Chapter 21

CHAPTER21

“I’d really like to come out now,” came the sadly mumbled words that had Bryce looking up from his clipboard.

For a moment, Bryce stood there as he glanced around the second-floor landing until a small grumble had him biting back a sigh as his focus shifted to the small supply closet to his right. Curious, Bryce tossed his clipboard on the floor, grabbed one of the metal folding chairs they kept up here for breaks and dragged it in front of the closet before dropping down on it with a heavy sigh.

There was a pause, and then, “Sean?”

“Try again,” Bryce said, stretching out his legs to get more comfortable.

“Oh, thank god,” Cayley said, sounding really fucking relieved for some reason.

“How long have you been in there?” Bryce asked, reaching up to rub the back of his neck before dropping it away so that he could fold his arms over his chest while he considered all of his options.

“A little over seven hours,” Cayley grumbled.

“Seven hours is a long time,” Bryce murmured absently as he glanced at the rest of the chairs lined up against the wall and noted that one of them was missing.

“It really is,” she mumbled sadly with a sniffle.

“Did he tie you to a chair?” Bryce asked as he focused his attention back to the supply closet door, noting that his brother didn’t bother ramming a chair beneath the doorknob to keep her locked in there.

“Among other things,” Cayley said, releasing a shuddering sigh that had Bryce sighing heavily as he leaned over and opened the closet door to find the small woman that he couldn’t seem to stay away from duct-taped to a chair that was hanging from the ceiling, putting them at eye level.

God, his brother was fucking thorough, but since this worked in his favor, Bryce decided to just go with it. He sat back as he considered the small woman shifting in the metal chair suspended from the ceiling as she as struggled to get more comfortable even as she shot him a hopeful smile that quickly died away when she realized that he was just sitting there, watching her.

“Are you going to get me down?” Cayley asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth, drawing his attention to the familiar movement as he once again found himself thinking about just how soft that plump bottom lip looked and had him wondering what it would feel like brushing against his, something that he’d been doing a lot over the past week.

“Probably,” Bryce said as he forced his attention away from her lips and focused on the beautiful green eyes narrowing on him.

“What do you want?” Cayley asked, reminding him why he liked her so much. She didn’t play games or pretend that she didn’t know how this worked, which he truly appreciated at the moment since it would make this easier.

“Well, that depends,” Bryce drawled as he made a show of getting more comfortable, watching as Cayley noted the move.

“On?”

“On what you’re going to tell me,” he said, debating where to start.

Nodding, Cayley said, “I’d really like to get down now.”

“I’m sure you would,” Bryce said before moving on to his first question. “What did Sean want to know?” For a moment, Cayley didn’t look like she was going to answer, but she knew better than most what would happen if she didn’t.

“He had questions,” she finally admitted.

“What kind of questions?” Bryce asked even as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and decided to go to the source just in case this line of questioning didn’t pan out.

Not that he wanted to encourage the little bastard to get in his way, but he knew better than to waste a golden opportunity when it presented itself. For the past week, he’d been struggling to hold onto his fucking sanity, telling himself that this was a really bad fucking idea, but it was never enough to stop him from pulling her into his arms at night.

He couldn’t even begin to describe just how fucking good it felt to hold her.

What did you ask Cayley about?

“The kind that I didn’t want to answer.”

“Such as…” Bryce asked, feeling his lips pull up into a smile when he saw his brother’s text message.

You.

“I’d really rather not say,” Caley said as she tried shifting in her chair.

“I see,” Bryce said absently as he sent his brother another text message.

Anything I should know?

“We’re going to be late to your sister’s Christmas party,” Cayley said in a sad attempt to change the subject.

Don’t let her out. The vicious little leprechaun is planning my murder.

“It can wait,” Bryce said, deciding to focus back on the woman that was driving him fucking crazy.

For the first time in his life, he was happy and that fucking terrified him, knowing just how quickly it could be taken away. Every day, he told himself that it didn’t matter, that it was just to prove that the Bradford curse was bullshit, but that didn’t explain why he was afraid to open his eyes in the morning, terrified that when he opened them, that he would realize that it had all just been a dream, one that he never wanted to wake up from.

He was definitely losing his mind, Bryce thought as he considered the small woman glaring at him. He wondered if she had any idea what she was doing to him. God, if she ever figured it out…

“Did I mention that I’ve been strapped to this chair for seven hours?” Cayley asked, blinking at him. “Because I feel like it really should be mentioned.”

“I’ll take care of the little bastard for that later, but for now, I just feel like we should discuss all those things that you don’t want me to find out,” Bryce said as he pointedly examined his nails. He could practically feel her seething from here, but since that worked in his favor, he decided to take that as a good sign.

“What do you want to know?” came the question that had him biting back a smile.

“What did you tell Sean?” Bryce asked as he dropped his hand away and looked back up to find Cayley’s lips pressed firmly together.

Nodding, Bryce sighed heavily as he stood up and made his way to the cooler they kept filled with drinks and the occasional snack and grabbed a bottle of water before dropping back down on his chair, noting the way that she swallowed hard as she watched him. “Seven hours, huh?” Bryce asked as he opened the bottle of water and took a sip. “You must be thirsty.”

“Among other things,” Cayley admitted with a wince as she once again shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

“I bet,” Bryce murmured absently as he considered her for a moment, watching the way that she watched him, the way that she struggled between licking her lips and shifting anxiously in her chair, telling him everything that he needed to know.

Locking his eyes with hers, Bryce raised his arm to the side, slowly began to turn the water bottle over, watching as her eyes widened in horror and-

“I told him that I didn’t know what was going on but that I liked sleeping in your arms at night!” Cayley rushed to explain, only to add, “Please don’t do it,” when his hand stilled.

“You like sleeping in my arms?” Bryce asked, narrowing his eyes on the adorable woman that was back to pressing her lips tightly shut.

When she continued sitting there, glaring, he-

“Yes!”

-gave the bottle a little shake.

Needing to make sure that she wasn’t just a cuddle addict, Bryce asked, “Do you like sleeping in my brother’s arms?” only to note the look of horror on her face.

“Fair enough,” Bryce murmured, taking a moment to think that over while she shifted, swallowed hard, and shifted again, her gaze never leaving the bottle in his hand as he debated his next move, only to decide that it would probably be in his best interest to let her go when she began mumbling incoherently to herself as the shifting increased.

“How about this?” Bryce asked as he took one last sip of water before returning the cap to the bottle and placed it on the floor before standing up as he pulled his utility knife out of his pocket. “I’ll let you down…” Bryce said, letting his words trail off as his gaze locked with hers before adding, “For a price,” watching as his words hit home and when they did, he knew that she would make him pay for this, but that was more than fine with him, especially if she said yes.