“Shhh,” I say as I hold her arm. “I’ll lead the way.”
She clicks her tongue, but waits for me to step forward, hiding her behind me.
We make it to the door to the hallway and hear the women talking loudly.
“They’re still in the room back there. I think we’re all good.”
We slip out of the door, tiptoeing down to the stairwell. She starts to giggle and I shush her again, giving her a look.
We step into the stairwell and I go down first. “So I’ll get coldcocked first, if it comes to that,” I explain.
“How brave of you,” she says. I don’t miss the teasing in her voice…or the ease. The happiness.
We enter the main floor and that’s when the lights go out, leaving it shrouded in darkness.
Charlotte takes a big breath and we stop walking.
I manage to reach back and locate her hand. I reach my other arm up and wave it in the air to trip the motion sensors. No luck. “The lights must be on a timer.”
“It’s actually, oddly really dark in here. And why would the lights time out with housekeeping still up there?”
“Huh. Good question.” I point to a light ahead of us. “I think if we just start walking in that direction, we’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure that’s the way out? What if we’re going the wrong way?”
I grasp her fingers more tightly. “Well then, we’ll figure it out when we get to that light, won’t we?” I don’t mean to be short with her, it’s just that I like her, and I don’t know what to do with it.
“I’m turning on the flashlight on my phone,” she says.
Now it’s my turn to take a deep breath. “And risk being seen? No, I think we should be grateful for the darkness.”
She laughs and squeezes my hand back.
Voices and brisk footsteps sound ahead of us. I plaster her against the wall, making our breaths as silent as we can. I guess I’m pressing up against her from some caveman mentality coming up through my DNA.
“Hold still,” I whisper, realizing that, again, I’m trying to protect her.
“Uh, I couldn’t move if I wanted to.” Her voice is muffled against my chest.
“Oh, sorry.” I ease back off her. “Secret heists make me do weird things.” I catch her gaze in the moonlight casting through a skylight above us as a cloud moves away, displaying the moon in its glory.
Her heart is thrumming against my chest. Everything in me wants to kiss her. Her big, dark eyes question me and challenge me.
I should do it, right? The question in my eyes seems to be answered with a yes. She nods, just a little tip of her head, but it’s enough. I lean forward.
“The electrical panels are just down here,” a voice says, now much closer than before.
I grasp the doorknob just to the right of Charlotte and push us inside, shutting the door as silently as I can just as the voices reach us.
We freeze and wait until they pass. This must be a janitor’s closet, as the scent of cleaning supplies and bleach assaults my nose. I count to twenty, then ease the door open a crack. It’s once again dark in the hallway.
“Yeah, we better go,” Charlotte says.
And this time, we manage to make it around the corner and are guided towards the front door from the light of the lamp posts shining through the floor-to-ceiling lobby windows.
I’m almost disappointed the heist is over.
Chapter 25
