Page 13 of Elevator Pitch

“VeryVegas.” I take a small chance and straighten his bowtie, granting myself another wish. His breath hitches as he meets my gaze. Graham looks put together in his suit, but the flush in his cheeks lingers, the messy, misplaced strands of his hair fall over his forehead, and the slight burn on his chin from my stubble, all of it, evidence we’ve left behind. I’ve left a mark, and something inside me has shifted. I can’t take it back. The parts of myself that I’ve hidden, that flame I’ve kept extinguished tears through me like a wildfire burning my senses in its wake. “What if I don’t want this to be it?”

“Caleb.” Graham raises his hands, resting his palms on my bare chest, sending a shiver down my spine. I should pull away. The door could open any second. I didn’t even have a shirt on,for Christ’s sake. But I can’t make myself move. “It doesn’t have to be.”

“I don’t know how to do this.” I rest my forehead to his, exhaling an annoyed breath. Why can’t shit be simple like it is for everyone else? “I don’t do this.”

“Then don’t.” He shrugs and I pull back enough to look into those soft hazel eyes. “This doesn’t have to be anything more than what it was. A hot, sexy hook up. But if you want more…” His hand slides up my chest and rests against my neck. He smiles as his thumb traces the line of my pulse. Can he feel how fast my heart is beating? “Maybe we can meet up later after I’ve completed all my Best Man tasks, or maybe we can exchange numbers and just see what happens. Maybe we’ll meet up and maybe we won’t. I can’t make that choice for you. All I know for sure? Is that we only have another minute or two before this hunk of metal starts to move, and I want to kiss you again.”

“Yeah?”

“I like you. And maybe you like me too? I’ll make it easy for you.” He pulls out his phone, and I miss the heat of his touch immediately. “Give me your number, and I’ll text you when I’m free later, and we’ll see what happens. We can just text if that’s all you want, or maybe there will be blow jobs. It’s up to you.”

“Blow jobs?” My head tips forward with a low rumbled laugh. “That’s one hell of an elevator pitch.”

“Well, I told you I’m a good salesman.” He quirks one perfect brow. “So, what do you think?”

“I think…” Leaning in, I kiss the corner of his mouth. “I think I’m sold.”

The elevator hasn’t moved yet, and I should probably thank whoever is listening for small favors, for the time we already had, but I deepen my kiss. Graham’s mouth seals over mine, our tongues taking one last quick taste, and the only thought rollingthrough my head is how at home I feel in my own skin. It’s a rare feeling, and as he moans into my mouth, I bask in it.

“Are you sure?” he asks as he pulls away and I nod.

I take his phone from his hand and type my number into his contacts. It’s reckless, and I’m not sure what all I can offer him beyond this moment, this weekend, but I’m tired of denying myself.

You should let yourself be happy.

I want that more than anything.

“I have dinner plans with some of my teammates tonight, but?—”

“I’ll text you later, and like I said, nothing has to be set in stone. We’ll see what happens, okay?”

“Okay.” I kiss him again, a quick peck on the lips just as the elevator starts to move. My phone slides across the floor with the motion, and I bend down to pick it up, grateful I didn’t forget it.

Graham is smiling at me when I’m standing straight again, and it’s infectious. My lips tug up into a huge grin. “What?”

“I just sent you a text,” he says as the doors slide open to the fourteenth floor. There’s a crew of firemen standing in the hallway, and they all stare at my shirtless chest with a mixture of confusion and humor.

“What? It was hot as hell in here,” I offer as an explanation, and one of the guys blinks a few times, recognition widening his eyes.

“Wait, aren’t you the goalie for Colorado?”

I press the button for the nineteenth floor and pretend like I’m not the guy he knows I am. “The who?”

“You look just like?—”

“Caleb Burnside?” Graham says as he steps off the elevator, and holds the doors open with his arm outstretched. “I know, right? It’s uncanny, really. Too bad, though, it would have beenquite the story if I was stuck in an elevator with a real NHL player.”

Something like disappointment flashes in the fireman’s eyes as I fight to repress a laugh, but Graham’s smug smile almost does me in.

“Oh, well, damn… That’s unreal, you look just like?—”

“Don’t you have a wedding to get to?” I interrupt and focus on Graham, ignoring the annoyed look on the other guy’s face.

“Shit… I do.”

“Go be a best man…”

“Talk to you later?” Graham asks with a secret smile.

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