“Didn’t you do that yesterday?”
He nods and I raise my eyebrows, waiting for him to go on. “What is it?”
He sighs. “The two lost kegs both went missing on a weekend.”
“You think someone’s breaking in here on a Saturday?”
“Maybe. I found some weak points in the cellars.” He averts his gaze and takes a bite of his sandwich.
“You’re doing a stakeout?”
He shrugs. “I was going to monitor the cameras from home. It’s unlikely anyone would be out in this storm. But now that you’re here, I’m not leaving until you do.”
“Oh.” I chew my sandwich. It’s not just me who will have a treacherous drive home but Viking too. And he’s on a motorbike.
“Can’t you work from home with your laptop?” he asks.
He looks so desperate I almost agree to leave. But I want to prove the point that I’m my own woman and I look after myself, and I don’t need a man to take care of me. I’ll give him a lift home when I leave so he doesn’t have to go on his bike. But I’m not going to tell him that yet. I’ll do a final check downstairs, then I’ll get out of here.
I push my chair back. “I need to go down to the cellars and count out the kegs from the latest brew.”
My words are cut off by the howl of the wind, and something thumps against the roof. We both glance up as the fluorescent lights flicker then die.
The office is plunged into darkness as there’s another thump from outside.
“What was that?”
My heart races, and instinctively I reach for Viking. My hand brushes his, but I drop it. I’ve gotten by without him for four years. I won’t reach for him now.
“Sounded like a tree. Must have taken out the power lines.”
A soft glow illuminates his features, and then he flicks on his phone light. “I’ve got a better flashlight in my office.”
I move toward the door with my hands out, bumping into desks as I go. There’s another thump from outside, and I startle. My hip crashes against the side of a desk, and I stumble. Viking lunges forward to steady me, and our bodies collide chest to chest as his phone drops to the floor, plunging us into darkness.
I gasp as his arms wrap around me, cocooning me in a warm embrace that makes the storm feel far away. The scent of roasted malt, coffee, and the leather of his jacket cocoons me.
Heat radiates from his body, and the thumping of my heart is as loud as the rain hammering on the roof.
His thumb brushes my cheek, and his warm breath caresses my skin.
“Tell me to let you go,” he whispers.
My mouth moves, but I can’t form the words.
Our lips meet. And it’s achingly slow, then hungry as years of longing explode to the surface. Lighting flashes above, illuminating our silhouettes against the wall followed by thunder rumbling overhead, which I feel all the way through my body.
Fluorescent lights crackle on, flooding the office with light. My eyes fly open, and I jerk backwards out of Viking’s arms. My body is on fire from his touch and I stare up at the lights, trying to compose myself.
“The generator’s kicked in.”
Viking drops his hands to his sides, and his fingers clench as if he’s lost something vital.
He steps forward. “Sydney, tell me what I have to do to make this right.”
There’s a pleading expression in his eyes, and it reminds me of that night when I left voicemails on his phone pleading for him to stay. A sharp pain of hurt fires in my chest, and I fold my arms over it.
“Nothing will make this right, Viking. You’ll leave again. Just like last time.”
