I rove my eyes over the area. “Maybe we should go back to Milly Manor and check the suitcase again. Maybe we missed some instructions or better directions or something.” I bite my lip. Or maybe my father didn’t actually leave us any money and this is all just a waste of time.
“Kayla, look.” Daren points ahead as his gaze zeroes in on something past the empty crates.
“What?” I follow his eyes to the old abandoned train in the distance. Five boxcars sit side-by-side on the maintenance track, and the very last car is red and stamped with two giant white numbers: a two and a three.
He gives me a wide grin. “Eureka!”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “You don’t think…”
“Oh, I think.” He nods with bright eyes. “I very much think.”
My jaw falls open. “My dad hid money in an old train car? What did he do, pack a bunch of bills in a duffle bag and toss it onto a pile of hay? Geez. Did no one ever tell him about safety deposit boxes?”
He laughs. “I don’t care where he hid it. I’m just glad we found it.”
Hurrying down the platform steps, we cross over the railroad tracks, pass the empty crates, and walk over to the red boxcar on the old maintenance tracks.
The door of the train car reminds me of a garage door, where the lock is at the bottom beneath a wide industrial handle. I pull the big golden key from my purse again and hold it up to the lock.
“Perfect match,” Daren says.
I wedge the key inside the hole and, with a few jiggles, the wide door unlocks with a loud click. Standing beside each other, we wrap our hands around the large horizontal handle and, using all our strength, pull up the heavy door. The hinges squeak and moan as it rolls up and locks into place. We peer inside and…
Nothing.
Well, not nothing, exactly. But certainly not money.
The boxcar is completely empty except for a single, folded piece of paper.
“What the…?” Daren sighs.
My face falls, speechless.
“What do you suppose it is?” He tips his chin at the piece of paper.
“A check for a million dollars?” I say hopefully.
The paper is in the very back of the train car so the only way to reach it is to climb inside. Which won’t be easy since my chest barely reaches the bottom of the car and we can’t climb in one at a time because of the handcuffs.
I lift up on my tiptoes. “How do you want to do this?”
Daren scratches his jaw. “Why don’t I hoist you inside first then I’ll jump in. Come here.” He turns me around to face him and I step into the circle of his arms.
The summer sun is now high in the sky, burning down on us. I stare at his chest where his T-shirt pulls tight against the hard muscles of his pecs, and a trickle of sweat slowly slides down the back of my neck.
The corded muscles of his neck ripple as he turns his head. “Hold on to my wrists. Then I’ll lift you up.” He places his big hands on my waist.
His thumbs slide under my shirt, grazing the bare skin of my stomach, and a warm zing shoots down my belly.
I look up at him. “Did you do that on purpose?”
“Do what?” His expression is neutral but there’s a glimmer in his eye.
“Whatever,” I say, eyeing him shrewdly as I wrap my hands around his wrists.
He glides the pads of his thumbs over my tummy again and another, more powerful, zing darts straight down my belly and between my legs as I suck in a breath.
I narrow my gaze at him and his eyes dance with amusement.
“Cut it out,” I say.
“Cut what out?” he says.
“You know what.” I try to look stern.
“I certainly have no idea what you’re talking about.” A mischievous grin spreads across his face and I can’t stop the smile that starts to play at my own lips.
“Daren…”
His eyes lock on mine and the twitching low in my belly starts up again. Then his gaze drops to my mouth and I absently part my lips.
Hunger lights his eyes as he leans in and whispers, “Now do you want to kiss again?” His words flutter over my ear like soft, warm butterflies beating their wings against my sensitive skin and a shiver runs through me.
The answer is yes. I do want to kiss him again. It felt so good to have his mouth on mine last night. To feel him up against me. To give in to the wild passion inside me.