Page 69 of The Treasure Hunt Hookup

“What is it?” Reeve asks.

“Someone’s been in here,” I say slowly. Dot has her own office, so she doesn’t usually need to use mine.

Unless…

I hurry over to check the top drawer, and find …nothing but a few pencils and some stationary left inside. “They’re gone!” I exclaim.

“What are?” Reeve moves to look.

“All our clues!” I groan, searching around in case they magically moved themselves overnight, but nope. There’s no sign of any of it. “Our binder, with the county fair flyer, and the letter with the invisible ink,” I list them off. “Plus the box from the attic in Charlotte. Gone!”

“Shit,” Reeve meets my eyes. “You don’t think …?”

“I don’t have to think, Iknow.”

I march back out to the museum, and over to Dot. “He was here, wasn’t he?” I demand. “Jake, or someone from the production. They came and went through my office while I was gone.”

Dot looks confused. “But I thought it was all agreed. That Jessica girl came by yesterday. She said you were loaning them some of your papers, that you were all working together now.” Dot takes in my expression. “Oh dear. You didn’t agree.”

“Not at all.”

I storm outside, trying to keep my cool. But it’s not easy, not when Jessica’s already helped herself to plenty of other things I thought were mine …

“Ivy! Wait up!”

I hear Reeve’s voice calling after me, and slow. He catches up, pulling me into a reassuring hug. “It’s OK,” he says calmly. “We photographed everything. We have all the information, this doesn’t give them anything we don’t already know.”

“Except clues they didn’t earn, thatwediscovered,” I shoot back, still steaming.

“They’re clearly desperate,” Reeve insists. “That doesn’t inspire much confidence in their treasure-hunting abilities, if you ask me.”

“But still, it’s just so… so….ugh!” I make a noise of frustration, and he grins.

“Agreed. In fact, I’ll take thatugh, and raise you abah humbug! Hey, did I ever tell you about the time I played Scrooge in a school play?” Reeve continues, “I was only supposed to be the understudy, but then Ryan O’Connor got mumps, so they backcombed my hair, sprayed it white, and made me look like Einstein. My parents still have the photos somewhere, if you ever want a good scare.”

I smile, despite myself. “You’re trying to distract me.”

Reeve grins. “I thought we’d already decided, when I want to distract you, I’ll just lick you senseless until you’re screaming.”

My cheeks flush, and I look frantically around to make sure nobody is in earshot, as Reeve continues, “Although, now I know how much you like it when I put you on your hands and knees and take you from behind—”

“Reeve!” I exclaim, scandalized, but also loving it. “You can’t say things like that, we’re in public! Mrs. Allen is right across the street. She taught me fourth grade!”

He smirks. “And you don’t want her knowing what a good girl you can be—?”

I kiss him. It’s the only way I can think to shut him up, and, OK, I’m already crazy for him. Our tongues glide together, time standing still until I finally surface, breathless and clutching at his sweater, and feeling more like myself again.

Somehow, he just has that effect on me.

Then I look across the street, and spot the TV crew loading up vans outside their hotel. Jessica’s there, too, and they’re all moving with a suspicious amount of hustle and purpose.

“Uh oh,” Reeve follows my gaze.

“Come on.” I grab his hand, and make a beeline over there.

“On a scale of one-to-bail money, what kind of backup do you need from me?” he asks, keeping pace easily with his long strides. “Because I think you can take her, but she looks like the kind to fight dirty, if you need me to tap in—”

“No fighting,” I say, determined. “I’m taking the fucking high road if it kills me.”

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