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“Can I use—”
Lana was already shaking her head. “My phone’s on the table next to yours.” She tried the handle herself. “We’re really locked in here with no phones to call anyone for help? Maybe he’ll see our cars and come back inside? He’ll realize we’re still in here?”
“I’m here a lot after he leaves. He’s not going to know we’re locked in.”
“What are we supposed to do?” she asked, her voice sounding a little nervous.
She wrapped her arms around herself.
“Hey,” I said, pulling her close. “Everything’s okay. When the staff comes in in the morning, somebody always comes through here to eyeball the stock. And we even have a bathroom, through there.” I pointed to the back door of the room that led to a small toilet and sink. “Bottled water in the corner back there. We’ll be fine.”
“But it’s pretty chilly in here, isn’t it?” She sounded less flirtatious than before, maybe a little scared.
I pulled her even closer, wrapping my arms around her.
“I can take care of that, too,” I whispered into her ear.
32
DYLAN
Lana shiveredas I pulled her close, promising to dispel the chill in the room.
She really was nervous about being locked in there until morning. I couldn’t blame her. But I also couldn’t bring myself to regret that it had happened, because it meant more time with Lana. And since it was a little chilly, more time with Lana in my arms.
I held her tightly, sharing my body heat, and gestured toward the east wall.
“Come on. I know fifty-pound sacks of malt aren’t exactly a soft bed, but they’ll be more comfortable than the floor.”
“We really do just have to wait it out, don’t we?” she asked, looking up at me.
“We really do,” I said, leading her to the pallets of supplies. “And in case you’re unsure, I promise I didn’t set this up.”
She laughed. “I believe you. At least, I would hope that if you ever set something like this up, you’d at least find a way to get a blanket, maybe a nice picnic lunch, down here somehow.”
“Damn it. I knew I’d forget something,” I said, snapping my fingers.
Lana laughed softly, then we got as comfortable as we could on the sacks. We weren’t lying completely flat, but more sitting up and reclined.
As soon as we were settled, I pulled her close again to stave off the chill. Even in a stockroom, trapped in the dark until morning, I felt morerightthan I had since she’d gone to New York.
Her body molded against mine, her arms around my waist. My arm was around her back, cradling her against me.
Before long, I found myself moving my hand up to gently knead her neck. Stroke her hair. It was so easy to do, and Lana wasn’t stopping me.
She cleared her throat. “How’s Todd? I know you said he was doing well, but you didn’t give any details. What’s he been up to since I left?”
I put my arm back around her and rubbed her arm with my other hand. I didn’t think stroking her hair or touching her neck were going to lead to anything, not in a stockroom.
That wasn’t where I wanted to make love to Lana for the first time in three years.
But I could feel the pull for more, being that close to her. I suspected she felt it too and wanted to talk to distract us.
“He had a hard time at first. I figured he texted and called you a lot back then.”
“For a little while,” she said.
“Everything he was already doing that was self-destructive, he doubled down on. Lost his job at the dealership, lost some friends, just couldn’t seem to stay sober and responsible. He cut me out of his life for a while, until Grandpa took a turn for the worse. It took that for him to take a long, hard look at himself and make some changes.”
