They were still standing close together and she suddenly became very aware of how tall he was. And that his whole frame was practically vibrating with tension.
‘I’m sorry. This must be driving you crazy.’
‘Honestly. Yeah.’ He lifted his arm and rubbed it across his forehead. ‘It’s a little like torture. No offence. It would be worse if you weren’t here.’
For some reason that made her blush again, which was totally ridiculous. He would have been glad of anyone for company in this situation. In fact, another six-foot-plus man would probably have been preferable, as they might have at least had a fighting chance of barging the door down. ‘Oh, I know. Same,’ she managed to say, and he laughed.
‘IfIweren’t here, this wouldn’t have happened to you at all,’ he pointed out.
‘How is your hand? Does it feel like the bleeding has stopped yet?’
‘I…can’t really tell and there’s no point worrying about it anyway.’
Ha.No point worrying. If only Lila knew how to make her brain obey those three words. ‘Let’s keep looking, maybe we’ll find a better tool we can use.’
‘Hmm…like a hacksaw? Or a power drill?’ He sounded doubtful and grim in a way he hadn’t before – not that she was an expert on his personality based on half an hour locked in a room together. Maybe he was always this up and down.
He followed her as she moved behind the first row of racks around to the back of the room to start in a different corner. She worked even quicker this time. If Rowan Walker bled to death in the stockroom with her, forget losing her chance at the job, she could end up inprisonin a foreign country. Plus, she didn’t like the idea of him dying. Obviously she didn’t like the idea ofanyonedying in general, but that went quadruple for charismatic young men she was locked in a room with.
She clambered up the steps, pulling boxes forward and then – there it was:
A tiny window.
Rowan
‘Rowan.’
Hearing Lila say his name for the first time, her voice urgent and excited, made his stomach tighten. He was greedy to see her eyes again; that shining green, a flash in the darkness, like he’d stumbled across a cat at night, and they’d stared at each other in a moment of suspended fascination before she disappeared again.
Maybe hewasstill losing blood? He had that fuzzy at the edges of reality feeling, which he usually put down to the insomnia.
‘Come here, look,’ she called him again and he roused himself, squeezing the pad of cotton wool over his cut, the sting helping to bring his focus back as he walked around the shelving. ‘There’s a window.’
‘Really?’ He moved towards her voice, scanning the rear wall of the cupboard, and bumping his arm into her shoulder when he came across her.
‘Up there.’ She pointed and he followed the slender outline of her arm. He squinted up at the top shelf, a patch of light different to all the other shadows and continuous behind the row of bottles. As he stared, he made out the edge of a frame as well.
‘It doesn’t look very big.’
‘No. But we should check it out anyway.’ She darted around him and dragged the small steps over, ascending them and making herself busy moving the products that were in front of the window. ‘Oh, it’s bigger than I thought y’know. I bet I could fit through it. If we can get it open, that is. Is your hand okay enough for you to take some of these boxes and put them on the floor?’
‘Of course. Pass them down.’ It was a lie. His hand was throbbing. It was a good job that when they got out of there, his first stop was going to be the hospital because he was starting to wonder if she’d been right, and he needed stitches. No point crying about it now though. Lila was trying to rescue them.
They made a good team; quick and efficient. Soon, more light filtered into the storeroom. He shoved the last box on top of the tower they’d stacked and looked up at her, leaning across the top shelf. He could now see that her T-shirt was a dusky lilac colour, and she was wearing skinny light blue jeans. As she tiptoed up to reach further across, he held himself back from his impulse to put a steadying hand on her waist. ‘How’s it looking then?’
‘Well,’ she huffed with effort, ‘you may need to come up here and try to get it open. My arms aren’t quite long enough for me to get any real force behind it, and it looks like it’s been shut for decades.’
‘Sure. I’ll give it a try.’ She came back down the steps and though her face was still shadowy, the weak light revealed a little more of her: a wide mouth; lips pale and heart-shaped; and a small, delicately pointed chin. It was like gathering fragments of a jigsaw puzzle without knowing the picture on the box. His curiosity was piqued. She didn’t seem as interested in looking at him, but he supposed there was a good likelihood his face wasn’t such a mystery. Or he was making her uncomfortable again…
He climbed up to the top of the ladder, ducking his head and leaning across the shelf so he didn’t hit his head on the ceiling. The window had an old-fashioned hook fastening. Really insecure normally but very stiff and dusty. Without too much strain, he was able to lift it and push hard with his right hand. A rush of cool air hit him in the face and the pitter-patter of rain on concrete outside filtered in.
Because the building was on a hill, the level of the car park was higher on this side than at the front of the offices, so there wasn’t such a huge drop either. Finally, his luck was starting to change. As soon as he thought it, he felt stupid. Sure, he wasn’t having a great day – but in the grand scheme of things it could have been worse.
‘Ah, the taste of freedom,’ he joked. ‘It looks really tight though – you sure you’re going to get through there?’
‘If I can get my head through then the rest of me should fit right? That’s the theory, isn’t it?’
‘I have heard that. And I suppose if your head gets stuck at least someone outside will notice.’
