Locked with Him (2 page)

That's what I get for never paying attention to the weather forecast. Well, for that and for getting distracted by a cute stranger.

"Let's go," I said.

I rushed towards the library entrance, and grabbed my coat from the coat rack. As soon as it was on, I pushed the door open. It creaked ajar, struggling to open because of the snow already blocking the way.

The white stuff was above my ankles, and as I tried to walk around, it got harder and harder. Then I slipped. My foot hit a patch of slick ice and kicked up into the air. Before I knew it, I was falling backwards. I braced myself, waiting for my body to hit the cold hard ground.

But it didn't. Instead, I found warm hands wrapped around me. They held me as if I was as light as a feather. Next, I was pressed against a broad, strong chest. The heart inside was racing.

"Are you okay?" Matt said.

When I looked up to him and nodded my head, he remembered himself. His arms fell to his sides, and suddenly I felt colder than before.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm okay."

"Good. You have to get inside. It's not safe here," he said.

We both made our way back to the library, and pushed the large doors shut behind us. I slumped down to the floor, still trying to process the situation I was in. Alone, in the middle of a blizzard, with a complete stranger. Things just couldn't get better, could they?

But maybe the storm would stop. Maybe we only have to wait a couple of hours and it would all be over.I took off my coat and hung it up. I had an idea.
 

"Follow me," I said.

I went into the back room behind the checkout counter. We had a system of computers there, and if I was lucky they were still working. I sat down, and typed in my login credentials. After a few minutes, I was online and checking out the Weather Channel. Unfortunately, it wasn't good news.

"The worst storm in over a hundred years," the weather woman said, "people are calling this Snowmageddon 2.
 

"More snow is forecasted to fall than during the Great Blizzard of 1888, when 50 inches of snow blanketed the Northeast. Fierce winds mean that, just like in the Armistice Day Blizzard of 1940, 20 or even 50 foot snowdrifts could quickly appear and cause extreme levels of danger."

My stomach dropped. This wasn't what I wanted to hear.

"Meteorologists are not sure what caused this extreme storm, but some scientists are laying the blame on global climate change, or global warming.

"Whatever the reason, authorities recommend residents of all Northeastern states stay put. We have no idea just how bad the blizzard might become, or how long it might last. However, travel will be virtually impossible."

I watched the computer screen with my mouth open. It couldn't be. There was no way that the storm could have been this bad. I needed to get home, out of the library.

I couldn't be stuck in there with the guy I had just met who had a penchant for the Marquis de Sade. Even if he
was
cute. And smart. And stop me from hitting my head on snow and concrete.

I jumped up.

"I'm going to try again," I said. "We
have
to get out of here."

Matt's eyes followed me as I walked towards the doors.

"That's probably not a good idea. Remember what happened last time?"

"You don't have to follow me," I said. I grabbed the handle of the door in my fist. "You can stay stuck in here all alone if you want."

I tried to push the door open, but it didn't budge. I grabbed the handle with both hands and pushed again, but nothing. Even when I put my entire weight behind it, I had no luck.

It was useless. I punched my hand into the old wood. All that got me were some sore knuckles and a loud thump.

"Shit!" I yelled.

Matt came up to me. His eyebrow was cocked and he had a slight smile on his face.

"Do you want to get away from me
that
badly?" He asked.

I was tempted to flip him off, but that would've been bad customer service. When I didn't answer, he dug into his pocket.

"Fine, I think I know someone who can help us."

Matt pulled out his cell phone, but almost as soon as he did, his brow furrowed. He pecked at the screen, and then he brought the speaker to his ear. After a while, Matt frowned.

"Nothing," he said. "There's no signal."

"What?! "

I pulled out my own cell phone, and he was right. There were no bars lighting up my screen. I tried to call Linda anyway, but I couldn't even get it to ring.

Things couldn't get any worse, could they? I slumped to the floor and wrapped my arms around my knees. This was all because I wanted to spend just a little bit more time with a cute patron. If I had left when Linda did, I'd be at home. Warm. Safe.

I dropped my forehead to my knees. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Matt plopped on the floor next to me. The heat of his body radiated and warmed my skin.

"Well, it doesn't look like we can do anything but wait," he said.

I groaned. That was exactly the opposite of what I wanted to hear. Just a second later, a loud noise came from my stomach. My cheeks burned. Please tell me he didn't hear that.

"And," Matt said, "by the sound of things we need to get some food. Do you know where any might be hiding?"

I raised my head and looked at him. He leaned back against the door, looking way too relaxed. How could he be so calm when I was freaking out?

I took a deep breath.

"The breakroom."

"What?" He asked.

"In the breakroom, we have some snacks there. If we're lucky, somebody might have even forgotten their lunch."

"Uh, great," Matt said.

There is a bit of uncertainty in his voice. What was there to be uncertain about? It was just a break room.

Matt stood up and the bottom of his shirt rolled upwards. It was just enough that I could see the beginning of his abs peeking out from underneath. I tried not to look shocked, but a warm flush came over my body. Most of the guys who hung out in the library didn't have cut muscles like
that
. He pushed his shirt down and held out his hand for mine.

"Lead the way," he said. His strong hands grasped me and pulled me up.

"Follow me, I guess."
 

The main floors of the library were totally different from the stacks. As we walked, I watched the fluffy white snow fall down all around us. It was strange how silent it was. At least rain would pelt the roof with water. The snow looked too gentle and was too quiet to be trapping us in here.

"So," I asked. "What exactly were you doing here? Don't you check the Weather Channel?"

"I could ask the same of you," Matt said. "And I
told
you what I was doing here. Looking for
120 Days of Sodom
."

"Yeah, but why come here? Couldn't you just have bought an ebook, like normal people? Are you even from around here?"

"I wanted to see a first edition in person," he said. "I guess you could say I have a thing for books. And what about you? What are
you
doing here?"

"Don't think I didn't notice that you dodged the last part of my question," I said. "And I
work
here!"

Then, after a second I added, "And I guess I have a thing for books too."

Just then, we reached the break room. The door was locked so I opened it with my staff keys. I pushed the door open and turned on the lights.

"Tah dah!"

It really was a sad room. Just a few wobbly chairs, a plastic table covered in out-of-date magazines, and our meager snack selection.

I walked over to the fridge and pulled it open. There were a few pieces of string cheese. I looked at the expiration date. 2005. Yeah, not happening.

Next, I went to our snack bar. Well, it wasn't so much a
bar
as a few child sized bags of chips, some coffee, and old fruits. I tossed one bag of salt and lime tortilla chips to Matt.

"Enjoy the bounty," I said and teared open a bag myself.

As I munched away, Matt seemed entranced by the coffee area. He started pulling together the little sugar packets and the bottle of chocolate syrup we had standing next to the cheap drip coffee machine.

"What are you doing ?" I asked.

Matt turned and looked at me with a grin on his face. "It's a surprise."

I watched him grab two coffee mugs and pour things into them. Sugar, chocolate, milk, oil. It was the strangest hot chocolate mix I had ever seen. Then Matt nuked them in the microwave. All the while, he seemed the most pleased with himself that he was putting something together. Just
what
exactly did he have up his sleeve?

When the microwave dinged, Matt rushed to open the door. Actually, he burnt his hand, sucking in his breath when he touched the hot handle. Finally, he turned to me.

"Bon appétit," he said.

Carefully, I took the cup in my hand. Matt handed me a spoon, and I peered down into the mug. No way!

"Soufflé au Chocolat," he said with a grand bow. "I learned the recipe from a great Parisian pâtissier."

I opened my eyes wide. Was this guy for real? When he saw my expression, Matt laughed.

"Yeah right! It's just a microwave chocolate brownie," he said. "I figured you'd like something sweet even if we
are
trapped in the middle of a snowstorm."

I hesitated, but I was too hungry to pass up a brownie. After the first delicious bite, it felt like I inhaled the entire mug.

"That was
amazing
," I said.

"No, I think you were just hungry," Matt said and laughed.

Suddenly, his face went serious. His eyes locked on mine, and he came close to me. Soon, he was so near that I could feel his breath on my skin. Matt brought his hand to my face and it brushed my cheek.

My heart pounded in my chest, and I felt like I couldn't move. I didn't
want
to.

The next thing I felt was Matt's thumb at the corner of my mouth. He pressed down and wiped something away. Then, looking at the smudge, he licked it.

"You had some chocolate there," he said.

My ribs felt like they were squeezed tight. Of course. Chocolate. What in the world was I thinking? Why else would a guy like him be touching a girl like me? I jerked out of his touch.

"Thanks," I said and avoided Matt's eyes.

He rubbed the back of his neck and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Your break room was overflowing with food," he said, "but I think we need to eat something besides stale chips and a brownie."

He was right. If we were stuck in here for a while, what were we going to eat? Even though sometimes I thought I could live on chocolate, it wasn't exactly true. Then I had an idea.

"We have a vending machine!" I said.

It was just outside of the children's play area. The only part of the library where patrons were actually allowed to have food. It wasn't anything fancy, but the head librarian had petitioned for organic and healthy snacks to be available to the kids. Of course, the
kids
weren't excited about that, but their rich parents were.

I led Matt through a few doors to the kids room. My ears were still burning from before, and I couldn't even look back at him. It felt like his eyes were burning into my skin. But I must have been imagining it, right?

When we arrived, I could have jumped for joy. Organic chips, fruit juices, and even a salad were all sitting inside the little glass case. All we needed was to get them out.

"Do you have any change?" I asked.

Matt dug in his pockets. He pulled out his wallet, but all he had to show me was a stack of hundred dollar bills.

"Are you for real?"

"What?" Matt said. "I don't usually carry around change."

"What kind of person walks around with stacks of money in their wallet?"

He dodged the question. "What's important is how we're going to get any food. Do
you
have any change?"

I didn't want to admit it, but I almost never had change either. But that wasn't because I was walking around with my pocket full of money. It was because I had none and I used my card for everything. Still, it was worth it to give it a try.

After I scrambled around in my pockets, I came up with a dollar fifty. I showed Matt the coins.

"That's it," I said.

We both stared at the vending machine. I was starting to wish it had never been changed into an organic snack haven. One fifty doesn't go very far when you're talking about organic food.

"We have enough for the salad," Matt said. "The
small
one."

I looked at it and frowned. It was the most basic version. There weren't even croutons or cheese on it. Why did Snickers bars and Skittles have to look so much more delicious?

I pressed my lips together into a hard-line. Oh well. There was nothing else to be done.

After I dropped the coins into the machine, it spit out the salad. Taking our prize in hand, we went back to the break room. Matt divided up the leafy greens, but by the time he was done I noticed that my portion was significantly bigger than his.

I speared some lettuce with a fork and started to bring it over to his plate, but Matt stopped me.

"Come on," I said, "you have to eat too."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I'll make it through this storm if I have to keep listening to your grumbling stomach," he said.

I should have been mad at him. I should have wanted to punch this strange guy in the middle of his face. But I didn't. He smiled at me and something about the glint in his eye melted my heart.

So instead of punching him, I ate the salad.

It wasn't much, but by the end of it I didn't feel like I was starving anymore. At least
that
was a step forward. Still, what were we going to do until the storm was over?

I glanced over at Matt. He looked out the window, but he didn't seem to be paying attention to the snow. Something about him seemed very far away.

No, it was better not to ask him. He would probably just send us on some wild goose chase looking for another rare book. And we saw how well that went
last
time.

"Hey," I said, "do you want to watch a movie?"