For the rest of the day he keeps his eyes scrupulously locked on his own side of the store.
Until it closes down and he thinks he’s alone. He locks the door and then his eyes find their way to the other side of that clear barrier.
He sighs and wanders back to the break room/stockroom. It’s a mess but it takes him very little time to find the door that combines the two stores. He slips out into the space and then grunts under his breath when the door slams shut behind him.
Cursing under his breath, he pushes at it desperately, just holding back from kicking it with his bad leg.
“Shit!”
“Hello?”
Jerking straight, he glares at the dark corner of the room. “Hello?”
A pale figure steps out and glares at him. “What the hell are you doing back here?”
“I slipped out the door and it locked behind me. I don’t suppose you have a key to this damn door.”
Her opal eyes narrow. “I do not. That’s not supposed to be open. Ever.”
“Well, that’s all well and good. But it was.”
“Fine. But I can’t open that door. I’ll let you out my door and you can get back in on your side of the front.”
“I left my keys on the counter in there.”
Huffing, she crosses her arms over her ample chest and my eyes follow the movement like I can’t fucking help myself. There’s just something about this woman.
“You really are a mess. Well, I suggest you call a locksmith. I don’t have anything to get you in your side.”
She stomps off and leaves me standing there. I can’t help it. I follow her.
“You know…you’re exactly what I picture a Murphy woman as.”
“And you’re exactly what I’d expect of your family. We can play this game all night. But I would suggest that you start working on getting out of here.”
“Fine.” I stomp off and then I hear her gasp in shock.
Beams are tracing all across the floor and something clicks into place behind me.
“What the hell is all that?”
“We’re helping a friend test out a new security system. It kinda seems like it’s been triggered.”
“Yeah, I got that,” I mutter. I slowly slide a foot out and the beams change to a bright red and then even more of them dance around the room.
“What the hell is he trying to do? Hold off a viking horde?”
The woman snorts and I turn to stare at her sparkling eyes and all of a sudden all that annoyance at being caught drains out of me
“No. He just likes to play with shit. He’s a pain.”
“Wonderful. What do we do now?”
She plops down on the long table where she makes her bouquets and smiles. “We wait.”
“How long do you think?”
Her eyes drift down my body and that strange heat comes up inside me like a furnace firing to life. Her pretty lips curl in a smirk. “Get comfortable. I left my phone in the stockroom when I heard something weird.”
