Page 740 of One More Kiss

I tear my gaze away from the jerk and instead watch the display screen above the doors. Level five, four, three—I swear this elevator moves slower today than any other day—two, one, lobby… almost there.

As the little screen flickers over to the lower level, it suddenly goes blank. Before I can comprehend what’s happening, the elevator jerks to an abrupt stop, and yet another high pitch yelp escapes my throat. The movement is so rough, I can barely keep my balance on my three-inch high heels.

“God! Can you stop screaming already?” This time his tone is commanding and curt. He’s a boss of some kind, but definitely not the boss of me.

“Can you stop being an asshole?” I retort, forgetting for a moment that the elevator has stopped. Then it kicks in, and all the adrenaline my body can manufacture hits me like a brick.

I’m stuck in an elevator.

Late at night.

With a complete fucking stranger.

In an empty office building.

I begin to hyperventilate. The thought of no one being able to find us makes my chest constrict with pain. My palms sweat, and I rub them on my skirt. My wide eyes scan the box for an exit, but there is none except for the small door above us.

I’ve seen too many movies to know how that works out. I’m adventurous, but I try to keep my life intact at all times. Something tells me if I try to crawl out that tiny door, I’ll end up killing myself before we even reach help.

Mr. Sexy and Rude pushes a bunch of the numbers on the panel, but nothing is moving or even lights up. I watch him push the call for service button next, and when I hear the dial tone coming from the speaker above the panel, relief washes over me… momentarily. Then, as if this night couldn’t get any worse, the elevator lights shut off.

“I swear if you scream again… I’ll put you over my knee and spank you until your ass is red,” he threatens, causing me to freeze.

I’m glad it is pitch-black in here because I can feel the heat creeping up my neck and my face.

“Are you suddenly quiet because you don’t want me to spank you or because you are now thinking about me spanking you?”

“W-what the hell is wrong with you? We’re stuck in an elevator, inside an empty building, and you… you… ugh!”

I pull my cell phone from my purse and unlock the screen with shaking hands. The screen lights up, making me squint for a moment before I move it from my face, looking for a mode of escape.

Great… no signal.

It’s ten o’clock now, which means no one is going to come to work for another eight hours at the least.

Shit.

“Maybe it’s just a short outage. Power will probably come back on any minute now,” I say, more to myself than to the asshole stuck in here with me. There’s so much that could happen in eight hours. What if this guy is a psycho who likes to spank his victims first? I mean, who even says spank to a stranger?

Before I put my phone away again, I use the light to find my way to the corner furthest away and sit down on the floor. It’s getting warm here, so I take off my coat and pull off my shoes, wiggling my toes back and forth. If we’re going to be here for a while, I might as well get comfortable.

“We could be stuck in here all night,” he says, right after I turn my phone back off, leaving us in complete darkness.

“I see you as more of the glass-half-empty kind of guy. What a surprise,” I murmur.

“If that’s how you see it. Maybe it’s the other way around. Instead of complaining about being stuck in the elevator, you could be glad. You’re stuck with me and not some sweaty old guy who hasn’t showered in three weeks.”

“You are infuriating and full of yourself.” I scoff, even though I know he is kind of right. One janitor comes to mind. Karl, I think his name is. His hair is always greasy, he smells like cigarette smoke and body odor when I pass him, and every time he looks at me, he gives me a creepy smile. Yeah, this guy might be a prick, but at least he isn’t Karl.

“What’s your name?” he asks, the sound of his voice making me jump.

“Anna,” I lie. I don’t know why, but I don’t want him to know my real name.

“Anna, what could we do to pass the time while we are stuck in here? I can imagine a few things.”

His voice is sultry in the dark, and that tingling sensation I felt from earlier returns. I have to get out of this elevator before I do something stupid.

“We are not going to do anything.” My voice is curt, but my body wants to see what he has in mind. “And anyway, you never told me your name.”

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