Page 33 of Love Overboard
“I’m out of battery.” She hissed in a long, frustrated growl. “It was almost dead when I plugged it in to charge before going to bed. Let’s use your phone.”
Jon squirmed. “I didn’t bring it.”
“Why wouldn’t you—”
“I was in a hurry.”
They sat in silence, the forced intimacy of the darkened space pressing in on them. Their arms rested side by side against the wall. Lacey sensed his body moving with each breath. She shifted away and hunched her shoulders.
He cleared his throat. “If it really was the Shippers, they should’ve left us a few snacks. I’m starving.”
“The world could be ending, and you’d still be searching for a taco truck.”
He laughed. “The lady knows me too well. I’m so hungry I can smell those cherry tarts the chef was cooking earlier.”
Lacey sniffed. “I don’t smell anything.”
“No. I’m sure I smell them.” Jon’s body leaned toward her.
“We’re on the opposite side of the ship from the kitchen. There’s no way.”
He drew closer to her shadowed figure and inhaled. “It’s coming from you. Did you smuggle some tarts without telling me?”
“Stop being stupid.” She shoved him, but he came even closer. “Are you planning to frisk me for pastries?”
“I can smell them. You ate one without telling me, didn’t you?”
“What are you—Oh.” Lacey put a hand to her lips.
“Ready to admit it?”
“No. I just remembered.” She rummaged in the front pocket of her sweatshirt, pulled something out, and waved it under his nose. “Is this what you’re smelling?”
Jon grabbed her fingers. “I knew it.” He tried to wrestle it from her, and she smacked him on the back of the head with her free hand.
“It’s my lip gloss, you idiot.” She popped the plastic cap off. “Cherry Surprise.”
Jon plucked the tube from Lacey’s fingers but didn’t let go of her hand. He held the gloss under his nose. The sweet, fruity scent filled his nostrils. He looked at Lacey, or what he could distinguish. The crack of light under the doorway helped him make out her shape but not her expression.
He loosened his grip, and his thumb slid down to rest on her palm. Lacey jerked her hand away and smoothed her hair. She tugged at the strands trapped under the neckline of her sweatshirt.
“What’s taking Abby so long?” she said.
He passed her lip gloss back. “I imagine she had to wake up whoever has the key.”
The sliver of light between the door and the floor vanished. Lacey’s faint outline disappeared, and total darkness engulfed them.
“W-what happened?” Her voice trembled.
She fidgeted beside him. Jon moved and bumped into a soft object at face level. The downy skin of her cheek grazed his as she turned. A puff of air told him they were pressed nose to nose. It was a miracle she didn’t pull away.
He withdrew a centimeter. “Are you all right?”
“It’s really dark in here,” she whispered.
Her breath grazed his mouth. Jon closed his eyes, not that it mattered in the windowless room. He swallowed. The sweet cherry scent beckoned him.
Focus.
