Chapter Three
Emma
The chill from the walk-in freezer nips at my bare arms as I stand far too close to Kade. There’s a light of humor in his eyes and a challenge in the set of his full lips. His presence is like a furnace, his heat incongruous with the cold shelves lined with chilled bottles.
“I think that was all I needed,” I say, nodding at the bottle by his feet. “Now I’m going to leave. You’re welcome to stay here and cool your thoughts.” I’m only teasing, but I see his eyes narrow slightly.
Walking closer to him, I see an unexpected darkness in his eyes that sends a thrill through my belly
“Let”s see if you can manage that,” Kade says, a teasing lilt in his voice.
“Manage what?” I ask, staring at him and silently daring him to explain himself.
He leans in close until his lips are flush with my ear before softly saying two words that send a skitter of excitement up my spine. “To leave.”
I inhale, stunned by the way random parts of me light up with an unexpected thrill.
Rolling my eyes, I brush past him, the narrow space between our bodies crackling with an energy I try to ignore. Am I going crazy? Maybe the cold is getting to me. Or maybe I’m just frazzled from working so hard. Next time Alex asks if he can leave, the answer will be a resounding no.
With a long, swinging stride to put the maximum distance between us, I make my way to the walk-in door. I reach for the quick release and push the flat handle in with a confident shove. But instead of the door popping open, the lock doesn”t disengage.
“Uh...” My heart skips a beat. Not good. I push the handle again and again, feeling how easily the thing gives as if there’s no resistance. Like it’s not engaging the locks to release them.
Kade suddenly appears beside me, and I feel rather than see him lean in, his breath warm against my ear. “What’s going on?” he asks, his tone light, but his body taut with barely restrained power. “I guess you don’t want to leave, after all.”
My heart sinks as I catch sight of a sticky note stuck haphazardly behind the release. I grab the note and pull it off the wall. “Alex”s idea of a maintenance schedule is... non-existent,” I mutter, turning the note so Kade can read the words “Get release fixed.” So typical of my brother. Always planning to get around to things tomorrow.
“Looks like we”re in for a bit of a wait, then.” Kade sounds way too casual. Internally, I’m panicking. We need to get the club ready to open. I need to be out there on the floor, making sure everyone and everything is in order.
“Great,” I say with a sigh, pressing my forehead against the cold metal wall over the release, the reality of our situation sinking in.
Trapped.
With Kade.
In a walk-in.
And Alex won”t be back until tomorrow.
“Relax,” Kade says, his voice smooth as aged whiskey. “We”ll figure something out.”
Well, he’s optimistic, I’ll give him that.
“Sure.” But I am not at all sure of anything but how much tonight is going to suck. Heck, if I’d have known the inside latch was broken, I’d have locked him in here alone and walked away to get to work. Dang it.
The clank of wine bottles echoes as I spin around to face Kade, my breath misting in the icy air. He freezes, two bottles of wine in hand. “Thanks to you, we”re locked in here.” My words are sharp as icicles.
His dark eyes meet mine, a flicker of something unreadable passing through them before he shrugs off the blame like an unwanted coat. “You”re the one who closed the door, so this is on you.”
I clench my fists. The urge to hurl a Cabernet at him is almost irresistible—the crash of shattered glass and his pained groan would be the perfect outlet for the frustration brewing within me.
“Besides, I told someone I’d be down here and to come check on me. Did you do the same?” He arches an eyebrow at me, and I want to slap the expression off his face. He’s intolerable.
He’s right. I won’t admit it, but he’s right. I didn’t tell anyone. He did. But I didn’t take that precaution because I shouldn”t have to. Damn it, Alex.
“Right.” My voice drips with sarcasm. “Because you, oh great and powerful Kade, couldn”t possibly have prevented this.”
He leans against a shelf lined with Chardonnay, a handsome smirk on his lips. “We can stand here arguing, or we can figure out how to stay warm. I”ve got some ideas...” His tone suggests mischief, and I know exactly what he’s thinking. What a pig.
I’ve been told my resting bitch face is terrifying, but my glare seems to have no effect on him. “Let me guess—close body contact? Shared body heat?” I ask, not amused by his implication.
Kade pushes away from the shelf, his movements languid and predator-like. “It”s basic survival,” he says with a shrug, a teasing note lacing his words. “But I”m sure you”d rather rely on your... vast experience?”
He has me seeing red, I swear. I might be a virgin, but... “I”m not naive, Kade,” I say, my voice cold enough to rival the air of our accidental prison.
His laughter, low and throaty, makes my heart race, despite my attempts to talk myself down.
“I never said you were, Emma Riley.” His use of my middle name sends an unexpected shiver down my spine that has nothing to do with the temperature.
My breath comes out in visible puffs as I refuse to even consider his idea. “I”d rather die,” I say, trying my best to keep my teeth from chattering.
Kade”s grin only widens, his eyes glinting with that familiar, rebellious spark that makes my stomach flip-flop. “What would your brother do if I just let you die?” he asks in a soft tone with an undercurrent of concern beneath the humor.
“I wouldn”t care—I”d be dead.” I snap the words at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of seeing me rattled.
He shrugs his broad shoulders as he steps into my personal space, the heat from his body radiating like a warm blanket against the cold.
I watch him as he bends down and sets the wine bottles by our feet before slipping off his leather jacket in a smooth, swift motion. Before I can protest, he whisks the warm leather over my shoulders. The jacket is heavy, infused with his warmth and scent—a mix of cedar, leather, and a spicy scent that’s his alone.
“Thanks,” I say, annoyance warring with gratitude for the kind gesture. I never thought of Kade as a nice guy, but here he is. Proving that maybe I don’t know him that well at all.
“I just don’t want the cold to make things awkward between us,” he says with a nod at me.
Oh, my gosh, did he just make a comment about my body and the effect cold has? I cross my arms. Yeah, it’s not that he’s nice, it’s that he can tell I’m cold. Not a nice guy at all.
“Don’t worry,” I say, more to maintain some semblance of distance than out of real concern, “I”ll pay for your dry cleaning.” I don”t want any part of me lingering with him, including my scent.
He laughs and the rich, deep sound vibrates through me and sends an involuntary tremor through all my limbs. I need to focus on something else. Anything else.
My gaze drops to the wine, noticing he picked the gold-label Merlot. It’s exactly right. “I expected you to get it wrong,” I say, lifting my gaze and meeting his, “just to annoy me.”
“Missed opportunity,” he says, that ever-present smirk playing at the corner of his lips even though something softer and warmer flashes in those dark eyes of his. The guy is a charmer, I’ll give him that. But I’m not charmed.
“We need to make a plan,” I say, more to myself, as I scan the walk-in and hug his jacket tighter around me. The chill seeps into my bones, making me question my choice of attire; my short dress is hardly suitable for a walk-in. It makes sense at the club, fits in with the patrons, and I feel good... until now when I’m locked in a literal fridge. But who anticipates this kind of complication? Before now, I’d never have considered this a possibility.
“Plans are good,” he says, scooping up the wine bottle again and moving it over by the locked door. When he comes back, he reaches out as if to touch me. His fingers brush my shoulder, sending a jolt of unexpected warmth through me. “Got any bright ideas?” he asks.
I don’t know what he’s expecting. “Besides breaking out or freezing to death?” I ask, trying to ignore the way my body reacts to his proximity, the way my heart seems to drum a bit faster every time he comes close. Surely the adrenaline from our situation is to blame for this weird reaction to him.
“Those are the classics,” he says, his ever-present teasing tone making me want to laugh and tell him off all at once.
“I suggest we brainstorm before we turn into human popsicles.” I force a half-smile to my lips wondering how, despite everything, Kade”s bad boy charm is somehow keeping the dread I should be feeling at bay.
I’m pretty sure the cold has my brain short-circuiting and I run through the obvious facts first, my breath visible in the frigid air as I speak. “Alex won”t be back until tomorrow.” I clutch his jacket tighter around me, fighting the mix of resignation and rising panic within me.
“Right. And someone didn’t tell anyone she was coming down here.” Kade sounds amused, taking some of the sting out of his words.
“I shouldn”t have to.” The words are sharper than I intended, but he”s unfazed, infuriatingly calm, as if we”re not trapped in a freezer that could double as a morgue if we’re stuck in here long enough.
“Phone?” I ask, knowing I left mine behind the bar - a downside of a dress without pockets - but hopeful he has his.
His breath hangs like fog in the chilled atmosphere as he walks right up to me. My heart thumps painfully as he reaches out, his hand slipping into one of the pockets of his jacket. I swallow hard as he lifts his phone. The screen flashes to life, and he turns the screen toward me.
No bars, no signal, just a dead end. His thumb swipes over the screen, illuminating the background—a snorting pug with bulging eyes that seems amused about our predicament.
“Nice background,” I say, the weak attempt at humor designed to distract from the gravity of our dwindling options.
“That’s Snort,” he says, and there”s an unexpected softness in his tone. “He”s my pal.”
“You have a pug.” I can”t help but smile, briefly forgetting how cold my legs are.
“Yep.” Kade flashes a quick grin, then sobers. “We better not die in here—I’ll haunt you if you’re the reason Snort is orphaned.”
“Are you ever serious?” I ask, feeling exasperated at his constant jokes. It”s hard to reconcile this facet of Kade—the guy with a pet pug—with the reckless charmer who”s always on edge and all edge, if you know what I mean.
Kade shakes his head with a devilish smile. “No way.”
Even as amusing as he is, I feel a flash of annoyance. We’re in trouble, and he can’t stop cracking jokes.
“Besides,” he says, his tone and expression shifting to something so dark and real I feel unsettled, “you don’t want me to be serious.” His words hang heavy between us, leaving me wondering what secrets he’s holding back. The intensity in his gaze holds me frozen in place, and for a fleeting second, I glimpse something raw, something real behind the facade of this man who”s always laughing off the world.
The chill is forgotten as heat rises in a flush across my cheeks. “Let”s just find a way out,” I whisper, my throat protesting the words.
“Deal.” Kade’s expression shifts back to the playful, infuriating joker I know him to be, and I wonder what the heck just happened between us.
One thing is for sure, I never thought my brother”s best friend might be the one to thaw the frost around my heart.