Page 71 of Desire Me
She shook her head. “Fine, why?”
He opened his mouth, but whatever he’d been about to say, he shrugged it off. “What do you remember about the building?”
“Just brief flashes.”A blonde woman waving as she exited a door down the hall, soda in hand. A burly giant of a man pushing a cart full of boxes through the double doors at the end.“I think the doors down there lead to the actual warehouse.”
Saint eyed them. “Is your office around here?”
She searched her shaky memories. “I don’t know.”
The team consensus seemed to be that the warehouse area of the building would be most likely to yield results, so they headed down the hall. The length held several doors, some of the inset windows revealing offices of various sizes, a break area. Other doors that were probably bathrooms and closets.
“The plan is just to explore, Rae,” King reminded her as they walked. “If we run into anyone, you’re the owner, so they can’t object; just remember that.”
“I’m the boss. Right.” Why didn’t she feel like the boss, then?
The sound of laughter as she walked past the break room. The tapping of a keyboard as she passed Michelle’s office. The sound of Russell singing behind the door to the men’s room.
“We’re just here to see what you can remember,” King was saying. “Once we know that, we’ll go from there, all right?”
What if I don’t want to remember? What if I’mafraidto remember?
She met King’s eyes, reassured that Saint’s team had her back despite the jumping of her nerves. “All right. Let’s get this done.”
The closer they got to the end, the faster the snippets of memories tumbled into her mind and the shorter her breath became until she was afraid she might hyperventilate as she reached for the doorknob of that final set of double doors.
Saint’s hand rested atop hers.
She froze, glanced up at him.
“It’s gonna be okay, Rae.”
She was actually panting. “It doesn’t feel okay.”
“Why?” He stepped close, his warm hands cupping her cheeks, his hazel eyes intense as he stared down at her. “Think about that a moment. Why does this feel dangerous? Is it just being here, in a strange place in the dark? Or are you remembering anything?”
“No. Yes.” She shook her head. “I— I didn’t think so, nothing significant… but… I don’t know.”
Elliot stood a bit beyond Saint, her back to the doors as she stared behind them down the hall. “Just breathe, Rae. The memories will surface when you’re ready. Your body is probably remembering before your brain can fully let it all in. Nothing to be afraid of. Just let it happen in its own time.”
Her uncle’s voice bellowing down the hall, putting everyone on edge.
She leaned her head against Saint’s chest, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing. Elliot was right—her body obviously knew something was up; otherwise she wouldn’t feel like this. But beyond these tiny snippets lay something big. She could sense it even if she didn’t know what it was; it was still just beyond her grasp.
A little steadier, she released Saint, opened her eyes, and reached for the doorknob again. Turned her wrist. Pulled the door open.
The space they stepped into was cavernous. A small number of lights were attached to the ceiling a couple hundred feet in the air, providing weak illumination mostly blocked by bulky storage units and shipping containers, leaving the space shadowed, dark. Rae stepped inside, her gaze darting, trying to see everything at once, but there was too much obstructing her view. A central corridor beckoned, and she moved forward automatically, her sense of dread growing.
She walked through the space without thought, so familiar with every nook and cranny that light wasn’t necessary. Her space, her business. If only she was as organized as the warehouse floor. If she was, she wouldn’t be back here at bedtime searching for paperwork she couldn’t find at home.
Saint’s steps matched hers, echoing in the space even as Past Rae’s steps echoed in her mind.
If Nathan found out she’d had to come back for the Maine Cargo Company contracts, he’d never stop teasing her about it. He teased her about everything else, so he definitely wasn’t stopping at this.
Why did her office have to be at the far reaches of a massive building? Her feet already hurt after hours on them today. That’s what she got for wanting to be in the thick of things. Too bad she—
Voices filtered through the cargo surrounding her, coming from just ahead. Vinny on speaker phone while he made his rounds, maybe? Or streaming something on his phone? What—
“Stop!”
