Page 60 of After You Returned

“I was teasing. I never agreed to the no sex rule.”

He blows out a breath. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

I tilt my head back and speak to the heavens above. “And what a glorious death it shall be.”

He chuckles.

“So…” I push. “What did Eli say?”

“We’re going on a trip next month to speak to a distributor together. If things go well, I’ll slowly take over contact with distributors and the big accounts.”

“And you won’t be behind your desk all the time.”

“And I won’t be behind my desk all the time.”

“And maybe you won’t resent your job as much if you can travel more.”

“Don’t push your luck, Blaze.”

I shrug. “Sue me. I want you to be happy.”

He squeezes my hand. “Thanks.”

We arrive at the center of town, where theBootlegger Escape Room Festivalis happening. A conference room in City Hall has been turned into an escape room for the weekend. Each team gets a time slot of an hour. If you can’t escape in an hour, you’re automatically disqualified.

“I’m surprised you got a time slot,” I say as we line up for our turn.

His cheeks darken, and I gasp. “No. You did not steal a time slot.”

“Can you steal a time slot? It’s not a tangible thing.”

“Smugglers galore! You totally stole a time slot.”

He scans the area. “Keep it down.”

“How did you do it?” I whisper.

“Sorry. Proprietary secret.”

I snort. “You had Jaxon do it.”

He shrugs. “Jaxon said he was happy for the chance to practice his skills.”

The large countdown clock above City Hall hits five minutes. Miles places his hand on my lower back and steers me toward the entrance. “Come on. We’re next.”

We reach the outside of the escape room, where a table is set up for participants to check in. We quickly register before taking our place in front of the entrance.

“Should we discuss strategy?” Miles asks.

“We go in. Answer the questions faster than anyone else and we win.”

“What about the moonshine shots? Do you want me to drink all of them while you concentrate on answering clues?”

“You drink my shots? Why would…” I trail off with a gasp. “Now I know how the Raider brothers won last year. They cheated.”

“Technically, it wasn’t cheating. There’s no requirement foreverycontestant to drink. Only that all of the shots must be drunk. Ask Paisley. Eli’s girlfriend is the one who figured out the loophole.”

“And now the women ofFive Fathoms Brewingwin every year.” I frown. “Not this year. This year is my year.”