though he reminded himself that sex couldn’t happen, he’d already crossed a big line just by carrying on with this kiss. And not stopping.
Thankfully, Joelle finally stopped. She jerked away from him, gasping for breath, and he saw the look. That look. The one she used to give him just seconds before he’d start pulling off her clothes.
“That probably helped, right?” she said. “I mean, it got it out of our systems.”
Dallas didn’t even attempt to agree with that whopper because the kiss was nothing but a reminder that getting Joelle out of his system was impossible. When kissing her, he’d forgotten all about the old wounds. And all about his vow of never forgiving the woman who’d abandoned him.
Hell, he’d forgotten how to think.
He was about to remind himself of how dangerous that was. Loss of focus and all that. But he stopped when Joelle froze. Her expression changed, and this time he was pretty sure it didn’t have anything to do with wanting to have sex with him.
“Do you smell smoke?” she asked.
Dallas lifted his head. Yeah, he smelled it, all right. “Smoke,” he spat out.
He hurried to the window, hoping that Rudy was burning some trash or something, but the man was no longer in sight. The bags of mulch and soil were piled on the ground, but there were no signs of a fire.
“Oh, God,” he heard Joelle say.
Dallas whipped around in her direction, and he followed her gaze across the room.
Hell.
The smoke, black and thick, was seeping under the door.
Chapter Ten
Joelle’s heart slammed against her chest.
“Sarah? Rudy?” she called out. She started across the room toward the door.
“No!” Dallas held her back. “Opening it could cause a back draft if there are flames on the other side.”
He sounded so calm and sensible. And he was right, of course. Dallas definitely wasn’t panicking the way Joelle felt that she was. She’d wanted to throw open the door and try to escape.
“Besides, if Sarah or Rudy was out there, they would have already called out to us,” he reminded her.
True. Both had had plenty of time to leave the building and get out of hearing range.
“Move as far away from the door as possible,” Dallas insisted. “And call 911 to get the fire department out here.”
Joelle did as he’d asked while he made his way to the door. Toward the smoke that was getting thicker with each passing second. Dallas covered his mouth with one hand and pressed his other palm to the back of the scarred wood door.
“It’s not hot so there’s no fire nearby,” he relayed to her.
Joelle had a split second of relief. Until Dallas tried to open the door. It didn’t budge.
“It’s locked,” he said, cursing and coughing. He backed up a little and bashed his shoulder against the door not once but twice.
The lock held.
Of course it had.
Joelle had made sure it was secure because she hadn’t wanted anyone breaking into the office and stealing or tampering with anything. But she was also sure of something else. There was no way either Dallas or she could have engaged that padlock while they were inside Webb’s office.
Someone had locked them inside.
Mercy.
The panic soared through her again, and she tried to focus on how they could get out of there and find the person responsible. Hard to do, though. Because combined with the events of the day before, Joelle had to consider that this was another attempt to scare them.
Or kill them.
“Who had keys to the lock?” he asked.
“I’m not sure. I got mine from the governor’s office.” But it was something she’d find out as soon as possible.
Dallas looked up at the ceiling where there was a sprinkler head. “Not working?”
She shook her head. “I’m not sure. I didn’t check them when I started the inquiry.” But obviously it was out of commission. Either from not being used, or someone had tampered with it.
That didn’t help steady her nerves. Did someone want to burn them alive?
“The window,” Dallas said, hurrying back closer to her.
As they’d done before, they looked out the window together. No Rudy. No fire escape or ladder, either. Just a one-story drop to the ground.
“This better not be locked, too,” Dallas grumbled.
Her heart pounded even faster and harder, and Joelle held her breath while they tried to open the window.
It didn’t budge.
But they kept trying, and finally it gave way. Thank God. Apparently, it was just temporarily jammed.
The smoke was still coming from the door, and it coiled right toward