Forged in Stone - Alyssa Rose Ivy Page 0,32
reckless.” She raked her teeth over her bottom lip.
I smiled. “Coming to Bellgard with me will be reckless enough. We might as well plan things out.” I picked up the crib. “Ready to go downstairs?”
“Are you going to go to sleep too?”
“I should probably get some sleep. It is going to be a busy day tomorrow.”
“Wait.” She froze. “Not busy because you expect me to go to your hometown tomorrow, right?”
“No. I don’t expect you to drop your life like that. Besides, I assume you want to get to know me better first.”
“But you won’t kiss me again until we go.”
“I will kiss you again… just not late at night right above your bedroom.”
“I like the no kissing rule actually.”
“Changed your mind so fast?” I started the walk back to the door.
“I need it. If I still want to go after a few days of no physical contact, then I’ll go.”
“No physical contact?”
“If we’re not kissing what else is there?”
“You really do need a lesson on what to expect from a man.” I held out my free hand to her. “And I plan to be the one to show you.”
“Oh yeah? You going to play teacher?” She accepted my hand.
“Why do you manage to make everything sound dirty?”
She laughed. “I don’t mean to.”
“‘I will show you mine if you show me yours?’ Play teacher? Get your mind out of the gutter.”
“That would require getting my mind off of you.”
“You have no clean thoughts about me?”
“Do you have clean ones about me?”
“Yes, but with dirty ones mixed in.” I waggled an eyebrow.
“Were you serious about me borrowing your car?”
“Yes. I’ll leave the keys out for you.”
“Where will you be when I wake up?”
“I might sleep in.” I had no plans to. I had no plans to sleep at all, but I did not want to tell her that.
“I’ll take care of your car.”
“I know you will.” I turned off the light as soon as she reached the bottom of the stairs. I closed and locked the attic door before following her.
“Why did you lock it?”
“To keep you out,” I teased.
“I mean it. Half the rooms in this house are locked. Like the one right there.” She pointed at the door across from where she slept.
“That is where they keep the dead bodies, didn’t you notice the smell?”
She pushed my arm, and I used it as an excuse to pull her into my arms. I kept my lips mere inches from hers.
“Easy there. We are limiting the physical contact.”
“Limiting, not avoiding it completely.”
“What’s in there? For real?” She stepped out of my embrace. “And why is there a light on? I swear it wasn’t on when I passed by it a few minutes ago.”
“It’s an office. It’s locked because there are a lot of personal mementos in there, but I didn’t notice the light earlier either.” A sense of dread washed over me. “Why don’t you go on to sleep?” I didn’t like the light suddenly turning on, but I tried to stay calm. No matter what was going on, I wanted Ainsley safely out of the way.
“No. I’m wide awake.”
“Ok, then how about you wait in your room anyway?”
“No.” She shook her head. “I’m waiting right here.”
I nodded. This was not an argument I was going to win. I went through the keys, selecting the one I thought went to the office door.
Ainsley waited at my side as I tried the lock. I guessed right the first time. I pushed open the door.
“What happened in here?” Ainsley peered into the completely ransacked room.
“Nothing good.” I stepped over piles of scattered papers and turned over drawers on my way to the windows. One was slightly ajar. “Change of plans.”
“What do you mean?”
I bent down and sorted through a pile of watercolor photos. They depicted scenes from a place that very few had seen. But it wasn’t the pictures that caught my eye, it was a piece of parchment with two words written on it. Ainsley Bales. Before turning it over I knew what I would find. The unmistakable M was there. I closed my fist around the parchment.
“What do you mean, James? What’s changed?”
At the sound of my name I moved to standing. “You need to pack a bag. We leave tonight.”
“What? Why?”
“Someone has been here. I have to warn Charlotte and Liam, and I will not leave you here. Whoever did this may return.”
“I can stay somewhere else.”
“I am sorry, Ainsley, but somewhere else will not cut it.”
“You can’t tell me