One thing she loved about Christopher was that he did not find it silly to play games with the children, as some men would. In fact, he happily volunteered if it meant that he would get closer to the children.
A pursuit that, Frances noted, he had quite impressively made quite the progress in.
The children loved him, and it was clear his easygoing persona was something they loved having around.
She heard Edwin reach the end of his counting and scrambled to find a hiding spot.
After frantically searching for a few moments, she finally found a small closet in one of the guest rooms and slipped inside, hoping it would be a good hiding spot.
He should not be able to find me here.
To her surprise, just as she settled into the tight space, the door opened, and Christopher slipped inside as well.
“Christopher?”
They both froze, realizing they had chosen the same hiding spot. The closet was small, forcing them to stand very close together.
Edwin was done counting, and Christopher hurriedly closed the door behind him.
“Sorry,” Christopher whispered, a mischievous grin on his face. “We have to be quiet, or else he will catch us.”
“It’s alright,” Frances whispered back, trying to ignore the fluttering in her chest.
They stood there in the darkness, their breaths mingling.Something that Frances was very aware of. She had never been this close to him before, and truthfully, she was having a hard time focusing on anything at all when he was this close.
Was it the same for him?
Before she could ponder that question, they could hear Edwin’s footsteps and his voice calling out as he searched the room, “Where are you?”
Frances and Christopher remained silent, barely daring to breathe. Edwin’s footsteps came closer, then moved away as he continued his search.
“Careful,” Christopher whispered in her ear, sending shivers down her spine.
“I am being plenty careful,” she whispered back.
“If he hears you, our cover will be blown…”
Now, she was sure that he was messing with her. He liked to see her all riled up, for whatever strange reason.
“We shall we fine if you stop talking and risking us being found…” she replied sulkily.
“A shame we had to hide in the same spot.”
Even though it was dark, Frances could almost feel the smirk in his voice.
“Mind you that I was here first,” she shot back and then quieted immediately when she heard Edwin’s footsteps coming closer.
“Heavens,”she breathed.
That was close.
Once they were sure he was gone, neither of them moved. They were so close, their faces inches apart, and Frances could feel Christopher’s warmth.
Their eyes met, and at that charged moment, everything else faded away. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Christopher leaned in, and Frances found herself leaning in too, their breaths mingling even more. The space was tight, and she could feel the rise and fall of his chest.
Frances could sense the change in the air between them, the palpable tension growing with each passing second. They remained there, frozen, staring at each other.
Just as Christopher’s hand moved slightly, perhaps to reach for her, they heard Edwin’s voice again, this time further down the hallway. The sound broke the spell, but they didn’t move away.
