Page 39 of Anything To Be With You

I look at the clock. "It’s almost ten-thirty. Call them Monday." He needs to back away from this case and start fresh.

I leave his office with Luke behind me, but instead of going home, he heads into the breakroom and back out with his mug. His shoulders slumped, dragging his feet. I step in front of him.

"Daniella, let me pass," he says.

I take his mug and place it on my desk. "Grab your shit, time to go home."

Luke shakes his head. "I have too much to do." He goes to grab his mug again, but I slap his hand.

"Daniella." He says shocked.

"Do it Monday." I order.

He crosses his arms over his remarkably broad chest, widening his shirt where the buttons are undone and glares down at me. Placing my hands on my hips and taking my mom stance—the one where Mason knows he is in major shit—I clear my throat and look at him. He cocks an eyebrow but doesn’t back down.

"Luke, grab your shit and let’s go."

Heat flashes in his eyes and he takes a step forward. It feels like he’s going to argue with me, but instead, he reaches out and moves a piece of hair behind my ear. My skin tingles where his fingers brushed and my body flushes.

I glance up into Luke’s ice blue eyes. All the stress that was there earlier has been replaced with something akin to interest. "Okay." He heads into his office without another word.

I grab my purse and wait for him by the elevators. When he locks up, I hit the button.

"You alright?" I ask stepping onto the elevator, hitting the button for the parking garage.

"Yeah." Is all the response I get.

The doors close and the elevator jerks then stops. The lights shut off and the emergency ones kick on.

"You’ve got to be shitting me." I mumble to myself.

Luke reaches over and hits the emergency button, but nothing happens. "I'm going to call maintenance."

My heart kicks against my ribs and I start to sweat. Stuck in an elevator. My fear has come true. I begin humming my favourite song to calm myself and text Mason to tell him what’s happening.

Me: I’m stuck in an elevator with Archer

Bubba: bahahahahahaha!

Me: shut it

Bubba: that’s ur favourite thing in the whole wide world. I know how much you love elevators

Me: if I get cut in half when I’m rescued, I’m coming back and haunting your ass

Bubba: okay but if the hydro bill goes up cause ur flickering the lights I’m going to salt and burn ur bones *carry on my wayward son*

Me: ha!

My heart slowly returns to its normal pace. Leave it up to Mason to take my mind off of what’s happening and get a song stuck in my head.

"Maintenance is sending someone over, but it might be a bit of a wait. They only have two guys on call and this isn't the only stuck elevator in Toronto tonight." Luke states, putting his phone away.

"Of course," I say sarcastically as I sit down on the floor, kicking off my heels and stretching my legs out. I wiggle my toes. I love my buckle dress boots, but my God, do they ever pinch my toes after a while.

To take my mind off the fact that I am stuck in an elevator, I pull my purse onto my lap and dig through it until I find my baggie of goodies. Last thing I need is to go into a full-blown panic attack in front of my boss.

"Hungry?" I ask.

---