A long time ago, he would have encircled her waist with his arms and rested his chin on her shoulder. Once again, her body remembered. Without thinking, she leaned back against him. His hands came up to grasp her arms gently, his cheek pressed against the side of her head. The pounding of her heart made her breaths turn shallow. Shelby closed her eyes; she’d missed himsomuch.
“What a lonely existence,” Wade said. “I wonder if the government stationed two men here, taking the watch by turns.” Wade pressed his lips against her hair and whispered. “Shel—”
“Looks like they took most anything important,” Ava said from behind them.
Shelby started and took a step forward, pulling free, chagrined at her reaction. “Have you two noticed anything that might interest visitors?” She forced herself to look back then, keeping her attention on Ava. “We’ll have to do a search for old pictures. Don’t you think it’d be fun if we found enough items for a display? Like a mini-museum.” She waved them off. “I’ll check this box.”
“Shel—” Wade began.
“No!” She met his gaze then. “Just stop it. Please.” The open, concerned expression on his face closed up, like he’d shut a door. Well, wasn’t that what she’d done? Slammed it right in his face.
“Come on, Martinez.” Wade turned and put his hand on the bodyguard’s back.
Like with that clerk in the San Francisco chocolate shop, a twinge of jealousy irked Shelby. Being around Wade muddied her thoughts, made her second guess her decision. She had to get done with Alan’s job and be gone. She took a deep breath. Aloof. And not in proximity to Wade. She’d had no way to guess that after all this time just his nearness would have so much power over her. What was she, anyway, still in high school?
Shelby picked up her phone and shone it toward the box. She tried to pry open the lid. With only one hand free, she couldn’t quite pull it up. She positioned the phone to light the area, and pried the lid open with her fingers. It came off, throwing dust in the air, and slid back behind the crate.
Coughing, Shelby took the phone again and pointed it into the box. Some kind of packing materials sat on top, with something shiny below. She pushed the material to the side, revealing an odd, oblong roundish ... thing. As she shifted the phone to see the object better, the light reflected on something else. A tiny pair of eyes.
With a shriek, she staggered back. Her whole body shuddered, and she turned only to crash into Wade.
“Let me out. Let me out.” She shoved past him and dashed outside, brushing at her clothes.
“What the—” Ava began, running up behind her.
“Was it a rat?” Wade interrupted, staying a couple of paces back.
“Yes.” Shelby stood still, forcing herself not to shake out her clothing anymore, embarrassed by her overreaction.
“Did it bite you?” Ava grabbed one of Shelby’s hands and examined it.
“No, it didn’t.” Her body shuddered again, and she pulled back her hand.” I just have a thing about rats. I need to get to work.”
“All right,” Martinez said. “Let’s go.”
