Eva held up one hand, palm facing him to cut off any forthcoming comment before he made it. “You can’t get mad I took the key. You promised.”
He should have expected this from her. She was obsessed with that key.
Why was she telling him—his eyes widened as his brain offered a solution.
“Shit. Did you lose it?” he accused, expecting the worst.
That would be the only reason she’d tell him rather than just returning the key to the drawer in the office where she’d found it. Make that stolen it.
“No. Of course not. Jeezus.” She scoffed, before continuing, “I have it with me because once I saw this place, I started wondering if anyone tried the locks here in the lodge. Judging by the size and construction of this building, it was obviously a big deal to your ancestors. Why wouldn’t we find the lock here?”
The answer to that was because Linc’s father wasn’t a dumb man. He would have thought the same thing as Eva and though Linc hadn’t asked, he’d bet his dad had already tried every lock here.
But given this was the first time Eva had looked happy to be here all night, why not? Let her try for herself. It would give her something to do and keep her from bitching about the lack of power and WiFi.
“Go for it.” He shrugged, standing. “I’ll grab the flashlights.”
She actually smiled as she shoved her hand inside her laptop bag and felt around—and he feared once more the key was lost until she emerged with it held between her fingers.
Letting out the breath he’d been holding, he started to wonder if he should hook one of those GPS tracker keychains to it for the next time someone borrowed it or, God forbid, misplaced it.
By the light of the two military-grade flashlights, one for each of them, they began their systematic search.
Thank goodness she decided they could look for any locks outside tomorrow, in daylight, after the snow had hopefully stopped. At his suggestion, they started near the fireplace—mostly to get good and warm before they moved to the colder areas of the building.
He let her take the lead. It made her happy—or at least less cranky. Especially since he didn’t hold much—if any—hope she’d find the keyhole anyway. Not here, where he’d lived for nearly a year without seeing any mysterious keyless locks.
It would be counter-productive to wrestle her for control of the key right now. Tomorrow though, before she left his sight, he’d have possession of that key.
Besides, it was amusing to watch her rush to a new lock, then slump away disappointed after a few moments of grumbling and some creative cussing when the key didn’t fit. It wasn’t quite Netflix-level entertainment, but under the circumstances, it was a good distraction.
He had to hand it to her though, she was tenacious. And not afraid to get her hands dirty. Literally. She was ready to crawl inside the fireplace, with the fire, to check the chimney when he’d stopped her, promising they could look there tomorrow after the fire was out.
The crazy woman even laid on her back to inspect the underside of every table on the first floor. Looking for false bottoms or secret compartments, she’d said.
Even the grandfather clock got a full inspection, inside and out. That had yielded some extra loud grumbling and cussing when the clock chimed while her head was inside the cabinet. He managed to not laugh out loud, but his poorly contained smile earned him one of her increasingly familiar glares.
“You about ready to give up yet?” he asked as she wiggled out from beneath yet another table.
As she struggled to stand, she let out a huff. “The lock this fits has to be somewhere.”
“Does it? What if it’s a lock from John T. Wilder’s childhood home? That key could be from anywhere at any time in the past. In another state. From the Civil War. Who knows?”
She scowled then her eyes widened. “Is there an attic here?”
His brows shot up. “There’s a vaulted ceiling with exposed beams, so no.”
“No storage space under the eaves off the bedrooms?”
“No.”
“A basement?” she asked.
“An eighteen-inch crawlspace with dirt and rocks.”
“There could be something—”
“There’s not.”
“How do you know for sure?” she accused.
“Because an animal crawled under there and died this summer and when I couldn’t stand the smell anymore I crawled under there and got it out. I promise you, there’s nothing with a lock. But hey, if you want, have at it. Go check it out yourself.”
Her scowl returned. “No, thank you.”
With her clearly defeated, Linc held out his hand. “I’ll take back that key now.”
“Fine.” Looking most unhappy, but not looking where she was going, Eva attempted to stomp over to where he sat, and caught her foot on the leg of the end table.
She pitched forward, hands thrust out to catch herself, but the only thing for her to grab onto was Linc.
As he reached out to wrap his hands around her waist to try to steady her, her hands landed on his shoulders and her butt in his lap as she lost her balance completely.
He couldn’t remember the last time a girl had sat in his lap. It had probably been his high school girlfriend, back when, being horny teenagers, they’d make out for hours. That was a bad memory to have with his crotch trapped firmly beneath Eva’s bottom.
They might have been working together but this was the closest, physically, he’d ever been to her. He could smell the light scent of her. Was that from perfume or maybe shampoo? He couldn’t tell.
He felt the warmth of her in his lap. And from this close he could hear the sharp intake of breath she took as she struggled to get her feet back on the floor and stand.
Her wiggling didn’t help the situation in his pants. He was a man, after all. And even if she did do everything she could to battle him at every turn, she was a woman.
Luckily she managed to get herself upright and standing before he embarrassed himself completely. Even so, it was obvious it was time to say goodnight.
The grandfather clock chiming eleven confirmed his assessment.
Clearing his throat, he said, “It’s getting late. I’ll grab those sweats for you and show you the spare bedroom.”
Contrary to her usual need to have the last word, all Eva did was nod and hand the key still clutched in her hand back to him.