Chapter 12
TWELVE
LEVI
UH-OH
The ride to the church was quiet, and I knew by how she chewed on her lip what was on her mind. Her lips and taste, even for a second, were now branded into me and the only thing my mind was willing to entertain.
We entered the front office of the church where a woman in her sixties wearing a turtleneck with her dark hair piled on top of her head in a bun sat behind a desk.
“Good morning.”
Allie smiled. And what a smile. “I’m Allie Langley, and my friend is getting married here on Saturday.”
The woman nodded. “Yes, Emily.”
“She had some items sent to decorate the sanctuary.”
The woman stood up and laughed. “She surely did. Enough to nearly fill up our storage room. Come with me.”
We followed her down a hallway and my eyes were glued to Allie’s tush. Down boy!
The lady stopped. “It’s all in here.” She unlocked it and handed Allie the key. “I’m leaving to attend a meeting shortly, so here’s the closet key if you need to lock up before I return.”
“Thank you so much.”
The woman gave a wave and disappeared.
Allie set her purse in the hall, and we entered to find two large boxes containing Christmas trees and another holding ornaments and lights.
She kicked a box. “This sucks. The chains on my mood swing just snapped. Would a handful of Xanax count as Emily’s something blue? She’s crazy.”
I pulled off my jacket and tossed it on a table in the corner. “Crazy or eccentric?”
“Crazy. I think.” Allie set her coat next to mine.
“There’s a fine line between eccentric and crazy, and I ride that shit like a circus bear on a unicycle. She might too.”
She pulled open of the boxes and groaned. “Stop.”
“When you say stop, I don’t know if you mean it’s hammer time, or if I should collaborate and listen.”
She huffed. “You make me need something that’s more than coffee but less than cocaine.”
“Wow.” I laughed and opened the Christmas tree box. “Have you lost some of your sweetness with age?”
“I think so. The older I get the meaner I seem to become. It won’t be long before I’m biting people.”
“And that’s bad?”
Even in the dimly lit closet I could see her cheeks get rosy as she cleared her throat.
Her grin socked me in the gut. “Thanks for helping me. I don’t think it’ll take too long, right?”
“Teamwork makes the dream work. Wait, is that right?” I scratched my head. “That doesn’t sound right. What’s that saying?”
“Hmmm. Not sure. But if you take out the team in teamwork, it’s just work. Who wants that?”
“Teamwork means never having to take all the blame yourself.”
She pointed at me. “I like that one. Yes, Bridezilla will kill both of us.”
“I’ll get the Christmas tree box if you’ll get the door.”
I lifted it and watched her fine backside walk away.
“Wait, it’s locked.” She looked around. “Where’s my purse?”
“You left it in the hall.”
Her mouth made an “O”. “Oops.”
“Oops?”
“Oh mother hubbard, we’re in a pickle.”
“Huh?”
“I put the keys in my purse so I wouldn’t lose them. Clearly my brain isn’t braining today.” Her eyes closed. “The door must lock automatically or something.”
A jolt of pure joy entered my bloodstream. I was locked in a closet with the most beautiful girl in the world? I swear to God I felt the universe give me a high-effing-five.
She gritted her teeth and kicked the door, and I couldn’t control my laughter.
“Stop laughing at me.”
“It’s just, well, is it wrong that you look a little hot when you’re angry?”
A grin snaked across those lips as she ran her hand through her hair. “Well, when I woke up today, I had no plans of being this sexy. But hey, shit happens.”
I set down the box and leaned against the wall. “It does.”
Clearly I needed to tell my facial expressions to use their indoor voice, because with one look her eyes went wide as our situation registered in her brain.
Her nerves entered from stage right. “But there’s got to be a way out of here, right?”
She shuffled over to a metal cabinet in the corner and pulled open a door before rummaging through stuff. “Yeah, I’m sure there’s a hammer here or something.”
“You’re going to hammer us outta here?” Why was her panic spurring me on?
She glanced over her shoulder. “Maybe?”
She bent down and pulled some tools from the bottom shelf. “Wait, I might have the answer.”
Could the answer be to hold her against the wall and kiss all of the lip gloss from her mouth?
She sprung to her feet and held out a wrench. “This might do the trick.” She nodded like a bobble head as she went to the door and dropped to her knees. I liked it very much. “Yeah, I could use this tool to kinda grab the screws and pull out the knob?”
“It’s a wrench.”
More nodding. “That’s what I thought. A wrench.”
“Wrenches are used to tighten or loosen nuts and bolts.”
“Perfect. Yes, I need to loosen these so I’m good.”
“Those aren’t nuts or bolts.”
She let out a sigh. “I’m sure this will work, maybe.”
“I’m sure it will not work.” I walked over to the metal cabinet, turned on the flashlight in my phone, and took a look. “I don’t think the right tools are here for that.”
I turned around to see her stand while she shifted on her feet nervously. “We have to get out of here. There has to be some tool that will work.”
“Don’t think so, sweetie.”
She inhaled sharply, which lit something it shouldn’t, before she walked over and grabbed my phone.
She shined the flashlight, bent down, and looked through the contents in a drawer before standing, handing me my phone, and looking down.
“I need you to find a way to get that door open.” Her fingers laced together.
“Are you claustrophobic?”
“Huh?”
“Afraid of being trapped in small spaces?”
She took a little step back and spoke in a whisper. “I’m afraid of being trapped in small spaces with you.”
Her words hung in the air. “You’re not afraid of me.” I took a step toward her while she took another back. “Are you afraid of you?”
Her head shook as I took another step when her eyes drop to my lips before she quickly looked away.
“I don’t know what it is between you and me.” I took another small step while she took one back.
“There’s nothing between us.” She gulped. “We’re friends for a few days. Or not.”
I chuckled. “Sure.”
Our dance continued but as she took one more step her back was against the wall. I closed the distance between us as she let out a breath. We stood silently, and I swear I could feel her heart beating.
“You feel it. Like back then.”
She shook her head. “It’s just physical.”
“Just physical? You’ve never thought of me?”
“I don’t ever want to think of you.”
We stood silently, but she didn’t move. She didn’t step away.
“Do you want me to kiss you?”
Her head shook. “No.”
I held her eyes for a long minute. “All you have to do is step away. Why are you still here in this corner?”
She spoke in a broken whisper. “I don’t know.”
I leaned in closer. Her being so close made the air thick with an intoxicating scent of desire. “Do you want me to move?”
“No. Yes.” Her breath was on my face.
I whispered, “I think we’re in a fucktangular.”
The corner of her mouth turned up. “What?”
“A fucktangular is a situation which is complicated and messy in multiple pleasant ways.”
She swallowed hard.
“Do you want me to kiss you, Allie?”
“No.”
I was about to step away when she threw her arms around my neck and pulled me to her, our lips a breath apart.
Every muscle in me was pulsing. Gently, slowly as our mouths still fit together perfectly.
Her lips led mine while my hand traveled to her neck and into her hair as hers travelled to my chest.
The kiss was torturously slow and hot. She felt so fucking good, and I had to catch my breath when she pressed her chest into mine. My hand traveled to the small of her back, and I pulled her closer while a quiet gasp escaped her. I wanted to possess her, body and soul.
But she had control, and I’d have it no other way. She clung to my shoulders while she was restless in my arms. Her hands raked through my hair as the kisses grew deeper and faster like we’d been starving forever.
We’d been starving forever.