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“Has that happened a lot then? You’ve had people just wanting you for your fame?”
His jaw tightens. Life seems to flicker back into his face, and he narrows his eyes at me. “I’m not going to talk about my personal life. Are you crazy?”
“Whoa!” I chuckle and throw my hands in the air in a surrendering gesture. “I thought we were just talking.”
“Sounds like you’re interviewing me. Why don’t you tell me aboutyourlove life?”
Grumpiness flows across his face as he turns the spotlight back on me. I have to admit, I don’t like it one bit. I’m never the one at the center of attention, and that’s why I like my job. I like learning about other people; I don’t like explaining myself to anyone.
But I’m going to have to saysomething.
“I don’t think being a mid-level journalist quite has the same pull,” I laugh, trying to turn this into a joke. I don’t know if Alex is buying it, though. “So, no love life to speak of.”
He parts his lips as if he’s about to snap back, but before the words can leave his mouth, a crackling sound interrupts us. Alex jumps to his feet in a heartbeat and starts hammering the alarm button.
“Hey, is anyone there? Can you hear me? I need help…”
There’s definitely a voice coming through, but we can’t hear it.
“Wait, Alex, I think you need to stop pressing the button…”
He spins around and glares at me like I’ve said something ridiculous. “I need them to know that we’re trapped in here.”
“They know, obviously.” I just about resist the urge to roll my eyes. “Someone is trying to talk to us, and you’re blocking them.”
“I’mnotblocking anything, I’m…”
The voice tries to come again, forcing Alex to stop. He presses his ear to the speaker, but unfortunately, we still can’t pick up any words. I fold my arms protectively across my chest because I can feel an ‘I told you so’ coming my way.
But it doesn’t. Thank God. Instead, the elevator shudders to life once more, and we start to move. We’re going to be getting out of here soon enough. It’s annoying that I didn’t get more out of Alex while I had the chance, but he’s hard to get anything out of. Now, with the way he’s glaring at me, I don’t think he likes me enough to speak with me again, so it’s probably for the best that we get the hell out of here before we waste the remaining oxygen arguing.
It’s true what they say: don’t meet your heroes, they might turn out to be the worst! I hope I never cross paths with Alex again.
Chapter 2—Riley
Exhaustion washes over me as Ifinallymake it into the office after what has been a ridiculous morning. I sink into my chair, sliding my eyes closed, ready to have one little moment to myself before I get on with work…
“Riley?”
God damn it.I really can’t get a minute alone, can I?
“Riley. You’re finally here. What the hell happened to you this morning?” Chad storms through the office to my desk, thunder crashing over his expression. “You were supposed to be here by ten this morning for the team meeting.”
“I know, I know, but I had an accident.”
“You don’t drive,” Chad scoffs. “What sort of accident?”
I suck in a deep breath, trying to steady myself before I respond, because Iknowthis isn’t going to go down well. “I got stuck in the elevator at the UBS Arena.”
Chad’s eyebrows hit his hairline. “Is that a joke? Don’t you have a better excuse than that? Come off it, Riley.”
I need to shut him up. I didn’t plan to let out the secret right away, but I don’t feel like going through this with him.
“Well, I was stuck in the elevator with Alex Barrett.”
As soon as the words are out there, I know I’ve made a mistake. Chad’s eyes light up like a freaking Christmas tree. “You were with AlexBarrett?” My heart sinks as he takes a seat beside me, leaning on my desk like it’s normal for us to gossip like this. “How long were you stuck with him? What did you talk about?”
“It wasn’tthatlong. A maintenance guy got us out of there pretty quickly, so I didn’t have much time to talk to him about anything.”
