The second Cooper registered what I was doing, he kissed me right back.
His arms came up and tightened around me, and before I knew it, we were twined around each other like passionflower vines. I couldn’t see him, true—but I could definitely feel him. In every possible way.
Was this a good idea?
I had no clue.
But if distracting Cooper would help me get us both out of this stairwell, it seemed worth a shot. More important, if we all were about to die—maybe this wasn’t a bad way to spend a minute or two before the end.
But that’s when a loudspeaker crackled to life, and a voice filled the stairway and put an end to the smooching. “Passengers, this is your captain speaking.”
Cooper and I broke apart to listen.
The captain went on. “I’m sure you all just heard a rather loud noise and have no doubt noticed our sudden lack of power. Please be assured the problem is a simple blown electrical transformer. The ship is fine, and our backup generators should be up and running momentarily. We appreciate your patience. Full power should be restored within the next hour.”
“Do you think that’s true?” I asked.
“I think,” Cooper said, “that if there were a real problem, he’d have told us to go to lifeboat stations.”
I let out a sigh. “That makes sense.”
Next, the emergency stairwell lights flickered on at last—low and greenish, butonall the same.
Cooper and I took in the sight of each other for a second.
At that, it was time to go—before the distraction wore off. “Come on,” I said, turning and not justclimbing, but—now that we had some light, in an effort to hurry up and get us out of there—more likejoggingup the stairs.
The very steep stairs.
And Cooper followed.
“Sorry for kissing you just now,” I called back as we went.
“You’re sorry?” Cooper called up.
“I didn’t give you much warning.”
“I thought you were going to tell me to take a three-second breath.”
“No,” I said.
“I guess you had a different idea,” Cooper said.
“Very different,” I agreed. And then, out of curiosity: “Did it work?”
There was a nice long pause with just the sound of our feet clanking up the steps before Cooper said, “Like magic.”
“Well, then,” I said, “you’re welcome.”
We kept up our pace, turned on a landing, and started the next flight. We were almost home free. I could see theAUTHORIZED PERSONNELdoor waiting for us up ahead. Getting out of here wouldn’t fix everything, but it would definitely takecleithrophobia problemoff the list.
But that’s when Cooper decided to say something else.
We were still jogging up those tight stairs. He was right behind me. We were making good time.
And then, in what must have been the weirdest timing for a statement like this in all of human history, Cooper just said, behind me, mid–stair flight, “You don’t ever have to apologize for kissing me, JoJo.”
“No?” I said, just kind of making idle chitchat until we reached the door. “Why not?”
