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“Here, let me.”
He took it from her and switched on the flashlight. She started breathing easier as it lit up part of the area around them.
“Is it the dark you’re afraid of or small spaces?”
She shouldn’t tell him. Shouldn’t give him ammunition to use against her.
Never show weakness, Aston.
She remembered Grandpop telling her that. In her family, showing a weakness was likely to get you bullied mercilessly.
“Aston,” he murmured, surprising her by using her real name.
She blamed that for her lack of filter. “Both.”
“Why?”
“Oh no, I’m not telling you that.” No way.
“Why not? We’ve got literally nothing else to do.”
“I could think of a thousand other things I’d rather do.”
“Oh yeah, like what?” he asked in a suggestive voice that made her shiver.
“Not that!” she squealed.
Yeah, like you wouldn’t want that.
“Why, Rainbow, where did your mind just go then? Somewhere interesting, I’m guessing.”
She never thought she’d be grateful for the dark. But right now, she was thankful that it hid the red in her cheeks.
“What did you think I was suggesting we do to pass the time and keep you distracted?” he murmured, his breath teasing her ear.
Lord, she wished she hated that.
Idiot.
“Hmm?” he prompted.
“Nothing. Let me go.” She shoved herself off his lap, which had her phone slipping from his grasp and landing on the floor, instantly smothering the light.
Panic slid back down her throat, clawing at her breath until she was gasping for air.
Maxim swore and quickly grabbed the phone, turning it over so light filled the elevator once more. Then he reached for her, tugging her back onto his lap.
She tensed, ready to jump out of his hold, but he slapped the side of her thigh. “Stay.”
“Excuse me? Did you just tell me to stay? Like I’m a dog?”
“I know you’re not a dog,” he muttered.
She huffed out a breath. She should hope so.
“A dog would be way more obedient. And grateful.”
“Obedient and grateful? Really? Are those personality traits that you admire? Is that what you look for in a woman? That they be obedient and grateful?”
“You want to know what I look for in a woman?”
Nope. Actually, she didn’t. Because she didn’t want it to hurt when he described someone that wasn’t her.
She didn’t know what his type was, but she was pretty sure that prickly, stubborn women who wore clothes that covered almost every inch of their bodies weren’t it.
“Someone loyal, sweet, kind, funny. Someone who will take my back when I need them to. Who wants me for me.”
Oh God. She could be those things. And what was worse . . . she wanted to be those things.
“Let me go.”
“No. You’re just going to start panicking again and you’re far less interesting to be around when you’re unconscious.”
“How would you know? You’ve never been around me when I’m unconscious.”
“True. Although it would be far quieter, but less entertaining.”
“Glad I could entertain you,” she muttered.
Because that’s all she was. Entertainment.
Fuck. She needed to build herself a tougher skin. This was ridiculous.
She needed a distraction, something else to think about other than how good he felt holding her or how amazing he smelled.
Could this morning have gotten any worse? Getting stuck in a small, dark space was one of her worst nightmares.
Oh, and let’s not forget the fact that she’d had a few panic attacks, she stunk like coffee, and her wet dress was clinging to her body, making her shiver.
And she was stuck sitting in this sexy man’s lap.
Just perfect.
Shoot! How long had they been sitting here?
“I need to call my boss!” She was going to be late.
Grabbing her phone, she looked at the time and gulped. Then she brought up his contact number. But the darn call wouldn’t go through.
“Why won’t it go through?”
“I don’t think there’s any service in the elevator,” he told her. “This thing is a piece of shit. It should at least have an emergency button.”
“What if . . . what if no one realizes we’re in here?” she asked. “What if they try to lower it down and it plummets? We could die.”
“Whoa, there, Negative Nelly. How’d you just go from zero to a hundred? No one is dying.”
“You don’t know that. It could happen. Maybe we should try and get out of here?”
“And how do you suggest we do that?”
“There’s always a trap door at the top, right? We could climb up, stand on the top, and reach the next set of doors. Maybe we should try opening the doors. Maybe we’re on a floor already.” Safety could be just beyond those doors.
She tried to rise, but he held her with a firm arm across her stomach. “You’re not doing any of that.”
“But in the movies—”
“This isn’t a movie. We’re just going to sit here and let the experts get this sorted.”
“But what if they don’t?” she asked.
“They will.”
