Heat (Salisbury) by RJ Scott & Chris Quinton

Author:RJ Scott & Chris Quinton [Scott, RJ & Quinton, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: RJ Scott
Published: 2024-01-27T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

“Talk about playing with fire,” Lewis muttered under his breath. He couldn’t believe he’d been such a stupid arse. But, God, that kiss had been fantastic. So had the way Devon leaned into him, and Lewis discovered he wanted so much more. He shook his head. No. Not going to think about it. He’d become used to celibacy since the Peter debacle, and he had no plans to change, no matter how great the temptation. The man was off-limits.

One good thing had come out of their unexpected meeting, though. He still had a place to sleep. Unless Devon changed his mind.

Right on cue, hurrying footsteps sounded on the bare boards, and Devon appeared in the doorway.

“This is dumb,” he announced. “You can’t camp out here like it’s some kind of hobo’s shelter. What are the rooms like on the next floor? Are any of them empty?”

“Uh, some of them. Why?”

“Are they bigger than this closet?”

“It isn’t a closet, and yes, I think so. Well, some are. They’re leftovers from when this was the Victoria Hotel. Again, why?”

“Then the biggest one can be made into a living room and the one next to it a proper bedroom. It makes sense security-wise to have someone staying on the premises, right?”

Lewis stared at him, at the stubborn set to his jaw and the concern in his eyes.

“I suppose it does,” he answered slowly. “I never thought of it like that.”

“Thank God one of us has a brain. Come on, let’s take a look. Is there power up there?”

“Yes.”

Devon flashed that smile at him, and feeling as if he’d been hit about the head with a pillow, Lewis followed him on to the landing.

“Okay. So where are the stairs?”

“Here.” Lewis pointed to the small metal latch on the panelled wall opposite his soon-to-be-erstwhile bedroom. “It’s a bit disguised.”

“You’re not kidding.”

Lewis lifted the latch and groped for the light switch. The low-wattage bulb flickered into life, revealing a narrow stair between plain wooden walls. The dust and cobwebs that had been conspicuous by their absence elsewhere abounded here. “We don’t use these rooms,” he said apologetically. “I haven’t been up here in years. No one has.”

Devon started to reply, but lost the words in a flurry of sneezes.

Lewis led the way up and found the next light switch. Only one bulb came on, the others, at the far end of the long passage, hung dead in their spider-generated festoons. Once the walls had been plain unadorned whitewash. That had mostly flaked away to reveal old bricks between greyish timber supports. “There’s at least six rooms up here, as far as I remember,” Lewis said and opened the nearest door.

The room was surprisingly large and held only a few stacked chairs. The window looked south towards the cathedral, but what seemed like decades of grime covered the small panes, obscuring the view.

“How about this one?” Devon suggested. “It’d take some work, but it’s doable, right?”

“I suppose,” Lewis said doubtfully, but Devon was already back in the hallway and opening the next door.

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