Return to You

was
better than shaking her. "I didn't do this. The last thing I want
is to be confined in a small space with you." Okay, that didn't
come out the way he intended, but at least it got her to drop her
casual pose.
    "Great," she bit out. "Then we're in
agreement."
    Placid, Olivia was beautiful. Livid, she was
a sight to behold.
    With a flip of her hair, she whirled around
and cautiously worked her way to the back of the shed. The way her
tight pants fit her entranced him. He bet she wore sexy panties
like the ones she sold in her store.
    He snapped out of it in time to catch up to
her before she disappeared around the corner. "What are you doing?"
he asked.
    "Getting us out of here. Hold this." She
handed him the flashlight.
    He watched her drop to her knees and crawl
alongside the wall, feeling around.
    "Hold the beam steady."
    He cocked his brow but did her bidding. Then
he realized what she was looking for. "Ah, the secret passage
way."
    "About time you remembered. Unless you
deliberately forgot," she mumbled.
    He let that pass. Right now, the most
important thing was to let her find the flap they used to call
their secret passage way. In reality, it'd probably been a dog
entrance at one time. He'd never been one to get claustrophobic but
the walls were beginning to close in on him, pressing him closer to
Olivia.
    He took a step back.
    "Hold the goddamn flashlight steady." She
felt around for another ten seconds before she dropped her hands
and sat back on her heels. "Hell."
    "What is it?"
    "It's been nailed shut."
    "Shit."
    She glanced up at him. "You sound like you
mean that."
    He raked his hair back, not caring that his
hands were covered in dust and cobwebs. "I didn't plan this,
Olivia."
    She studied him for what seemed like ten
minutes before she asked, "What were you doing here?"
    "Looking for a couple things we need for the
shoot tomorrow."
    "Don't you have lackeys that do that
work?"
    "Sure, but Parker sent them off for the
afternoon." The puzzle pieces fell into place. He leaned back
against a full burlap covered sack. "How about you?"
    "Gran sent me to call Parker in for dinner."
She gave him a rueful smile. "I guess we were both set up."
    "Looks that way."
    She looked around. "You think they'll come
let us out soon?"
    "Nope."
    She sighed. "I didn't think so either."
    "Come on." He held his hand out to help her
up.
    She eyed it suspiciously.
    "Do you know if the batteries in the
flashlight are fresh?" When she shook her head, he said, "Then we
need to find the old lamps and see if there's still kerosene left
around."
    He felt a surge of triumph as she placed her
hand in his, but he carefully kept his face expressionless. Her
hand felt warm and soft, and it would have been easy to hold on to
it forever.
    Once she got to her feet, she pulled her
hand out of his and cleared her throat. "Do you remember where the
lamps were?"
    He looked around. "Weren't they in the
back?"
    She shrugged, flicking her hair over her
shoulder. "Your guess is as good as mine." She pushed past him and
led the way.
    He didn't mind. He held the flashlight, and
the view was amazing from here.
    "Here they are." She lifted a lamp thickly
coated with webs. She handed it to him and wiped her hands on her
pants. "Gross."
    "Hold this." He gave her the flashlight and
reached for a bottle that looked like kerosene.
    New kerosene. The lamp was covered with
years of dust, but the bottle looked like it was just picked off a
store shelf yesterday. On the same shelf was a new book of matches,
clean blankets, and what looked like a picnic basket.
    He shook his head and started filling up the
lantern with fuel. "At least this was a well-planned set up."
    "What?" Olivia leaned over his shoulder to
look.
    Her hair brushed his neck, and he spilled
some kerosene. If he turned his head a little, he'd be able to kiss
her.
    "Someone thoughtfully left us new supplies."
He lit the lamp. "Including clean blankets and food."
    "Thank God." She grabbed the basket and
peeked inside. "I'm starving."
    He successfully lit the lantern—he wasn't
really surprised to see it had a fresh wick—and placed the glass
shield on it. He turned to face Olivia and found her frowning into
the basket. "What's wrong?"
    "The conspiracy is wider spread than I
thought."
    "Conspiracy?"
    "Yeah. Of course Gran was involved in
setting us up but apparently so was my father." She held up a
champagne bottle. "A 1996 Cristal. Parker's champagne of
choice."
    "Son of a bitch," he said as it