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The elevator dinged open.Hurray! Get me out of here.He walked in and held the door, waiting for her to join him.Hmm. Confined space.Maybe she should’ve hoofed it down the stairs. Nic moved to the corner opposite. His truck, the shower, and now the elevator. Too many closed in spaces.
He leaned back against the wall, surveying. “Whatcha doing way over there?”
She fidgeted with her purse, repositioning it from one shoulder to the other. “The more space, the better.”
“Are two little things like Sugar and the butler gonna keep you a rifle’s distance away from me?”
“I don’t really know you, Cash. I don’t know what you want. What I know is that you want to mess with my job.”
“Screw that. Here’s the truth. I lost you once.” He pointed at her, then back at him. “I like this. I like us. And I liked last night. A lot. You’re more than a fun fuck, and I don’t want to lose you again, so there you go, sweet girl. Maybe I’m all lost in nostalgic malarkey, but not only do I want you in bed, I want you out of bed. Which, as you’ve been clued in to, isn’t my MO. So shit’s different with you. You can lie and say you don’t feel it too. That’s cool, but know that I know.”
He knows? He knows nothing.He had no clue about the confused ramblings bouncing in her brain, no clue that she had to double check his reaction to make sure she didn’t cry out the words, “I love you.”
Over the elevator door, the numbers counted their downward drag toward the ground floor. Why hadn’t they bottomed out yet? She needed out of the elevator, but it barely slid from floor to floor. At this pace, they wouldn’t hit G until tomorrow.
Tomorrow would be too late.
Prolonged exposure to Cash caused blips of lust-soaked anxiety. Her heartbeat picked up its tempo—bump, bump, bump—and she wanted to climb the walls.
Since when was she claustrophobic?
Oh, who was she kidding?
Cash stretched high overhead. Just another day, making women swoon. That damn shirt hugged his muscles, and her mouth went dry. She tried to swallow around the knot in her throat. Tried to ignore the knots re-tying in her stomach. Even his belt had a look-at-me quality, wrapped around his toned waist. Flashes of his rippled stomach burned through her memory.Whoa, God.This elevator was teeny-tiny. He lorded over it in his corner, watching her watch him, and she needed the emergency escape hatch.
A slow smile flickered across his face. “Nothing to say, sweet girl?”
She shook her head. Nothing to say. Nothing to do except hide in her corner. Maybe dig in her purse a little more or check her phone or… Cash stepped to her. One step. Two steps. She looked at the ceiling, then at the elevator display. Button after button, unlit. Nineteen more floors to go, and Nicola couldn’t move, frozen and frying in his gaze.
He had her. Sliding a finger down the curve of her neck, his finger flicked the purse strap, and with that grazing touch, it dropped.
Loud thud. Intense moment. Pounding want.
Nic’s tank-top-clad back pressed against the cold wall. Her bare shoulders were aware of the barrier. A heat ignited, and anticipation tingled from the perk of her breasts to the tips of her fingers.
Inches.
He was inches away and closing the distance. Cash palmed the elevator wall on both sides of her head. “I’m throwing lines about in bed, out of bed, and you’re standing, stoic like this is a cold shoulder challenge, and you want to win a trip to the freakin’ Arctic Circle.” He kissed behind her ear. Whimpers escaped her lips, then he whispered again. “After last night, I thought it was game on between us.”
Close enough for him to feel the rise and fall of her chest, close enough for her to smell the mint he’d long-since devoured, Cash nudged at the wall of buttons. Click. The lights dimmed. The elevator stopped between floors.
No alarms.
No sirens.
Just them, stuck in an elevator with the emergency lights on, and now she really couldn’t breathe.
“There are cameras in here. I’m sure there are cameras.” The words came out breathy and wispy and screaming, “Please kiss me again.”
“What is it you think I’m going to do?” He crushed against her. His smooth cheek grazed hers, and his lips brushed against her ear. “What is it that you want me to do?”
Her libido did jumping jacks and her mind, somersaults. All she could see was the deep blue of his eyes. His weight pressed her in place. His palms cupped her face, igniting a fire wherever he touched. Never had a torturing burn felt so damn right.
“I want…”
Cash dipped his head. Soft hair teased over her cheek, and soft kisses turned her stomach. It was a cacophony of cravings. Heat pooled inside her. The very core of her body moaned for his contact.
He repeated what she’d started. “You want…”