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"No, yecacan," I say. "We're looking for a hidden doorway."
"Sure you're not using that as an excuse to stare at Ashley's erse?"
The lass glances up at me, and one corner of her mouth ticks upward. "Maybe I'm using it as an excuse to ogle Errol's ass."
But she seems to be looking at myslat, not my erse.
Munro approaches the wall on the other side of the cavern and begins to search for something—a sign of a hidden doorway, I assume. "Don't go blowing up any more walls, laddie. Might not be so lucky this time."
He has no idea how many things I've blown up in my life.
Ashley runs her fingers up and down a spot on the wall, her gaze narrowed and her lips puckered. She's adorable when she focuses hard. The lass spreads both hands on the wall and slowly rises while swinging her hips, like a sexy cobra emerging from a wicker basket. I don't think she realizes she's doing that, but I lose focus for a moment, mesmerized by her movements. I can also glimpse her cleavage. So aye, I'm a bit distracted from my mission.
She notices me admiring her body and kicks my foot. "Eyes up, Errol."
"Ah, yes. Sorry." I go back to searching the wall and resist my every impulse to glance down at Ashley.
"Oh!" she exclaims.
I freeze and look down at her. "What is it? Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, silly. I think I found a seam."
Bending my knees, I level my head with hers. "Where is it?"
"Here." She takes my hand, guiding my index finger toward a very thin line of darker rock that seems to form a vertical seam. "What do you think?"
"Do you have a hairpin or a needle or something like that?"
"No, sorry."
I move her fingertip onto the thin line. "Keep your finger there. I need to get a few things from my bags."
"Sure. I won't move a muscle—in my finger."
Cannae resist. I pat her erse. "Good girl."
Ashley does not move even one millimeter as far as I can tell. Munro comes up beside her to scrutinize the line, but he seems confused rather than impressed by what we've found. I understand his response. We haven't proved that thin, darker line on the wall means anything.
But I'm about to do that.
After gathering what I need, I return to the wall. Munro is leaning against it with one hand in his trouser pocket, while Ashley still has not moved at all. I use a roll of duct tape to sketch out the line we'd found, then get out my pocket knife to carefully remove the dirt to make sure the line isn't just mud that got stuck in there. The more I excavate, the deeper my knife sinks into the tiny crevice. But my enthusiasm remains tempered, until I feel a faint draft teasing my fingers.
I hold perfectly still, to make sure my breaths or my movements hadn't caused the draft.
"Are you okay?" Ashley asks. "You look like… I don't know. Like you're afraid to move, I guess."
"Needed to be still for a moment to make sure."
I dive my knife into the crevice as deep as it will go and forget about taking care. No, I carve as much dirt out of the wee crevice as I can, feeling more and more of a draft with every bit I excavate.
"Tell me what's going on," Ashley says. "Have you found the doorway or not?"
"No, I haven't." I lay my hand on her cheek, realizing too late that it's covered in dirt. "You found it,gràidh."
I raise her hand to place it over the crevice.
Her eyes widen. Her mouth falls open. Then she grins.
