She closed her eyes for a second and waited for any sort of sensation. "That seems okay."
"All right. So what if we add kissing, the closed-mouth kind?"
She felt a hint of a shiver. "Iffy. I think we'd both have to agree to keep it... sweet. No, that's not quite it. I think the warning isn't so much about what we do but about our lack of control once we pass go."
"And maybe how much brain power we're using by thinking about sex when we should be focusing on the task we've been assigned?"
"Like an addiction," she offered with a frown.
"I prefer obsession. It seems a little less harmful. Either way, Reynard told us we have to work together to solve the problem, so we can't just stay away from each other."
"No, but we can help each other keep our minds on the mission." She paused. "Yes. That feels right." An involuntary yawn caught her by surprise. "I'm suddenly really sleepy."
"I'll take that as a confirmation that you correctly interpreted your chills. But there's something I promised to do for you and it could be an easy test of our resolve." Noah grasped her hand and brought them both to their feet. A few seconds later he had the bed covers pulled back and motioned for her to lay down, which she did, though rather stiffly.
He snuffed out the lamp and said, "Now, close your eyes." As soon as she obeyed, he sat down at the bottom of the bed and wrapped his fingers around one of her bare feet.
Her instant reaction was an audible moan. "That feels so-o-o good. But I'm sure you're as tired as I—"
"Shush. This is not a completely unselfish act." He rubbed a spot at the base of her middle toe that made her sigh, so he gave it a bit more attention before doing the same for each of the other digits. "I've never given much thought to a woman's feet but there's something about yours that I find terribly sexy."
"Really?" she asked slyly and grazed his thigh with the toes of the foot he was not massaging. "That sounds like something we should look into."
He chuckled and placed the wandering foot back on the bed. "That move and my follow-up thoughts go into the no-no column. And if you can't be good, I'll have to stop."
"Fine," she murmured then moaned again when his thumb worked on the arch of her foot.
Noah tried to focus on the muscles and joints he was massaging. He was performing an act of kindness not seduction. And yet he felt as though he were the one being seduced. He tried to concentrate on the task they'd been assigned, the mysterious beings that had sent them back in time, the plot ideas for his next book. None of it worked.
No matter how he tried to distract himself, every thought led right back to Maggie... the first and only one friend he'd ever cried over when they'd parted. And because of the conversation they'd had earlier, he no longer had any reason to hold back from imagining a life with her.
He forced himself to spend the same amount of time on her other foot before releasing himself from the torture of touching her without doing everything he wanted to. When he realized she had fallen asleep, he was actually relieved. He covered her with the sheet, stripped down to his boxers and undershirt, then got beneath the sheet on the other side of the bed.
Unable to completely resist temptation, Noah leaned over and kissed Maggie's temple before turning his back to her. She was already so deeply asleep, she didn't even notice. So he told himself there would be no harm in a little asexual hugging. He shifted onto his side and put his arm around her waist. She still didn't wake, but a few seconds later, she also turned and nestled her body against his. Under the circumstances, he didn't expect to sleep at all, but Morpheus soon overtook him as well.
* * *
"Maid service."
The words broke into Maggie's dream first. Then she heard the light knocking. She opened her eyes a crack but the bright sunlight coming through the window made her squeeze them shut again. Her head felt like someone was playing tennis inside it... or as if she had drunk a bottle of champagne.
The next sound she recognized was running water. Noah was in the bathroom. He had told her he didn't need much sleep but she didn't feel like they'd been in bed that long. She made herself open one eye enough to see the clock on the nightstand and was truly shocked to see it was already eleven. No wonder there was so damn much sunlight.
"Oh! A thousand pardons, ma'am. When ye didn't answer, I thought ye and the mister be out. I'll come back later."
Maggie managed to get her eyes focused on the maid just before she whirled around with her stack of linens and disappeared from the bedroom doorway.
Two things wormed their way into Maggie's foggy consciousness. The maid was a very young woman with a long, reddish-blonde braid and an Irish brogue. And she was wearing a uniform exactly like the one Maggie had seen in her second bathroom mirror vision.
"Wait!"
Chapter 13
The fearful look on the maid's face when she reappeared made Maggie soften her tone. "I was wondering if you might have some aspirin. My head is pounding."
Relief immediately replaced the girl's worry and she quickly took a small white packet out of her uniform pocket without setting down the stack of linens. "There be quite a need for such remedy this morn," she said, adding a smile to her pretty face as she approached the bedside. "I've heard some speak of the hair of the dog what bit ye."
Maggie noted how the girl kept her eyes averted. She pulled herself into a more upright position, holding the sheet up to her neck in an attempt at modesty. She forced a return smile. "I've heard about that dog but I prefer aspirin." She held out her hand and the girl placed the packet on her palm. By feeling it, she could tell it was a powder and had to trust that it was safe to take. "Thank you."
"I'll fetch some water."
She watched the girl walk out and return with a few ounces of cloudy tap water in a glass. She figured whatever was in the water couldn't make her feel any worse than she already did. Maggie poured the contents of the packet into the glass and drank the bitter mixture as quickly as possibly. She wondered about the way the maid continued to clutch the linens in front of her. Surely it would have been easier to set the pile down... unless she was hiding something.
Maggie heard the water turn off in the bathroom as she handed the empty glass to the maid. She wanted Noah to see this girl. "Thank you again." The girl smiled again, curtsied and hurried to the door. "Excuse me." The maid glanced at the opening bathroom door and back to Maggie. "I was just wondering if you would tell me your name. I'd like to let management know how helpful you were."
The girl's face lit up. "Me name's Moira, ma'am. Moira Flanagan. And that would be very kind of ye ta be sure."
Noah did not come out of the bathroom until the maid closed the front door of the bungalow.
"What took you so long?" Maggie asked in a slightly peeved tone. "I wanted you to see the maid."
He arched one dark eyebrow at her. "I heard you talking to someone and thought I might be underdressed for a formal introduction."
Only then did she realize his only cover was a rather small towel. Her head was killing her, she had a mystery clue to offer and yet her body instantly responded to the luscious sight in front of her. She rubbed her eyes. "Sorry. Bad headache." She allowed herself the tiny pleasure of ogling his well-toned upper body as he walked to the closet and found a man's robe to exchange for the towel. "Last night... did we...?
He gave her a wink and grinned as he walked toward her. "No, we did not. You conked out sometime during the second half of your foot massage."
She frowned. "Well, that was certainly rude of me. I'm sorry. I guess I was just dreaming about... something else."
"Well, there may have been a little 'something else' while you were sleeping."
Her widened eyes made him chuckle. "We just snuggled. Nothing we should punish ourselves over." He plopped down on the bed and gave her a light kiss before she could cover her mouth to shield morning breath. "And since it didn't take any thinking time away from our mission—"
"That was the maid."
"I gathered as much. There's no shower and the old bathtub is short but deep enough. The water gets warm enough to wash. It might help if you—"
"I meant, it was my maid," she cut in. "From the vision in the mirror. She was really young, maybe sixteen or seventeen at most, and had the same hair and Irish brogue."
"Pregnant?"
She shrugged. "I couldn't tell for sure. She held a pile of linens in front of her the whole time which could have been her way of hiding a swollen belly. I would assume an illegitimate pregnancy would be unacceptable here. Her name is Moira Flanagan. Do you remember the name from anything you read? Could she be the girl who was found dead on the beach?"
He shrugged. "I don't recall any name being given. And the only date I saw was the year, 1927." Noah nodded. "You know what, before we get deeper into speculation, let's order breakfast. I remember Reynard saying the words 'room service'." He found a menu in the nightstand drawer and read her a few suggestions.
"Just coffee. Lots of coffee. And maybe toast."
She watched him study the black candlestick phone on the nightstand. It had no dial or buttons. Finally Noah simply lifted the part hanging on a hook and held it to his ear. She could tell the instant an operator came on line by the broad grin on Noah's face.
"Oh yes. Room Service please," he said loudly into the part on the candlestick that looked like a speaker. As he was waiting to be connected, he whispered to Maggie, "This is too cool."
Maggie propped several pillows behind her head and closed her eyes while Noah ordered several items on the menu. The aspirin powder was kicking in. When he hung up, she said, "It's just not fair that I feel this bad and you're raring to go."
"Okay, c'mon." He got up then pulled her to her feet. "Put your head under the sink faucet. The water isn't icy but it's cool enough to shrink the blood vessels. Then brush your teeth. You'll feel better by the time the urn of coffee I just ordered gets here."
Before he closed the bathroom door on her, he added, "And just so you know, I felt like hell when I first woke up. Then I looked around the room, saw you next to me and realized last night wasn't just the craziest dream I ever had. I was about to wake you up in a very special way and then remembered what you figured out before we went to sleep. So I dunked myself in some cold water instead. It helped. You've got about a half hour."
Noah's directions and estimate of time were both accurate. By the time breakfast arrived she was ready for a little food with her coffee.
As soon as he downed his tall Virgin Mary, devoured a helping of each entrée and washed it all down with black coffee, he was ready to get the brainstorming started. Maggie was way behind on the breakfast but anxious to hear his thoughts while she savored her caffeine and carbs.
"I've been comparing what Reynard told us with some time-travel plots in books and movies. In most of the ones I know of, there was a personal connection to the one who gets transported."
She swallowed a bite of blueberry muffin. "There's nothing in my past I've ever thought about wanting to change."
He angled his head at her. "Not even how we parted?"
She smirked at him. "I think we've covered that ground and besides, we didn't need to go back to the Roaring Twenties to find each other."
"Point taken. And I would add the same conclusion. Other than the us factor, I've never felt the need to fix something in the past to improve my life circumstances."
"Not even how many times you had to move growing up?"
He narrowed his eyes. "To change that I'd have to have been born with different parents and that's not fixable by time travel." When he saw the sympathetic look in her eyes, he got back to analyzing. "So maybe it's not so much you or me specifically but whoever is staying in the Diamond Suite when the portal opens. Reynard said something about the pair knowing what they needed to do, right?"
"Yes," she replied, a bit surprised she could recall anything at the moment.
"I didn't pick it up until now but he made it sound like we're not the first pair who's had this happen to them."
She wrinkled her forehead in thought. "Which could go along with the idea of it being whatever couple is in the suite at the time when the portal opens. So maybe those other pairs also had to deal with a lack of information."
Noah got up from the bed and started pacing. "We could have guessed right about a supernatural power orchestrating all this. Or, it could be aliens from another universe playing a game and using us inferior humans as their pawns. We're thrown into an unfamiliar environment and given a puzzle to solve. There's even a ticking clock. Maybe they're taking bets on whether we'll succeed or fail. Unfortunately, if we fail, we can't get back to our own time."
"I know you enjoy making up stories, but you're starting to freak me out."
He was back at her side in a blink and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the head. "Sorry. I got carried away. Anyway, it really doesn't matter who's behind our being here or why, because we're going to figure it out." He was quiet for a moment then brought her hand to his lips for a kiss. "And if we don't figure it out? Would that really be so bad? This time and place could be a lot of fun. As long as we were together."
A swarm of butterflies took off in her stomach. He was right. It might not be so awful. She turned toward him and kissed his mouth. "That was really romantic. But Reynard said we would have to live out our days on this island and there would be restrictions. What if we couldn't stay in this nice little bungalow with a maid and room service? What if we had to get jobs to survive here? Would you really want to be a bellman or waiter? I know we could manage but I'd really miss things like air conditioning and a microwave oven and bras that don't squish my boobs. And then there's that major hurricane coming next year, then the Depression and—"
He silenced her with a quick kiss. "I get it. But to be fair we'd also be in the unique position of knowing what was about to happen in advance. Maybe we'd figure out a way to invest our earnings in one of the original Dow Jones companies like General Electric or U.S. Rubber, then we could afford this bungalow."
"And risk changing history? The smallest thing we do could cause all sorts of problems. Like throwing a little pebble into a pond and making big ripples. You're not the only one who's picked up a theory or two about time travel from books and movies."
He laughed and pulled her close for a good long hug. "We'll figure out the puzzle or we'll figure out how to manage if we don't. I promise."
She tried to give him a doubtful look but ended up smiling. "I believe you. So, setting aside the mystery of who's behind our challenge, have you come up with any thoughts that might actually help us get back to our own time?"
"Going back to what you said last night, there has to be a reason we came to this precise moment of 1927. If we're supposed to save someone and we only have a small window of opportunity, it has to be something happening right here, right now."
Maggie nodded slowly as she thought about how an amateur sleuth in a book might begin. "You only mentioned two people who died in 1927—the pregnant maid and an unidentified man. Since we have no information about him, we have no clue to follow, so unless one falls in our laps, I'd set him aside."
"I agree," Noah said firmly. And the same has to go for The Weeping Woman."
"Right. Which makes Moira Flanagan the only strong possibility. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Irish maid in my bathroom mirror is our maid in this bungalow at this time. And it shouldn't be too hard to confirm if she's pregnant and alone. I'll try to start a conversation with her when she comes back. Figuring out who might have strangled her would be the hard part. We can't just start walking up to strangers and ask questions without raising suspicions."
Noah took a minute to refresh both their cups with hot coffee, thanks to the little candle still burning beneath the pot. "I agree that the maid is a strong possibility if she's pregnant, but I don't think we can eliminate Robert Davenport. In fact, I still think he's our number one target based on his conn
ection to this island."
"Even if we're three years early?"
"If Davenport's the one we're supposed to save and we go with the idea he was actually murdered, maybe this is the time he makes a bad decision, like taking on a greedy partner. Reynard said he's in residence at the moment. Maybe there's a way to bump into him somewhere."
"Or maybe we have those stylish golfing outfits because we'll have an opportunity to play a round with him."
"We can't dismiss anything but you'd better hope our figuring this thing out doesn't depend on my golf game. I really suck."
Her mind instantly focused on his last word and his chuckle let her know he could tell exactly where her thoughts had gone.
He tugged on her earlobe. "You just can't help yourself, can you?" She blushed and he added. "Don't feel bad. I had the same thought the instant I said it. It may only be for four days but they could be the longest four days I've ever known."
"We just need to stay aware of how easy it is for us to get sidetracked." She drew his head closer and pressed her lips to his for several seconds. "Maybe we could take turns being the strong one. This one was mine."
He gave her his best little-boy pout and stood. "Since the only reason for abstinence is to keep our minds on the mission, I think we need to get moving."
As they dressed, Maggie couldn't help but think about whether anything they did now could change Davenport's fate. Of course, if there were no suicide or murder, there would be no reason for Lillian Davenport to be so defensive about her family.
Thoughts of Lillian Davenport's warning and order to report to her caused Maggie's brain to leap to a different question. "With everything being so weird I didn't think about what is happening in our time. Isn't there someone expecting you to check in with them? I mean, a day or two might not cause a problem but what about after that?"
He shrugged. "Maybe there's a version of us continuing to do whatever we'd be doing there. Or maybe a week here is only a blip in time there and no one will notice our absence. I think that's one of those questions that won't get answered until we've played out our time here."
Some Time Away (Lovers in Time Series, Book 3): Time Travel Romance Page 14