. But just a few minutes ago he could’ve kissed her, could’ve peeled away all her clothes and laid her down on this floor. He could’ve have had his way with her, he knew without a doubt, from the way she’d been looking at him.
Being locked in this basement wasn’t what worried him most. Being locked in the basementwithLeah was the challenge.
Just as she spotted a bat, she realized that breaking the windows would make the damp basement chilly and even more uncomfortable. Turning back, she looked at Terrell. “So, we’re stuck?”
With one hand he removed his glasses and with the other massaged his eyes.Stop looking at her like that. You’re never going to get out of here if you don’t.It was a warning he wasn’t sure his mind was listening to or could listen to when he opened his eyes and found Leah standing right in front of him.
“Are you okay? You think you’re feeling aftereffects from the drugs?” She lifted a hand to his brow.
He tensed at her touch, grabbed her hand and held it to his cheek. She was so soft, her nearness so comforting. In that moment he pictured himself coming home from a hard day’s work, and finding her waiting for him at the door, asking him if he’d had a rough day. The image was so clear, felt so real, he almost moaned in gratitude. “I’m okay. I just need to think of a way out of this.”
Leah let him hold her hand, let her fingers be guided over the face she’d become so familiar with, and realized she liked it. “We’llthink of a way out of this,” she vowed.
When she smiled up at him, he realized he was in even deeper than he’d thought. His attraction to her had quietly grown into something beyond mere attraction. His heart beat rapidly as he tried not to show her too much too soon. He had things to work through, feelings to get in check, and he suspected she did too. Now was definitely not the time to be thinking of entering into a relationship with her—no matter how tempting she was.
“For the moment it looks like we’re stuck here. That window seems to be our only option, but I don’t know how viable that is. I sure can’t fit through it.” He released her hand slowly, took a step away from her. They were trapped in a basement together, in a precarious situation, one that could result in a lot of other precarious situations, and he needed to be strong enough to avoid that.
Leah turned so that she now faced the window, her back to him. Something had just happened between them. The moment she’d touched him, the moment he’d looked into her eyes, their relationship had shifted, moved to a position she hadn’t anticipated. “I don’t think I can fit through it either.”
Terrell looked at her butt again and moaned. “No, I don’t think you can.”
She spun around quickly. “And what’s that supposed to mean?”
When Leah glared at him, he held his hands up in mock surrender, grinning all the while. “It just means that you’re packaged pretty well, and I’d hate to see all that trying to squeeze through that little window.”
Her scowl deepened.
“I messed that all up, didn’t I?”
Leah couldn’t help laughing with him. “You sure did.”
Their smooth banter ceased as they again considered their circumstances.
Terrell, wanting nothing more than to get her out of the situation, went up the steps again to try to get the door to budge. “If we could find something heavy, we could probably bust the lock on the door; that would at least get us upstairs.”
When Leah didn’t respond right away, he came back down the steps. He wasn’t prepared to see her balled up on the floor, her arms locked around legs drawn up to her chest, and her forehead resting on her knees as if she were a small child.
Ignoring that voice in the back of his head that warned him about moving too fast, he crossed the room to her. When she made no move to acknowledge he was there, he stooped down so that he was eye level with her. Carefully placing his hand on her back, he called her name. When she didn’t answer, he moved his hand in circles.
The moment he moved away from her, a fear so strong and so compelling hit her that she had to sit down to absorb it. Not only were they trapped in a basement, possibly left alone to die, but she was feeling things she’d never felt before, things she’d sworn she would never feel and, up until now, hadn’t even had to worry about.
For whatever reason, she’d allowed herself to feel emotions for Terrell that she’d never felt for another man. Sure, she’d offered comfort to Leon when he’d had a bad day, but that was usually only a few kind words. With Terrell she’d wanted to make whatever was bothering him better. At first it had seemed like pity, as if she were simply doing what was needed for some poor unfortunate soul. Now she realized she was doing it for another reason entirely. She’d told him he wasn’t her type, yet he’d asked her out again. She hadn’t been particularly nice to him, yet he’d come to her again for help, had held her in his arms and kissed her as if she were the only woman in the world. When her stubbornness had prevailed, he’d carried her—actually carried her—to safety instead of letting her fall flat on her face.
Sitting on the floor, she felt tears sting the backs of her eyes. They could die in this basement if they didn’t figure out a way to escape. She could die without ever knowing what it felt like to love and be loved in return.
Without another word he lifted her to sit in his lap. She seemed to cry a little harder then. With one hand he brushed through her hair while the other stroked her arms. The strong, feisty, argumentative, talkative Leah he’d steadily been falling for had finally showed a weakness, and he was overwhelmed with the need to soothe her. He whispered all sorts of assurances he wasn’t positive he could make good on, but all that mattered to him was making her feel better. “I’ll keep you safe, Leah. Always. I promise. I won’t ever let anything or anyone harm you. Please believe me.”
From the depths of his heart he meant every word he said to her, and not just for this situation.
