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1
JANELLE
“What the hell?”
I stepped back and looked around, sure this must be some sort of practical joke. Maybe I was on one of those hidden camera shows.
What would you do if one day you showed up at work, waved your keycard in front of the panel, and nothing happened?
Here’s what was supposed to happen. The card would launch a beep, then a click that signaled the lock had been triggered. I’d pull the handle and it would open.
Today, none of that happened.
As I tugged the handle, I stared longingly through the glass doors at my desk. I could see it from here, just feet away. The lights in the office were still off, so there was no point in knocking. I’d just have to step back and call Sammie, the coworker I hadn’t seen since before Christmas. She’d left on a business trip with our boss five days ago. She had to be back by now.
The elevator doors behind me dinged, announcing the arrival of what was no doubt one of the other tenants on the floor. Maybe it would be Sammie, though. I turned, hoping I wasn’t going to make a fool out of myself.
Just in case, I ran through a few explanations in my head.
“I’m fine. Just waiting for my coworker.”
“I forgot my keycard. You know, the stress of the holidays and all.”
“Did they reset these locks over the holiday?”
“No, I don’t need help.”
Those final words froze in my brain as a man stepped out of that elevator. He wore a frown and had a coat draped over his right arm. In his left hand was a cup of coffee. That intense stare landed on me while I was still melting over the muscular arms. They seemed to be straining the fabric of his white button-down shirt.
He stopped several steps in front of me. “You must be Janie.”
“Janelle,” I corrected.
My college friends still called me Janie, but I’d never used that in a business setting. My full name seemed more professional. More grown-up.
“I tried to get in.” I gestured toward the panel behind me. “But?—”
I froze, midsentence, as I turned back to face him. I hoped against hope that this guy with gorgeous blue eyes and a chiseled jaw wasn’t about to tell me I was fired.
“Really.” His expression softened, but his brow furrowed as he glanced at the panel. That was a good sign. He seemed as confused by the lockout as I was. “They must have messed something up when they were giving me access. Let me try. Could you hold this?”
He held out his coffee cup, and I stared at it for a long moment. You’d think holding a coffee cup was a completely foreign concept to me, the way I was acting.
Finally, I reached out, praying I wouldn’t mess up and somehow drop the cup in the process. But in doing that, I forgot to be mindful of where my hand landed. My index finger came into direct contact with his pinky. Neither of us moved, frozen as together, we held his cup.
Did he feel it too? No, that was impossible. This guy looked like somebody who held thousands of people’s livelihoods in his hands. Accidental contact with a twenty-four-year-old sales associate wouldn’t take his breath. No way.
Finally, he let go. I lifted my gaze to him and saw his eyes on me. He looked away quickly, as though suddenly aware of what he was doing.
That was when things got a little awkward. I looked around, realizing I was just holding his cup while he dug through the pocket of his laptop bag. He came out with a card identical to the one I’d been waving over the panel, only when he waved it, the expected beep and click happened.
I turned and pushed the office door open, only aware once I was inside that simply being on this side of those doors was a relief. I headed straight to my desk, glaring at Sammie’s desk as I passed. Whatever was going on, I had a feeling she knew about it.
Where was she?
“Do you just let anyone walk through those doors like that?” the guy asked.
I spun to face him, having finally reached my desk. Was he for real? He couldn’t possibly be for real.
