‘I left it open. I know I left it open.’ Merle retreated down a few of the stairs to let Ash try the hatch, even though she was fatalistically certain he wasn’t going to be able to open it.
‘It must’ve closed automatically,’ he drawled.
‘Which means it must open automatically again, right?’ she rationalised, striving for calm. ‘With some other secret mechanism?’
‘Sure,’ he agreed, too equably.
But there were no levers or buttons or anything near. ‘If this place is that high-tech...isn’t there some retinal scan that would unlock the door in seconds?’
He glanced at her then, droll amusement oozing from him. ‘And if I had my dad’s eyeball in my pocket we could use that. Sadly, I don’t.’
Why wasn’t he bothered by this the same way she was?
Because he’s not bothered by you. Her subconscious whispered the biting truth. Or maybe it was because he knew exactly how to get them out and was merely teasing her?
She narrowed her gaze on him. ‘So are we stuck in here for the next sixty years until the nuclear winter has passed?’
‘Would that be so terrible?’ His eyebrows lifted.
Unable to maintain eye contact, Merle turned and went back downstairs, pretending she was calm but in reality far too aware of him a step behind. Dear heaven, she was stuck deep underground in a luxury doomsday bunker with billionaire Ashton Castle. Some might consider that a dream come true. But for Merle? In her current mode of uncontrolled inappropriate lust...it was a nightmare. She paced across the space that was growing smaller again with every second—where was it he’d said the control panel was?
‘I refuse to believe we’re stuck. Isn’t a bunker all about safety?’ Her tongue rattled ahead of her brain. ‘There must be a second way out—an emergency exit. What if there was a fire?’
‘Bigger than the one currently burning you up, you mean?’ He watched her walk back and forth with undisguised amusement.
She gritted her teeth. She wasn’t panicking and becoming hysterical. Okay, yes, she was panicking. Not because she thought they were going to be stuck in here for ever and die. It was a more intense issue terrifying her. It was the intimacy of being in here with him. And that amused look on his face? A sudden suspicion struck. ‘You did this deliberately, didn’t you?’
He oh-so-slowly, oh-too-innocently widened his gorgeous amber eyes. ‘I wasn’t the one who shut the door.’
A wave of indignation swamped her. ‘I didn’t.’
He laughed.
She glared back at him. ‘It’s not funny.’
‘The look on your face is. Honestly, what do you think I’m going to do?’
‘Nothing,’ she snapped.
It wasn’t what he was going to do. She didn’t think for a second he’d actually make a move on her—not without her explicit acquiescence or invitation. No, the problem was the appalling desire that kept bubbling up from where she’d tried to shove it.
‘If it’s not me, then what is it? Are you claustrophobic?’
‘No,’ she muttered, trying to haul her wits together. ‘It’s nothing major. I’m just...’
‘You don’t trust yourself to be alone with me any more?’
She stilled and glared at him. Of all the arrogant—unfortunately accurate—things to suggest.
‘You said yourself you’ve been avoiding me.’ His smile broadened. ‘And...’ He waved a hand at her boiler suit.
She sighed dramatically. ‘My clothing choice has nothing to do with you or anyone else. I find it comfortable to work in.’
‘No shorts on a hot day?’
‘I’m usually in a dusty warehouse.’ She was suddenly determined to somehow flip this so he was the one feeling as if he was the bug beneath the magnifying glass in the sun and about to frizzle to death. Make him feel desperate to escape the bunker. ‘Do you ever wear anything other than black swim shorts?’
He laughed. ‘I do, as it happens. When I’m at work I wear a suit.’
‘It’s very considerate of you to cover up all your muscles so your poor workers aren’t distracted.’
He glanced at the spark in her eye. ‘Why, Merle, stop it, you’ll make me blush.’
‘Is that possible?’
‘Probably not.’ He grinned.
What was she thinking, talking to him like this? It didn’t help that she was starving. She’d not had lunch for fear of running into him and somehow the afternoon had slid away from her. Eager for distraction, she opened the first of the many sleek cupboards in the kitchen area. To her amazement—and relief—there were packets and packets of food. ‘Oh, wow, these supplies are amazing.’
‘Amazing?’ He sounded appalled. ‘It’s all tins and bottles.’
‘It could be worse.’ She shot him a sideways look. ‘There could be instant noodles.’
‘True. That would be terrible.’
‘You’ve obviously never cooked them properly.’ She pulled out a tin of peanuts and opened it. The sooner she stabilised her blood sugar, the sooner she got a grip on her crazy hot thinking, right? And if she stuffed her mouth full she’d stop saying things she really shouldn’t. And usually wouldn’t, but for Ash Castle’s influence.
‘Are you hungry?’ He was still watching her with unconcealed amusement. ‘I guess that’s not surprising, given you’ve not been eating anything decent.’
She paused chewing long enough to shoot him another death look.
‘Instant noodles are for starving students,’ he opined. ‘This is not the place for them. I won’t allow it.’
‘You won’t allow it?’
‘It’s unnecessary. Didn’t you notice the delivery arrive earlier?’ he asked. ‘Or are you only interested in the contents of the wine cellar?’
Heat flooded her. ‘Mr Castle said—’
‘I know what Leo said.’ Ash rolled his eyes. ‘I also know that if you’d had any idea of the cost you would never have opened it.’ He cocked his head. ‘Have dinner with me tonight.’
She nearly choked on the next nut. ‘Dinner?’
‘Yes. Dinner,’ he repeated calmly. ‘I refuse to work round the clock and definitely not on the weekend. And it’s silly for us to avoid each other completely and waste resources cooking two separate meals.’
‘You don’t seem the type who has to worry about wasting resources.’
‘I’m doing my bit for the planet, Merle,’
