Chapter 20
A loophole isn’t cheating.
Hazel
I pace in front of the living room window as I wait for Miles to show up. Am I making a mistake?
I am. This is a bad idea. Miles isn’t trustworthy. He’s going to hurt me and then, when my heart is bleeding from being torn into shreds by him, he’s going to throw me in the ocean for the sharks to fight over.
I must have been temporarily out of my mind yesterday to agree to give Miles a second chance.
I blame those stupid blonde college students.
If he hadn’t ignored them in favor of spending time with me, I could have kept my walls up.
Add in his proclamation that he hasn’t had sex for a year with anyone else but me and my walls didn’t melt. They blew to smithereens.
I should rebuild those walls before he arrives. I should encase my heart in steel and hide it behind those walls. I should—
The doorbell rings.
The time for ‘I should’ has passed.
I inhale a deep breath, smooth a hand down my blouse, and force my legs to the front door.
“Hi.” It’s the only word I can manage to get out. Holy smugglers fleeing from the Prohis. Miles is one handsome man in a dark blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showcasing the roped muscles in his forearms.
“You look gorgeous.” He kisses my cheek before handing me a bouquet of daisies. “These are for you.”
I lift an eyebrow. “You remembered my favorite flower?”
“How could I forget when you had a knock-down-drag-out fight with the biology teacher over whether a daisy is a flower or a composite flower head? I don’t even know what those words mean, but I remember the screeching match.”
I sniff. “I did not screech at Mr. Ulrich.”
“And you didn’t get detention either.”
“I can’t believe I was forced to weed the flower beds in front of the school.”
“You were adorable in your overalls with dirt streaked on your face.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “No one is adorable in overalls.”
“Disagree.”
“Whatever,” I mutter. “Let me put these flowers in water and then I’m ready to go.”
I put the flowers in a vase on my kitchen table before returning to Miles. I motion him out the door. “Where are we going today?”
He grins. “The Bootlegger Escape Room Festival.”
The Bootlegger Escape Room Festival is one of the many festivals on Smuggler’s Hideaway developed to pull in tourists. The team to answer the bootlegger trivia and drink shots of moonshine faster than any other team wins. The prize is a night of drinking free at the Rumrunner speakeasy.
Although the festival was originally intended for tourists, the locals love it. The team from the Five Fathoms brewery has won two years in a row. Although, last year they tied with the Raider brothers. Speaking of the brothers…
“Don’t you want to do the escape room with your brothers?”
He grasps my hand and threads his fingers through mine. “Nope. I don’t need to spend any more time with my brothers. I see those assholes every day at work.”
“You do? I thought you preferred surfing to showing up at work.”
“Actually.” He pulls on the collar of his shirt. It’s a nervous tic and absolutely adorable. Miles is usually Mr. Confident. Seeing him less than confident – vulnerable even – is a gift. “I spoke to Eli.”
“You listened to a suggestion from me?”
“Don’t be a smart ass.”
“I can’t help it. This ass is smart all on its own.”
His blue eyes darken until they’re the color of the deepest ocean. “Your ass is something all right.”
“No sex, remember?”
He groans. “I remember.”
“I was teasing. I never agreed to the no sex rule.”
He blows out a breath. “You’re going to be the death of me.”
I tilt my head back and speak to the heavens above. “And what a glorious death it shall be.”
He chuckles.
“So…” I push. “What did Eli say?”
“We’re going on a trip next month to speak to a distributor together. If things go well, I’ll slowly take over contact with distributors and the big accounts.”
“And you won’t be behind your desk all the time.”
“And I won’t be behind my desk all the time.”
“And maybe you won’t resent your job as much if you can travel more.”
“Don’t push your luck, Blaze.”
I shrug. “Sue me. I want you to be happy.”
He squeezes my hand. “Thanks.”
We arrive at the center of town, where the Bootlegger Escape Room Festival is happening. A conference room in City Hall has been turned into an escape room for the weekend. Each team gets a time slot of an hour. If you can’t escape in an hour, you’re automatically disqualified.
“I’m surprised you got a time slot,” I say as we line up for our turn.
His cheeks darken, and I gasp. “No. You did not steal a time slot.”
“Can you steal a time slot? It’s not a tangible thing.”
“Smugglers galore! You totally stole a time slot.”
He scans the area. “Keep it down.”
“How did you do it?” I whisper.
“Sorry. Proprietary secret.”
I snort. “You had Jaxon do it.”
He shrugs. “Jaxon said he was happy for the chance to practice his skills.”
The large countdown clock above City Hall hits five minutes. Miles places his hand on my lower back and steers me toward the entrance. “Come on. We’re next.”
We reach the outside of the escape room, where a table is set up for participants to check in. We quickly register before taking our place in front of the entrance.
“Should we discuss strategy?” Miles asks.
“We go in. Answer the questions faster than anyone else and we win.”
“What about the moonshine shots? Do you want me to drink all of them while you concentrate on answering clues?”
“You drink my shots? Why would…” I trail off with a gasp. “Now I know how the Raider brothers won last year. They cheated.”
“Technically, it wasn’t cheating. There’s no requirement for every contestant to drink. Only that all of the shots must be drunk. Ask Paisley. Eli’s girlfriend is the one who figured out the loophole.”
“And now the women of Five Fathoms Brewing win every year.” I frown. “Not this year. This year is my year.”
“I love it when you get all bloodthirsty.”
“I hate losing.”
“I know, little Miss Competitive.”
The light above the escape room flashes red. “Here we go.”
The door opens automatically and we rush inside. I glance around the room searching for clues and my gaze falls upon an open bootlegger’s notebook. “The rum is in the…”
“The chicken coop,” Miles says from where he’s glancing over my shoulder.
“Correct answer!” I high-five him before picking up the first shot of moonshine.
Miles points to a card laying on a side table. “Next clue.”
The card has pictures of three bottles – moonshine, whiskey, and rum – on it. I read the riddle out loud.
“A smuggler walks into a bar and orders the only drink that won’t get the cops suspicious. What does he order?”
Miles snorts. “It’s a trick question. He orders water.”
We drink our next shot. I twirl around the room searching for the next riddle. “Here!” I shout when I notice a riddle written on a card next to a lantern.
“Bootleggers couldn’t text, so they used light. One flash meant danger. Two meant…?”
“Bring the booze, obviously.” Miles flashes the lantern twice and it illuminates the radio on the other side of the room. I rush toward it but he shackles my wrist.
“Forgetting something?”
I grab the shot of moonshine from him and down it as quick as I can. When it doesn’t burn, I know I’ve had too many, but I can’t stop now. I’m winning the festival this year if my blood turns to moonshine.
The sign on the radio reads ‘Tune to the frequency bootleggers used to warn each other about raids.’
Miles frowns. “I have no idea.”
I elbow him out of the way. “Too easy.”
I move the dial to the correct station – 1-9-2-0. “It’s the start of Prohibition.”
Miles hands me a shot as the radio plays our next clue. “To find what you seek, look where rum sleeps and secrets keep. Three taps on the barrel will open the way.”
“Where rum sleeps and secrets keep.” Miles searches the room.
“Hold on. Did you say your brothers were before or after us in line for the escape room?”
“After. Why?”
I smirk. “Because I have the best idea to slow them down.”
“This is why I love you. You’re devious.” He gives me a quick, hard kiss. “Tell me the plan.”
The plan? The plan is to get my heart to start beating again after he said he loved me. Slow your flipper loving roll, Miles didn’t say he loves me. It was merely an expression. Nothing more. Nothing less.
I point to the radio. “This is a retro looking radio, but it’s actually modern inside.” I push the retro radio out of the way to reveal a Bluetooth speaker. “If we switch the input mode, it won’t play the next clue.”
Miles barks out a laugh. “Devious and genius. Let’s do it.”
I quickly switch the input mode from radio to aux. “All the teams after us are screwed.”
“Which only helps if we get out of here. Where rum sleeps and secrets keep.”
I make my way to a rum barrel and tap on it three times. A click sounds before the door opens. Miles grabs my hand and drags me outside.
“We did it!”
I lift an eyebrow. “Was there any doubt?”
“Not with you by my side.”
He yanks on my hand and I slam into him. Before I have a chance to say oof, his lips are on mine. He kisses me as if the entire town isn’t watching us. As if he’s not embarrassed to be with me. As if all those years we were apart didn’t happen.
My heart doesn’t stand a chance against this version of Miles. But is this version of Miles the real one?