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Chapter 1—Riley
What the actual hell?
The elevator shudders so violently that I grip the rail behind me so I don’t fall. The elevator might be empty aside from one other person, but I don’t want to be a heap at his feet. Nor do I want to drop my paperwork everywhere, not when I’vejustorganized it!
Just as my chest starts to hurt because the metal box surrounding me is shaking so violently, it screeches to a halt. It stops so dead that, for a moment, the silence is deafening.
“What the fuck?” The man in the corner opposite me runs his fingers through his dark, tousled hair as he turns to face me. “What just happened?”
I narrow my eyes at him. Iknowthis face. Not personally, but I recognize him well. It takes a moment for me to realize why I know him.
He’s Alex freaking Barrett!
Oh my God!
Shock hits me like a freight train. Every sports journalist in the country wants to get a moment alone with the hotshot hockey player, Alex Barrett, but it never happens. Ever. He might be a God on the ice, but he’s an invisible man when it comes to the press. Hehatestalking to the media and avoids it as much as he can.
But here I am, standing in an elevator with him, and he’s talking to me…
“Hey!” He clicks his fingers at me. “You good? Are you in shock or something? I think the elevator broke down, but we’ll be okay…”
I shake my head, trying to drag myself back to the present moment. I might be here with Alex, but I’m acting like an idiot.
“Err, yeah. We’ve broken down. What do we do?”
Alex presses the alarm button a few times, growing increasingly frustrated as nothing happens. “Do you have any cell signal?”
I check my phone, swallowing hard as I realize there’s nothing. “No, do you?”
He sighs heavily and shakes his head. “Nah, nothing at all. I don’t know how the hell we’re going to get out of here. Why isn’t anyone answering the emergency button? Isn’t that the whole freaking point of it?”
My heart pounds heavily in my chest, half from the panic of being stuck in such a small space, where I’m sure the oxygen is diminishing by the second, but half from the opportunity presented to me. I mean, I couldn’tpayfor this sort of chance.
No one in the news office ever takes me seriously. They say it isn’t because I’m the only woman working the sports desk, but I know it is. My boss, Chad, pleads ignorance like he can’t even hear it happening, which is super freaking annoying.
But ifIwere the one to get an interview with this elusive, mysterious man, that would be amazing. Incredible. Everyone wouldhaveto take me more seriously.
But how the hell do I go about doing it?
“I’m sure someone will be here soon enough.” I force a bright smile onto my face, trying to ignore the suspicion flaming in his deep hazel-colored eyes. IknowI’m acting like a crazy person right now, but I can’t stop thinking about how impressed Chad will be. “It’ll be fine. What brings you here to the UBS Arena?”
I cock my head to one side, examining him closely while also trying to act totally innocent, like this is a question that popped into my mind.
“Work. You?”
I hold up the paperwork. “Yep, same.”
“What do you do?” I can almost feel the tension rising in his voice, bunching up in his shoulders as he waits for me to answer. This isn’t going to go well, but I have to be honest.
“Oh, I’m a journalist. Keeps me busy.”
“Hmm, right.” If there was enough space for him to recoil, I’m sure he would. “Well, I’m a player, so I actuallyneedto be here.”
It seems like the reason he doesn’t talk to the media is because he hates us all. That’s going to make it infinitely more challenging, but I’ll do what I can to work around that.
“Right, so you probably know the people who work here.” I smile once more. “You know someone’s going to come save us soon enough.”
Alex huffs and presses the emergency button a few more times to no avail. With a resigned sigh, he slides down to sit in the corner of the elevator, so I do the same.
