Page 27 of Elevator Pitch

I howl. I don’t mean to laugh as loud as I do and it startles her, but she recovers and giggles alongside me. We smile and wave at our neighbors who flood out into the lobby. Selah stepsinto the elevator, and I follow, motioning for Clifford to join us in the car and sit down beside me. After pressing the buttons for our floors, I scratch his head and tell him what a good boy he’s been today. I look up and see her smiling softly. She has her e-reader in hand, as always, but she’s not reading. She admires Clifford and me as if she likes us.

Only one way to find out.

I clear my throat and break the silence.

“So, where were you coming from? The gym?”

“Oh, um. I was at a dance class.”

She takes her time with each word and blushes as she gets it all out.

“I didn’t know you dance.”

“I do now.” She giggles and pauses. “It was a pole dancing class. I go every week.”

My eyebrows shoot up. I can’t help myself.

“Pole dancing? Are you any good at it?”

I lean back and scan her frame, swiping my tongue across my lip. There’s a glimmer in her eye. She recognizes the challenge and serves it back.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asks with a smirk.

Good girl.I’ll bite.

“I would, actually.”

Her gaze holds a simmering flame.

“We all want things we can’t have,” she quips with a flirty smile.

Game on. She has no idea what she just started.

I open my mouth to respond when the elevator stops at her floor. She walks over to rub Cliff’s head and tell him goodbye. She smiles up at me before she steps out of the elevator. I grip the side of the door to keep it open a few moments more, just to drink her in before I call it a night.

She turns around to face me and says, “Saved by the bell once again. Goodnight, Greyson.”

“Wait,” I say, stepping off the elevator with Clifford as myheart races. She stops and eyes me curiously. I take a deep breath and tell myself to get on with it.

Here goes nothing.

“Would you like to go on a date this weekend?”

She smiles softly. “I would. Where are we going?”

“There’s a romance bookstore in Brooklyn. I’d like to take you there and grab lunch, of course.”

She raises her brow and squints at me. “You want to buy me smut books?”

“Yes.”

“Paperback or hardcover?”

“Anything you fucking want.”

She’s eyeing me suspiciously and chewing her lip. I worry she’s going to change her mind.

“It’s a date. Don’t forget your wallet. Books aren’t cheap.”

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