“An escape room?” Zion glanced over at Celine when she drove into the parking garage.
She glanced back at him and smiled. “Yes. You ever been to one before?”
He wished she hadn’t asked. He recalled a couple of years ago when he and a few of his friends in Rome had gone to one. Being the arrogant male asses they were, with the jacked-up, know-it-all attitudes they had, the eight of them figured they would set a record by escaping from the room with time to spare. Things didn’t quite happen that way. Maybe it had been the amount of wine they’d consumed when a couple of the guys had sneaked in several bottles that had basically diluted their brain cells. Whatever the reason, it had them almost beating the walls to get out. The only thing funny about it was when Alessandro hadn’t been able to hold his water any longer.
“Yes, I’ve been to one,” he answered, deciding not to provide any details of his one and only time.
“Then you know the rules. There are ten rooms. All locked. The only way to go from room to room is to figure out the clues.”
He nodded. “Got it.” It would definitely work off nervous energy, although he wasn’t sure just how much fun it would be. “Will any others be joining us?” Usually there was a group of people that made up a team.
She glanced over at him as they went inside. “Just me and you. Do you have a problem with it?”
He didn’t if she didn’t. “No problem.”
“Good, because right now we become a team.”
* * *
They had made it to room ten and now only had to find the last key. He wished he could say getting to this point had been a piece of cake, but that would not be true. As they moved from one room to the next, the clues had gotten more complicated. So far, he’d had the most fun in rooms two and six. Room two had required them to cross a floor that was made of a block of ice, in their bare feet. It had taken him three times before he’d figured the best way to get across was by jumping the distance. However, it had taken him a while to coax Celine to take a leap of faith, literally, and do it that way, as well. Watching her try making the jump made him fully aware of how she looked in her blouse and snug-fitting jeans.
Zion couldn’t help but admire how her firm breasts pushed against her top, and the way the denim cupped her backside. He was glad she was too busy concentrating on the jump that she hadn’t noticed his arousal. He would be leaving tomorrow and the last thing he wanted was to show any interest in her. The sexual chemistry they were both victims to couldn’t be helped as long as they didn’t cave in to it and take it further.
He intentionally shifted his concentration to remember the other rooms they’d been in. In room eight there had been a bunch of numbers on a huge movie screen. They had to come up with five movies that included numbers in the titles, and hope those five were included in the ten chances they got. Luckily for them, Sixteen Candles, Three Men and a Baby, Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve Monkeys and Seven all passed the test. They had the most fun in room five, where they’d had to dance their way out, while making sure their feet touched several hidden marks on the floor.
Now they were in room ten, which held the golden key to getting out. Standing side by side, they faced a huge Scrabble board with the letters AELBCFIYIE and the clues “ice,” “store,” “cat,” “fry,” “car,” “happy,” “Friday,” “girl,” “constellation” and “hand.” They had to figure out the phrase in less than fifteen minutes; otherwise, it would go to an even harder phrase.
“We can do this,” he said, glancing at Celine and ignoring her doubtful look, the same way he’d been trying to ignore her scent. Whatever perfume she was wearing had her name all over it.
“I don’t see any connection with the clues,” she said, shaking her head.
“Neither do I,” he admitted, standing beside her while studying the board and trying not to let her closeness and scent get to him. “I can see a cat, ice, car and store being connected.”
“You can? How?” she asked.
“Because those are the things you can buy at the store.”
“What about the word fry?” she murmured.
“Well, you can fry a cat.”
“What?” She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind.
“Catfish.”
“Yes, but you can’t fry anything else listed under the clues,” she pointed out. “How’s our time?”
He checked his watch. “Not good. Less than ten minutes.” He watched her move some of the letters around, but nothing made sense.
“And it’s not a long phrase, with just ten letters,” she said, as she continued to try various groupings.
“No, it’s not.” He studied the clues again. “I just don’t know what connection the others... Friday, girl, hand...”
“Hey, wait a minute. I think we might have something here,” she said, excitedly shifting letters again.
He watched her and then checked his watch. They had less than three minutes to go. He glanced over at her and saw the look of excitement on her face. It was crazy, but the quick movement of her hands on the board was a turn-on, because at that moment he could imagine her hands somewhere else.
“There! We got it!”
He blinked, then stared at what she’d come up with: Bye, Felicia. He threw his head back and laughed. “Bye, Felicia.”
“Yes, the key points that got me thinking were ‘ice’ for Ice Cube. Friday was the movie where the term originated. And the music group Consellation had a song out called ‘Felicia’ a few years ago.”
He nodded. “And ‘store’ was also a clue, since you go to the store to buy stuff, you usually say ‘Bye, Felicia’ with a ‘hand’ motion and Felicia is a ‘girl.’”
“Yes. Now hurry! We need to enter it into the computer so the drawer with the golden key will open,” she said, quickly moving toward the keyboard.
“We have less than a minute,” he said, watching her hands again as they swiftly keyed in the information. The moment she pressed the send key a bugle began playing and balloons began dropping from the ceiling, and then the drawer with the golden key opened for them.
“We did it!” she said, jumping up and down and then curtsying. He thought the happiness and excitement on her face made her look totally adorable. “We did all ten rooms in less than an hour, Zion!”
She reached out and grabbed him, obviously eager to share the moment. The instant they touched, it seemed something snapped between them. Something neither of them could control. They stood there staring at each other for mere seconds before Zion pulled her into his arms and lowered his mouth to hers.
* * *
Celine knew they were swimming in forbidden waters the moment his tongue touched hers, but she was drowning in everything there was about Zion. Things she had tried ignoring and failed miserably. As their tongues tangled, every part of her body seemed to be on some kind of sexual high. Not only was her pulse leaping furiously, but currents that felt like a multitude of itsy-bitsy shock waves began plummeting through her.
There had to be a reason her body was so greedy for Zion’s attention. Due to her busy work schedule at Second Chances, she hadn’t had much of a social life for a long time. The only person she’d been going out with was Nikon, and he was the last one she wanted to know about her business. He wouldn’t hesitate to rush and tell her father everything.
But at this moment, she didn’t want to think about Nikon, her father or her charity. She just wanted to concentrate on the mouth that was expertly kissing hers.
There was the way his arms were gripping her. Strong arms. Supportive arms. Masculine arms. And then he shifted his body. Or had she shifted hers? Didn’t matter. All that mattered was the way their thighs were touching, denim rubbing against denim, as his jean-clad legs pressed intimately against hers.
There was no telling how long they would have stood there, locked in each other’s arms, devouring each other’s mouths, if an announcer hadn’t come on the speaker in the room to congratulate them. The sound made Celine jump out of Zion’s arms, so fast she almost tripped and fell. He managed to not only keep his balance, but to steady her, as well.
“Careful, Celine.”
She swallowed. He was telling her to be careful after he’d nearly gobbled up her mouth. That kiss had bordered on obsession, which made no sense, when they’d met just yesterday. “I’m okay. You can release me now.”
“Sure.”
But did he have to do it in such a way that suggested he regretted ever having touched her? And then he had the nerve to say, “Sorry about that.”
Was he apologizing for the kiss? Why, when it had been something they’d both wanted?
“The announcer said you’ve won a free visit,” he said, cutting into her thoughts.
She looked up at him, feeling annoyed for some reason. Maybe they shouldn’t have kissed, but she would not accept his apology for something she’d totally enjoyed. Besides, one kiss didn’t hurt anyone. Or did it?
“Are you seeing anyone seriously?” she asked him, suddenly needing to know.
He gave her a look that clearly said it was too late to ask. That made her even more annoyed, and she said, “You initiated the kiss, Zion.”
“I never said I didn’t. And no, I’m not seriously involved with anyone.”
Did that mean he was casually involved with someone? Why wouldn’t he be? He was a man, wasn’t he? And men had a way of stringing a woman along for all the wrong reasons.
“I’m ready to leave now,” she stated, trying to keep her anger in check.
“So am I,” he said, in a voice that was too cool to suit her.
“Fine.” And then she used the golden key to unlock the door.
* * *
“Pouting doesn’t become you, Celine.”
The moment the words left Zion’s mouth he regretted saying them. He should have been satisfied with the deafening silence between them, but he wasn’t. Nor was he satisfied with how high her chin was lifted in an I’m-really-pissed-off position. And all because of a kiss?
“I am not pouting. I have nothing to pout about.”
“Don’t you? I apologized for kissing you. What else do you want?”
Luckily, she had come to a traffic light when she jerked her head around to glare at him. “What I don’t want is for you to apologize for kissing me.”
Zion shook his head. “And just what should I have done?”
“Pretended that you enjoyed it as much as I did.”
He looked at her. “I did enjoy it.”
“Then why did you apologize?”
The driver behind them honked, letting them know the traffic light had changed. “We need to talk, Celine. Pull into that car wash.”
“Why do we need to talk?”
Good question. “It sounds like we’re not on the same page about that kiss, that’s why.”
Instead of pulling into the car wash, she drove a little farther, to an Italian restaurant. She eased into one of the parking spaces and killed the engine. Then she turned to him. “We can talk over lunch. Don’t know about you, but after the escape room, I’ve worked up an appetite.”
Not waiting for him to say whether he had worked up one or not, she got out of the car, and with her curvy ass sashaying all over the place, she entered the restaurant.
Zion followed her while warning bells went off in his head. There was something about Celine Michaels that gave him pause, and he’d be damned, but he just couldn’t figure out what it was. All he knew was that if he wasn’t careful, she could be his downfall.
He would like to think the only reason they’d kissed was because they’d both been high on adrenaline from trying to beat the clock while figuring out those clues, but he was too smart a man to fall for that excuse. He had kissed her because he had wanted to kiss her, and would even admit that since the first time he’d seen her, studied her mouth, especially those lips, he’d been dying to see how they tasted. Now he knew, and the real thing had been better than the fantasies he’d had in his sleep last night.
Okay, he would admit to those fantasies, no biggie. After all, he was a man and she was a woman. A very attractive woman. He couldn’t help it if each time he stared at her lips he could feel blood rushing through him, especially his lower extremities.
A sense of foreboding trickled down his spine. He couldn’t help it? The bottom line was that he had no choice but to help it, and to maintain a degree of control, no matter how tempting her mouth was. There was not a woman that Zion Blackstone couldn’t resist. Although he’d screwed up at the escape room and let his testosterone overtake his mind, it wouldn’t happen again. From here on out, he intended to keep things professional between them.
If that was the case, then the last thing they needed to talk about was a kiss he couldn’t seem to forget.