Her cheeks flushed red. She peeled her hands away and somehow it felt like seduction, the slow exposure of pale skin and pink lips. “See, I’m fine. Nothing to see here, Max.”
His first instinct was to tell her never to say his name ever again. His second was to cup her lightly freckled cheeks and press his lips to hers. Kiss those three letters off her mouth. Both were irrational. Neither was conducive to escaping the property office.
“How—how’s your breathing?”
“Fine.” She pressed a hand to her sternum. “My heart’s racing.”
His own was far from steady but Max didn’t think that had anything to do with their situation. He stood. “Let me know if—when—everything returns to normal.”
“I will.” She swept her hair from her eyes and Max imagined it brushing across his bare chest, spread out on his pillow…If they were trapped, where would they sleep? Together? If Julia stayed all shaky and freaked out would she want him to touch her? Hold her? He clenched his fists, wedding ring biting into his skin. This urge tocomfortJulia was inconvenient and, quite frankly, creepy. All this misplaced attraction was clouding his head, making him sluggish. He needed to focus on getting a hundred miles away from Julia. He could shoot the door. Could you be sacked for deploying your weapon in order to escape a room?
“We could set the door on fire?” Julia was obviously sharing his desperation.
“Destroying the station’s evidence would get us fired and most likely killed in a backdraft.”
Julia groaned. “At least tell me there’s enough air in here. Say you won’t have to mercy-strangle me?”
Max turned to face her. "Why? Are you claustrophobic?"
"No. I used to live in a cardboard box.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “What?”
Julia’s cheeks turned bright red. "I mean when I was a kid. My sister and I used to take turns sleeping in a cardboard box; pretend it was a pirate ship, that kind of thing. I’ve never been homeless.”
Max wanted to laugh but couldn't quite get past the idea that he was trapped in the Brenthill property office with Julia Bennett.
“I’m sure there’s enough air getting in from the vents and even if there wasn’t, I wouldn’t strangle you. Too much paperwork.”
Julia almost smiled. “Can you believe this is happening?”
“No, but we can get through this. We need to stay calm and focused.”
Julia gave him a look that said “Thanks, Dad” and reached for her satchel, drawing out a gray flannel shirt. It had been a muggy summer day but thanks to the thick concrete walls, the property office was unnaturally cool. Max was grateful it wasn’t winter. He’d freeze to death before suggesting he and Julia huddle together for warmth. She wasn’t exactly dressed for comfort in her tight jeans and white lace singlet. He snatched a look at her tattoo before she pulled the flannel on; computer code and cherry blossoms tied together with a USB cord. There was a phrase as well; Max googled it once.She conquers who conquers herself. He had a tattoo. Bonnie had paid for it on their trip to Thailand. She was oddly turned on by the process, like the ink was turning him into some bad boy or maybe just someone other than the guy she married. Either way, Max liked his tattoo but it wasn’t personal the way Julia’s was. It didn’t say “I’m smart and delicate and determined and complex” the way all those numbers surrounded by pale pink petals did.
“Hey, man, are you okay?”
Max jolted out of his reverie to find Julia staring at him, eyes narrowed. “You look like you want to hit me with a phone book.”
He felt a hot rush of guilt. She would probably find police brutality preferable to him analyzing her body. “I’m not pissed, I promise. It’s the eyebrows.”
She grinned, her youth and beauty shining out at him and Max hated himself a little more for wanting her. “Now we’re officially screwed, what should we do?”
Max opened his mouth to suggest something stupid, like a cup of tea, when a loud bang echoed above their heads, followed by the unmistakable sound of footsteps.
Julia leaped to her feet. “Oh my God. Someone’s upstairs.” She rounded on him. “When they leave they’ll walk past the property office. They’ll see the keys in the door!”
Max’s mouth went dry. If they got out now, he could still make his appointment with Bonnie. Some distance and many beers from now this inappropriate attraction would feel like a bad dream. “We need to get their attention.”
The footsteps grew louder, the sound echoing through a single vent on the wall. Julia snatched a chair from the nearby table and stood on it.
“Hello?” she shouted into the vent. “Hello, can you hear me?”
There was no response. Julia brought her fingers to her lips and gave an ear-splitting whistle.
Max put his hands over his ears. “Jesus.”
“Sorry.”