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“You know what?” he asked, his voice low and suggestive.
“What?” Her heart skipped a beat.
He grinned. “I’m starving.”
CHAPTER TEN
“Iknew those wouldn’t last,” Lily said, mourning the end of the bag of Corn Nuts. “I only ate a handful.”
Around a mouthful, Marcus mumbled something that sounded like “a damn shame,” before upending the crumbs down his throat. He crumpled the bag into a ball.
She made do with the rest of the cheesecake. “Where is the wine?”
“How do you lose things when we don’t go anywhere?”
She tagged him in the arm. He picked up the flashlight and then swept their immediate area.
“I see it!” The wine bottle was on its side under one of the boarded windows. Thankfully, Marcus had corked the bottle. It would have been tragic to leak precious Merlot into the floorboards.
She crawled off the mattress. He offered up a wolf whistle, as she’d expected. Her butt was in the air, and she’d been waggling it for him. She shot him a smile over her shoulder and waggled again.
“Don’t tempt me, woman. I had one condom.” He held up a finger and repeated, “One.”
She snagged the bottle, smiling to herself. He hadn’t had enough of her, and she liked that. Even though she shouldn’t. But she hadn’t had enough of him, so she decided that was fair.
She opened her mouth to tell him that there were plenty of condomless pastimes they could explore when a loud bang against the board next to her head startled a shriek from her instead.
He was at her side in a blink, helping her scramble to her feet. He positioned himself between her and the window. She held the wine bottle upside down in case she needed a weapon.
“Tree?” she asked.
“I don’t think so.” His flat tone didn’t soothe her nerves. He held his finger to his lips, and they both stayed quiet, listening.
Another bang sounded, and they swiveled in that direction. This time, it had come from the other side of the house.
“It’s outside,” he whispered.
“What is it?”
“I hope not people.”
Her stomach lurched. She’d been warm and safe in his arms a moment ago, but now she felt exposed, vulnerable. Foolish. They were in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by shadowy trees and thick brush. Raccoons and opossums were one thing, but a flesh-and-bone human was a whole other thing.
He knelt and extinguished the lantern, the pale orange glow of the heater their only light source. “Wait here.”
“Are you crazy?” She grabbed one of his arms, keeping her voice as steady as possible when she demanded, “You can’t leave me alone. What if whoever that is has a gun?”
Or a ball bat. Or a chainsaw.
She made out his patient smile in the dim light. He took her hand off his arm, opened her palm, and dropped the flashlight onto it.
“Don’t freak out. It might be nothing. Or a couple of kids who dared each other to run up to the house and knock on the door.”
“What kind of idiots would come up here on a dare?” She offered him a shaky smile.
“Exactly.” He kissed her lightly. “I’ll be right back. Find your keys.”
He turned on the lantern and then walked to the kitchen. She followed as far as the doorway and watched him fuss with the back door until it popped open with a creak.
