Page 94 of Mr. Hook-up

My heart began to throb in my chest. “He didn’t?”

“Oh, he did,” the bartender replied.

“Just when I thought the man couldn’t get any dreamier, he goes and does that,” Saara sang.

“This must be the man we love with a capitalL?” the bartender asked.

“It is,” Saara confirmed. “And we love him hard.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Easton

As I walked through the front door of our building and saw the elevator arrive, I rushed through the lobby and stuck my hand in the opening so the door wouldn’t close on me. “Sorry to hold you up—” My voice cut off when I realized Drake was the only one inside.

Her gorgeous face stared back at me.

I made sure the button to our floor was pressed and moved toward the back wall, waiting for the door to close before I kissed her. “Hello, stranger.” I pulled a chunk of doughnut from the bag I was holding and held it in front of her lips, watching her take it into her mouth.

“What, did you go for a walk?” I asked.

She finished chewing, licking off the flakes of glaze. “I went and got some avocado toast for lunch. I was so hungry, I ate it during the walk back. You just gave me the perfect dessert.”

I glanced down her body. The sundress was loose on her curves and hung all the way to her feet, where her cute polished toes were wrapped in a pair of sandals. I focused just a little longer on her tits, the way the fabric hugged them, and hissed out a mouthful of air. “I bought four ofthese”—I held up a doughnut and chewed off a bite, returning the rest to the bag—“because it’s been a hell of a day already.”

“What’s going on?”

I wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “The usual hectic nightmares when you’re trying to grow your business. Honestly, I’d rather kiss you than talk about it.” I connected our mouths, inhaling the coconut that wafted off her face. “I missed you last night.”

We didn’t spend many evenings apart. Only if she had plans with Saara or I was going out with the guys.

Last night, she’d gone to the spa after work, then headed home to clean her apartment and get some things done that she’d been putting off, apparently.

“I missed you—”

Her voice cut off as a blaring sound came through the elevator, a grinding that caused the entire chamber to rattle. The floor was no longer steady, the light above flickering.

I grabbed the railing behind us and pulled Drake against me, holding her tightly as the noise got louder, the shaking increasing until the movement came to a screeching halt.

“Oh my God!” she gasped. “What the hell just happened?”

The light stopped strobing, and the noise dulled to a tick before it completely silenced.

I checked out the ceiling and the door, finally looking back at Drake.

Fear was so present in her eyes, practically pleading with me when she said, “This happens all the time, right?”

“Sure.” I swallowed. “At least once a day.”

I’d never heard that sound or felt that kind of tremor in this—or any—elevator, but the last thing I wanted was for her to panic.

“Easton ...”

“Don’t worry. Everything is going to be fine.”

“Is it going to start up again?”

The button to our floor was still lit on the control panel, but we weren’t moving. It seemed we were suspended somewhere between floors.

---