Chapter 34

CHAPTER34

“It has to be here somewhere,” Morgan mumbled as she dropped her hand away from the mantel with a disappointed sigh. She’d searched this entire house twice, went over the blueprints from the renovation they did on the kitchen in the twenties and…

Nothing.

She’d hoped to get her hands on the original blueprints, but unfortunately for her and her secret room-finding needs, they were destroyed when the town’s courthouse burnt to the ground shortly after this house was built, which meant, she was on her own. She considered asking Eric again, but…

She was determined to find it on her own so that she could shove it in his face because that’s what you did when the man that you loved more than anything tormented you with the fact that he’d found all the secret compartments in the house. The man was evil, Morgan thought as she ran her eyes over the fireplace, looking for any sign that she’d missed something.

For a moment, Morgan considered trying to push them again, but she had too much to do. With that in mind and a grumble because grumbling always made her feel better, Morgan turned around, released a long-suffering sigh and made her way back to the foyer. That was followed by staring wistfully at the grand staircase that she’d been banned from setting foot on during the day so that Eric could work on whatever it was that he was working on, sighing sadly again and reluctantly making her way back to the kitchen.

She went to sit down only to sigh, grumble, and make her way to the stove when the timer went off, letting her know that the oatmeal raisin cookies were done. Pouting, and not really caring, she grabbed her oven mitts and pulled the oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven and placed them on the counter as her gaze was drawn to the built-in cabinets by the backstairs and-

“Damn it,” Morgan muttered as she placed the oven mitts on the counter and turned the oven off before she made her way back to the kitchen table where she’d been working all morning, determined to get the sketches done before they had to leave tomorrow and-

She didn’t want to think about tomorrow.

She just…

She wanted to continue pretending that the rest of the world didn’t exist, Morgan thought as she found her gaze shifting to the backstairs as she debated her next move. She hadn’t really looked in there, but it was possible that the entrance was at the top of the landing. It was possible, Morgan thought as she went over what Eric said when he’d carried her downstairs a few days ago and let her know that she was banned. Since he hadn’t mentioned the backstairs…

Morgan was across the room in seconds, throwing the door open and-

“Oh, God, no…”

-mumbling weakly when she spotted Eric waiting for her.

Deciding that now was a good time to enjoy one last stroll around the yard before they had to go tomorrow, Morgan mumbled, “Excuse me,” as she turned around, only to wince when she found herself thrown over Eric’s shoulder.

“I can’t believe you’re breaking another rule,” Eric said with a heartfelt sigh.

“I mean, technically, I’m not breaking a rule since you didn’t mention the backstairs,” Morgan felt obligated to point out.

“True,” Eric murmured, sounding thoughtful as he turned around and carried her upstairs.

“So, you’ll put me down?” Morgan asked, pushing her glasses back up her nose when they threatened to fall off.

“Not a chance in hell,” he said, chuckling as he carried her down the long hallway.

“Where are you taking me?” she couldn’t help but wonder when Eric walked past their room as she debated telling him that she’d made cookies to save her ass. Then again, since the scent of freshly baked cookies was probably what drew him downstairs in the first place, she should probably figure something else out to save her ass.

“Here,” Eric said as he set her down in the middle of the hallway, making her frown. That is until he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black tie.

That’s when she panicked.

“I’m starting to become concerned,” came the weakly mumbled words when Eric gestured for her to turn around.

“As you should be,” he murmured, watching Morgan swallow hard as her gaze shifted to the door and-

“You’ll never make it,” Eric said with a teasing smile as he plucked her glasses off her face.

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” Morgan said, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as he stepped around her and placed the tie over her eyes.

“Well, if you make a run for it, then you’ll miss our first date,” Eric said softly as she felt his lips press against the back of her neck.

“Date?” Morgan said, unable to help but moan.

“Mmmhmm,” Eric murmured as he finished tying the tie around her head.

“And you need to blindfold me to do it?” Morgan asked, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth as she struggled not to panic.

“I thought you wanted that tin,” Eric said, taking her hand in his.

“I love my tin,” Morgan mumbled weakly.

“Which is why I got up early this morning and hid it along with all the other trinkets that I found this morning,” Eric said, making her swallow hard.

“I love trinkets,” she whispered hollowly when he gave her hand a gentle tug that had her reluctantly going with him.

“I know you do, baby girl, which is why I’m going to take you to them.”

“But…”

“You’re not getting out of this,” Eric said, entwining their fingers together as he led her down the hallway before he steered her to the left and suddenly released her hand.

“Why are you prolonging my torture?” Morgan asked, licking her lips nervously when he didn’t say anything.

“You can take off the blindfold, baby girl,” Eric said, chuckling when she reached up and ripped off the blindfold and-

“Oh, my God…”

“Do you like it?” Eric asked as he placed her glasses back on her face as Morgan stood there, taking in everything in the incredibly beautiful bedroom that up until a few days ago had been a nightmare, from the hardwood floor to the crown molding, the light grey walls, refinished built-in shelves, the French patio doors that led onto the balcony, noting that he’d moved the bed back in here before shifting her gaze towards the bathroom that she could tell even from here was exactly the way that she wanted it, but that wasn’t what had her attention.

“Is that…” Morgan started to ask, only to let her words trail off as she made her way across the large bedroom towards the framed picture that she couldn’t take her eyes off.

“The hotel gave it to me when we checked out. The original copy is on the wall back at the hotel,” Eric said as she took in the picture of their first kiss.

“Our first kiss,” Morgan mumbled hollowly as she watched Eric reach over and push the picture aside seconds before she heard the click, drawing her attention to the right to find the built-in bookshelf separate from the wall.

“That wasn’t our first kiss,” Eric said, taking her hand in his as he reached over and pushed the bookshelf open the rest of the way, revealing a small hallway.

“You found it,” Morgan whispered reverently as Eric led her into the small hallway.

“Not exactly,” Eric said, smiling as they stepped into a small, windowless room with hardwood floors, the same light grey walls as the bedroom, and a small antique chest in the middle of the room with a silver skeleton key lying on top.

“What does ‘not exactly’ mean?” Morgan asked, throwing him a questioning look as she released his hand and slowly walked around the room, taking in the freshly painted walls and the beautiful hardwood floors.

“I repurposed half of the bedroom next to this one.”

“You built a secret room?” Morgan asked, glancing back at Eric to find him watching her closely.

“I built you a secret room, baby girl,” Eric said softly.

When she opened her mouth, he cut her off with, “Do you remember our first kiss?” making her smile.

“Sleeping Beauty,” she said, watching as Eric leaned back against the wall with a fond smile.

“You wanted to see if a kiss could break a spell and I wanted to kiss you,” Eric admitted, making her chuckle.

“And I just wanted you to kiss me,” Morgan said with a teasing smile.

“What do you want now, baby girl?” Eric asked softly, his intense gaze locking on her.

Swallowing hard, Morgan said, “I want to find out what’s in the chest.”

“Fair enough,” he murmured, gesturing for her to have a look.

Slowly exhaling, Morgan knelt down in front of the chest and picked up the small key and slid it inside the keyhole, not really sure what to expect when the lid popped open with a click. Throwing one last glance at Eric to find him watching her, Morgan raised the lid and felt her lips pulling up into a smile when she spotted the treasure waiting for her.

Four tin soldiers, a half-dollar, a small handful of pennies, an antique pocketknife, several small rocks, and-

Was that an itemized bill? Morgan couldn’t help but wonder as she picked up the piece of paper and felt her lips twitch when she read it.

“I’m afraid that the secret room put you over budget,” Eric said as she went over the bill and-

“You’re charging me a hundred kisses for carpet removal?” Morgan demanded as she looked up to find him releasing a heartfelt sigh.

“It was a really fucking ugly carpet,” Eric said, earning a glare.

“So, you’re charging me a hundred kisses?” Morgan demanded as she gestured wildly to the bill in her hand. “You only charged me ten kisses to replace the window with the patio doors.”

“You’re right,” Eric said with a heavy sigh as he reached over and plucked the bill out of her hand and made a quick note on it before handing it back to her and-

“You doubled it?” Morgan asked, shaking her head in disbelief as she looked back up at Eric and-

“It was a really fucking ugly carpet,” he said with a firm nod.

“How am I supposed to pay off fifteen hundred kisses?” Morgan demanded as she was forced to push her glasses back up her nose.

“If it helps, I have a payment plan option,” Eric said as he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle tug that had her standing up and following the man that was out of his mind if he really thought that she was going to pay fifteen kisses for administration fees.

“And if I refuse to pay this bill?” Morgan asked as she followed him back through that small hallway.

“I’m afraid that I’m going to have to charge you late fees,” Eric said with a heartfelt sigh as though the idea pained him.

“How bad are the late fees?” Morgan asked, worrying her bottom lip as she looked up at him to find him watching her with that devastating smile that she loved so much.

“I don’t think you want to find out,” Eric murmured as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

“Then, we should probably talk about that payment plan.”