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Chapter 14
The only illumination in the small space came from a string of lights that ran along the top garment rack against the wall, but since her eyes had adjusted to the dim lighting she was able to see the worried expression he wore as he reached out and grasped her arms.
Nate stepped towards her, closing the distance between them. “Are you okay?”
The feeling of his large, warm hands on her skin sent pleasure bouncing through her like a pinball, hitting erotic zones she’d never even known she’d had. Tingles trailed in its path, leaving awareness zigging and zagging through her. She was at eye level with his chest and she was scared to lift her gaze to his face. Scared to move. Scared that anything she did would cause him to stop touching her.
When she didn’t answer his tone grew more urgent. “Ellie! Are you okay?”
The fear in Nate’s voice caused her eyes to snap to his. What she saw there was no less affecting. Unable to speak under the weight of the intensity in his stare as his eyes ran up and down her body, she nodded.
“You’re okay? You’re feeling better?” A line formed between his eyebrows as his forehead creased with concern.
Somehow finding her voice, she managed to say, “I’m not…I wasn’t…I’m fine.”
“You weren’t feeling sick?” He dropped his hands and stepped back.
For a fleeting moment, she wished that she was sick, then maybe he’d still be touching her. “No. I’m fine.”
“What are you doing in here?” His eyes were still at an eight on the intensity scale.
She gestured towards the row of coats hanging on a rack against the side of the wall. “Your grandma said she needed her coat, so I came in here to get it and the door locked behind me. I banged on the door, but the wood is so thick no one heard me. I tried my cell, but I don’t have any service in here.”
Nate closed his eyes. Slowly, he lifted his arms and ran his fingers through his hair. The action probably shouldn’t have caused her legs to go weak, but the way his shirt pulled tight against his triceps made them feel about as sturdy as wet noodles.
Maybe before she’d actually touched that muscle with her own hand, felt the hard strength beneath her fingertips, the sight wouldn’t have affected her. But she had touched his steely contours, and now seeing the outline of his chiseled arms triceps turned her limbs—and other parts of her body—to goo.
He let out a sigh and she could tell he was clearly upset.
Eliza shook her head and tried to focus on what was upsetting him instead of what she wanted to do to him. She cleared her throat so her voice wouldn’t betray her by sounding like a breathless Old Hollywood siren. “You thought I was sick?”
He dropped his arms to his side and stared at her. The intensity was gone and his expression wasn’t as guarded as it had been the last few times she’d seen him. “My grandma told me you weren’t feeling well and came in here to lie down. She said I needed to come and check on you.”
“Check on me?” She lifted her hand to her chest. “That’s so strange. I wonder why she thought I was sick.”
“She didn’t.” Nate’s tone was flat.
“She didn’t?” Eliza knew she was missing something, she just couldn’t put her finger on what it was. Part of the reason for that might be because all she could think about was how close Nate was. How good he looked. How nice he smelled. How much she wanted to touch him.
Growing up she’d never seen the appeal of the game Seven Minutes in Heaven, so she’d never played. Her theory had been, what could you possibly do in a closet for seven minutes? Well, now she knew. A lot. Her mind was clouded with all the things she wanted to do to Nate, and all the things she wanted him to do to her in this small, dimly lit, confined area.
Nate shook his head. “I should have known she was lying when I tried to bring Bailey with me and she stopped us and said that you were having lady problems and might be uncomfortable since you didn’t know her that well.”
“Wait. What?” Eliza shook her head and she tried to focus.
“Your grandma sent you here to check on me and said that I was having lady problems?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I think she wanted this to happen.” He turned and tried the door, forcibly, before shifting back towards her. “She wanted us to get stuck.”
“Why?” What motivation would Nana Holmes possibly have to trick them into getting stuck together? Was she playing a prank?
Nate didn’t answer her. Verbally, anyway. He just stared at her like, why do you think.
Realization of what he was saying, but not saying, dawned on her and she waved her hand between them. “Wait…she wanted us…to…be alone?”
