Page 28 of Built to Last

“Right. Thank you.” I hang up the phone and eye the woman I’m trapped with. “I’m assuming you heard all of that.”

She nods, then slides down the wall to sit on the floor, stretching her black-clad legs out in front of her. She digs around in her giant purse and pulls out her mobile. It’s an older model, but she pokes on the screen and then holds it up to her ear.

I can’t hear the person on the other end except to know that it’s a man’s voice. No surprise there. She’s far too hot to be single.

“I’m stuck in the fucking elevator at Stu’s building.” She nods while the man speaks.

I slide down the wall myself and take a seat. At least I stopped at the store on my way home and grabbed a bottle of wine and cheese and crackers for dinner.

“Won’t they turn on a generator or something?” She pauses. “I know that, dumbass, but we’re here in this elevator and it’s dark.”

Her voice shudders a little and I understand. I don’t mind the dark so much, but being confined into a small place with no way out bothers me a whole hell of a lot.

“No, I’m not alone,” she puts her hand over her phone and glances at me. “What’s your name?”

“Professor Levi Carlisle. I live in 6a,” I tell her. Her boyfriend is smart, asking about me to make sure she’s safe. She repeats my information, then says goodbye and hangs up. Why the hell did I give her my title? She doesn’t need to know I’m a professor.

A loud humming starts and then the emergency lights flicker on. We’re surrounded by a subtle glow, but at least we aren’t in complete darkness anymore.

“Thank fuck. That’s much better.” She gives me a saucy smile. “That was my brother on the phone. He’s an EMT so I figured he’d probably know what was going on.”

Brother? Not her boyfriend? That’s interesting. “And did he?”

She gives me a small smile—those red lips of hers are mesmerizing. I can think of all kinds of places on my body I’d like to see imprints from her lipstick. My cock stirs and I shift my position. The last thing she needs is to think she’s trapped in here with some sort of pervert.

“More or less he did. Basically, the storm has sped up and strengthened. It hit faster than anyone predicted, and it’s blown out the power for most of the city.”

“So we’ll likely be stuck here for a while then?”

“Yep.”

“At least we’re not in the dark anymore.” I give her a smile intended to comfort her. “Are you 6b’s girlfriend?”

She turns to face me and one perfectly sculpted black brow arches. “Nope.”

She’s playing coy and it’s so alluring. “I told you my name, might you tell me yours as well?”

Her eyes are light in color, though I can’t determine if they are green or blue. They’re pretty though. She’s pretty.

She holds her hand out to me. “Jillian O’Malley, but everyone calls me Jilly. Nice to meet you, Levi.”

I take her hand in mine, i’s warm and soft, but her grip’s solid. “A pleasure to meet you, Jillian.”

“Let me know if you get hungry,” she pats the bag at her side. “I work part-time in a bakery downtown and I always bring home plenty of leftovers.”

“Will do.” A bakery. That must be why she smells of buttery goodness. “So, if you’re not 6b’s girlfriend, then who are you?”

“Stu and I?” She chuckles. “We’re friends from way back. When he travels with his band, I house sit for him and feed his fish.” She shrugs.

I try not to notice how the metal walls of the elevator feel as if they’re moving inward, closing in on me. I keep my focus on her. “I beg your pardon if I’m staring. My reasons are twofold.” I hold up one finger. “First, you’re incredibly attractive.” That earns me a brilliant smile that punches at my gut, tightening my muscles. “Secondly, and I promise I’m not normally this much of a wanker, but I really hate being stuck here. Not that you’re not excellent company, but I have a thing about closed-in places.”

She reaches over and squeezes my hand. “I get it. You already saw me freak out about the dark.” Then her face beams and she shifts her body so that she is sitting the other direction, facing me. “I have an idea.”

I nod.

“Let’s play a game to pass the time, keep our minds distracted from the situation.”

“I don’t suppose you’ve got Scrabble hidden in that bag of yours.”

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