Building Up to Love Read Online Free Page A

all feminine and soft supple curves. If his blasted body didn’t ache from head to toe, this would be the perfect moment. He tried to remain still and soak in her essence while her guard was down. He knew the instant she came awake. Her arms stiffened, she winced, and then she slowly backed away from him.
    “Good morning,” he said.
    “I hoped I dreamed all this.”
    “Nope, still here. At least there’s some light from the basement windows and we left the basement door open. It’s not much, but we will be able to see more as the day wears on. How are you feeling?”
    “Bit of a headache and sore. How’s your leg?” Laura asked.
    “Not happy. Everything is stiff and it throbs with any move I make.”
    “Look at all those shelves. They’re old. How long do you think they’ve been down here? Can you tell by the construction?” Laura slowly rose to her feet and walked over to the shelves. One set of shelves held a few canning jars filled with a dark liquid. She picked up one of the jars and took it back to where Travis sat. “What do you think this is? Looks pretty nasty.”
    “My first guess: one-hundred-year-old house, secret room—moonshine.”
    Laura cracked the jar and took a small sniff. She coughed. “Oh my goodness.” She handed it to Travis. He opened it and took a whiff.
    “Wow. I bet it could take the paint off of a car. How long has this house been in your family?”
    “My family built the house.”
    “Well, well, Ms. Tate. Seems your lineage includes bootleggers.”
    They both laughed.
    “I’ll need to do some research. It would be an interesting angle for my Bed & Breakfast. Do you think we can salvage this and keep it open for tours?”
    “Sweetie, you are a true businesswoman at heart. It will take loads of inspection and special permits, but if anyone can do it, I can.”
    “There must be a way out of here. We only need to locate it. Maybe a tunnel or something. Now that there’s more light, I can conduct a more complete search,” she said.
    “Let me go with you,” Travis said, as he tried to get up and moaned.
    “No.” Laura gently pushed him back down. “If you stumble, you could start bleeding again, or move the piece of wood. Let me go look. I’ll come back and report to you everything I find.”
    “You were quick,” Travis said, when she returned a few minutes later.
    “There are six rows of shelves and the door. I tried again to get the door open, but it’s still stuck, or there’s something blocking it; but it’s our only way out of this place.”
    “Come sit down for a bit and rest. You look pale. After a while you can help me get up and then we can go try the door together,” Travis said. “Sit down and take your mind off your aches and pains. Tell me Ms. Tate, ever think about spreading your wings and leaving Vine Grove?”
    “I did. I followed my high school boyfriend and went to college in California. He graduated a couple years ahead of me. He got a job with a finance company in San Francisco a couple hours away and I went to his loft on the weekends. One weekend it was his birthday and I wanted to surprise him. There was a surprise all right. I heard the music playing clear down at the end of the hall when the elevator doors opened. I used my key and went into the loft. I should have known. Something didn’t feel right, but I shrugged it off. Even when I saw the two wine glasses sitting on the island, it didn’t register. I trusted him. The door to the bedroom was open and I walked back. I found him and his assistant in bed. He saw me. Can you believe he actually tried to blame me? I threw his key at him and left the loft and his life.”
    “Don’t tell me you haven’t dated anyone seriously since.”
    “No, I date, casually. I’m not looking for anything serious at this point.”
    “You seem to do a lot of dating for not wanting serious.”
    “It’s my girlfriends’ doing. I hadn’t dated in over five months. They thought it was time I did.