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“That’s me,” I said, resting a hand on the wall as I returned to my feet.
There wasn’t time to wonder why this associate hadn’t answered the first time we’d paged him. I’d deal with that later.
“We’re working on this now, sir,” the male voice said. “We should have you out of there in no time.”
“Thank you,” I said, meeting Ella’s gaze.
She was still kneeling on the floor. I offered a hand to her as the lights flicked on once more. Gripping her purse, Ella righted herself, fluffing her hair back and dusting a hand against her pants.
“You sure you don’t want to throw yourself at me again?” I said. “No better time. This ride’s almost over.”
I was prepared for her to shoot me down like she’d done all the other times I’d tried flirting with her. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “That’s an intriguing idea, isn’t it?”
The elevator jolted. Ella released a squeak of surprise.
I was reminded of the one and only time my family had convinced me to board the Tower of Terror ride at Disney World during the cruise I’d told Ella about. That experience had been pure torture. The possibility of reliving something similar now didn’t help.
The elevator’s jarring movement jerked for several more seconds, giving me an unpleasant lurch in my stomach,until it steadied again and began to glide down at its usual pace.
Placing a palm on her cheek, Ella smiled at me. “What a relief,” she said.
“Yeah.” I took a step closer to stand directly beside her. “Looks like we’re bound to survive this after all.”
There was that full smile again. Soft and sweet and somehow managing to string through my veins and imprint itself into the underside of my ribs.
“You never did tell me which department you work for,” I said.
She stared straight ahead. From the sudden stress in her face, I sensed the walls erecting back into place.
“Why do you want to know?”
“If they’re making you work on Christmas, I’d like to have a word with them. Or I just want to know where I can see you again. One of the two.”
She tilted her head to the side. “That’s not necessary.”
“Seeing you again?”
“No. I’m still moving.”
Recollection of our conversation came to me again. “That’s right. You said after Christmas.”
She nodded.
“That’s a shame. We could have had two months together.”
The elevator dinged, opening to the familiar lobby, and the oddest sense of stubbornness clenched inside of me.
An elevator was usually my least favorite place, especially after gettingstuck in this one.
But I didn’t want to leave. Not until I got Ella to agree to see me again.
I swept a hand toward the open door. Ella exited first, and I trotted after.
I hoped to stall her long enough to get her to say yes, but she scurried at a quicker pace than I anticipated.
“See you later, Hawk,” she said over her shoulder.
“I—Ella. Wait. Wait!”
