“How much time do we have?” she asked, her voice laced with awe.
He checked his watch. “Twenty minutes,” he whispered close to her ear.
She stood looking from him to the shelves, obviously conflicted.
“You have time to look around a little before we go. And we can always come back another time.”
Her genuine smile lit her face so quickly, he didn’t have time to prepare himself for the effect. What was he doing making promises for a future outing with her?
Fielding took the opportunity to browse the room, looking for somewhere they might safely hide until the museum employees left for the evening. He kept one eye on Esme while she browsed the shelves, stopping periodically to pull down a volume and flip through it.
He’d walked the circular perimeter of the room, seeking a closet or cabinet that would conceal them, but so far he’d found nothing.
“Ten minutes,” a guard said as he walked through the room to give a warning that closing time was near.
The men working at the desks began packing up their belongings. Fielding made his way over to Esme.
“There’s nowhere in here for us to hide,” he whispered. “Follow me.” They stepped out of the reading room and into a hall, going deeper into the museum until they came to a darkened room.
“Egyptology,” Esme said with interest. “I haven’t been here since they expanded this exhibit.”
“Indeed,” Fielding said.
Footsteps sounded in the next room. It was two men, judging from their voices.
Fielding grabbed Esme’s hand and pulled her through the exhibit. The only other door besides the one through which they’d entered led to the location of the voices.
That’s when he saw it. An Egyptian coffin flanked by cat statues stood upright, leaning against the wall. The stone sarcophagus had the likeness of an Egyptian woman painted on the front, and though the image was chipped in some places, it was still a thing of beauty. No doubt he could have fetched a pretty penny for something like that.
“We can hide in there,” he said, pointing to the sarcophagus.
“Are you mad?” Esme stopped and stared at him. “We cannot hide in a coffin. You won’t even be able to shift the lid to open it. That stone must weigh twice as much as you.”
A pair of gentlemen lingered at the other side of the room, reading the plates by a display of canopic jars. One of them made a note in a small book he carried, then he nodded to his friend and together they walked away. Fielding waited until they’d disappeared into the hall before he spoke again.
“We don’t appear to have any other options.” He once again scanned the room, looking for another place to hide. “Perhaps I should have better planned this,” he muttered.
She gave him a wry smile.
“We can come back another time,” he suggested.
She looked down at her wrist, then shook her head. “No, I need to remove this bracelet as soon as possible.”
Esme was desperate to rid herself of this curse, of her lust for him. Granted, she also believed her life was in danger, yet he still suspected her desperation had more to do with her feelings for him.
Moving the lid was indeed a challenge, as she’d predicted, but not one he couldn’t manage. He was able to slide the lid to the side without completely removing it from the base.
“Since you’re so desperate to be rid of me,” he began as he stepped inside and felt the cold stone permeate his clothes, “come here.” He held his hand out to her. “Let’s do this.”
Footsteps drew closer.
“I swear I saw two people go into the Egyptian room,” a male voice said.
She eyed Fielding warily but moved quickly to join him.
Facing him, she pressed herself against his chest as joined him inside the casket. This plan would never have worked had Esme been a larger woman.
Maneuvering the lid back into place proved more difficult from the inside, especially with the delectable Miss Worthington nestled against his body. He was able, though, to shift it to an almost closed position. There was no way to know if he’d be able to get the lid off if he shut it completely or if they would be able to breathe.