“The waffles?” I ask.
“No, I could get used to playing hooky with you.”
“Me too.”
Honestly, I might never work again because lazy mornings with Wren are quickly becoming my favorite thing.
CHAPTER 35: KLEPTOMANIAC
WREN
“You ready to become world class art thieves?” Tanner asks, pulling into the parking lot of Lock and Key Escape Rooms.
“I didn’t realize you were such a kleptomaniac,” I tease.
“Me?”
“Yeah, first it was movies, then my heart, and now art.”
“Hey! I’ll have you know that I officially subscribed to multiple streaming services after the whole porn debacle, the art we are about to steal isn’t real, and I’m going to let your bad joke slide because it makes me really insanely happy to hear you say I stole your heart.” His hand squeezes my thigh where it’s been resting for the entire drive.
“Well, you did.” I look over at him, my heart skipping a beat.
He parks the car then leans towards me, peppering my face with kisses and making me giggle. “Now come on. We need to get in the right headspace for what we’re about to do,” he coaches me.
“The right headspace for an escape room?”
“Yes, the art heist one was labeled as ‘challenging’ on the website, and we’llonly have an hour.”
“I should’ve known you were going to treat this like a sport. Let’s just go have fun. If we don’t beat it, it’s okay. I’m just glad we’re trying something new together.”
We climb out of the car and walk into the seemingly boring brick building, hand in hand. The man behind the counter has a mustache that is as scrawny as his build. He’s wearing glasses and a branded polo. His name tag reads:Ted.
“How can I help you?” Ted asks, as Tanner and I approach the front desk.
“I called earlier about the art heist escape room,” Tanner says.
“Is it just you two?” he asks.
“Yep, is that a problem?”
“Nah. Usually I’d pair you with another couple, but it’s been a slow day. Y’all ready to get started?”
“Yes,” I say, squeezing Tanner’s hand, bouncing up and down a little. We follow Ted to a set of lockers outside of an unmarked door.
“Y’all can put all of your belongings in here. No phones or cameras are allowed in the room. You just enter a pin, and then when you're done with the game you use the same number to open the locker and retrieve your items.”
Tanner and I place our phones inside, and then he locks the door.
“You can bring in one piece of paper and a pencil,” he says, handing the materials to Tanner. “Are you ready to begin?”
We both nod.
“Alright,” he says, reading from a laminated piece of paper. “You are now underground art dealers, and your new client is none other than the extremely dangerous, Italian mob boss, Lorenzo Marino. He has his eye set on the Mona Lisa for his personal art collection, and he wants you to steal it,” Ted continues to read from the piece of paper with as much enthusiasm as a dry piece of toast.
Tanner nudges me, wiggling his eyebrows, and I stifle a little giggle.
“Unfortunately, a mole has made the police aware of your plans, and the museum has taken extra precautions to ensure the painting remains safe, hiding it somewhere within the museum. You’ve received special intel that it’s somewhere in the head curator’s office. You have one hour to find the painting and get out before the police arrive, or you’ll have to answer to Lorenzo, and he rarely lets people walk away alive.”
