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Cassie’s heart was hammering against her chest as she ran down the hallway, punching her finger impatiently against the elevator button. He was here. Presley was here. And so was Delilah. She needed to get down there now.
When the elevator arrived she stepped inside, her heart dropping when she realized it was going up, not down. People pushed past her as they exited on the next floor, and she leaned forward to press the ground floor button.
And still it went up.
“Dammit.”
An elderly woman lifted a brow at her. “Is there a problem?”
Cassie swallowed hard. This building had about thirty floors. And the elevators were constantly busy. Should she get out and hope another elevator came along that happened to be going down? Or just stay in this one and hope for the best.
“My boyfriend’s downstairs waiting for me,” Cassie said. “I haven’t seen him in a week.”
The woman smiled. “I remember my husband being away in the Army for years.”
Cassie grimaced. “I’m sorry. That must’ve been hard. I know a week isn’t anything but…”
“But you’re in love with him.”
Cassie nodded. She was trying not to cry.
“Okay, everybody get out,” the woman said, producing a little key from her pocket. “Penthouse owner’s perks,” she told Cassie. “We’re heading right down to the lobby.”
There was some grumbling as the elevator doors opened, but everybody did as the woman said. She slotted the key into the lock that Cassie hadn’t even noticed above the buttons and pressed the button for the lobby.
And to her amazement, the elevator went straight down.
“I’m only supposed to use it in emergencies,” the woman confessed. “But I figure love is always an emergency.”
“Thank you.” Cassie leaned forward and hugged her. “Thank you for helping me.”
“To be honest,” the woman told her, “it’s made my day.”
As soon as the doors to the lobby opened, Cassie ran onto the marble tiled floor, scanning the lobby for the two people that mattered most to her.
And then she saw them. Standing by an oversized plant. Delilah was pointing at something in the plant pot and Presley was nodding.
As though he could sense her standing there, he slowly looked up. His eyes caught hers, and even though she was twenty feet away from him, she could see the crinkles form next to them.
She felt breathless. Giddy.
And then she ran.
She didn’t care that she was in a swanky lobby in the center of Manhattan. Or that everybody was looking at her as she almost skidded to a stop when she reached them.
Or that as soon as she did, Presley swung her into his arms and squeezed his eyes shut, as though she was the most precious, beautiful thing he’d ever held.
“Lift me too!” Delilah shouted, pulling at Presley’s arm.
He put Cassie down, his eyes still on hers. And swung Delilah up so her face was at the same height as Cassie’s.
“We came in a taxi!” Delilah told her. “It was bright yellow. And Daddy swore because he couldn’t download the Boober app.”
She smiled at him, loving Delilah’s mispronunciations. Damn she’d missed them both. He grinned back.
“What…” She shook her head. It didn’t matter what he was doing here. The fact he was here was everything.
He shifted Delilah onto his hip, then reached out for Cassie, his hand cupping her face like he couldn’t believe she was there.
