Page 72 of One Life to Loathe

“You don’t know.” Sam watched with great interest as Mary opened a small door in what looked to be a chimney. “What in the hell?” She poked her head inside the tiny staircase. “No way.”

“The stairs aren’t original to the house,” Mary droned. “They were added because of the book.”

“I’m not going up there,” Sam hissed in a low voice. She looked panicked. “There are clearly ghosts up there.”

“Move.” I released her hand—the staircase was narrow enough that we couldn’t stand side by side—and gave her a shove. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“Oh, sure,” Sam complained. “You’ll let me go first so the ghosts get me and you can make your escape.”

“You figured me out.”

“This is stupid.” Sam groused the whole way up the stairs.

It was a short trip, and the chimney was ridiculously tight. I didn’t consider myself claustrophobic, but I was relieved to reach the attic, which was dark and foreboding. Even that was better than the chimney staircase, though.

Mary continued her spiel once we were upstairs. I could tell Sam was taking it all in. I listened with one ear and tried not to put my hands on Sam now that we had more room to navigate. It was a struggle. It wasn’t that I wanted to touch her just to touch her—no, really—but I wanted to offer comfort. She clearly hated the attic. Ultimately, I put my hand on her hip and pressed myself close enough that I knew she could feel my warmth.

All the while, Mary continued to talk. Me? I just thought about what Sam and I were going to do once we made our escape from this tour.

By the time we hit the gardens, we were both relieved.

“I’m so glad they made a set for the inside of the house,” Sam said as we positioned ourselves in front of the water toget a flattering photo. Our instructions were to never look at the camera, to always be looking at one another. That wasn’t a hardship.

“My understanding is that they wanted to film in the house but were shut down right away,” I replied. The wind was strong so close to the water, and it blew Sam’s hair in her face. My instinct was to tuck it behind her ear, which had me drawing closer. “At least with a set they’ll be able to film during the day. We only have to do the garden stuff at night.”

“Yeah.” Sam leaned over a showy pink bloom and inhaled deeply. “This garden is beautiful.”

“So are you.” The words slipped out before I realized they were coming. They were true, though.

“You’re kind of schmaltzy,” she noted.

I shrugged. “I thought we were being honest.”

“We are.”

“Well, you’re honestly beautiful.”

“Geez.” She shook her head. “I can’t climb you right here, no matter how charming you are.”

I threw my head back. There was that good girl again. She was all about propriety. I couldn’t stop grinning when I looked at her again. “What do you want to do after this? Neither of us have scenes today. I thought we could take advantage of everyone else being busy once this tour is over.”

Suspicion lined Sam’s eyes. “What did you have in mind? I don’t want to spend the whole day in bed if that’s what you’re after. It’s a nice day.”

Honestly, hiding out in bed hadn’t even occurred to me. Sure, I liked spending time with her in bed. I was just as interested in her thoughts and feelings as I was her naked body, however. And wasn’t that a strange development? “Well, there’s a trolley,” I suggested.

Her eyes widened. “You want to ride a trolley?”

I shrugged. “It’s a tour. I thought we could sit together, enjoy the day on a trolley where we can hold hands and nobody will be the wiser. Then I thought we could get a nice dinner and maybe take a walk.”

“You want to take a walk?” Sam was obviously dumbfounded.

“Unless you just want to go back to the hotel and play a different game. I like walking with you.”

Her cheeks turned pink with pleasure. “You are really pulling out all the stops today.”

“It’s rare that we’re going to have a day where neither of us have scenes, Sam. I just want to take advantage of it.”

“Well, I do love a good trolley.”

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